#But I don’t have years under my belt so maybe that’s why I can enjoy Tevan more?

[drivebyanon]

So I am new to the 911 fandom because we just started watching so I have not been committed to a “particular” relationship for years & years (Although I do think they’re adorable). So when Buck & Tommy started I was able to enjoy it very easily without all the history and happily dove back into Tumblr.

Then I heard that it was toxic on Twitter, I thought “How bad could it be?” and kinda pushed it off. But then I did a search on “911 finale spoilers” (Don’t judge me! Bobby & Hen got me in an emotional wreck) and Great Googa Mooga was it inundated with unsaid relationship! But with stuff like “Is Bucktommy bones?” “Tommy will be bones” “Lou is old” “Lou is ugly”. I was soooo wrong, because it is nuts 😬. Yeah, I backed myself out that and back to tumblr into safe tags so damn fast.

[icarryitin]

Candles

spencer reid/gn!reader

happy 26th anniversary of my escape from the womb, as a celebration pls enjoy this lil smth smth while i spend the evening eating a whole cake by myself🧡

series masterlist

word count: 1.3k // warnings: zero just vibes, also glasses reid comes with his own warning🫡

summary: You only just about manage to rein in Penelope for your first birthday at the BAU. Spencer throws a curveball.

It’s been a mission and a half, keeping it all under wraps. Penelope’s been the worst, but you managed to convince her not to put a reminder on everyone’s calendar - a new sparkly unicorn friend for her desk collection was enough to satiate her. For this year, at least.

Birthdays aren’t what they used to be.

They used to be a month long affair, sparkly and exciting. Now it’s just a day. You might get a couple of cards from a couple of family members, you might treat yourself to a takeout so you don’t have to cook, you might watch your favourite movie. It’s nothing special anymore, but you don’t mind that. It’s just a part of growing up.

Which is exactly why you’d expressly forbidden Garcia from organising any kind of celebration when she’d cornered you in the elevator about it last week. You’re still a relatively shiny new toy in the BAU, and being the centre of attention isn’t one of your strong suits anymore. You’re happy to let it pass largely unnoticed by your colleagues. She can do something next year, for sure, when you’re settled in properly. Provided there are no cases that demand attention.

Your back still aches from the flight back yesterday evening, nobody ever said sleeping sitting up is good for you. But, thankfully, it means that everyone’s been too swamped in paperwork today to have noticed Penelope’s extremely subtle efforts to make the day a little easier for you. Her way of celebrating, you were never going to get away that easily. A coffee this morning, a muffin from the café when she came back from her lunch break, she’d even called you into The Lair to present you with a card. Secretly, of course, so as not to arouse suspicion. It’s tucked away in your bag now, safe and sound. Glitter and all.

“Goodnight, my loves.” She appears in your field of vision, blonde head bobbling over the divider between your desk and Morgan’s.

You raise your hand to wave, but the occupant of the desk to your right is far too engrossed in the file to notice. It’s just the three of you left in the office - Penelope, you, and Spencer. Even Hotch has gone, armed with a stack of case files and a furrowed brow.

“See you in the morning, P.” It doesn’t take a lot of effort to return her smile, however tired you might be. That’s the thing about Penelope Garcia, you’ve learned, her energy is kind of infectious. She totters over to your desk with a sly look over at Reid, who still doesn’t appear to be paying any attention.

“Happy Birthday.” She whispers, throwing you an exaggerated wink. Okay, maybe you feel a little bit guilty about depriving her of the celebration she wanted to give you.

And then she’s off, and it’s just you and Reid and the occasional quiet tapping of keyboards, the sifting of papers.

You’ve been absorbed by a file, checking and double checking your additions to the report are accurate, so you don’t really pay Reid any mind when he wanders off towards the kitchen. Your red pen is out, scribbling on an extra copy of the notes. The Unsub on this case had been crafty, but not crafty enough, and your confidence is growing with the handful of takedowns now under your belt. It’s nice to feel like you’re contributing to the team’s success - it’s still your rookie year, but your handcuffs are a little less shiny than they were. You’re about to start typing up your amendments when there’s a noise behind you, like someone clearing their throat. They do it again, a little louder, a little less unsure. It’s unexpected to say the least, the image you’re presented with when you turn in your chair.

Doctor Spencer Reid - adjacent desk mate, awkward stakeout buddy, bespectacled distraction - is holding a small plate out to you, one single cupcake in the centre. There’s a birthday candle stuck in the chocolate swirled icing, just the one, tiny flame wobbling away in the air conditioning. He looks nervous, but there’s a glint in his eye hiding behind his glasses. You wonder what kind of threats Penelope made to get him to do this.

“Garcia said you didn’t want a fuss,” He starts rambling, “So, I figured I would wait until there were less people around and - well, it looks like it’s just us now.”

You’re fumbling for something to say, anything.

“This was - yeah, this was a bad idea, wasn’t it? You didn’t want a fuss and I did this and now you-“

“It’s okay.” You say, finally finding your voice. Matching smiles start to grow, slowly, and the lingering awkwardness evaporates.

It’s hard not to play up the childish wonder of it all - even in the beige and navy confines of the BAU office. Reid still holds the cupcake out towards you as you squeeze your eyes shut, nose wrinkled. Making a wish. You’re not really sure what it is you’re wishing for, maybe it’s that you’ll settle in with the team for the long term, maybe it’s that you’ll catch every bad guy until there’s none left, maybe it’s that a certain teammate will keep looking at you with those big old eyes and a hint of a smile on his face. Whatever it is, it’s good enough, and you open your eyes slowly. Leaning forward, one small puff of breath extinguishes the little candle. Birthday ritual complete. You’re sure Reid has a fun fact about the history of birthday celebrations and the burning of foodstuffs, but you don’t ask just yet. He’s still holding the plate out to you.

“Split it with me?”

His answering grin is contagious, you’ve no choice but to return it as he turns on his heel to hunt down a knife from the kitchen.

“And since it’s just the two of us,” He chatters on his way back from the kitchen, a second plate and butter knife in tow, “I won’t even make you wear the birthday hat.”

There’s a birthday hat, good lord. You’re glad you managed to hold Penelope off for one year, even if it’s the only one she’ll let you have.

“You have no idea how much that means to me.”

“There’s always next year.” Reid is grinning into his half of the cupcake, deliberately not watching you process the fact that you will absolutely be wearing the birthday hat this time next year. But it’s surprisingly heartwarming to hear that he thinks you’ll be with the team for your next birthday. Not that you don’t expect to be, but having confirmation that the others believe it too makes you feel a little fuzzy.

“At least I caught Garcia before she organised a street party, a card and a cupcake do me just fine.” Your words are muffled around the mouthful of cake and icing.

“Oh, she didn’t do this.”

You don’t follow. That much must be clear on your face, because he presses on.

“I made a batch, but then Penelope said you wanted low-key. So I only brought one.”

He made it?

He made it. For you.

If he wasn’t hurtling towards inappropriate crush territory already, he sure is now.

“Thank you, Spencer.”

It doesn’t escape your notice that it’s the first time you use his name. Not Doctor, not Reid, just Spencer. He’s noticed too, if the blush steadily creeping up his cheeks is anything to go by. But you don’t want him to steam up his glasses, and you definitely don’t want to dig yourself in any deeper - so you ask him about birthday candles, an answer he’s more than happy to provide between the last mouthfuls of cupcake and remaining file reports.

Maybe the work birthday thing isn’t so bad, you’ll just have to find that hat before next year.

the canyouniverse is back with a vengeance baybieeee 🧡🧡 i’m love them sm (and you!! for reading!!!)

[goodgirlofglory]

Hey bestie, Happy Fourth of July! ❤️🤍💙🦅

Aka, happy birthday Steven Grant Rogers. 🪖💪

Usually, my go to reads consist of Bucky, but today I am feeling patriotic. So my ask includes reader giving steve a sloppy toppy 😏 💦 under the fireworks after an eventful birthday

But not just any blowjob, this is the first one that steve has gotten in 70+ yrs because he’s a grandpa that didn’t venture out into the modern world until he met reader. So now, he really understands why Bucky enjoyed his time with the ladies back in the 40’s 🇺🇸

And this blowjob in particular has him gripping whatever he can in his fists, has him moaning like a little boy, his mouth drooling, his eyes rolling, his soul leaving his body. 🙉 and reader is just talking him through it like the good girl she is 😊

Anyways, thank you for listening to my slutty asks. I hope you have a good day/evening where you are!! 🌸❤️

Bestie!!!🫶🎀🦋

Happy birthday to both Steve Rogers and the US of A🎉🎉✨️✨️✨️🦅🦅🦅🦅🦅

I'm definitely in my Bucky corner nowadays too, but there's no hardship revisiting dear Stevie boy, so in the name of patriotism, here's a little somethin somethin😉😌

Absolutely LOVE the prompt (and your slutty asks are always a fav)!!! Things got a little out of hand, so Steve ended up reeeallyyy subby in this, but I kinda like it, don't you?

Enjoy, sweetie, have a good day/night wherever you are🫶🫶🦋

In the name of patriotism / One-shot

Pairing: Inexperienced!Sub!Steve Rogers x Experienced!Soft!Domme!reader

Word count: 2,5k

Warnings: SMUUUUTT, oral (m receiving), soft domme reader, semi-public sex (oral behind the trees while there’s a party in the garden, ball-sucking, deepthroating, messy head, cum swallowing woop woop, dirty talk. Steve is very subby in this.

Summary: See delicious prompt above

“A-are you sure you’re okay w-with missing the f-f-fire-w-works?” he asks again, breath significantly more labored than just a minute ago - when you’d pinned him to the tree and gotten on your bare knees in the grass. 

As you look up at his face, an explosion of glittering gold and red fireworks fills the sky above him, illuminating his strong nose, high cheekbones and blond hair tousled by his own hands raking through it. You consider his words, feeling his bulge throb under your hands - where you have them paused at his zipper. The belt you just undid hangs limp on each side of your hands, signaling how fucking close you are to the one thing you’ve been thinking about for the last hour. 

Another glittering explosion in the sky, this one gold and silver, and his chest is heaving. 

“View’s pretty great from here,” you say, preening as you see his furrowed expression break up in helpless laughter. He shaks his head a little, but his cock throbs again, betraying how he really feels about that comment. 

It was by pure chance you walked by as Steve said it. You’d been on your way back from the bathroom when you’d halted outside the living room in Sam’s house and heard the boy’s talk through the crack in the door.

“Wait, nothing?” Sam asked incredulously. 

Steve’s voice came a moment later, sounding sheepish and maybe a bit abashed. 

“No. Not since the war. Sure, a kiss here and there, but you know me. I don’t get out much,” Steve’d said apologetically, and the resigned way he said it had set something off inside you. 

If there were three thing Steve Rogers was not to feel, it was inadequate, undeserving and unsatisfied. It was the whole reason you’d planned this combined birthday and 4th of July-celebration, goddamn it. For Steve to feel celebrated and loved, surrounded by loved ones, doing things he enjoyed. It had been an absolute banger of an evening, and you just got the idea of how to make the night even better for him. Okay, so maybe it wasn’t completely selfless. You did have a big ol’ crush on the man. Who didn’t? And if he hadn’t had a single sexual encounter in 70+ years, you were the perfet candidate to change that. 

So here you are, knees soaking in the dirt, hands dragging the zipper of his faded, blue jeans all the way down, your own breath growing choppy as you stare at the gray boxers hiding the thing you want most. There is already a wet patch in the fabric, right where the tip of his cock is outlined. Your mouth fucking salivates at the sight. 

He shifts where he stands, hands clenching and unclenching at his sides, and you bask in how impatient he is, how much you can sense he wants it, even if he’s giving you every chance of an out. Polite, chivalrous man - how can he not see you’re dying to gag on his cock behind a tree in Sam’s garden - while the rest of the party’s conveniently occupied watching the fireworks? 

“I just - um - you just have to know I-I-I’m not pressuring you or -” he starts, stuttering so adorably, and his words dies on a gasp of breath as you reach up and lay your hand atop his boxer-clad cock, feeling it jump at the contact. He is so sensitive.

“Don’t you want it?” you ask. It’ll be agony having to tear yourself away at this point, but you’ll do it if he says no of course. You can tell he won’t though. 

“No! I mean yes! I do, I fucking do - God, so much - just-”

“Then be quiet,” you say softly. It’s honestly astounding seeing him so flustered, stumbling over his words like his mind is already going under. Big, strong man, Captain America himself, putty in your hands, fumbling and blushing, and his cock isn’t even out yet. It’s making you fucking soak your panties. 

His head thumps back against the tree and he exhales like he’s relieved. Relieved it’s actually happening despite him doing his part and checking your consent. Like you weren’t the one dragging him into the bushes and telling him to stay still, winking at him while you kneeled before him. 

A small sound escapes him as you pull his boxers down, letting his cock spring free before tucking the band of his boxers all the way under his balls - so you have proper access to him. You’ll accept no less, even given you have little space and even less time to do this before someone’s gonna come looking for you - it’s Steve’s party after all - and you’re the host. 

He’s fucking huge, intimidatingly so, even for you. He’s pale, bright pink on the tip, hair neatly trimmed by the base. He’s long and thick, prominent veins on the underside leading up to a pronounced head with a tight frenulum you can’t wait to tease with the tip of your tongue. You hold him gently by the base as you examine him, and a clear drop of precome trickle out the slit at the tip and down his shaft as you watch. It’s unreal how gorgeous he is. 

“Perfect,” you mutter, mostly to yourself, and meet his eyes as his head whips down to see you. A groan seems to tear itself from him as he lays eyes on you gazing at his cock from eye level. He ducks his head a little, almost like he’s trying to hide from the praise, and you see in the flashing light of the next firework that there’s a tell-tale blush high on his cheekbones. 

Oh, he liked that. 

You take him into your mouth as you hold his gaze, making him pay attention to every inch of himself disappearing slowly in between your lips. His mouth falls open as you work him deeper, tongue working to coat him in spit, cheeks hollowing in to add suction everytime you pull him out. You command he watches it all, and lets you see exactly what it does to him. 

His brows crunch together and rise on his forehead, his mouth gasping wider open, his face contorts almost to a grimace and you eagerly eat it all up as you work your mouth over him again and again. You gasp off him, and he gasps with you, sounding almost pained as you tease him with your tongue, running it from root to tip and back.

He throws his head back only to whip it down seconds later, unable to keep his eyes away from it, body shuddering each time you swipe the tip of your tongue from his frenulum to his tip, swiping at the spittle of precome that it coaxes out each time. 

You’re going pretty slow for someone who has such little time as you do, but you can tell it does it for him. He’s sensitive beyond all reason, and you know just a little more of this and some naughty words will get him right off that edge. 

“You like it?” you ask, moving your mouth down to take his balls into your mouth. 

He chokes on a groan as you latch on to one testicle, rolling it into your mouth and releasing it with a suctioning pop. His hands fists at his side before unclenching and reaching behind him, grabbing at the tree like it can save him. 

“Yes,” he gasps, desperately. 

You take his spit covered cock in your hand and jerk him off, fast and hard right off the bat, watching with preening satisfaction as his eyes clamp shut and his jaw drops, hips shifting restlessly, itching to thrust into your hand like he just can’t help but chase the pleasure. 

“Good. I want you to come for me. Don’t hold back when you reach that edge, give it all to me,” you say, voice deliciously raspy from taking him so deep, and he’s already nodding before you’re halfway through the sentence, putty in your hands. 

The fireworks above are going off full force now, painting the Captain in flashing colours of gold, red, silver, blue, green and purple, illuminating him like a fucking work of art as he gasps and groans, bites his lips red, saliva coating them and running out the side of his mouth to trickle down to his jaw. He’s such an open book, honest, body shameless in its pleasure even as he blushes bright red as he meets your eyes, seeing you staring unabashedly as you keep jerking him, suckling the other testicle. 

You take him back into your mouth, pressing him all the way back and into your throat. He sounds almost alarmed as you take him down your throat again and again, pushing your limits to give him that ultimate pleasure, working what you can’t get into your mouth with a spit covered hand. 

To his credit, he stays almost perfectly still like you told him to, only moving his hips whatever inches he can’t seem to control - and also trembling more and more as he nears his peak, moaning almost continually. 

“Fuck,” he swears at one point, and his hand flies out to tangle in your hair, holding on with a grip that alludes to unmatched violence but keeps to a desperate cling instead, a simple gesture to keep himself grounded. You groan around his cock, encouraging and maybe a bit patronizing, even as you gag around him before pulling off with a gasp. 

“Come on, baby, I’m right here. I want it all,” you say in between suckling and messily kissing the tip of his cock, jerking him for real now, hauling him to the edge. 

He whimpers at your words, and you relish the vulnerability of it, how he gives himself to you so entirely.

“I want your come, sweet thing, I can feel you want to give it to me,” you say, earning another desperate whimper. 

“Be good and come for me. That’s it, I’m right here, give it to me,” you babble, and his hips are thrusting into your wet fist now, mindlessly chasing that edge as his eyes lock with yours, pupils blown wide, mind empty but for your words and his need to come. It’s an absolutely gorgeous fucking sight and you don’t want to go a single day without it from now on. 

You take him back down your throat and he comes fast. How can he not, it’s his first blowie in 70+ years, maybe ever - you haven’t asked him yet. Also, you’d be insulted if he didn’t come fast, given how much work you’re putting in, taking him all the way into your throat and drenching both his cock, balls and your own chin in your saliva. 

You feel the way his muscles tense up long before it happens, like his whole body is going to combust on the spot, and then this tiniest, most vulnerable sound leaves him, like a choked whimper mixed with an almost woeful sigh. And then his cock is pulsing deliciously in your mouth, throbbing as he explodes, and you hum low and long in encouragement as he gives you everything he’s got, shaking and trembling through it all. Bark splinters off the tree he’s pinned against as his fists clench through it, and his cum is thick and salty and perfect on your tongue, coming out in such intense, forceful spurts you nearly choke on it. 

The fireworks are dwindling a bit in the sky, but you can still enjoy the sight of Steve going limp, head thumping back against the tree as he puts a hand through his hair, the other coming forth to cradle your jaw as you keep his throbbing cock in your mouth long after you’ve swallowed all the cum.

You gently release him, coo at him when he hisses from the sensitivity, and tuck him gently back into his pants, doing up the fly and belt before kissing his bulge lovingly, hoping for a swift reunion. 

Ever the gentleman, he helps you with gentle hands as you get up on your feet and before you can really think on what comes next, he’s kissing you. He cradles you close with one arm around your shoulder while the other cups your jaw and his embrace is warm and tender and needy and perfect. You put your arms around his torso, holding him tight and kissing him back, letting his tongue snake into your mouth, loving that he isn’t averse to his own taste. 

You kiss long and sweetly, unrushed, and you think maybe this should’ve come before the blowjob but Steve doesn’t seem too unhappy about the turn of events, turning you around to pin you against the tree as he plasters himself against you.  Are you tripping, or is he hard again? 

The chatter of the party comes back to life, and you break the kiss to murmur against Steve’s lips. 

“We should get back to the rest before they get suspicious.”

“Why?” Steve asks casually, and it’s your time to blush from the blatant lack of care he has for the possibility of people finding you like this. You giggle and slap his chest playfully. 

“Because, it’s your party and I’m the host,” you say, but it’s a nonsense reason. You could just stay like this until everyone’s left and it’d be okay with you. Maybe you could suck him some more. 

“Would you like to stay after? I’d like…um…” he seems to struggle to put to words what he wants, kissing you hard before just saying “more”. 

You giggle again and he smiles against your lips. 

“You’re so good with your words, Captain” you tease. 

He groans and his arms pull at your hips to grind his bulge into your stomach. 

“Nothin' like you. Fuck, that fucking mouth of yours drove me crazy,” he groans, never pulling back more than just enough to get his words out between your mingling breaths. “I’d like to return the favor.”

And a thrill goes up your spine and shivers down it at the promise in his voice, the breathless desire that manifests there, and you nod eagerly just as Sam’s voice cuts through the chatter out in the yard, calling for both you and Steve.

[precious-little-scoundrel]

IM SORRY DID U SAY YOURE WORKING ON A FIC ABOUT “COP BIG DADDY ELVIS”?!?- please tell us more because this sounds like the greatest thing ever 😭

I did, Mon ami, I did indeed…welcome to the demented 2009, sweaty and non famous cop AU that @eliseinmemphis and myself cooked up in our feral yearnings one night.

Edit: it’s here

Allow me to lay a bit of the setting for us all, and maybe even throw in a few lines from the draft below.

Life is insular when you’ve been born and raised in a trailer park. A little El Paso suburb was never a thriving metropolis, what with its gas stations and dollar stores on the way to nothingness in the desert, but the recession didn’t help none. Your dreams of buying a car that might actually make it above 120 mph and not guzzle your wages in gas is a far off dream when you learn from officer Presley that your entrepreneuring father has been incarnated for racketeering across in Juarez. It’s a shame, a damn shame but it hardly throws a wrench in your life, you were already used to making it however you could. When workin’ at the trucker’s club turns into something a lil more illegal and Elvis has his morning waffle ruined by Joe Esposito yacking about the powers of your pink tongue…he feels a little responsible for leaving you without a father figure. He’s got top notch swamp coolers in his trailer, plenty of food and tiger figurines out front -and he’s got an interest in fast things, just like you.

You could do worse than shack up with such a fella; not that he’s offerin’ but you can tell by the flicker in his eye and the smirk of his lips that he’s as susceptible as the next guy watching you on the pole. Except this sweet, world weary cynic just might screw your gooey insides up worse than any threat or ogle from another man.

Snippet:

“Well, well officer Presley, finally got persnickety about laws, have ya?” you observed to yourself with a grin as you watched the handsome man swagger towards you along the white line in your side mirror, tugging at his pants as he neared, trying to shimmy the article of clothing a little higher but is impeded by his belt, stopped by his sizable belly, his holster and buckle sitting under the bulge of it.

Your mouth watered. It had been a year or two since you saw him last. He was always built, intimidating to all the stupid rascals he keeps in line along the border, but now he had become outright fat and his khaki shirt pulled apart between each button. Yet when he came up to your window, that little boy grin was still gracing one of the most exquisite faces known to man, and his voice was tender and playful when he greeted you, just as you once recalled. You could see his sweaty hair, matted on his chest and belly between the gaps, his underarms had massive pit stains, doubly apparent thanks to the light color of his police uniform.

Your smile had something of the she-wolf in it as you greeted him, sniffing the air in hopes of catching a whiff as he leaned on your window frame, nearly crowding you from outside. “Hey Miss Sweet Cheeks,” he greets, “you know why ya been pulled over?”

“Haven't got a clue, officer.” You stated the truth and enjoyed the way his title rolled off your tongue in a bantering way. It was easy.

Officer, officer. Somebody important and authoritative. No sir, yes sir, Officer.

His left eyebrow quirked and you wondered what he looked like at twenty five, how devastating that expression would have been before his wound and his meds and the water retention. Whatever power it may have once held, it holds nothing to this slightly bemused, slightly cynical world weariness that shows in his every expression now, that had a twitch of an eyebrow making you feel a fool. “You’re goin’ seventy in a forty five, Miss.” his tone was patient even as his face suggested he’d like to tan your hide for being so reckless. “Reckless endangerment of others, and yourself,” he quoted sternly, “it ain’t no small matter and I don’t countenance it on my highway.”

Gosh, you just loved it when he laid claim to government property like highways and interstates. It helped you smile meekly at him and nod.

“Sorry officer, I got lax.” You purred, batting your eyes and you could see the heavy flap of their coal coated weight in your periphery. “I’ve seen you lettin’ me flyby on the interstate. I guess I thought…”

[sweetingtea]

I remember a little bit ago there was this image of Shadow crossing his arms and people were making fun of how he did it.

Like this:

(He seems to do this in almost every universe lmao.)

People thought it was funny how it was almost like he was hugging himself, and drew fanart of it blah blah blah all that meme stuff.

I’m not making fun of anyone who did that, I enjoyed it myself, I just had a thought recently of why he may do this; maybe even a logical answer.

It’s gonna be quite the explanation because it has something to do with what I personally learned, so you don’t have to read it if you don’t want to!

Explanation under the cut! ⬇️

Back in my first year of college, my seminar teacher hired a martial arts coach to teach us a few basic moves and how to keep your guard.

This was a coach that he practically grew up with. I mean, my seminar teacher is SMART. A black belt, can speak 4 languages, good in chem and maths, this guy is a legend. Students respected him deeply, even if his homework was bullsh💩t. So, we trusted that the coach knew what he was doing because our teacher trusted him with us.

Another thing is that sometimes when us humans don’t know what to do with ourselves; like what to do with our arms; we cross them. Like how Sonic does it:

It just gives us something to do so we don’t look awkward. It’s not that we’re distracted or bored, it’s just some people (like me) feel like we need to do something to not look like a lost puppy, even if no one really cares.

As you can imagine, as we were listening to this coach talk, most of us actually had our arms crossed.

He was in the middle of talking before he let out a scream. The kind of scream that was meant to scare you, like “something, something, something—BAH!”

Of course, we were startled at this, and our immediate reaction was to quickly unfold our arms to protect ourselves. (Most of us at least, some just flinched back with the look of “😟”.)

Our teacher chuckled at us because he was not surprised at all, like he knew this was gonna happen.

The coach smirked at us and said something along the lines of, “That brings me to my next point!”

He told us that one of the rules of defense is to not tangle your arms like how Sonic does. He said that if we really needed or wanted to fold our arms; to put them on top of each other. Like you’re giving yourself a hug. Like how Shadow does it. That way, if there is an unexpected attack, your arms aren’t tangled within each other and you can quickly block or dodge your way out of the situation.

Frankly, even if you tangle your arms together, it’s not that hard to get them loose. But imagine the panic you’d feel when something or someone comes out of nowhere to attack you and you don’t expect it. It’s an extra second you waste of defending yourself before it’s too late.

Moral of the story, I think Shadow fold his arms like that is because it’s a self defense tactic. If someone or something were to attack out of no where, he would be ready. He’s always ready.

I’d also like to point out how I love the comparison between how Sonic crosses his arms verses how Shadow does.

Sonic is more laid back and relaxed while Shadow is on guard. We all know this, and their body language proves it. I love that 😄

I didn’t know if most people knew this, but I wanted to put out my take on things 🫶🏻

[tala-bez-i]

At first sight Chapter Forty-Two

(m!reader x Bonten!Haruchiyo Sanzu)

Fluff/slash/reader is male/cursing/BontenTimeline/drugs and alcohol mentioned/violence/blood/death

All characters that appeared in the Tokyo Revengers manga and anime belong to Ken Wakui.

Words: 4137

Enough babbling. Back to the action… I guess 🤔

This chapter may not be pleasant to read for some people.

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Sanzu informed you about three different places that were behind on their last protection payment. Two restaurants agreed to pay the fee immediately and gave you the required amount in cash, while also informing you who was behind the whole situation. You were not expecting the answer that came. 

A woman named Mina, who convinced Sato to betray Bonten and join Yuu's side. She was the one responsible for the attempted murder of you, Sanzu, and Mochizuki during Sato's club takeover. 

Somewhere in the back of your mind, you were aware that you had heard of this woman before, but you couldn't remember when or where. 

"Everything alright, Y/n?" Sanzu asked you as you drove silently to your last destination. On the way, you stopped at a small restaurant for a decent ramen, and now the man sat comfortably in his passenger seat. 

“I don't know.” 

“Huh? Didn't you like it?” 

“I couldn't enjoy the food. That name keeps popping in my head, Mina.” You explained, stopping at a red light. “I feel like I've heard it before.” 

“Mina is a very common female name, and a lot of hookers use it as a nickname.” He shrugged. 

“Yeah, you're right. I just don't understand how one woman could intimidate three guys who work with us.” You replied, frowning slightly. “That doesn't make sense. How did she do that?” 

“Or what she promised them.” Sanzu sighed and laughed quietly. “Maybe she's some kind of billionaire or something? Or is she hiding an army under her skirt that could defeat us?” 

“An STD?” You asked, raising your eyebrows and Sanzu slapped you hard on the thigh. “Ouch!” 

“You're disgusting.” Your passenger grimaced. “Fuck... Disgusting. Couldn't you have said something else?” 

“Sorry... So, now the club and we're going to Mikey's, right?” 

“Yes. You can drop me off at the apartment building on the way back.” He adjusted his seat belt and you gave him a sad look. 

“Why?” 

“What, why? I haven’t been home in a while.” 

“It’s not like you left the kids alone and they’re crying…” 

“We are not married and I do not want to hear what your sister thinks of us.” He raised one hand stopping you from speaking. “Seriously, she should focus on her private life.” 

You did not comment on this, knowing that your sister had been trying to set her traps on Ran Haitani for almost three years. Sanzu knew about it as well and often found himself watching her efforts from the sidelines, thoroughly enjoying it. 

“In three days, I will go to visit my father, it will be his birthday.” You said after a long moment of silence. 

“Uh-huh.” 

“It's funny that their birthdays are on the same day…” 

“Hmm?” 

“My dad and Natsuko.” You said, giving him a quick glance. “I already have a present for her.” 

“That dollhouse you bought at the toy store you weren’t supposed to go to alone?” 

“Come on, Sanzu. It’s not like that woman has any chance with me.” 

“I don’t like it when she hangs around you.” The pink haired man’s tone was quite grim and you smiled at him slightly. 

“I know you made sure she wouldn’t come to my cafe anymore.” 

Sanzu glanced at you out of the corner of his eye and shrugged slightly. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” 

“Of course.” 

You pulled into the parking lot of a nightclub building in the entertainment district and both of you got out of the car. Sanzu smoothed out his jacket and pulled out a bottle of pills, from which he poured one pill into his hand and put it in his mouth. 

“Are we going there right away?” You asked and seeing the man shake his head, you pulled out a pack of cigarettes. You took one out for yourself and offered one to your companion. 

“Ran sent a message that they were done and got a message from Kakucho to join us.” 

You put the lighter under his cigarette so he could light it and as soon as he took the first drag, you lit your own. You had the feeling that something similar had already happened. You, Sanzu, the Haitani brothers and collecting a debt from a nightclub... 

You had a strangely bad feeling. 

You took a drag on your cigarette and slowly exhaled the smoke, watching it float in the air and disappear. You looked up at the sky, which was slowly starting to fill with rain clouds. You hadn't checked the weather forecast beforehand, too busy with the pink-haired man standing right next to you, enjoying his cigarette. 

“Who owns the club?” You asked casually. 

“Naoko Akabane.” He answered you with a shrug. 

“A woman?” You looked at him carefully as he took a drag on his cigarette. 

He flicked the ash on the ground. “Yes, but only on the papers. This club is supposed to look completely legal. The real manager, so to speak, is her husband, Koji Akabane.” 

You mumbled under your breath and after a moment you both heard muffled music from the car radio. 

“And here are our partners.” Sanzu grumbled as an elegant car belonging to the Haitani brothers pulled into the parking lot. 

Rindou parked his car next to yours, the music stopped and both men got out of the car, of course Rindou was the driver as usual. They walked up to you slowly and also took out cigarettes, which they lit and inhaled. 

“So, gentlemen... We have to work together again.” Ran smiled crookedly and Rindou nodded to you in a slightly more friendly gesture, to which you returned the same. 

“Any explanation as to why we have to go there together?” Sanzu asked, ignoring the teasing tone of the taller brother's voice. 

“Akabane has announced that he will not pay us under any circumstances and is ending his cooperation.” Rindou spoke up. 

“Is this a joke?” Sanzu looked at him and blinked a few times. “What is this idiot thinking? Who does he think we are? A gang from the backyard, for fuck's sake?” 

“He's grown in feathers, you can't blame him.” You put out your cigarette listening to Ran's comment. “I knew he shouldn't be indulged.” 

“Who indulged him?” Sanzu got irritated, throwing the cigarette butt. “This fucker will learn a lesson and tuck his tail between his legs.” 

You looked at your butts, feeling your bad feeling only deepen. 

“You can still get along with Naoko normally, she's a good girl, but you have to keep Koji by the throat all the time.” Rindou nodded. “Y/n, what the hell are you doing?” 

You looked at him, hiding your cigarette butt and the one belonging to Sanzu in your handkerchief. All three men were looking at you as if you had grown an extra head. You felt a little embarrassed, but you shrugged and put the bundle in your jacket pocket. 

“I have a bad feeling. It's just evening and there's a police station nearby. If there's any use of force...” You patted your pocket. “They better not find any traces.” 

Your companions looked at you in silence for a moment, then Rindou turned to his brother. 

“Y/n is right, brother. Better safe than sorry.” 

“Fuck, you spend too much time with your sister.” The other grumbled and put out his cigarette, passing the butt to his younger brother, who looked at it with an unreadable expression, as if he wanted to protest, but in the end did the same as you. 

“Since when are you so careful, huh?” Sanzu asked calmly, but before you could answer him, he smiled and waved his hand. “Anything that will make you calmer.” 

“There are no cameras here, right?” Rindou asked suddenly. 

“We didn’t put them in the parking lot.” The pink-haired man answered him, looking around carefully. “No. I can’t see anything. Besides, even if they put something somewhere, we have the right to take all the recordings or simply delete them.” 

“Should we enter through the back entrance or the front?” Ran asked calmly. 

“The back entrance, it’ll be closer to the office.” Sanzu answered and you all walked up to the large metal door and the man extended his open hand towards you. “Key.” 

You pulled the key from your pants pocket that you had earlier taken out of the glove compartment of your car and handed it to your boss. The man inserted it into the keyhole and tried to turn it to unlock the lock. The key didn’t budge. Haruchiyo tried to turn it again, but still without any effect. 

“The son of a bitch changed the lock.” He said in disbelief and looked at you. “Do you get it? The son of a bitch changed the lock.” 

Ran pushed him away from the door and tried to insert the key into the keyhole again, moving his hand but the effect was the same. He pulled out the key and handed it back to you, while nodding to his brother. 

“Rindou.” The younger Haitani took a small case containing a set of lockpicks from the inside pocket of his jacket and crouched in front of the metal door and began fiddling with the lock. 

“We better get ready.” Sanzu said as he pulled out his weapon. “I’ll kill the son of a bitch.” 

You looked around again, checking if anyone could see you, but everything was fine. After a short while, there was a quiet click and Rindou put away the lockpicks. He stood up from his crouched position and pulled out his gun. 

“Ready. We can go in.” He pulled the handle, and the door opened without a sound, which gave you a slight advantage. 

You entered and walked carefully down the narrow corridor, which was immersed in semi-darkness. On the way, you passed the staff toilets, which you checked immediately and when they turned out to be empty, you headed straight to the half-closed office door. Through the gap between the door and the frame, you could see the light on and every now and then you could hear snatches of some conversation. 

“... I don't know...” A male voice said, and after a moment a female one answered him. 

“... bad idea... You can't...” 

“Shut up!” Another man shouted and there was a slap and a short cry from a woman. 

“Leave it…” The first man said. “Bonten… fucked up…” 

“Sato was weak! Stop crying!” Another slap and this time you could clearly hear the woman’s sobs that she was trying to muffle. 

You stopped in the hallway and looked at each other. There were probably only three people in the room, but you couldn’t be completely sure. The woman shouldn’t be a problem. 

Sanzu bristled and walked to the door with a confident step, you immediately followed. He kicked it and aimed his gun at one of the men, and you immediately aimed your gun at the other. Ran and Rindou entered the office right behind you. 

“Fuck...” A man around your age jumped up from behind the desk, but seeing Ran aiming a gun at him, he froze. A shot from one gun could have missed, but from two... The chances were slim. 

“How nice of you to be here, Koji.” Sanzu said in a contemptuous tone, addressing the man standing right next to the terrified woman, whose face was wet with tears. She was holding her hand to her reddened cheek, and blood was seeping from her nose. “Naoko. I see you have company.” 

“Shut up, dog.” The stranger growled, and Sanzu's gun went off, sending a bullet right next to the guy's head. 

“One more word from you, and I swear I'll blow your head off.” He hissed. “Who the fuck are you, huh?” 

“Kiss my ass.” Wrong answer, oh, very wrong... There was another bang and a scream as the man fell into the chair behind him. He grabbed his arm, blood gushing from between his fingers. 

“You son of a bitch!” He groaned in pain, and Sanzu laughed, waving his weapon. "You fucker..." 

“You're lucky I'm having a fairly good day today.” He stepped closer to the desk and peered into the man’s face. “I’ve changed my mind. I’d love to play interrogation with you.” 

“Fuck if I tell you…” 

You glanced at Koji, who was being searched by Rindou, but as soon as you heard another scream from the injured man, you looked in his direction. Sanzu had broken his nose, which was bleeding profusely. 

“Don’t leave a mess, Sanzu.” Ran spoke up, helping the woman up from the floor. “If even one small drop of his blood is left here…” 

“I know, I know. Stop groaning.” 

“Should I tie him up?” You asked and Sanzu looked at you over his shoulder. 

“Sure. Tie his hands with a belt from his pants. You can take the other one from the traitor.” 

You did as you were told and as you moved away from the immobilized, wounded man, you saw anger mixed with fear in his eyes. Sanzu turned to Koji, who was glaring at him. 

“You.” He nodded at him. “Will you cooperate?” 

“Go fuck your bitch…” He growled and Sanzu shot him right between the eyes. 

“Wrong answer.” He grumbled, ignoring the woman's desperate cry, and turned back to the strange man. “And now, my friend, maybe you'll finally introduce yourself nicely, huh?” 

The other clenched his teeth, blood dripping from his nose onto his already bloody shirt. 

“Oh, I see I'm going to have some fun.” Haruchiyo smiled widely, a mad glint appearing in his eyes. “I haven't had the chance to do this in a long time. Wonderful!” 

You looked back at the woman, who had moved away from her husband's body. She hid her face in both hands and whimpered briefly. Ran ran his hand over her shoulder and she looked at him, nodded and turned her eyes, red from crying, to Sanzu. 

“I'll tell you everything.” Her voice was shaking, but she tried to give it strength. “I'll tell you anything you want. I'll cooperate.” 

“I know you will, honey. You always cooperate with Bonten.” Sanzu said in a bored tone, not sparing her a glance. “Take her to the room at the end of the hall, where the strippers' changing rooms are, and question her.” 

“Sure.” Rindou said, and together with his brother, they led Naoko out of the office, closing the door behind them. 

“Now…” Sanzu circled the desk, running his finger along its surface. “Where were we?” He pulled a small folding knife out of his pocket and unfolded it. “Ah, yeah. Who the fuck are you, huh?” 

You slipped your hand behind the back of the man tied to the chair and pulled out his wallet from his back pocket, handing it to your companion. He opened it and pulled out the man’s driver’s license. 

“Uh-huh… Mr. Shigeo Hoshino. That’s a start.” He smiled as he sat down on the desk. “So, Mr. Hoshino… What brings you here?” 

“Go fuck yourself…” 

“Maybe later.” Sanzu pursed his lips slightly. “You’re here on business, right?” 

“You’re wasting your time. That bitch, Akabane, will tell you everything.” 

“Let's start with the fact that Naoko is not a whore but a loyal employee...” Sanzu started to play with the knife, and the man's eyes followed the blade he was holding. “And you're trash, from whom we'll extract information anyway and won't let go so quickly...” 

“You won't let me go at all.” The other spat blood. 

Haruchiyo rolled his eyes, smiled and slightly shrugged one shoulder. “True, but it depends only and solely on you how quickly you die.” 

“I advise you to cooperate.” You said in the man's ear, ignoring the gangster's warning look. 

The man swallowed hard but shook his head. “No way. Otherwise, my family will suffer.” 

“Ha! See? You’re already starting to talk.” Sanzu laughed. “My colleague… I’m sorry, my friend…” He gestured at you. “He can give you his word that if you tell us what we want to hear, we’ll make an exception and not hurt your family. What do you think, Mr. Hoshino?” 

“What kind of guarantee can I have, huh? None!” 

“On the contrary.” The pink-haired man leaned forward slightly. “Do you have children?” 

The man hesitated, but his lips twisted into a grimace. “It’s none of your business.” 

Sanzu sighed dramatically and plunged the tip of the knife into the man's bullet wound, moving it around. Hoshino screamed in pain and took a few sharp breaths. When your companion withdrew the knife, a prolonged howl escaped the man's mouth. 

"I told you, cooperate." You threw out casually, watching as the man's head fell to his chest due to losing consciousness. 

You looked at Sanzu and saw nothing but indifference. He raised his bright eyes at you, in which there was no trace of amusement anymore. 

"Terribly weak, huh? For someone who refrains from talking, he has a low tolerance for pain." 

You shrugged and out of the corner of your eye you saw the guy raise his head. “I guess it's not so bad. He's back already.” 

“Okay, nice. We'll give you a head start.” Haruchiyo took another interest in the man. “Is your employer a man or a woman? Think about it and tell us the truth.” 

“A woman…” He gasped, a single tear rolling down his cheeks. “Woman… Mina…” 

“Dear God... Was it really that hard? Hoshino?” Sanzu leaned back and looked at the ceiling. 

“No... No...” Your hostage shook his head and groaned in pain. 

“Thank you.” You patted his good shoulder and Sanzu smiled again. 

“And now another question.” He leaned down and began swinging the knife like a pendulum. “Where is she?” 

“I don’t know…” The man whispered and Sanzu plunged the blade into one of his thighs. “AHHH!!! TOSHIMA! TOSHIMA!” 

“Mina is in Toshima.” The gangster said calmly, looking straight at you. He twisted the blade of the knife a few times and pulled it out of the crying man’s leg. “Great. We’re getting better at working together, aren’t we, Mr. Hoshino?” 

“Yes…” 

“Do you have any other secrets you’d like to share with us?” 

The man shook his head weakly, but you knew that this answer wouldn't satisfy your friend and you were right, because another howl was heard from the man as Sanzu stabbed him in the other thigh. This time he did it several times in different places and judging by the rapidly growing blood stain, he had severed the aorta. 

"Fuck... We weren't supposed to make a mess." You said, watching the blood drip onto the floor, creating a puddle. You clenched your hand in the man's hair and tilted his head back. 

"Oh, well. We have cleanup people." Sanzu stood up from the desk and in one smooth movement cut Mr. Hoshino's throat. Blood spurted from his neck, splashing a part of the jacket and pants of the pink-haired gangster. “Fuck... Well... That leaves us with Naoko. You can always count on this girl.” 

You let go of the man's head and pulled out your phone to call the cleaning crew, but Sanzu raised his hand. 

“I'll call. Go check on Ran and Rindou.” You nodded and walked out of the office into the narrow hallway. 

You opened the door to the changing room you had already been to a few weeks ago looking for a drunk Sanzu and everyone looked at you. The interrogation seemed to be over, as the woman had already dried her tears with the handkerchief she held in her hands, and her posture was one of relief. 

“Sanzu made a mess, didn't he?” Ran's tone of voice expressed tiredness and when you just shrugged he shook his head disapprovingly. 

“You know how he is.” 

“Yeah... Mina, or rather Minako Hakugawa is in Toshima. She owns a restaurant and doesn't hide. She is often accompanied by a tall, man with piercing eyes.” Rindou said and the woman nodded. 

“It could be Yuu.” You said, remembering your stepbrother’s eyes, which seemed to be staring at you from the photos your father had in your family home. “What are you going to do now? Are you going with us to Mikey’s?” 

“No. Our mission is done.” Ran said, standing up from the chair he was sitting on. “We’ll take Naoko to her house and go back to our place.” 

You nodded and all of you left the room full of dressing tables and various lewd clothes that belonged to the girls working in the club. You decided to take the two brothers and the woman to the back exit and you winced slightly when you saw Naoko quicken her pace, passing the wide open door to the office where her husband’s dead body lay. 

“Sanzu, we’re leaving.” Ran said, peeking inside and you could see from his profile that he wasn’t pleased with the sight he saw there. 

You said goodbye to them and watched as Rindou let the woman into the back of the car, in which they drove off in a direction known only to them. You closed the metal door and returned to the pink-haired man, who in the meantime had managed to find portable drives on which recordings from cameras placed throughout the nightclub were saved. 

“We're taking this with us and getting out of here as soon as the cleaning crew shows up.” He said to you in a calm tone, handing you the unplugged devices. 

You looked down at them and pursed your lips slightly. 

“What's wrong with you? You're not softening up, are you?” Sanzu laughed. 

“I feel like I know this Mina.” 

“This again, Y/n? We've already discussed this, honey...” He sighed, starting to get irritated. 

“I know, but it's not that.” 

“Can you explain?” 

“I feel like I've really met her before.” 

“Where and when?” 

“I don't know.” You replied after a moment, looking up at your lover's face. “I don't know how to explain it.” 

"Could you at least try?" Sanzu encouraged you in a calm tone. 

You clenched your hands around the portable drives and after a few seconds, you relaxed them slightly. “Have you ever had the feeling that some events were completely different than you remembered them?” 

“Sometimes. It depends on what you were focused on at the time. Over time, when other people tell you the events from their point of view, your memory becomes distorted.” Sanzu answered you calmly. 

“Yes, but that’s not it.” 

“Okay, so what? Are you telling me that you have two different memories related to the same event?” The man snorted in amusement. “I take drugs, and you have the effects, Y/n?” 

“I'm serious.” You frowned slightly, turning your head towards the guy tied to the chair and giving your voice seriousness. “Sometimes I get the impression that my family should be dead.” 

Your companion fell silent and you felt his watchful gaze on you. You were tempted to look at him, but you focused on the wound gaping across the man's throat. 

“What do you mean they should be dead?” 

“Exactly what that means. They should be in the cemetery with my mom.” You shook your head slightly. “It's like something is forcibly trying to replace my memories with new ones...” 

“What do you remember?” The calm, yet cold tone of Sanzu's voice caught your attention and you looked back into the gangster's bright eyes. 

“Right... They're just short snapshots, and when I try to focus on them, they disappear.” 

Haruchiyo searched your face with his watchful gaze and you could have sworn there was a glint of understanding in them, but it disappeared as quickly as it had come and the man shrugged. 

“You watch too much TV.” He said in an indifferent tone and brushed loose strands of hair from your forehead. “Don’t worry about it. Take the portable drives to the car and wait for the guys.” He stroked your cheek and kissed your other one. “I'll just browse around here for a while and join you, okay?” 

You nodded, trying to smile, but it didn’t work out so well and the man pursed his lips. 

“You’ll see, once we find this Mina, you’ll realize it’s just your imagination. You’re tired of all this chasing after your brother.” 

You sighed quietly and this time your lips stretched into a gentle smile. You leaned in slightly and kissed Haruchiyo. 

“I’m sure you’re right, thank you.” 

As soon as the metal door closed behind you and you felt a colder breeze on your face, your enthusiasm vanished. You had a feeling that standing face to face with Minako Hakugawa wouldn’t answer the questions circulating in your head but would actually create a new one. 

<PREVIOUS/NEXT>

[meraki24601]

Don't Look At Me

Whumptober day 27. Prompt: Scars

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Hero was going to give in. Villain let the tips of their fingers trace from the back of Hero’s neck where they had been holding them in place to rest under their chin. The slightest pressure was enough to raise Hero’s head, so they met Villain’s eye. They had resisted Villain’s advances for years, but now, on the roof of the tallest building in the city, they had no reason to refuse.

Villain would probably kill Hero once they were done with them. Or at least they would try. It didn’t matter anymore. Everyone Hero had lived for was dead. Would it be so bad for Hero to enjoy themselves before they joined them?

“What do you say, Hero? Let’s save the fighting for later. I’ve got a few better things in mind.” Villain smirked when Hero didn’t flinch away from their touch.

“Okay.” Hero’s voice was barely more than a whisper. They hadn’t been with anyone since they had been taken by Supervillain. Were they actually about to do this?

“Okay?” The surprised but excited look in Villain’s eye told Hero it was too late to back out. “Well, okay then. My, look at you. I’ve never seen you look so nervous. Don’t worry, sweet Hero, I’ll go slow.”

Free hand dropping to grab Hero’s belt loop, Villain pulled Hero closer until their hands automatically went up to rest on Villain’s chest. “Just breathe, Hero. I’m going to kiss you now.”

Hero wasn’t new to kissing. Yet, when Villain kissed them, it was as if they had never even thought of kissing before Villain’s lips touched theirs. Maybe they could thank the years of practice dancing and moving in time with each other as they fought for the ease with which they timed their movements with Villain’s. Strangely familiar and yet so new. Hero could feel their body relaxing as Villain took the lead. 

Until Villain’s thumb slid under Hero’s shirt, the gentlest touch brushing the skin above Hero’s waistband, sending shivers over Hero’s body. 

“Stop. Don’t.” Hero gasped as they broke free from Villain’s lips.

Villain’s smirk only grew. “It’s alright. I’ll take good care of you, Hero. Just relax”

“No.” Hero couldn’t seem to catch their breath. It was too warm in Villain’s arms. They pushed on Villain’s chest, trying to break free from their tightening grip. “Take your hands off of me. Let me go.”

“Silly Hero, I have to hold you if you want me to make it all go away.” Villain’s brow furrowed as they stared down at Hero, their gaze searching, “You do want this, don’t you? You didn’t lie to me.”

“I do. I didn’t. But…”

“Then why are you fighting me? I want to touch you. I want to see you, Hero.”

“No!” Hero threw themselves out of Villain’s arms onto the rough floor of the roof. The texture tore their arm like sandpaper, making Hero’s chest lurch at the sudden pain. The image of blood filled their vision until it was all they could see. “Don’t. Don’t look at me.”

“Hero, you need to breathe.” The words sounded far away as the taste of copper filled Hero’s mouth. Something touched their back, and Hero flinched away, tearing apart more skin. “Hero, stop.”

The startled voice faded into the background. It was like every scar on their body was glowing. The smell of burning filled Hero’s nose. Hero could see their shirt, still covering the scars across their chest and back, but they watched as the weave of the fabric seemed to loosen until the threads barely draped over them.

“In 2, 3, 4. Hold 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8. Out 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8. In 2, 3…”

“What are you doing?” Hero gasped as Villain came back into focus. 

“Don’t talk yet. Just breathe. In 2, 3, 4.” Villain’s voice was soft as they walked Hero through the breathing exercise. Despite their temporary truce, Villain could have decided to attack while Hero was helpless. They could have… They could have taken what they wanted and killed them before Hero could lift a finger.

“I can see you thinking. You think I’m evil, but I’m not that kind of Villain. I promised I would take care of you. Despite what others may say, I promise I would never hurt anyone that way. I keep my promises.” There wasn’t even the slightest hint of deceit in Villain’s words.

Suddenly tired, Hero’s eyes drifted from their enemy-turned-lover to their hands. Tiny scars covered their knuckles, just a taste of what they kept hidden. “You can’t see me, Villain. My body is, it’s, not good enough. I’m not good enough.” 

“Sweet Hero, is that what you’re worried about? That you won’t be good enough for me? Don’t let that silly little thought keep you from a good time. You don’t have to be anything but what you are.” Villain’s voice was candy, and their careful touch on Hero’s arm was everything Hero wanted but couldn’t have.

“I’m weak.” A lone tear ran down Hero’s face. “I’m not a hero. While the people I loved were dying, I was sitting in Supervillain’s prison, letting them hurt me. I’m not good enough. I have the scars to prove it. You, you can’t see them. You are my enemy, my rival. Villain, you’re all I have left. If you see how weak I am, you’ll leave me, too. And I won’t be able to stop you because you’ll be right.”

“I’ll show you mine if you’ll show me yours.” Villain’s shirt was thrown across the roof before Hero could blink. Their chest and stomach were covered in scars like Hero’s. Some of them were even Hero’s fault. “Scars are like thunder. When lightning strikes, it can be deadly. Thunder is a reminder that you survived the danger. Your scars aren’t a sign of weakness but a symbol you were strong enough to survive.”

“No, I’m not strong. They died because I wasn’t strong enough.”

“They died because someone else made the choice to kill them. You’re strong because you fought to save them despite the danger. You’re strong now because you continue on without them. You’re strong because you’re working to find happiness despite the things that scarred you.” Villain’s hand slipped into Hero’s, and they traced the scars on their knuckles. “Please, Hero, let me see how strong you’ve been. I want to teach you how beautiful you are despite the ugly things that happened in the past. Let me show you there is joy and strength enough in you to face tomorrow with your head held high.”

With tears in their eyes, Hero whispered, “Okay.” Then they slowly removed their shirt, tossing it to land next to Villain’s.

[rereisstuff]

any! doyoung au please 🫶🏻

+ with a hint of suggesting

HELL IN HEAVEN !

summary: call us the asian Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone! or just call us by our names?

pairing: musical actress!reader x musical actor!doyoung

warning: all nice and might mention my loud ass bff Dokyeom, my first time writing other thing that idol au so hERE WE FUCKING GOOOOO

“the way you don’t open your mouth to vocalize is amazing” you couldn’t contain the comment anymore, not when that man was literally singing with his mouth almost closed.

he smiled and you could hear how much extras behind you almost faint of how charming he was.

“thank you darling, i’ve trained for years” he bowed in gratitude “you sound amazing as well”.

he was too immersed in the character that his way of speaking was so gentle and warm, too charming to actual be real.

“thank you sunbaenim” he laughed when you called him that, he didn’t like honorifics and made it clear as soon as he got there but it was uncomfortable to just call him Doyoung.

“girl!” Dokyeom interrupted your defense to explain why you called him that “i’m sorry Doyoung” he excused as he literally yanked you away from that man.

“why all the cast is bitching about you and Doyoung?”you looked at your friend in disbelief.

it was the first time you could actually talk to Doyoung and Dokyeom literally interrupted to gossip.

“the director added more kiss scenes than the original play and everyone is jealous” you playfully said as you rolled your eyes, Dokyeom let a squeaky sound out.

“oh god! you have to kiss Doyoung so many times, i’m actually jealous” he whined making you laughed.

it also make someone behind you laugh, Dokyeom was supposed to be an straight guy, why he was thirsting over Doyoung then.

Doyoung had a plan after hearing your conversation and then the rehearsal started.

“excuse me!” as soon as he pulled away from the more intense kiss he talked “can we repeat the scene, i didn’t like the position of my head”.

the director agreed and soon you had Doyoung repeating every kiss scene almost two or three times, then the rehearsal was over.

“can you talk for a moment?”

you split up with your friends to follow Doyoung to his dressing room “so i have noticed you have not much of experience on kisses?”

it kinda offended you, you were a total professional and a great kisser “why you say that? you felt it?” you came closer, actually interested in feedback.

but the smirk in Doyoung’s face made you realize what he was going for.

“hey don’t get mad, i want this project to be the best of the best” he complained as he got closer as well.

“maybe if you think you’re that good…you should teach me” you took the final step and then all went silence.

just when you thought you messed up, he kissed you.

then he pulled away and you kissed him harder, all repeating in a circle.

with his hands on your waist, under your shirt he started guiding you to the sofa.

“should we take this off? are you gonna teach me?” you put your hands in his belt and he almost giggled.

“enjoy yourself”.

[mzminola]

Trying to figure out why the fandom meme that Tim is misogynistic bothers me so much, beyond my usual kneejerk response to perceived inaccuracy, and I think the key is that it feels like fandom is lying to me.

Specifically, lying about nearly all the other characters.

That I am being taunted with some theoretical Less Sexist 90′s Comics that don’t actually exist.

Sexism is one of the reasons that I never bothered to seek out superhero comics when younger. Our town didn’t have a comics shop, which sure put a damper on it, but I didn’t bother looking for collected volumes when venturing into regular bookstores, or the occasional trip out of town to places with huge bookstores. I flipped through enough and heard enough chatter to know I didn’t want to put up with the sexism. Scans Daily on Livejournal sure had plenty of supporting examples.

Reading 1990′s & early 2000′s comics now, I can confirm this was the right choice on younger me’s part. There is a lot of sexism in that era, and unlike with prose books by a singular author, it’s much harder to ditch wholesale. I’ve got a lot more analytical reading under my belt now, so it’s easier to roll my eyes at the bullshit and focus on what is enjoyable than it used to be. From the later 2010′s comics I found at the library, things are improving, though still stumbling.

So yeah, Tim does sometimes say sexist crap. But as I devour comic after comic, so far, he isn’t saying or doing anything more sexist, more frequently, than any other character, including the gals. It’s almost like it’s a writing problem, not a character problem.

As far as I can tell, from what I’ve read, which includes all of Batgirl 2000, Young Justice 1998, and nearly half of Robin 1993, Tim is less sexist than the adult men he’s surrounded by, and no few of his fellow teenage boy heroes.

Maybe I’m missing something! But gender doesn’t seem to come into his treatment of Gotham vigilantes and YJ teammates? The most it comes up with his civilian peers is that, typical for the time period, girls are treated by the narrative & characters as potential romantic options and boys aren’t? Tim talks to Callie the same way he talks to Ives & Hudman? He and Ariana both make relationship mistakes, but in ways that are pretty normal for a 13-14 year old’s first romance?

So when the fandom keeps making ‘misogyny’ Tim’s distinguishing traits from the other Bats, or other YJ members or Titans, it implies that reading comics focused on other characters would have less sexism, but when I do read other comics, that’s not fucking TRUE.

Where are these magical less sexist Bat comics?

Who are these heroes fandom claims are less misogynistic?

Because it’s not Nightwing. It’s not anything Bruce takes center stage in. Barbara is fine in Batgirl 2000, but in other comics she’s written as cattily jealous and tears into other women. It’s not Stephanie, as we saw with Batgirl 2009′s treatment of Jordanna Spence.

Batgirl 2000 does pretty good, but that’s the only one I can think of, and fandom singling out Tim makes it sound like it should be all of the others.

Fandom likes to say Jason drinks his Respect Women Juice, but when I read Under the Red Hood and Lost Days, they felt about the same level as Tim’s comics. And I keep seeing examples from Jason’s Robin days of him admiring women or learning from them or teaming up, but I also get that from Tim’s comics.

Before he even had a long running solo, Tim’s Robin mini’s got a crossover with Huntress, in which he respects both her skills and her secrets, and argues with her about as much as he does with Bruce. Tim supports Cassie winning leadership of Young Justice, he supports Cissie’s decision to do what she felt was most responsible. He apologizes for avoiding Cass after finding her intimidating and goes on to work well with her.

I like Tim. I’m mostly enjoying his comics. They’ve got less sexism than I expected of the era they’re written in.

And I hate that fandom’s running meme about him makes it feel like everyone else is making a joke at my expense.

[vampsickle]

go to sleep. ☆ ( vendetta ) leon s. kennedy

☆ tags - no plot kinda, rough sex, v!leon is so sexy :(, degradation if u squint?, fem! reader, unprotected, very very slight dub-con.

☆ wc - 1.7k

☆ a/n - uggghhhh this came from the dark parts of my brain bc i think vendetta leon is a hot piece of ass i love mean (fictional) men☹️☹️☹️☹️

☆ synopsis - you’re partnered up with your superior, leon, for a mission. when you can’t sleep that night, leon decides to help you.

Being a D.S.O agent was not fun. In fact, it was exhausting. Especially when you basically work with a man who could be your father, is terribly moody, and is constantly pushing you to the side. As rude as Leon was, how his eyebrows furrowed in annoyance whenever you spoke to him, you couldn’t deny that you found him incredibly attractive. You constantly were at his side, hugging files to your chest, attempting to make small talk— Yet all he’d do is nod or mumble in response. Honestly, you just wanted to get to know him better, or at least bring some of his walls down so you could actually work with him.

The two of you had been assigned to a new mission, in a country you had never heard the name of, and you’d both be sharing a hotel room. Leon scoffed when he learned that, but it’s his job to save people, so sleeping in a hotel room with you for a night would be fine. I mean, better you than some other random rookie. 

The plane ride was hell, your back ached after, and you sulked to the door of your room. Leon was right behind you, carrying a small duffel bag, his piercing blue eyes carefully watching you. A relieved sigh passes through your lips, and you fall backwards onto the plush bed, eyes fluttering shut for a few moments. 

There’s only one bed. Part of you is giddy that there’s one bed. Maybe Leon will enjoy your presence then. 

“Shit. One bed?”

“Leon, it’s like— one in the morning. Having to sleep in a bed with someone isn’t going to ruin your life.”

Leon clicks his tongue in response, his eyes narrowing, but he flops onto a chair, crossing one leg over the other. You huff, sitting back up and rubbing your eyes. You knew your body was tired but you didn’t feel tired. Maybe a hot shower would help.

“Mind if I shower?”

“Why are you asking me?”

You roll your eyes at that familiar attitude of his, kicking your boots off, and slamming the bathroom door shut behind you. He’s a pain in the ass, you think. Of course, years of government work is going to mess someone up, but the least he could do is pretend to be nice. Especially since the both of you will be working together on this mission.

Once the hot water hits your skin you sigh, tilting your head back so it can run through your locks, running your hands over your bare body. Is it weird to be thinking of Leon while you shower? No.. He’s so handsome, anyone would think of him. So, it’s not weird, right? 

Water pools at your feet when you step out of the shower, beads rolling down your face to your chest, but you gently dry yourself off with the scratchy towel the hotel has offered. You grab the long pajama shirt and your lace underwear you brought in the bathroom and put them on, then you continue drying your hair off. After about thirty minutes it went from sopping wet to barely damp, and your arms were so sore from moving them for that long, but you finally stepped out of the bathroom.

“Jesus.. Took you long enough.”

“I don’t want to hear it,” you turn off the lights in the room, practically diving under the covers, and curling up like a bug to get comfy. “If you aren’t gonna sleep in the bed then you can stay on the floor or something.”

You hear Leon sigh, then shuffling around, the sound of his belt being unbuckled makes your stomach coil. You bury your face into the pillow, jumping slightly when Leon’s suddenly on the bed, facing your backside. Now you can’t sleep.

It’s been nearly forty minutes of you tossing and turning, so Leon puts one rough hand on your hip, his breath hot on your ear.

“What—“

“Stop moving.”

“I— I can’t sleep..”

Leon says nothing, and you feel nervous in your own skin, his nails digging into your hip. You squeak in protest, but Leon huffs, pulling you flush against him.

“I’ll help you sleep, then.”

You don’t respond, raising one eyebrow in question, not like he could see you. But your question is answered when he sits up just enough to lean over you and press a rough kiss to your lips. Oh. So that’s how he’ll help. You both have to get up early tomorrow, so you at least hope you won’t be sore, because that’d be a pain in the ass. 

Leon bites down on your bottom lip as to pull you away from your thoughts, and you whimper in response, which makes him smirk. What an asshole. His tongue slithers into your mouth, pressing against your muscle, exploring the cavern that is your mouth. Your hand pushes against his bare chest, which is surprisingly soft, he probably shaves his chest. When he pulls away a trail of saliva follows, and he wipes it away, swiping his thumb over your swollen bottom lip.

“Ugh.. You’re awful…”

Even in the darkness, your eyes have adjusted, and you can clearly see the frown settled on Leon’s face. He grabs your face, squeezing til it hurts, and you mewl softly. 

“I’m gonna fuck that attitude out of you.”

He lets you go, shoving his hand under your shirt, squeezing your breast roughly. He’s not messing around, clearly. Even if he’s mean, it makes you wet, borderline giddy at the thought of him having his way with you. 

“Take your shirt and underwear off.”

“Can’t you do it for me?”

“I won’t repeat myself.”

He won’t. His command takes a moment to process in your head, so you move away from him and sit up, tugging your shirt up and over your head. Your pink buds stiffen when the cool air his them, and your thighs feel sticky and wet. Tentatively, you pull down your underwear, kicking them off onto the floor.

“Lay back, and spread your legs for me.”

For Leon, it’s easy to give orders, as his commands fall effortlessly from his lips. You swallow, mouth feeling suddenly dry, and lean back onto the thick pillow, slowly opening your legs. He whispers curses to himself, running two fingers up and down your wet folds, barely pushing the tips inside.

“Fuck.. I knew you wanted me.”

“Shut— Shut up.. I thought you—“ but Leon won’t allow that attitude of yours any longer, plunging both fingers inside your dripping entrance, and it makes your back arch. You moan, embarrassed at how easily his fingers slipped inside you, and Leon loved it. The moonlight peeks in through the window, which then lit up Leon’s face, and you can see the lust swirling within his eyes. 

He continues to pump his fingers in and out, testing the waters, seeing what you like. He’s going to remember all of this. And you’ll remember all of him as well. Before you can cum, Leon pulls out of you, and you whine.

He shoves those fingers into your mouth, nearly making you gag, but you breathe in deeply through your nose, allowing him to explore.

“Atta girl..” his voice became somewhat husky, and he shoves his pajama pants down to the floor, along with his boxers. He can’t wait anymore. He needs you right now.

Leon grabs your thighs and flips you over, something you weren’t expecting, and your face is shoved into the pillow. Your eyes widen when you feel the tip of his cock rubbing against your slit, teasing your entrance, and you keen, toes curling.

“Wait— Wait, aren’t you- Gonna put a condom on?”

He chuckles darkly, squeezing your ass, spreading you open.

“Don’t act so innocent.. You know you want my cum inside you, slut.”

His words make you blush, you feel shameful because of it, attempting to protest— But what is there to say? As much as you don’t want to admit it, you do want it. 

“I’m not.. I’m not a-“

But Leon hates it when you try and quip back, you should learn to be quiet and agree, so he bottoms out immediately. You cry out, walls fluttering around him, your chest heaving. He starts out with a brutal pace, and you wonder where he has the energy to do that, but Leon’s so fucking big that he’s already reaching your cervix, and you’re seeing stars.

You repeatedly cry his name, tears flooding your vision, so you squeeze your eyes shut and let them roll down your flushed cheeks. You can hear Leon softly moaning and grunting behind you, the obscene squelching makes you moan even louder, trying to block the noises out. This is so embarrassing, being fucked by your superior, but you wanted this. You can’t lie to yourself anymore. Day and night you’ve thought of him.

“Fuuuck.. Look at you— Moaning like a little slut. I knew— I knew you’d feel good,” he curses some more under his breath, grabbing your wrists and pulling you back so he could reach even deeper inside you. You’re sobbing, all you can feel is Leon, he’s all you can think about. Before you realize it, you’re cumming all over his cock, walls spasming around him.

“Shit—! Don’t do that,” Leon groans, throwing his head back, and his thrusts become sloppier, desperate. He lets go of your wrists and shoves your face into the pillow and you can hardly breathe, and he won’t stop fucking his cock into you. He finally cums inside you, it’s so fucking deep, and you thank god you took your birth control. It’s so much, so much that it runs down your quivering thighs, and you think about how pent up Leon must’ve been.

He pulls out of you, your bottom half flopping over on the bed, and you try to catch your breath. Leon gives a couple reassuring squeezes to your ass, which makes you smile slightly, and your eyes suddenly feel heavy. Your mind can hardly register it, but you feel Leon wipe away all the cum that was running down your thighs, and he lifts your chin up.

“Open.”

You open your mouth for him, and Leon knows he has you where he wants you. Being good for him and listening. His fingers slowly slide into your warm, wet mouth, and you lick all his cum off, swallowing slowly.

“Mm.. Night, Leon..”

Leon sits on the edge of the bed, reaching down to grab his boxers, but you’re already half-asleep, and in no time you’re fully asleep. He quietly lifts up the blanket and pulls it over your bare body, moving some hair behind your ear. 

“You fall asleep fast..” he whispers to, well, himself really. Now he’s sleepy, maybe not as tired as you, but tired enough that he’ll be able to fall asleep fast. Maybe you both can do this again.

[mdhwrites]

My Adventures With Superman Episode 4 Review: Dates to Remember

So short, non-spoilery version as always: While the setup was a little frustrating to me as I found it never really paid off on its own thread, setups are used to get you into the concept of the episode and WHAT A CONCEPT. From great outfits for everyone, a villain DRIPPING with symbolism that makes him an amazing modern adaptation to sweet moments between Lois and Clark, alongside a cliffhanger that promises this show is still moving FAST... It’s a lot but it’s good and it’s already paying off some elements of past elements. So yeah, real good. Spoilers beyond the break.

======

+++++

======

So I think after my last episode review, it’s worthwhile to start this one with the fact that I CALLED IT! Kind of. I talked about in my last blog that Lois has always had influences on her, people in her life, who were too self interested and would do anything for their own gain and that that’s rubbed off on her. Even in this episode, she reinforces why because she can’t imagine Superman only wanting to help.

She could only believe it with Clark. Which would be great just for shipping, and MMM this episode was tasty for a Clois shipper like me, but it also says a LOT. Especially in conjunction with the previous episodes. After all, Clark broke her expectations. Forced her to have to re-evaluate. It took an entire day to prove that though and for her to be genuinely making a mistake. She isn’t going to believe that someone who has only dodged her questions could be the same type of honest.

And that makes both the talk on the stairwell and the ending just all the more tragic. Her own father never opened up enough to her to keep her informed, which probably explains her desire for answers now and what led her to journalism, and now Clark has been lying to her too. I think rightfully so, Clark has his reasons, but hearing explicitly that her parent, only parent after her mom died, was closed off to her... It’s not surprising that Lois is so desperate, especially after likely feeling like she’s been stuck in a rut for a year and now seeing escape from that hole being within grasp.

Which yeah... That cliffhanger, huh? I expect a lot of “So say you had a best friend” questions from Lois in the next episode as her desires tell her to publish her findings immediately and to scream at Clark but also knowing that everything she likes about him is exactly how she found out about this in the first place and what that means for Supes’ motivations. With the pace the show is setting, I expect her to confront Clark by the end of the next episode, or for her to decide that she’ll cover Superman but let Clark tell her when he’s ready, though I think the first one is MUCH more in character for her.

But I do want to back up and say how I do love that Clark’s own worries are what do him in. Lois would likely have found the story of the flying boy interesting but never considered Clark if not for him tearing the page out. She might not have even thought it was worth really paying attention to now that she has a big story under her belt (hopefully). But then his sweetness by offering her his jacket, and letting her keep it until she’s home so she has it for warmth the whole night (she needed to get home eventually after all and they’re interns: They don’t have cars) did him in.

It is, to put it mildly, EXTREMELY satisfying setup and payoff. Which... Also brings me to kind of my one criticism of the episode really: I wish the journalism stuff went anywhere, especially since it looked like it was going to. After all, you can’t be purely hostile at an event like this. A press conference or the like? Sure, maybe, but here? People aren’t looking to be interrogated, they’re looking to mingle and enjoy the night so you need to get in before letting them know you’re a reporter and asking for a couple questions. That way you have a repertoire and the person can nod and go “Yeah, alright. You have to do your job after all.”

And Jimmy was PERFECTLY setup for that with him getting mistaken for a photographer, especially with a young girl being with the older gentleman meaning that he could get their assignment actually done by gossiping about the girl’s prospects and her enthusiasm bringing in others to get more and more info and thoughts. Maybe even stuff they shouldn’t say but are because they’re in a relaxed state.

And... None of that happened. Instead, we get kind of painful, aggressive journalism that makes Lois look like a college kid with no tact. That’s in character, she has only been an intern for a year and clearly no one has been respecting her until now (which boy there’s a lot to be said there) so she’s going to lean on how she was as a college student and gumption but knowing when to hold back is good.

Not that our villain of the day would ever believe in holding back. Not when he needs your adoration or what is the point? Which... combined with his parasite suit, I LOVE this modern adaptation. Tech Bro assholes like Musk rely a lot on actual inventors and the like while they invest and hope what they invest in is actually good, or at least can make headlines to drive stock value up (Oh boy have I heard so many reports on how shit as cars Teslas are and that’s without the software failures. That’s just from a basic hardware level.) So a villain who requires you to play into his game, who needs your energy and power in order to beat you?

I thought that was frankly pitch perfect. The fact that he’s using stolen tech that his own scientists have been working on, not him, only made it all the better to me. Is it maybe a bit pointed? I’d argue no. It’s a comic book series. Larger than life villains are a part of it and they do still play him right to explain why people like him because of the public persona he puts on. At least, until his rage from failure takes over and he becomes desperate and lashes out.

Which, I mean, we’ve NEVER seen tech bros do anything like that when things aren’t going their way, have we?

The last thing I want to touch on is Jimmy and specifically him being a third wheel. In the first two episodes, it looked like he might be okay with that. That he was all wingman for his two besties. But... Also Lois wasn’t a bestie by then. That only really happened by the end of the second episode when she was willing to support him. So before then, he’s just trying to give his single best friend a boost to get the girl he likes.

But like... Jimmy isn’t exactly the sort of person who makes a lot of friends. He’s a bit too loud, a bit too weird in his interests, a little too enthusiastic. I could easily seeing most people call him exhausting above anything else. Worse yet, he is willing to override conversations with his conspiracies so while he can function, in a relaxed environment a lot of people would probably walk on eggshells trying to avoid anything that can circle back to aliens.

And now he’s spent an entire episode constantly getting ditched by his best friends while constantly trying to include them because Jimmy IS a good friend. He might have odd interests but you’d probably have no one more loyal than him as a friend and those bonds seem to matter to him. So while he’s probably happy to see them happy...

Well, I understand why he felt so cold watching them walk away, just like Lois probably does about Clark keeping secrets. Me though? I’m just excited to see where this is going because frankly, if this is episode four, and we have two full seasons already cleared (can anyone more familiar tell me how long a Cartoon Network season is btw since different networks have different definitions?)... I’m just curious how high this show will fly.

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Personal note: I use ======+++++====== as a page break in my stories and it makes me happy to be able to use it in my blogs as well. I don’t use it for the cut to promotion btw because... I don’t know actually. Changing that starting today I guess. It is why I’ve always used equal signs though for it. Anyways:

I have a public Discord for any and all who want to join!

I also have an Amazon page for all of my original works in various forms of character focused romances from cute, teenage romance to erotica series of my past. I have an Ao3 for my fanfiction projects as well if that catches your fancy instead, If you want to hang out with me, I stream from time to time and love to chat with chat.

And finally a Twitter you can follow too!

[bratshaws]

goodness gracious 60. brb x oc

a/n: well, we hit chapter 60. I want to thank everyone for reading since this is the end-- SIKE! SIKE!! ARE YOU GUYS READY FOR THE NEXT CHAPTERS??? CAUSE IM NOT AND IM WRITING THEM!!! anyway love you guys, this fic wouldn't have gotten this FAR WITHOUT YOUR SUPPORT <333 (rooster's outfit is based off THAT one that miles wore, you know the one YOU KNOW THE ONE)

check out the fic's playlist made by the sweet @wiipes !!

pairing: plus size!oc x rooster

warnings: Fluff, everyone getting drunk and playing dnd on new years eve, why not.

chapters:

1/2/3/4/5/6/7/8/9/10/11/12/13/14/15/16/17/18/19/20/21/22/23/24/25/26/27/28/29/30/31/32/33/34/35/36/37/38/39/40/41/42/43/44

45/46/47/48/49/50/51/52/53/54/55/56/57/58/59

(pls let me know if you want to be added to the taglist!!)

taglist: @mirandastuckinthe80s @roosterschanelslut @wiipes @lcahwriter @shrimping-for-all @gretagerwigsmuse @frenchtoastix

@lizzie-rdj @fanboyluvr @atarmychick007 @comebacktoearthpls

@peachiicherries @mak-32 @lizziespidiepridie @roosterswifey @ollyoxenfrees @piceous21 @sqrlgrl22 @hofficoffi @lexhalstead3 

@lorilane33 @legendarydreamersharkparty @luckyladycreator2 @emilybradshaw @j-6o @louisahale @leobabbyyy @kulicny @winter-run @ktjmac @graciereads 

-

December 31st, the day of her NYE party and she was nervous. She rushed all around her house to see if everything was right, if she had enough snacks  and if she set up the golden decorations just right. She still had her Christmas decor around, she wasn’t going to do it yet since officially Christmas time would end on January 6…which was also the day they’d visit Bradley’s mother so maybe she had to clean everything a bit sooner.

She also prepared a little hut for Jolene under the stairs, the city hasn’t been using noisy fireworks during the holidays for a while, which she was thankful for but she still prepared it either way knowing that at least if there was noise Jolene would be safe and warm with all her toys close by.

The ones who confirmed they were coming were literally all of the pilots and the girls, so she decided to keep her double glass doors open and place some seats outside, even getting a portable fire pit if people got cold since it was winter.

Beatrice looked around one more time, holding both of her hands up and then running back to check the places she already checked, not seeing Rooster walk out of the bathroom wearing only a towel around his waist and leaning on the top railing with a small smile, “Baby.” he calls, making Beatrice immediately stop whole rearranging her couch’s pillows - oh the memories that brought her - “Everything looks great, plus there’s still a little time until they get here.”

The brunette slowly lowers the colorful pillows upon recognition that he was actually right, there wasn’t much for her to do anymore, everything was set as it should be. She then wrings her hands together, still looking at her living room and open backyard door where Jolene was currently lying on the small patch of grass, enjoying the last rays of sunlight, “...okay.” she mutters, running her hands down her outfit: a fuzzy white top and a black sequined skirt with her black combat boots on her feet, making sure everything was right with her.

She turns to face Rooster again, seeing he went back inside the bathroom since he was no longer leaning on the railing, so she made her way up the stairs, “I just want everything to go okay.” she announces as she walks into the bathroom, watching him pull his light colored pants up his legs and cover the dark colored briefs he preferred, his upper half bare for her hungry eyes to see, “And I want everyone to have fun too.”

Rooster looked over his shoulder as he buckled his belt, smiling at her, “Everyone will, baby. Don’t get too into your head, can you pass me my shirt?” She grabs the folded top on the sink, smiling when she notices it was one of the shirts he got for Christmas, a white shirt with yellow flowers that looked amazing on him already. He buttoned it halfway to his chest, fixed the collar then ran his fingers through his hair, noticing her eyes still on him by checking on the mirror, “How do I look?” 

“You look amazing.” she says, stepping closer to brush his shoulders and then fix his collar one more time, “How do I look?”

“Like a dream come true.” he says easily, her cheeks immediately turning red but a smile spread over her face. She gently pecks him in thanks, stepping back to walk out of the bathroom with him following her down the stairs. Beatrice looks around one more time as if she’s trying to find anything out of place but she just sighs with a quiet nod to herself that everything that had to be there was there. 

Rooster steps closer from behind, wrapping his arms around her waist and propping his chin on the curve of her shoulder, “Don’t be nervous.” he coos, kissing her jawline sweetly when she still looked worried, “Everyone will love what you made. Especially the boozed up cupcakes.” she chuckles weakly at his comment, leaning back against his chest with her lower lip between her teeth “You are a great hostess.”

She smiles a bit more, thankful for his encouragement and lifting a hand to gently brush his cheek, “I hope so. I really want everyone to have fun, Roos. It’s my first NYE party. I know I don’t have a lot of space but there’s the backyard if they want to go out and–” she turns to face her boyfriend, who just smiles amusedly at her rambling, “...I shouldn’t worry about that. Right?” he nods, kissing her cheek soundly before he unwraps his arms from around her waist, giving her butt a love tap while he steps back.

Beatrice follows him when he walks into the kitchen to get a glass of water, clenching her hands at her sides so she doesn’t check the fridge again, choosing to tuck them underneath her arms and lean her lower back on her sink counter, tapping her boot’s heel on the tiled floor repeatedly, the dull thudding of the rubber sole giving her a bit of the distraction.

Rooster lowers the glass once he quenches his thirst, mirroring her position by pressing his lower back against the counter as well, then placing a huge hand on her thigh to stop her anxious leg, “Babe.” she sighs, nodding because she knew what he was going to say, just placing her temple on the curve of his shoulder and inhaling the delicious scent of his cologne.

“I know, I’m still overthinking.” she mutters, playing with her thumb ring out of habit, “I need to calm down.” she straightens herself, flapping her hands as if she’s trying to get rid of the nerves, then rolling her neck and shoulders and doing the breathing technique her therapist taught her. Rooster watched with a little smile, sliding his hands in his pants’ pockets as his girlfriend gave herself a pep talk only to turn around to face him, ‘Everything will be just fine.”

“It will.”

“And I don’t have to worry so much.”

“You don’t.”

She nods with finality, placing her hands on her hips since she’s proud of her little accomplishment with a little smile on her face, ���Yeah,I don’t.” she then goes back to lean next to him against the counter, looking at the golden and silver garlands he helped her glue to the wall since she was too short to reach that high.

They stay there staring at the decorations in silence, Beatrice’s mind going from worrying about the party to thinking that she’d end this year with a boyfriend who loved her so much and wanted to move in with her. Not only that but she made a ton of new friends, reconnected with her friends from college and managed to work through some of her demons in the process.

She didn’t know what the next year had planned for the two of them, but she knew she was ready for whatever would be thrown their way.

-

“It’s the Piña Colada song?” Carmen asks as Eliza gives her a wide eyed disbelieved stare and waves her hands negatively, repositioning herself and then gesturing even harder with her arms, “...that looks like a jar of something Liz.” 

Everyone arrived pretty much on time, Beatrice had a huge smile when she saw Evelyn and Jake coming together, one her friend tried to ignore even if her own smile couldn’t be helped. Between chatting and having snacks, they started suggesting some games and activities to pass the time. The ‘guess the song’ was suggested by Jennifer who said they used to do that back in college, so they all wrote song names on strips of paper, tossed them in a bowl and then someone would grab it and have to mimic the whole gang.

Some people chose to stay on the couch, others were sitting on the floor trying so hard to figure out what song it was. Rooster was sitting on the edge of the couch, drinking a beer as Beatrice stood nearby, watching the whole commotion from behind the couch and close to the kitchen, thinking if they needed anything she could go there, “Hey.” She looks down when she sees Rooster’s head leaning towards her, then his arm gesturing to her closer, “C’mere.”

She smiles softly but does approach him, grabbing his hand and laughing when he adjusts himself so she sits on his lap, her legs hovering above the floor as she watches their friends play together. Rooster pressed a kiss to the top of her head, “Listen Miss Hostess, I know you want to do a good job but you can’t stay looming around waiting for someone to need your help.” he chuckles, holding her with one arm as they watch Eliza get more and more desperate because no one is figuring out, “It’s your party, baby. Everyone is here to enjoy it and that includes you.”

“I know.” she says while playing with the buttons on his shirt, “You are right, I should just relax and let things go.” he hums positively, pulling her closer to himself. Payback finally finds out it was actually the Stupid Cupid song, much for everyone’s dismay and suprise, with Shells being vocal about ‘how the fuck was that a cupid??’ Beatrice and Bradley don’t join the game, not this one at least, preferring to watch their friends have fun.

Plus, it was really sweet to see them all having a good time together. Beatrice also tries to relax and not worry if someone needs anything, especially since she made sure to set everything on the kitchen table so they could serve themselves. Everyone was mostly drinking beer, with the exception of Evelyn, Bob and Coyote who would be the designated drivers for the night.

Beatrice preferred to not drink yet, after all she wanted to enjoy the first hours of the 31st partially sober. And on Rooster's lap obviously. Her boyfriend sipped his own beer slowly, while rubbing his hand on the side of her thigh in a back and forth motion.

A few more music charades happened, then they decided to go to movies and series, which now only made the game even more intense than before. Shells’ competitive spirit went against Jake’s in a back and forth duel of absolute no words, both blondes deciding either of them would be the winner in that and everytime Shells won she’d just shove it on Jake’s face as if they were in middle school.

It was hilarious because soon enough it was a back and forth between them more than a group activity and Evelyn remained neutral for both. Beatrice chuckled quietly, only looking away when she slid out of Rooster’s lap - with some difficulty since he didn’t want to let her go - to go into the kitchen to get something for herself. She disappears inside her small kitchen for a few seconds, hearing the constant chatter and laughing coming from her living room with a smile on her face.

What a weird year, in a good way, this was. She moved out of her parents home, got a place for herself, is currently dating her crush and would move in with him as soon as possible. Her smile widened even more, bringing the glass of sparkly lemonade to her lips with her eyes closing, thanking whatever deity made it possible for this whole thing to happen. She returns to the living room to find that now they were no longer playing charades and that Shells and Jake were on timeout for being too intense.

And that was when Evelyn brought up something “We should play DnD.” she says with a smile that makes everyone turn to look at her. Fanboy’s eyes lit up, immediately saying yes while everyone was uneasy since they never played it but the young pilot let everyone know it’d be really fun. Evelyn, somehow, managed to pull character sheets from inside her jacket and she handed one for everyone, “Thankfully I always have those handy.” Beatrice was thankful that Evelyn suggested that as an activity weeks ago, thinking that it’d definitely be fun.

“And of course, I have yours.” she handed all the girls their own character sheets, even Shells’ who got hers with a frown on her face. Beatrice sits down next to Rooster when he stares at the piece of paper, furrowing his eyebrows as he reads everything.

“You need help?” he chuckles but nods, so Beatrice explains everything in the character sheet, including the races he could use to create his own character. 

“What’s your character like?” 

Beatrice grins, pulling out her character sheet for him to see, where a picture was glued to the corner, ”Her name is Maeve Tallstag, a ranger with an unknown past that travels alone until she meets the Guild of None.” she gestures to the other girls, “Her only goal is to protect and isn’t afraid of dying protecting those she loves.” she finishes it with a flair of her hand, grinning down at him who still looks just a bit confused.

“..I might need some help with this.” he laughs nervously, scratching his jawline and seeing that everyone else was excitedly making their characters already.

“That’s why you got me.” she says, holding his hand and sitting next to him on the couch after grabbing a pen, “Let’s make some stuff up.”

It takes a few minutes but all of them have their character sheets complete, Evelyn is still the DM and she brings out the dice she had - while using an app on her phone if they needed more help. It was obvious the pilots, with the exception of Fanboy, had never played Dungeons and Dragons, but they were all very excited to. They surrounded Beatrice’s coffee table the best they could, they had no figures to use but that didn’t mean they couldn’t make it up.

It’d be an easy campaign so everyone could figure out what to do. Beatrice was actually really proud of Rooster’s character: a dragonborn paladin with lawful neutral tendencies that was currently on the hunt for an unknown killer and would join the Guild of None in hopes they’d help him. Evelyn clapped her hands once, “Our adventurers have met in the most unseemly circumstances.” she narrates, her voice carrying a weight of fantasy that embedded them all in the campaign without even trying too hard.

Beatrice couldn’t help smiling seeing everyone get into it, Phoenix’s half elf bard arguing with Hangman’s human gladiator outside a tavern where Eliza’s gnome artificer was currently exploding from the inside was hilarious, even more when Payback’s orc monk’s meditation was interrupted by the constant arguing.

She never thought they’d get so into it, especially Rooster who got the hang of the whole thing quite quickly, loving that he could be someone else completely when playing. They went on it for a while, honestly Beatrice only broke away from the campaign to bring everyone’s snacks and chuckling to herself every time any of them managed to get a good dice roll.

Shells’ dwarf sorcerer somehow almost died twice, Fanboy’s orc swashbuckler seduced the main dragon lords of a dungeon and Carmen’s blind Goliath sorcerer set half of a castle on fire. So it was going really well! This wasn’t a serious campaign, it was just a fun time with friends who were enjoying the last day of the year together.

Beatrice couldn’t be more thankful, never she thought they’d spend the 31st of December playing DnD while drinking beer and eating boozed up cupcakes. It was so fun, honestly it was the best fun she had in a while. She felt she accomplished so much in these past months, there’s still a lot to be done but she couldn’t deny and say she didn’t do a good job. 

Besides, having someone like Bradley as her biggest supporter was definitely helping. 

Soon enough the campaign was no longer making sense, everyone chose to have more fun than to follow the rules and it became a chaotic mess of storylines that somehow made sense. They were talking and laughing so much they couldn’t hear the subtle popping of fireworks in the distance, only noticing something was going on when Jolene hurried to her little burrowing under the stairs, nuzzling her sock monkey.

The colorful lights of the fireworks were shining through the windows and they could hear other people welcoming the New Year in the distance. Bradley rose to his feet after Beatrice did, rushing to the fridge to grab the bottle of champagne while she grabbed the glasses. She handed each one of them a glass as her boyfriend rushed to the double doors with his arms aimed to the outside, jutting his thumbs underneath the cork, biting his lip as it slowly,slowly slid upwards until it popped loudly.

She was smiling so wide at everyone cheering and having a good time, and possibly getting just a bit drunk already, but she was so happy. Everything was going great, the fireworks were thankfully not as noisy as she thought they’d be but Jolene was still inside her little burrow - except now she was peacefully asleep - , her friends still wanted to continue the games but this time they chose they could play cards which was fine, they all had fun playing dnd after all.

“Does anyone here know how to play poker?” Payback asks while flipping the cards in his hands, “Because I do, and as you know I am very good at it.”

“Just no high bets please,” Fanboy groans, “My bank account is still sore from last time.”

“No promises.” They return to sit on her coffee table and Beatrice blinks confusedly, leaning closer to Rooster as they all take their places.

“I never played poker before,” she tells her boyfriend in a quiet whisper and he smiles down at her, placing one of his large hands on the bare expanse of her thigh comfortingly.

“Don’t worry, gorgeous.” he whispers back, kissing her cheek, “That’s why you got me.” and he finishes with a little wink that makes the butterflies inside of her heart flutter wildly once more. Her nonna said before that she always got butterflies whenever her nonno did anything for her and now Beatrice understood what that meant. He made sure to explain everything to her, all the while sitting close enough so their thighs would touch as he showed her what each card did.

After a short, but very thorough explanation of what poker was all about, both her and Rooster joined in the circle, Phoenix decided not to join and said that Halo would play for her since she was going to make a call. No one said anything, but Beatrice had a very sharp feeling that she was going to call Umberto and wish him a happy New Year as well. Beatrice got her cards, holding them close to her face so no one would see besides her and Rooster, even turning to look at her boyfriend to check if it was a good hand.

He moved his head diminutively, but adjusted himself to a better sitting position so no one would see the movement. The ‘chips’ used were actually some of the wheat crackers they were chewing earlier that night with the charcuterie board. Beatrice only watched as everyone seemed to go silent after a while, still holding her cards up because if she had a good hand no one would be able to see it.

She was a bit hesitant during the first seconds, even with Rooster’s encouragement, about doing anything. She had some of the thin biscuits as a bet, one on top of the other like a pile of actual poker chips but she just avoided betting for a while. When she finally did, it was blurted out and unplanned, shocking even Rooster who laughed softly by her side, but didn’t stop her from doing so. Like the DnD campaign, it was all in good fun and she shouldn’t worry if she did something wrong.

What Beatrice didn’t figure out however, because Bradley chose to leave that information out, was that she somehow got herself a royal flush after a few seconds of playing. Only watching from the side as the others gave up, one by one, leaving Payback and Beatrice as the last ones, “So, Bea, what do you have? Because I have,” he spread the cards on the table like a fan, “A full house.”

“Oh, um…” she looks back at her cards, then places it on the table just like he did, “I have these. It’s a…” she turns to Rooster to check, “A royal flush?” The table goes immediately silent, with Coyote wheezing out a laugh so hard he had to excuse himself before he peed his pants. Payback’s eyes were so wide, he was shocked, even leaning over the table to check the cards himself before he flops back down absolutely appalled. 

Beatrice just blinks back at Rooster, who has the proudest smile on his face, “Congratulations angel, you won your very first poker round.” she gasps in surprise, covering her mouth with both hands and then looking back at Payback with an apologetic look, “No,no, don’t apologize to him, he always wins. It's nice to see him get humbled.”

“Beginner’s luck I guess.” she chuckles sweetly, bringing her ‘winnings’ over to her side. But that doesn’t stop them from continuing, now that Bea got the hang of it, she felt like playing a bit more with everyone else. Then poker turned into Cards Against Humanity, then to a very drunk game of ‘rock paper scissors water fire earth master of air’ with half of them not even knowing what was even going on anymore.

By the time they decided to leave it was nearing four in the morning and Evelyn was partially carrying Jake while Coyote carried both Fanboy and Phoenix and Bob carrying Shells’ last, Payback and Halo were the least drunk of them all. “Thanks for the night Bumblebeaaaaa!!!” Shells shouts, earning a hard ‘ssh!” from Evelyn, “Ah, fuck off it’s the New Year!! I can SHOUT!”

“Sugarplum, you don’t have to be so loud.”

“But you like when I’m loud, sweetie pie.” Beatrice could only watch everyone almost fall into a deep sleep once inside the cars, with Fanboy’s head hitting the glass on the passenger seat, his lip dragging upwards as he snored loud enough that they could hear. Both her and Rooster waved everyone goodbye, with the brunette shouting for them to drive safely.

She was a bit buzzed, she couldn’t lie, champagne and beer does that to you. Her cheeks were flushed a pinkish red and she hummed while leaning against Rooster’s chest, “That was…” she was slurring just a bit too, “Really fun.” the pilot behind her smirked, wrapping his arms around her waist, “‘Cause everyone had fun.”

“We all did, gorgeous.” even Bradley’s high alcohol tolerance couldn’t prevent him from dragging his own words a bit, his shirt was partially open because he felt warm by the time everyone was going home. He watches Beatrice lock the door with some difficulty, letting out a shout of triumph when she does, tossing her hands up in the air and almost losing her balance only for him to grab her before she falls. Both of them laugh drunkenly, the brunette running a hand up her hair to comb back the wild tresses.

“Best!! New Years! Ever!” she pauses, “I don’t wanna clean everything now– is Jolene okay?” her drunken ramblings were just as cute as her sober ones, slowly making her way to check her dog who was still sleeping peacefully, “She’s asleep so,ssshh!” Beatrice giggles quietly, her unfocused eyes turning to a flushed face Rooster, “You look very red, sir.”

Bradley was too drunk to be turned on by the honorific she just tossed his way, “I’m drunk.” he laughs, “I think I drank…four- no, five glasses of champagne.” add that to a random amount of beer and it definitely made him more buzzed than normal. But he didn’t mind.

“...you know, I’m going to tell you something I think we’ll both be too drunk to remember tomorrow.” she says, wobbling her index finger in his direction, “I think you are the sexiest man alive and you could literally be covered in fuckin’...” she doesn’t finish her sentence, she just moves her hand around him to prove a point, “You know? And I sometimes wanna lick your abs, you could grate parmesan cheese on there. How are you so handsome?”

Bradley just laughs quietly, “Babe, I can’t even come out with a reasonable response. We’re not even sober enough to hold this conversation.” following her wobbly steps towards her staircase, hovering a hand on her back in case she leaned too far and lost her balance, but both of them made up to the loft area in one piece.

“Yeah…right…” she blinked her eyes at him again, pupils blown wide. “You know, my nonna used to say something every time we got to a new year.” she falls down on her bed with a quiet ‘oof’, trying to toe out her boots and yet forgetting they are tied up, so she grumbles out in annoyance, pulling the strings with more force than necessary and finally kicking them off her feet to expose her Xenomorph socks “Um…I…I think it was ummm… amici e vini sono meglio vecchi. Old wine and friends improve with age.”

Rooster sits down next to her on the bed, kicking his shoes off way easier than she did, “We didn’t drink wine though. Does champagne count?”

“I think so!” she smiles, then drops her head to his shoulder, her hand patting around to find his so they could interlace their fingers, “Roos…thank you for making my months so much better. I’m really thankful for you.” he smiles back, leaning his face down so his lips touched her scalp, kissing the lavender scented hair.

“I am thankful for you too, Bea.” she tilts her head back to look up at him, cheeks hurting from smiling so much, “I love you.”

“I love you too.” she pecks his lips gently, then leans back to look at him, “It’s a shame we are both so drunk, you look really nice right now.” she makes a point of dragging her eyes down the expanse of his chest that was no longer being covered by the shirt “But I’m also seeing two of you.”

“Hah, yeah, I’m on the same boat.” he checks his watch with his eyes squinted, “And it’s almost five in the morning, we better sleep.”

“Right.”

“Right.”

They immediately blacked out after that, still wearing their clothes but holding each other on the bed.

[chimini3]

MAKEUP THE BREAK UP

Park Jimin | Chapter 6

SERIES MASTERLIST

Pairing: Park Jimin x OC

Synopsis: What happens when Park Jimin's biggest what if comes back into his life? His friendly neighbor, childhood best friend, high school lover, and now his makeup artist?! Amidst the 2020 outbreak, the last thing he needed was Seong Areum making his heart skip a beat and fill his stomach with air. What will he do when unspoken words threaten to slip past his tongue? Would he take the chance of ruining a healing past? Or would he let her slip away once more and let himself get lost in the lights?

Note/Warning: not beta read, time skips to recall some memories, messy timeline, kinda angsty?

Word Count: 4.2k words

Eyes Of Memories

Behind The Scenes of BigHit’s Group Photo (For better context on the events happening in the following chapters, please refer to the link above)

[2012]

“Why?! Why would you do that?! Are you out of your mind?!”

JiHyun’s loud voice followed me as I tried to leave the living room to walk toward our shared bedroom. Though JiHyun had only followed me into our room and locked the door behind him. 

After months of nonstop school, practices, and trying to adjust to Seoul all by myself. The last thing I needed was someone who didn’t understand my situation to come and scold me about the decisions I’ve made. 

I let my body go limp as I lay star-shaped on my bed. The sheets engulfed my body with its familiar comforting scent as I buried my face into the fabric.

“Jimin, I need you to be serious.” JiHyun sat down on a space on my bed and I could feel his eyes burn into the back of my skull.

“It’s hyung to you. Remember your honori—“ 

“I don’t give a fuck! Why? Why would you do that?! Did you seriously dump the girl of your dreams? And for what?!” 

I don’t know what angered me more. The fact that my younger brother interrupted me, cursed at me, was being unreasonably loud, or scolding me for a decision he didn’t even know the reasons for. 

I could have punched him in the face and we can finally see which one of us had the black belt in Taekwondo. But I was exhausted. 

The trip from Seoul was filled with me doing homework that kept me wide awake, and the dance practice and workout I’d been doing just the day prior were weighing on me. I thought a weekend stay in Busan was a way for me to finally enjoy some peace and escape from my own thoughts, yet here I was on my first night getting bombarded by questions and getting scolded by my own younger brother. I was just thankful my parents hadn’t said anything despite their faces falling to the floor when I showed disinterest in Areum leaving for America and told them that we had broken up prior to that. 

Perhaps going home was a bad idea. The rest of the boys were staying at the dorm. Some only opt to go back home in two weeks, when it would be Christmas and New Year. Though some had already said that they would be celebrating at the dorm if anybody didn’t want to go home. Maybe I should take them up on that offer, though I have a feeling that Christmas was going to be tougher for me this year. It brought tears to my eyes thinking about last year when everything was fine. How did it all go so bad in just a year?

“Hyung.” 

JiHyun’s voice reminded me that I wasn’t alone as I exhaled and sat up though I avoided his eyes.

“It was for the better, JiHyun…”

“Breaking up isn’t ‘for the better’, Hyung. I thought you loved each other.” JiHyun’s voice cracked as I looked up to see tears brimming his eyes and a frown fighting on his lips.

“We did— I still do. I will never stop loving her. I thought— I… It was for the better, Hyun. Trust me.”

“Then explain! Why— why do you think that?” 

I closed my eyes. Engulfing myself in the warmth of darkness behind my eyelids.

“I’m under a lot of pressure right now. I— I’m seriously trying my best to juggle everything all by myself. I would really appreciate it if you just didn’t push—“

“Hyung, you don’t have to juggle everything all by yourself. I’m here and I may not understand your problems, but you can talk to me. Talking out your feelings helps you understand them better, you know.” JiHyun encouraged me as I opened my eyes to see him watching me. He sighed deeply as a single tear dropped from behind his lids and ran down his cheek. 

“Hyung. Areum noona blocked me on everything when she left. I— Your decision didn’t only affect you, but me too. It affected eomma and appa too! Areumi was like my older sister, hyung! She was always there beside you whilst I grew up. It isn’t fair that my relationship with her as a close friend, advisor, sister, and whatever else she had done in my life is now ruined because of you! Be— Because you’re stupid enough to let her go like that!” 

JiHyun had now broken down in tears whilst pushing his index finger to my chest. They were merely a push to exaggerate his point deeper into me, yet it struck me like a blade. He was in more distraught now than all the other years I’ve seen him grow up, and it pained me to know that I was the cause of it.

“I— I knew that by helping you get together and pushing you to confess was a bad idea. When you got together that turned me from her friend to her boyfriend’s younger brother, that turned eomma and appa from second guardians to her boyfriend’s eomma and appa. Our titles in her life were hanging on the thread of your relationship. How… how could you just easily throw it away… how?” 

JiHyun’s voice sounded like he had given up on trying to understand my side. I never thought of it like that. I simply thought that it was only me getting affected when we turned from friends to lovers… How could I have been so selfish?

“JiHyun.”

I said as the younger immediately looked at me through my tear-filled eyes.

“Eomma and Appa are working really hard to support both of us, especially now that I’m in Seoul and trying to pursue this dream. The company I’m signed to is in really bad shape. Their newest group debut just failed and they let every other trainee go except for me and the boys I’m supposed to debut with. And I really care about these boys, my hyungs are nothing but supportive and teach me a lot of new things. I can’t let them down.” I explained slowly as I tried to blink my tears away.

“So… so you broke up with Areum noona?” 

“Yes.” I said upfront. Letting myself think before I say my next words.

“Areum noona is an amazing person. She deserves better than someone who can’t take care of her and give her the love and attention she needs.” 

“But…” 

I stopped JiHyun from saying another word.

“Let’s not forget that we both knew our time with her was drawing to a close. Aaron hyung and her appa coming to spend Christmas here last year was only an indication that her family would all move to America.”

“But Hyung! She spoke with me before she left for Seoul. She was going to try and find a job there and stay here in South Korea instead of going with Aaron hyung. She was supposed to be with you! So that you can support each other together!” JiHyun sounded hopeful and it broke my heart. I never knew that I was her reason for staying in Seoul for a few weeks. 

“JiHyun, we can’t do that to her.” I closed my eyes as I sniffed, trying to keep my composure.

“What do you mean?”

“Areum deserves to be with her family. It’s been too long since they weren’t together and America has much more opportunities for her. She always wanted to learn more English, and America is the place for her to get fluent. She wants all those new and foreign clothes and makeup, America has those. We can’t keep her away from that. Letting her go was for the best for her own good.” 

I smiled as JiHyun frowned though it seemed as though I had finally gotten through with him. He finally understood every thought in my mind that I had to keep in check so that I wouldn’t do something selfish and tell her to stay with me. 

[2020]

That night is still so vivid in my mind, like a wound that wouldn’t heal even after all the years. Every emotion I felt before hits me like a truck. My first ever heartbreak, my brother crying to me, he cried because of me letting her go.

“Why are you still out here? Shouldn’t you be getting changed?” Namjoon’s voice spoke behind me though I made no move to turn to him. 

His arm reached out to squeeze my shoulder before he stood beside me. I could feel his eyes looking at me up and down before he crossed his arms like I had done for the past 10 minutes. 

HueningKai, Beomgyu, J-hope, and Suga were currently sitting on a sofa on our new set. A cream-colored backdrop was set up behind them as the rest of the staff tried to silently move the new set off-screen, but that wasn’t my main focus. My gaze had been fixated on Areum and a few other makeup noonas and staff that belong to TXT.

She was talking casually, even laughing with the staff members as they passed by her. She was speaking in fluent Korean and she didn’t have that overly sweet voice anymore. She sounded like the Areum I knew. 

I can tell the American sun had done its effect on her. Her skin glowed with a tint of tanning. Her makeup was barely noticeable though earlier I saw small glitters around her eye and light powder. 

I can feel Namjoon eyeing me as I sighed 

“Our interviews are later. What are you looking at here?” Namjoon asked as his eyes went back to the four boys doing their interview for a video.

“I’m just watching… taking notes on what the questions will be.” I showed him a smile as he raised a brow though didn’t push anything.

“Don’t worry too much. The interview isn’t anything serious.” Namjoon sent me a smile back as his hand went to squeeze my shoulder again, though my muscles still remained tense.

“Let’s go get chan—“ 

Namjoon was about to redirect me to our waiting room when a staff member behind the camera turned to look at us with a smile.

“The interview is about to end. You can join in if you’d like.” She smiled.

“There’s really no need. Namjoon, you said we’d get changed…” My words faltered and my eyes wandered when I saw Namjoon taking steps closer to the set. 

“Oh come on, you’ve been standing there watching the interview happen. You deserve a little screen time.” 

He had this smug look on his face as he said it with a volume for staff members that surrounded the set to hear and give space for us to join the captured space. One of those being Areum. 

My eyes instantly fell to the floor and how shiny my heeled shoes were. They must’ve newly polished these for them to be so shiny. 

“Thank you for your answers!” Kai said through the microphone he held and Namjoon was already waiting for me past the line of staff members. 

I walked past the staff with a smile though keeping my head down as Namjoon started walking towards the sofa the boys were sitting on.

“And thank you for your interview.” Kai bowed and as he looked up he saw Namjoon entering the frame by walking behind the sofa, clapping as he did so. 

I shook my head at the pointlessness of why we would join the frame nevertheless, I fixed my tie and started walking towards the space beside Namjoon whilst clapping my hand.

“I will now conclude the interview.” Kai said into his microphone and this time he saw me entering the frame before clapping himself.

“Wow!” Namjoon added a very veryyy necessary line for the interview. 

“BigHit hwaiting.” 

“Yeah!”

“Hwaiting!” I raised a fist slightly. Did we seriously join the frame to just say two words? 

“Okay, cut!” The director said before the light that indicated that they were recording turned off. 

Namjoon and Hobi immediately burst into chuckles as Hobi asked for the reason for our awkward and unnecessary entrance. 

“It’s all Namjoon hyung!” I pointed to Namjoon as I started to chuckle too. 

“Hey! Jimin was the one watching the interview instead of changing.” Namjoon pointed back at me and I only got to raise my hands up, not having a defense for my actions.

My eyes glanced around at the crew who were already starting to disperse. The stylists and makeup artists on standby were already turning around to get to the waiting room first, observing that we would probably be a bit slower in walking as the boy’s conversation had already gone to the dinner planned after the shoot.

I was about to excuse Kai from an enthusiastic Namjoon talking about some artistic bar only half an hour away from the warehouse, but my eyes had caught Areum’s glittered surrounded eyes. She was looking at me with those damned pretty bright eyes, and when I met hers she didn’t falter. 

I furrowed my brows, trying to understand what her eyes had under them, though all I saw was that night in December. Her eyes held that same brightness and unreadable expression as the one she comforted me on the Ferris Wheel.

“I’m happy when you’re happy.” 

She said that line with such genuineness that I wondered if that statement still held up to this day. Would she be happy knowing I had accomplished so much through the years I had without her? 

I hoped she was happy too. I wished she got to do all the things she wanted to do even when I wasn’t around. Clearly, she already accomplished one of those goals.

She always loved makeup. I still remember the first time I met the Seongs. Aaron had immediately stolen my attention with his comic book collection, but when JiHyun broke Areum’s doll head something came over me. Perhaps it was some telltale sign that we’d be great friends and even lovers in the future, but I just wanted to do so much for her. I wanted to see her happy instead of sulking over my younger brother’s mistakes. Seeing her focused face painting a brush packed with powder to my face was certainly a memory I’ll never forget. Then I got to see the final result and suddenly I felt this wave of confidence overcome me like a mask that made a strong-willed, confident, and self-assured Jimin come out. I can never thank her enough for bringing that side of me out.

“Jimin ah, are you listening?” Everybody’s eyes pointed towards me as I snapped out of my thoughts. 

After connecting my gaze with Areum I suddenly just felt as though I did not want to be there anymore though at the same time, I wanted to talk to her. Maybe say a greeting or catch up though that would be far-fetched. I don’t even know what terms we were on and there was no apparent reason for me to be speaking with her when she was a member of the TXT staff. 

“Hmm?” I looked back at Sejin before pressing my lips together when their gazes dug deeper into me. Even the makeup noonas had spared me a glance, though quickly went back to retouching the other member’s makeup whilst a stylist held a box of accessories in front of me.

I shook my head to dismiss the addition of accessories. I wanted my pastel-light-themed attire to stay clean like the other outfit. I also just wasn’t in the right mindset to decide on doing anything right now. I needed to get myself together.

“After this photoshoot, all the staff and artists are gathering for dinner to celebrate the Lunar New Year. You’re free tonight, aren’t you? Or did you plan something without informing me?” Sejin looked at his phone which I assume had the file of our personal and group schedules.

I already told them about my trip to Busan for a few days. Just enough time to soulfully heal with family whilst also coming back to Seoul before our break ends to sneak in a few lazy days pent up in my apartment. So at the beginning of the day, I was all in on this dinner for tonight, though now I just felt overwhelmed. I wasn’t tired, but I just felt heavy. I’ve never felt this feeling before.

“Uhh… yeah. I’ll— I’ll come.” I forced a tight-lipped smile as the members eyed me though they went back to whatever else they were doing.

“Jimin ah.” Taehyung called my attention to him.

“Which hat should I wear? This…” Taehyung hovers a light pink flat cap over his head.

“Or this?” He replaced the flat cap with a white beret before he gauged my reaction.

“White Beret. Makes your pink shirt be more of a statement if you wore white around it.” 

Taehyung nodded as he gave the hat to a stylist who made him sit back down on one of the chairs to place the hat stylishly on his head.

I looked back at my reflection in the mirror in front of me and all of a sudden I was taken back about ten years ago. 

[2010]

I was finally Moving Up to High School. A day I had been looking forward to though with each day that passed, I had grown to hate it. 

I hated how I wouldn’t be able to see Areum in the hallways anymore. I won’t see her being so candidly happy talking with her friends, giggling as they went out of the restrooms, laughing so loud that students at the end of the hall could hear her throaty laugh. 

Yet I couldn’t wait to see what Busan’s High School of Arts had in store for me. I couldn’t wait to pursue a passion I had been eyeing since I was a child. 

Speaking of eyes and me being a child. Today wasn’t the best day for me looking good. My right eye had gotten swollen through the night and now it was obvious from afar that one eye was clearly larger than the other. 

“Where’s my handsome boyfriend?” 

I heard Areum’s voice as I turned around from my reflection to see her flashing a bright smile at me. Her set of imperfectly perfect teeth showed through her upper lips that almost disappeared from how big her smile was. Smile lines that curved to the edges of her mouth and if you carefully looked at her as much as I did then you’d notice a slight dimple appearing through her right cheek. I love her so much.

“Handsome isn’t the best word for me right now.” I chuckled in half light-heartedness as her smile dropped to a cute pout that I didn’t like seeing often though I knew I’d be seeing her bright smile repeatedly throughout the day. 

“Impossible. Why? What happened?” She came closer to me before we both turned to the floor-length mirror.

“My eye is swollen.” I pointed to my right eye.

Areum turned both of us to face each other. Her gaze connected with mine and I knew she was already pouring all the reassurance she wanted me to know through her pupils. She placed both of her hands on each side of my face, making my face feel like the ice cream of an ice cream sandwich.

“You know, you’re still the cutest with a swollen eye. One smile and the ladies are coming after you.” 

“Too bad I only want you.” I smiled though it was proven difficult when my cheeks were squeezed together. My eyes squinted with how I wanted to show her my smile and she only smiled back before slightly pulling my head down towards her for her to leave a kiss on my swollen eye.

“I’m sorry, I did that all those years ago…”

“You didn’t do anything, Eumi.” 

She let go of my face as it was now my turn to wrap my arms around her waist. I glanced down at her lips, glossed with a light layer of lip shiner. I was about to lean down to peck her lips though I was stopped when she pulled away from my grip.

“Ah! I have a bit of makeup. Maybe I can try to minimize the look of your swollen eye.” 

She walked towards her discarded purse and took out a bubblegum pink pouch that I came to know was where she stored makeup that she could carry around. I sat down on the edge of my bed as Areum took out a circular container and a sponge. 

“I didn’t bring any eyeshadow to make it seem smaller but maybe a bit of powder can help.” 

She stood in front of me and lifted my chin to look up at her. I closed my eyes, feeling her makeup sponge pat lightly on my eyelids. 

“Tell me if the powder irritates your eyes.” Her voice sounded so strict and stern though that was one thing I grew to love about her. She always cared no matter what, so when she grows irritated and stern I know it's because she's just so passionate about something.

I nodded as she turned back to her pouch and scavenged it for something she was looking for. She took out a few items to set aside from what she was looking for. Her lipstick, lip balm, lip shiner, and whatever makeup things needed a tube. She took out something that looked like a pencil, then another pencil, and then a pen-looking sticking that I knew was eyeliner.

“Are you gonna put eyeliner on me?” I asked as Areum finally found a peach-colored tube at the bottom of her pouch.

“You want me to?” She was hesitant as she eyed the black pen discarded on my bed.

“Yeah, I wanna try it 'cause I see you put it on and you make it look so pretty.” Or maybe that’s because she’s just so pretty that everything she does is pretty.

Areum giggled lightly shoving my shoulder before shaking her head and opening the peach tube. 

“I’ll put it on after I put some concealer on you.” 

I couldn’t help but smile when she agreed to my request. She was quick in taking a bit of concealer on her finger and placing dots under my eyes and a few places where hormonal bumps appeared. I really did try to keep my face clean but some days I was way too lazy and exhausted to do much else than talk with Areum or rest. 

“What’s the difference between concealer and foundation?” I asked as she reached for her makeup sponge.

“Well, concealer is to conceal blemishes, obviously.” 

I laughed at her sassiness. I wasn’t all that interested in makeup though I can tell she had so much love and interest in it that I asked her questions to understand what she was doing most of the time. 

“Foundation is for your entire face. It’s like the foundation of a house. You place the rest of the products on top of the foundation so that they have something to blend to.” She spoke passionately as she had to pause from doing my makeup to explain to me before she started blending the concealer again.

“Wait… I don’t have foundation on, why are you placing concealer on me if it has nothing to blend with?” I asked though this time Areum didn’t take her eyes off the under eyes she was blending.

“The concealer is pretty close to your skin tone already and I also ran out of foundation earlier… but your skin looks perfect without it already.” She stepped back after blending everything to her desire and pinched my cheek before storing everything back into her pouch except for the eyeliner.

“Yeah right. I’m growing pimples left and right.” I shook my head though it was quickly stopped by Areum’s hand softly gliding on the line of my jaw. 

“It’s normal first of all, though I’m always telling you to take care of your skin.” 

“Yeah, but I don’t know how to do those things you do.” 

“‘Things I do’ ?” She asked with a raise of her brow.

“Yeah, like your face mask thing.” 

I had seen her do it often when I stayed late into the evening in the Seong apartment. She’d place all these lotions and serums and massage her face with her hands before placing on a mask, and I’d just watch her do her thing as we chat about our day. 

I never told her but it was oddly satisfying watching her do her routine. Sometimes I’d silently guess which step was next though most of the time I’d fail since I could visualize which product she was using next though I never actually knew the names of the steps.

“Maybe next time we’ll do it together?” Her voice was soft, hiding a sense of shyness as usually I would be the one suggesting ideas on what we could do together.

“Sounds great.” I smiled back at her as a redness engulfed her face and caused me to chuckle before she sent me a stern look to keep my face still.

“Move and I’ll draw my art project on your face.” She warned and I couldn’t help but laugh with the air in my lungs.

Little did I know that a little try of eyeliner had created the Jimin I carried to the stage and millions of people know. That little curiosity from watching Eumi put her makeup on and off was going to lead to today’s me thanking my past self for applying sunscreen that she always reminded me to put on before we went out.

[3xm-draconic]

JJBA: Rockabye Starboy (Jole's story, a tainted love sequel).

I made a fic about Jole, it's going to be about 5 maybe 10 episodes long (depends), I hope yall enjoy.

Also here is a pic of Jole.

Episode 1: My Last Resort, The Animal I have Become.

In the year 1984…

“JOLE!” my foster dad, Halen, screamed, he sounded drunk again.

I was in my room hiding under my bed, I kept quiet so he wouldn't find me and beat me for what I did again, “JOLE YOU MISERABLE LITTLE SHIT, YOU ATE MY SANDWICH!” he howled, “yhea I did eat it but that's only because you lock the fridge and you don’t bother to feed me” I silently shook.

My bedroom door burst off its hinges “QUIT LOCKING THIS FUCKING DOOR!” he bellowed “WHERE ARE YOU!?”, I watched him shuffle around drunkenly. He destroyed my room and eventually ripped my mattress off its frame and found me, “THERE YOU ARE YOU LITTLE SHIT!” he hissed.

I was beaten with a belt, the old leather accessory breaking after ten strikes, that made him even more mad “y-you… YOU LITTLE FUCK YOU BROKE MY FAVORITE BELT!” he snarled, he dragged me by my hair to the basement door and threw me down the steps “I’ll let you out when I get a new belt to finish your beating boy” he growled as he slammed and locked the door.

The basement was dark and the concrete floor was cold, I layed there in the fetal position, crying.

I eventually found enough strength to get to my feet, I saw in the darkness as if it were in dim light and I scoured the shelves for what I needed.

I found a bottle of vodka, a torn old blanket and my teddy that I kept hidden here, Kesha. I made some makeshift bandages and sterilized my wounds with the booze, I snuggled with Kesha for comfort, she was all I had left of my mom.

I took a few swigs of the vodka and slumped down beneath the basement window sobbing.

Eventually Halen returned and let me out, he made good on his promise to finish my punishment with a new belt, one with a thick sharp buckle.

That night as I lay in bed I came up with a plan to run away. I had always wanted to see the redwoods of California so I’d go there.

I packed my clothes and some other things in my backpack and snuck down into the kitchen. I saw Halen asleep at the table in a drunken stupor, I quietly creped past him and took a few cans of food, one of his swiss army knives, I got Kesha from the basement and the money he had stashed away in a coffee can in the pantry.

 Just as I was leaving, Halen woke up. I booked it out the door and he chased me down the street, he grabbed me by my hair and started to drag me back to the house…

That's when I snapped.

I don’t really remember what happened, one moment I was screaming for him to let me go and then the next…his head was..gone.

Nothing but a bloody stump remained.

I ran like hell…

I ran to a local park and hid in the public bathroom, I could hardly breathe “OH GOD, OH GOD WHAT HAVE I DONE?!” I cried…

I could taste something on my tongue, something sweet and warm like hot fudge topping on a sundae, it stained my mouth, neck and shirt.

I looked in the mirror and I nearly threw up, the sweet taste…was blood.

I frantically washed it off of me in the sink, I washed it out of my hair too along with the dye and makeup Halen forced me to wear inorder to cover up my natural pink hair and bizarre eyeshadow-like markings on my eyelids.

For the first time in days I saw myself…the real me.

I saw the horns clipped short to hide them, the strange inhuman fangs…

I had always been a monster…hadn't I?

That’s why Halen hid me from the world…but now he’s dead…I killed him and now I’am…

I sighed and looked at myself in the mirror, really looked at myself.

I looked down at my birthmark, a big star on my shoulder and pondered “I have to go somewhere I won’t hurt anyone”.

I thought about it “the redwoods of California” . I had never been there but I had always wanted to go ever since I saw a picture of one in a book I once read.

I changed out of my old bloody clothes and into a new outfit, I buried the old ones under a big heavy rock and proceeded to walk.

After walking for a few miles I got tired, I set up my blanket under a bridge and cuddled with Kesha.

Even after all these years, she still smelled like her, like mom.

That night I dreamt of her again, of her soft smile and gentle eyes. I saw her again briefly and blurry, I wanted to ask her why she left, I wanted to know why she abandoned me but I never got to, those dreams were always bittersweet.

Joseph Jostar, a housing agent by day and a hammon warrior by night…that sounded like a bad joke but it was true.

Joseph had to keep up his training…and train the next generation.

Holly didn’t half to know he was teaching Jotaro how to fight vampires, who knows maybe it would prove useful in the future!

Joseph was enjoying his coffee break after training with little Joot when he got an urgent call from a Speedwagon Foundation agent.

“Hello yes, what's the matter?”, “Mr Jostar, I must inform you there has been a report of a bizarre murder in Walla Walla Washington, the crime scene is gruesome”, “and you are telling me this why?...”, “because eye witness accounts say it was some sort of harpy monster that did it and we analyzed feathers found at the crime screen”, “y-you…you don’t think?”.

“The dna is a match to Holly’s sir, we found him”.

[wit-and-worry]

There’s this slightly younger acquaintance I have(had?) who seems to enjoy my company, and with whom I’ve only had seemingly mutually enjoyable and lengthy conversations, but who doesn’t usually initiate contact. He doesn’t seem very online, and has a strong and tight circle of friends he likes. He’s interesting. He’s bright and respectful. He’s almost too polite, in person. But is it so hard to communicate with him over text. Mostly because he doesn’t text back, for whatever reason.

Before we got to talking on the last day of my senior year(he was a Junior at the time), I was frankly intimidated by him. He was the brightest kid in my Hnrs Physics class. He seemed to pick up the material like a pile of feathers. He seemed friendly and confident and put together. He was starkly unlike me. I was and still am struggling not to be a miserable slob with no concept of time or personal responsibility every day. What drew my interest in pursuing a friendship was his evident interest in the kind of literature I was interested in. I saw many Asimov books on his desk and in his hand throughout the year, but also some classics like Heart of Darkness(which I figured was for class but I’m not sure of now), and the Slaughterhouse Five(maybe Cat’s Cradle? I saw him carrying a Vonnegut novel for sure), and some others I can’t remember the names of now, and an anthology of Camus’ short stories. When I saw him with those books I felt like a dog seeing another dog for the first time. My brain went: oh shit! Dog dog dog dog! (gonna go on a tangent now) I’ve historically gravitated towards classic lit, primarily because I had the idea that reading influential works of literature and studying them would help make me a better writer. Not that I didn’t and don’t earnestly enjoy them. Much of classic literature carries me way out of the modern world without alienating me from humanity. I can usually rely on it to be somewhat deftly written and it’s fun to geek out over. It’s fun but lonely. It is also very intimate and rewarding.

When I meet people who share that passion, it implies to me that they have the patience and curiosity and courage it takes to appreciate it.

I admit that, initially, there was also a glamor to the idea of being a young person, having all of that high brow literature under my belt, and as a result being praised by teachers for being articulate and mature and all of that. It’s embarrassing to admit, even to myself, that my interest in classic literature is in part a consequence of my being given, as Savannah Brown once put it “well-timed praise”, but it is what it is.

I still do think that it is beneficial for those who are serious about writing to visit or revisit the work of influential writers. It’s just that now I feel a restless craving for transgressive art. I want to read the kind of fucked up and intimate fiction I want to write.

Anyway I started writing this post to bitch into the void to be honest, because I suspect that this acquaintance of mine isn’t interested in befriending me, and I’m bummed. I’ve reached out a few times either to start a conversation or schedule a hangout, but it’s getting to be a hassle. He has little reason to pursue my friendship, because he’s pretty content with his social life as it is. He’s pretty elusive. He’s apparently very busy. I’m not, which is why I’m pursuing. But I’m tired of making an ass of myself pursuing people. I’ve been the pursuer for most of my life. I might have to let this one go. Or just let him come to me, if he ever does. It’s weird. I’m overthinking this for sure. I just don’t want to drive him away. I think he’s cool, despite being a year younger than me lol. It may seem like I have a crush on this guy, but I promise that is not the case. I don’t want it to ever go there. He seems straight, besides. I’m just so lonely that it’s pathetic. It’s not gotten to the point that I will settle for anyone, but I hit it off with this guy in a way I haven’t with anyone in years. Hard not to want to relive that initial rush. I can’t help but wonder if I said something that creeped him out the last time we hung out. I can think of a few things that he may have misread, which keep me up at night. Well I don’t know what else to say so I’m going to stop here.

-some guy

[hwats-the-big-idea]

My autistic ass has been up to some crazy shit these past few days. I started playing planet zoo and not even a week into the game the computer goes caput. Frame rate on every single game is absolutely horrendous, games don't even load past a single frame for 20 mins, and there's no internet to the computer yet (we just bought a dongle and are waiting on the delivery) so we can't fix it at all rn. Well, my hyperfixation just couldn't handle this absolute nonsense, if I couldn't play the game (I literally stay up for 2 days at a time playing nonstop lmao) I'd invest my time elsewhere. With a new dlc right around the corner and the games end on the horizon, I wrote a huge post on what dlcs I think pz needs before it finishes. I've been researching animals and pz for days, I'm happy to have some new animal facts under the belt now as well. Well, I went to post it to reddit and I just... can't. I get an unknown error. It's in reddit character limits but maybe the specific sub limits characters. Well I would've posted it and split it in half with the second half in the comments but I can only post dlc wishlist on Wednesday uk time 😭 by the time I finished everything it was already 4 am across the pond.

I really, really just want to document my crazy autistic ramblings and surmise my opinion as the most correct one as always lol, so I'm gonna post my post here and hopefully I'll be able to figure it out next Wednesday. I don't see a strong pz community here in tumblr so I'll probably be talking to myself but what else is new? Here goes. Is a long one, bois. Sorry the format is unpleasant here:

Here I list every dlc I think I’d want/would do good for the game before it ends. I go into 2025 with my wishlist just because I don’t think the game can really fully finish by 2024 even though I’ve seen some speculation we might just be getting one more year of dlcs. I’ve gone on to wrap up this year, speculate for 2024, as well as 2025.

This will be a long post, an opinion piece over predictions of what I genuinely think will come, and I’ll discuss my reasons why I chose everything after I list the dlcs. I’ve taken inspiration from wishlists, what bigger names in the community have been predicting, and just what I hope to see come to the game. In my speculations I focus mostly on diversity, uniqueness in looks and mechanics, as well as what we need from rigs for mods. I’ve tried to be as inclusive as I could in my selections so I hope there’s people who will enjoy what I’ve come up with! I’ve also only recently started playing the game so I don’t understand it in as intimate a way as long time players may and I’m probably overlooking some scenery items, so take my scenery speculation with a grain of salt. I’d love to hear opinions on it all.

…

2023 dlc wrap ups

Temperate scenery pack

-Sea otter (headliner)

-European red squirrel

-Tanuki

-Collared peccary or European wild boar

Exhibit

-Chipmunk walkthrough exhibit.

Tundra animal pack

-Pacific walrus (headliner)

-Wolverine

-Musk ox

-Arctic hare

-Southern rockhopper penguin

-Tundra swan, snow goose, Canada goose, or duck (harlequin, mandarin, wood, or mallard)

-American white pelican

Exhibit

-Pika, chinchilla, or white winter dwarf hamster

…

2024 dlcs

Taiga scenery pack

-Pallas cat (headliner)

-Golden takin

-Fisher cat, stoat, or European pine marten

-Yellow bellied marmot/alpine marmot

(Alternate species:

-North American porcupine

-American black bear)

Exhibit

-Japanese rhinoceros beetle

Islands animal pack

-Tasmanian devil (headliner)

-Japanese giant salamander

-Cuban crocodile

-Malayan civet/Asian palm civet

-Fairy penguin

-Goodfellow’s/matschie’s tree kangaroo

-American flamingo

(Alternate species:

-Coconut crab

-Coquerel’s sifaka

-Sumatran rhinoceros

-Marine iguana)

Exhibit

-Tenrec

Scrublands scenery pack

-Saiga antelope (headliner)

-Gerenuk

-Alligator snapping turtle

-Roadrunner or burrowing owl

(Alternate species:

-Banded mongoose)

Exhibit

-desert tortoise or thorny devil

Rainforests animal pack

-Olive/hamadryas baboon (headliner)

-Coati mundi

-Bush dog

-Sloth bear

-Common squirrel monkey or black handed spider monkey,

-Golden lion/emperor tamarin

-Muntjac

Exhibit

-Leaf cutter ants, thorny stick insect, or giant prickly stick insect

…

2025 dlcs to wrap up the game with

To preface 2025 would see dlcs that have huge game changing mechanics, it’s definitely just personal desires since it’d be a tall order for the year, but these are all things that so many people have really been asking for and I think are are things that we would all rather enjoy for the game before it ends. We wouldn’t be seeing very many animals in any of the packs (not like we have for the terrestrial animals), but with the right selections it would allow modders to really expand the library after the games end.

Barnyard scenery pack

-American Pygmy goat or boer goat (headliner)

-Jacob sheep

-Miniature donkey or Shetland pony

-Vietnamese pot bellied pig

Exhibit: touch pools

-Southern stingray or cownose stingray

-White spotted bamboo shark or brown banded bamboo shark

-Ochre sea star (or other sea star)

-Aggregating anemone or slate pencil urchin

-Atlantic horseshoe crab

Ground bird animal pack

-Secretary bird (headliner)

-Darwin’s rhea

-Shoebill

-Marabou stork

-Roseate spoonbill

-Southern ground hornbill

-Kiwi or kakapo

Exhibit: cage exhibits

-Golden pheasant

-Raggiana bird of paradise

-Ocellated turkey

-Scarlet ibis

-Victorian crowned pigeon

Aquariums animal and scenery pack

-Bottlenose dolphin (headliner)

-West Indian manatees

-Beluga

-Manta ray

-Loggerhead sea turtle

-Hammerhead shark

-Black sea bass or black grouper

Exhibit: aquarium exhibits

-Yellow seahorse

-Compass jellyfish

-Giant pacific octopus

-Moray eel

-Tropical fish (clownfish, blue hippo tang, moorish idol, etc)

Aviary animal and scenery pack

-Scarlet macaw, blue and yellow macaw, hyacinth macaw morphs (headliner)

-Bald eagle or California condor

-Toco toucan

-Barn owl or great horned owl

-Laughing kookaburra

-Puffin

-Blue jay

Exhibit: walkthrough bird exhibit

-Sun conure

-Rainbow lorikeet

-Parakeet

-Sulfur crested cockatoo

-Ecuadorian amazon parrot

…

These are all the packs that I have come up with that I think would be good enough to end planet zoo by the end of 2025. They don’t include anywhere near all the animals that we ultimately desire as a community but I think that the species are diverse enough to be able to mod most anything we want in. I’ll go on and talk about each pack individually now and why I chose what I did/what I think each pack would include.

…

Temperate

A lot of people think that temperate and tundra will be the next inclusions, so they’re where I went with my speculation. For the temperate pack I’ve made it a scenery pack since that will be next if the scenery-animal pack trend continues. For this pack I’ve included a few animals I think are necessary for the game. First I’ve included the sea otter, an animal we could never see through mods, and one people want to see. I’ve also included the tanuki, I think it’s an animal that a lot of people would just enjoy having in the game. I also have the collared peccary or European wild boar, honestly either of them, or some other pig, would work in this spot, we just need more pigs in the game. And I have the European red squirrel, it’s found in some zoos, and would just be an interesting animal and rig in the game. I also have a chipmunk walkthrough exhibit, an idea from J-Double U, which I think would just flesh out walkthrough exhibits. We’d see bats, butterflies, birds (hopefully), and with this one a mammal so I thought it was a good inclusion. For scenery I think it’d be very nice to see some rustic wood cabin/camping sort of aesthetics. I’m an Oregonian myself so the Oregon zoo is dear to me, and I’d love some scenery that just says “temperate rainforest”. I’ve also just recently started playing the game so maybe I just haven’t had the chance to see every single piece we have yet, but I would love for some more diversity in our wood options, especially in sizes and shapes it all comes in. I’d also like some foliage like blackberries and furze/gorse bushes, California poppies, as well as flexi color wildflowers. As well, I know we lack trees that have a real canopy, I think some canopy trees would be really nice here. I think we could see some other scenery options, but I’d just love lots of stuff themed around a cooler climate. I think we also need some new stone pieces, bricks, and just simple flexi color building materials. I loved what we got in the tropical pack, I’d like to see some of that sort of stuff themed around a temperate climate as well and even more basic in its building capacity. … Tundra For the tundra pack I’ve included the walrus, a very much needed animal in the game, as well as some requests such as the wolverine and the musk ox. I’ve also included the arctic hare because we really could use a lagomorph of some sort. I’ve also included the rockhopper penguin because I think it’s one of the penguin types we’re lacking in diversity, and with frontier’s new animal modeling the yellow feathers would come out great on them. I’ve included the American white pelican, but really any pelican could find their way in this spot. I know the Australian pelican is the community’s desire but the American white fits the tundra theme better. Honestly though whichever pelican finds their place here we’d see the others through mods. It also was just a hard decision in general on the other water fowl. We need swans, geese, and ducks in the game and we don’t have any good rigs for them. I don’t think even the pelican rig would suffice. Honestly if it could be done by frontier I’d love to see at least both one duck and one goose in this pack, but ultimately for moddings sake I think either or would work out just fine. Really I think it’d just be a matter of which frontier personally would want to include, but I’ve dropped my choices down here. For the exhibit animal I’ve included a few options for mammals, I’d love to see more mammalian diversity in the exhibits. I think any of the choices here would be a good option really. I think chinchillas would really stand out but they’re also a somewhat common pet animal so it might be nice to see one of the other too as well.

…

Taiga

The taiga pack was a hard choice, but for the sake of the game and rigs it has to offer I’ve opted for the mustelids and the marmot over the black bear and the porcupine. Since we already have both a porcupine rig and lots of options for a bear rig these animals will easily find their way into the game through mods at its end so I chose the animals I think would offer something more unique to the game. I chose the fisher, pine marten, or stoat here because we really could use a more traditional weasel in the game imo. The Pallas cat is a popular request, so it was a necessary inclusion. I’ve chosen the Japanese rhinoceros beetle as the exhibit animal but because I absolutely love these insects and would want to see them in the game. I think that scenery pieces could represent some part of Eurasia, like Russia or Italy, I imagine we could use some bold, round shapes, with a large selection of rounded building pieces. I think it’d be nice to include some more cold climate pieces especially ones that represent a modern culture and without any Christmas theming to it.

…

Islands

For the islands pack it was a bit of a tossup on certain species. I’m most partial to this pack myself since it includes some of my own highly requested animals: the Tasmanian devil, the Japanese giant salamander, and the Cuban crocodile. The t devil is definitely a very, very requested animal. I also think the giant salamander and Cuban crocodile just also provide something unique we haven’t really seen in the game. For the salamander its a massive amphibian that I’d just love to build for in game, and the crocodile is a smaller croc that would have higher land requirements and a bit of a running-esc animation which I both unique for the game. I’ve included the fairy penguin since they’re such a beautiful bird, probably my favorite penguin, and we just don’t have any very tiny penguins like it in the game. There’s been many requests for various penguins, but I think for the majority of them we could easily find them through mods, the fairy penguin is something more unique in its regard. I’ve also included the tree kangaroo, a request from some, and a civet, which I think both bring a unique arboreal lifestyle to the game. I think having unique animals like them, plus their rigs, in the game is important for it at this point. I think my most controversial inclusion would probably be the American flamingo esp since we can see it through mods and all of the alternative animals I have seen as requests by the community, but personally I think it’s just a crime to the game we don’t have a pink flamingo. They’re what I’m familiar with in zoos and absolutely my preference for flamingos over the greater flamingo. Though I think the coquerel’s sifaka and coconut crab are very interesting animals that would give unique mods to the game. Honestly the flamingo or any of the alternative animals would fill this spot well. I’ve included the tenrec as the exhibit animal because it’s very unique and would provide some mammalian diversity to the exhibits. I think there are so many other good choices here, but personally I’d love to see a mammal.

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Scrublands

I’d love to see a scrublands theme come to the game personally. Here I’ve included the saiga antelope and the gerenuk, both ungulates, but I think both are very unique ungulate forms and I’d still like to see the diversity with them. I think they’d both provide something interesting to the game and animals fun to build for, especially the gerenuk with its browsing. I think we could even see a browsing enrichment item inspired by the gerenuk come to the game as well to really get a sight at their rearing. I’ve included as well either the roadrunner or the burrowing owl, both unique ground birds I think that would be very fun for the game. Personally I’d prefer to build something for the roadrunner, but I think that burrowing owls might be more iconic and more requested, so I’ve included them both as an option here. Lastly I’ve included the alligator snapping turtle in this lineup. It’s a huge reptile, one I think the game could definitely use for our zoo building, and just so peculiar looking. I think it’d really be a statement animal that I’d love to build for. For the exhibit I’ve picked the desert tortoise or the thorny devil, I’d like to see others. For the scenery I definitely want to see scrublands scenery. We have desert and grass themes items already, but I’ve been living in Texas for just over a year now and I’m enamored by just how beautiful it is here and I don’t think the game really captures just enough scrub/grass/swamp aesthetic. I’d be looking for scenery pieces that really feel like a swampy boat ride through the scrublands, I find foliage like the Texas madrone and the saw palmetto beautiful and definitely could be included in a scrublands pack. Outside of those two I think just any plants you generally find in scrublands, swamps, plains/prairies, pampas, etc would be good. I think with the grasslands pack being an animal pack the scrublands being a scenery pack would bring in lots of new foliage. People also often are sinking trees down into the ground to represent small bush plants, I think with a scrublands pack we could see lots of foliage that can represent what people are doing with trees as actual bushes. I think we could also get more rocks in this pack, rocks that represent the beauty of a place like Utah, and/or some rocks in flexicolor.

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Rainforest

For the rainforest animal pack I included the muntjac. I know the dik dik is a more highly requested animal but it’s a scrublands animal while the muntjac is a rainforest animal. I also have the alternative of the southern pudu, I’m just most partial to the muntjac personally (I find their scent glands to be so fascinating looking). I also wanted to include either the Chinese water deer or the Siberian musk deer, but I think with the muntjac we would easily see mods for all of these animals honestly. I think any of them could find their place in the slot I allocated for the muntjac. I included lots of primates in this pack, a baboon of some kind is a very requested animal, and personally I just don’t feel like we have enough small primates in the game. The capuchin just isn’t enough for me, so I’ve included another monkey of some kind (squirrel or spider I think would be good choices, though we could see potentially another option), as well as a tamarin. I think both of these animals would just look great in a pz zoo and provide what I think is needed diversity to the primates. I’ve also included the sloth bear here. Honestly it was hard to include just one bear in all of my pack ideas here because sloth bears, black bears, and spectacled bears are all highly requested animals. Really I think any of them could find their way here, especially since rainforests aren’t just limited to tropical jungles and can be temperate forests, but I did limit myself to just one bear choice since we ultimately will have the rigs for more bears to find their way into the game through mods I saw them as a less important inclusion for that reason. Lastly I’ve included in this pack the coati since we really ought to have a coati in the game, as well as the bush dog. They aren’t common in zoos but South America has some of the most unique canids and people just don’t know about them, I think including one (outside of the popular maned wolf) would provide a unique learning opportunity on these amazing animals, plus it’d just be so cool to have a semi aquatic packing canid in the game I’d love to see it. For the exhibit animal I chose leaf cutter ants, though I can see they may be difficult to do because of their size, though I do think leaf bits would help that. If they just aren’t feasible I’ve included a couple stick insect options since I’d also love to see these animals in the game. I chose to make the rainforest pack an animal pack since we already have lots of jungle-like scenery in the game, I wanted to give the scenery spotlight to some other biomes, especially since the tropical pack recently was a scenery pack.

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The next four packs are definitely tall order packs. They’d bring big changes to the game, but I think changes that we as a community would like to see. They’re all highly requested pack themes, and I think that the new mechanics would breathe new life into the game. They’d really let it live for a long time after its completed.

Barnyard

This barnyard pack brings to the game a petting zoo mechanic, as well as barn themed set pieces and some small aquarium set pieces to set up for the aquarium pack itself and to include in the touch pools. I chose a goat, a sheep, a donkey/pony, and a pig over animals like rabbits, chickens, or guinea pigs because I think it’d be much easier to do just a “crouch and pet” animation. Smaller animals would need a much larger change to mechanics so my animal choices are all medium sized. I’ve also included touch pools. I think they would be a great inclusion to the game, and I think fit in the “petting zoo” theme as well. I’ve included some stingrays and sharks which the touch tanks at Stingray Cove in the Denver zoo really inspired me. Really I think that touch pools could be incorporated in a few ways. They could include some construction pieces to make a few touch tanks of different sizes, maybe some dedicated concrete and glass pieces to build them that can contain water like the barriers. The other animal species I’ve included in the touch pools are sea stars, a horseshoe grab, and an anemone or sea urchin, which are all pretty common animals in touch pools. I think similarly to the barnyard animal petting animation, the touch tanks could use the same or similar animation. I think the scenery for this pack would definitely be a lot of barn/farm and touch pool aesthetics.

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Ground birds

Here I’ve included lots of ground bird species that people want to see. Not much to say, I think they’re all pretty common requests, and fulfill the community’s desire for more ground birds. The unique mechanics for this pack come from the new form of exhibits, and exhibit rehaul. I think everyone wants a little bit more out of exhibits, be it changing their sizes, shapes, or more in depth editing for them. The exhibits for the birds in this pack come as cages which would house the exhibit bird species. It was a long time ago and I don’t remember where it was, but I walked down a long alley with all kinds of birds in it and I’d really want to capture that kind of feeling with this. I’ve included a few exhibit bird species here, I don’t think these species would fly, but honestly that’s frontier’s ultimate decision.

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Aquariums

This pack brings the long desired aquariums to the game, and I chose a selection of animals that I think would all provide unique mods to the game. I’d talk about the mechanics for this, but I think that Rudi Rennkamel summarizes it much better, I’ll link that video at the end of this post. In short, I think they would work similarly to the touch pools, just on a much larger scale. This pack would bring a lot of new pieces all themed around aquariums and provide us with everything we’d need for building a small aquarium zoo. Again, Rudi talks about this much more in depth.

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Aviary

The last pack we’ll see come to planet zoo is the aviary pack, which will bring flying birds to wrap up the game. I’ve chosen a selection of birds that would bring a variety of rigs to the game, which is why I’ve included a bird like the blue jay. I think that most of the birds listed here are pretty common requests from the community, and any others we’d want to see I think can come from mods. This pack also brings a walkthrough exhibit for birds with many species of parrot, something that everybody wants to see. I think this pack also would bring new building pieces to make aviaries, and similar to the aquariums, we would need to make a suitable habitat first before we could fill it with the animals. I think we’d see lots of bird enrichment items, glass, netting, wiring, in many shapes such as round, triangular, pentagon, and hexagon, anything that we’d need to make a suitable aviary for the flying birds.

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The end I think after the aviary pack we will see a few free updates to the game. Updates to fix bugs in the last year of dlcs, updates to animal models and behavior, mechanics, the works. I think 2026 would be a year of tlc for the game and just getting it prepped to be finished for good. Sorry this post was so long, I just had some fun with my speculations here.

The videos:

https://youtu.be/bOqNfDyenjo?si=nRFbOk5B36_BONQ5

https://youtu.be/iKIZSIvbJ6E?si=r00teDq4EDIvnavP