#I was so close to recording it and being secure so I wouldn't have to deal with this headache too

[unstable-samurai]

Breathing This Calm Night - smut

Yunjin x Male Reader

ONE-SHOT

Tags: fluff, oral sex, one-shot, tightjob, penetration, k-idol, famous girl, secret relationship

A/n: This is my first request. Thanks @dav1233555 for the plot suggestion 🫡

The two of you were anxiously dragging yourself towards the end of the day. Slowly the hours passed, seeming to last longer than they should, while a hurried and hard routine was followed, with no time to even exchange a few messages.

But you were finally free, at least for now, from the mess that is a magazine of international relevance.

I am arriving

You read the message and smiled at the phone screen. It wasn't crowded at the restaurant you chose to have dinner at. You reflected for a moment, and thought there was a bit of madness in what you two were doing, but it was indisputable that it was genuine and pure.

Truth be told, this whole thing was real. And thinking that this could be a bit crazy (in other people's eyes, to be more precise) only made your panoramic view of society more bitter.

After all, what was so great about being a foreigner and dating a K-idol? Well, you weren't the guy who was going to change the view of an entire society, so worrying about it was useless.

At least there was some security that this relationship would not be leaked to the media. Well, you were in fact part of the fucking media. There was support from the magazine you worked for (not that you were the owner or anything), and at least no one on your team would poke your eye out. Some other editors you trust already knew about your relationship. It was one of the countless advantages of being in a high position in the company and having a strong influence on what happened inside. I mean, someone from the magazine could try to fuck with you, snakes exist everywhere, doing this in an attempt to self-promote or even abandon ship, handing over the leak of your relationship to another magazine or tabloid (In the headline they would write "affair", the motherfuckers). But you would discover the funny guy so easily that there wouldn't even be any fun in solving the mystery. All it took was a single call to your father, simply the greatest editor-in-chief who worked at the magazine's headquarters. Already retired, but still exercising great decision-making power thanks to his long years of contributions to the magazine. Your old man was seen almost as a royal advisor or a wise monk where directors, managers and editors from various sectors of the magazine went to ask for advice and help. You were relatively shielded from leaks.

You noticed her approaching. Well disguised, with sunglasses, tied hair and comfortable clothes. You couldn't help but notice the NY Knicks sweatshirt you had given her as a gift, it was both of your favorite team.

She greeted you with a discreet hug. You still hadn't gotten used to the fact that you couldn't give a peck in public.

"Hi, baby! How are you?" she asked you as she sat down at the table.

"Better now, honey. What about you?"

"The same!"

"Was the day as hard as always?" you asked.

"Definitely!" she replied. Yunjin seemed eager for this question. She continued, “In the morning I had rap class. By the way, I think I'm getting better. Oh, and in the afternoon I recorded my lines, like, over and over again. very specific of what he wants for this track. The music producer has a very specific vision of what he wants for this track. He apologized and admitted that it might take some time to achieve the desired result.”

"Well, I trust your talent. Remember that you and your group are dealing with a delicate concept. I have seen up close the production of albums that address intimate themes, it is always a challenge, but also a true work and certainly a amazing gift for the fans. You girls are going to do great."

Yunjin laughed, a little shyly.

"It feels like I'm talking to a music critic instead of my boyfriend."

"Well, you're actually talking to a music critic. Oh, by the way, I remembered that I won't be writing the article about Le Sserafim's new album like I said before."

Her expression was one of surprise. Yunjin asked:

"Is it because of me?”

"Yes." you answered honestly. “Well, look, love, I'm prioritizing our relationship and thinking about the future. If this is for real, eventually the press will hear about us together, and a review from me about my girlfriend's music group obviously. it would make my opinion seem partial and biased. It's just to avoid future problems."

"Okay" she looked upset. "But I'll still want to know your opinion when you hear the album."

"I'm really looking forward to hearing it." You smiled, making her feel better. "I left the review about the new album for a good friend of mine to write. I really respect her opinion."

"I think we're in good hands. But let's stop talking about work for a bit!"

The waiter seemed to have heard Yunjin's speech as he appeared to save them right after she finished saying that. Yunjin had great taste in food, that's why she always chose the order for the two of you, you weren't the "culinary trailblazer" type; a few months in South Korea and you only knew five typical dishes (always returning to the arms of the big fast-food chains).

"Oh, I almost forgot to give you this!" You handed her a gift. "It had been on my lap for so long that I had forgotten I had brought it with me."

"Oh, baby! You didn't have to do that!"

She started to unwrap it.

"Hope you like."

You waited for her reaction. Yunjin smiled and made a cute little noise when she saw that it was a book (although she already knew from the shape of the gift wrap).

"You know I love reading! Thank you so much."

"It's The Alchemist. I know you love fantasy and this silly self-help thing. This book is a mix of both."

You saw her eyes light up.

"You're perfect. I love how well you know me. And self-help isn't silly, it's very good for evolving as a human being." she scolded you.

You shrugged.

"It's not the kind of thing I'd like to put on my bookshelf. But to each their own.”

She laughed.

"I'm still going to make you read one of these."

"Well, I've already read The Alchemist. And if I thought it was average, you'll think it's a masterpiece."

★

It was around 10pm when the two of you finally arrived at your apartment. Dinner was very good, especially dessert (that bingsu thing was really awesome), and by that night there was no more energy for more fun, it was preferable to have a good night's sleep so that the next day you could do something together. Even so, Yunjin hummed excitedly in the car on the way home. You appreciated all that joy.

You took off your shoes when Yunjin took off her NY Knicks sweatshirt, leaving only a tight tank top on her body. You noticed that she wasn't wearing a bra by the way her breasts showed through the fabric of her tank top. You slowly approached her and grabbed her from behind, kissing her repeatedly. Yunjin wrapped her hands around your neck as she giggled at the series of kisses.

“Will you be my teddy bear tonight?” she asked sweetly. “I need your affection so much, baby.”

“Whatever you need, sweetie.” você disse enquanto beijava ela no pescoço.

As coisas iam esquentando. Your hands slid down Yunjin's soft belly, heavy sighs escaped her mouth unconsciously.

“Look, we still need to shower.” she said.

"No problem." you answered.

“You're putting me in the mood. I'm warning you that if you keep touching me like this, you're going to have to go all the way to finish what you started.”

“And since when has this been a problem for me?” you asked as you led her to the couch.

You took off your shirt and belt from your pants. Yunjin took off her jeans, leaving only her tank top and adorable pink panties. Your hand slid down Yunjin's left thigh while you kissed her right thigh. That was more than enough to give her goosebumps. She had her legs wide open, waiting, almost begging, for you to touch that place. Instead of doing it right away, you decided to play with her a little, kissing and biting her inner thigh while using one of your hands to lightly massage her pussy through her panties. Your lips slid to Yunjin's crotch, where you licked the entire area, she reveled in the act, trying hard not to close her legs with the spasms she was having. It didn't take long for a wet stain to darken the pink of the panties. When you finally removed Yunjin's panties, you saw how wet she was. So horny that she couldn't wait for you, fingering her pussy slowly, opening it with her fingers so you could see how drooling she was; a successful action of provoking you. Then you realized how hard your cock was, pulsing in your pants, painfully tight, which made you hornier.

Without wasting any more time, you dived between Yunjin's legs, eager to taste her (that flavor that was becoming increasingly familiar and addictive… Part of your life. Yeah, we could put it that way), your tongue delighting in the taste and the cozy warmth of the inside of her pussy, while Yunjin moaned softly, digging her nails into the sofa cushions.

“I love it when you suck me like that, baby. I feel so wanted!” she moaned.

At one point she asked to stop because her lust was unbearable and that way he would have an orgasm in a short time.

“I want to feel your cock inside me now.” she said. You had just taken off your underwear when she added, “Wait, what if we fuck in the bathroom. Let’s save time, what do you think?”

Your response was to lift her off the couch and take her to the bathroom. You turned on the light with your elbow and, before you could think of anything, she said:

“Fuck me like this! Your cock goes deep into my pussy when you fuck me in the air.”

You kissed her intensely while you tried to fit your dick into her pussy. The feeling of your cock sliding inside Yunjin was wonderful. Upon realizing that your cock was well placed inside her, you grabbed Yunjin's thighs tightly and began to thrust into her energetically while she held onto you, moaning compulsively.

And Yunjin was right, your dick went deep in that position. You could feel her deep inside, the entire length of your cock was being used, and she loved it. When she announced her orgasm, you wanted to make sure it was intense and pleasurable, the way it made her roll her eyes, so you lifted her a little higher, grabbing her ass, while Yunjin wrapped her legs inside your arms, making her practically hang from you and her pussy is completely inside your dick.

“Oh God, Baby! I’m cumming!”

She trembled holding onto you, while you practically rubbed her pussy on your dick, always rotating it close to your body. It was just a shame that you couldn't enjoy her eyes rolling back at the moment of orgasm, you simply loved seeing her go crazy with pleasure, but there was also a certain contentment in just knowing that it happened.

You sat Yunjin down on the sink and there you started fucking her again, looking deeply into her eyes. At one point she looked at you with so much passion, so much desire that there was a sudden growing desire to fill her pussy with your load of cum.

“Hang me, love.” she asked affectionately.

Her hand wrapped around just over half of her neck, serving as support to fuck her even harder. Sweat running down both bodies, your gaze was lost between the mirror's reflection, her eyes, her tits and her expressions of pleasure. With the sensations highlighted, you realized how much you loved Yunjin and how much this feeling contributed to eminent pleasure during sex.

Holy shit! You were almost there.

You thought about how much you wanted to go deep into this, literally to the end, but you were without a condom and suddenly stopping the act to go get a condom at the end of the championship was a bit... discouraging.

But you have an idea.

“Stand up, sweetie” you said. “Let’s try something new.”

Yunjin got out of the sink, looking at you excitedly.

“Get in the shower stall with me.” you asked, opening the door.

"What do you want to do?"

“It’s nothing out of this world, but it occurred to me that you’ve never given me a tightjob, I think it’s time we tried it.”

She had some assumptions about what this position was, but you helped her anyway. Yunjin was a rather tall girl, so there were no problems for your dick to fit between her thighs, the result was perfect, nothing uncomfortable. You thought about turning on the shower to lube up a little, but her pussy was so wet and the continuous sweat running down between her thighs was already more than great. You grabbed Yunjin's waist tightly and she crossed her legs a little, squeezing your dick.

You began to thrust into her, your cock sliding back and forth as you dragged Yunjin's labia. So you discovered in the best way that this was very pleasurable for both of you. The internal heat started inside you again and gradually you lost yourself in that exciting sensation. As you approached the final explosion, you bestially grabbed Yunjin in every way possible, sliding your sweat-damp hands down her belly, squeezing her breasts and slapping her ass. You lost yourself in the voluptuousness that was Yunjin's body and- Fuck! She loved it. She loved being your instrument of pleasure, knowing that the person she loved so much reached maddening peaks of passion, desire and lust for her. A juice of feelings for an insatiable thirst.

“Oh baby! I’m gonna cum! I’m gonna-”

Without any warning, Yunjin began to move her hips in a rhythm that immediately took you to the precipice of pleasure. The soft, hot, wet, suffocating skin of her thighs dancing over your cock. This was too much for you. When you came, you hugged Yunjin tightly, holding her as if your life depended on it, giving in to inconstant and uncontrollable moans close to her ear. The frantic thrusts lost their rhythm, going deeper and slower through Yunjin's thighs. She held your arms affectionately, waiting for your breathing to become less labored before kissing you.

"I love you." You said to her.

The phrase was so loaded with something that covered your feelings at that moment, and you wished she was the woman of your life and would never leave your side.

"I love you too!" said Yunjin when she found a way out of your tongue. “Baby, you don’t know how much.”

“This took longer than expected. Let’s take our shower.”

“Yep! Let's go."

You turned on the shower. The hot running water was invigorating, even more so being next to Yunjin, you didn't know that sharing certain intimacies was so special until you finally did it with her. you soaped Yunjin's entire body, she helped you wash your back and you shampooed her hair, gently massaging her scalp; it was cute how it relaxed her, she seemed so surrendered to you in that moment, and just a few months ago you were sitting across from her and the other Le Sserafim girls, asking incisive questions about the creative process of their latest album. That's where it all started, after all. And who could say where it would end?

“Hey, baby, let me shampoo your hair now.” Yunjin said with a goofy smile.

Nobody, you thought. Nobody could say.

A/n: sorry for any grammatical errors 😅

[skinnypaleangryperson]

Some people are living the lesser version of their dreams but they're still living their dreams, some people are as good as dead. I'm the last one.

[spicysourchimken]

Interesting reunions

Tim and Danny are twins, Danny was given up for adoption by the Drakes when he was a baby and Tim was never told he has a brother.

After a reveal gone bad, Danny, Jazz, Sam and Tucker became thieves after closing the portal. They mainly target supernatural or cursed items. Their target, a necklace, is being held in a museum with their in being a private event to show off the piece before it's sent back to its owner.

The heist would've gone well if Tim hadn't also been in attendance.

------

'Lmao and here I thought you didn't want to be here'

It was a text from Dick.

Not exactly the strangest thing to happen when Tim was forced to attend an event.

He'd been benched after a mission resulted in a minor concussion. He'd personally been planning on going over his paperwork for Wayne Enterprises, but apparently that wasn't 'rest', instead he was sent off to be bored out of his mind at some art function. He didn't have time to prepare notes or even do any real research. But he still had Dick who had apparently been dragged along as his babysitter (And was fortunately interested in the items on display)

They'd been texting throughout the night. Dick fed him enough information to be mildly interested in topics of conversation, and when that failed the strange history of the main display. An old necklace that supposedly was connected to a string of deaths and all around misfortune.

So no, the text wasn't strange, but what was, was the photo attached. It was a picture of a man, grinning and chatting amicably with a woman whom he could barely make out as the collection's curator. His hair was longer than Tim's, tied neatly back to be clear of his glasses and to give clear view of the man's face.

Tim's face.

There was a clone at the event.

'can u get me another pic?'

Tim was now significantly more interested. Tim could identify the room they were in, housing the main display and it was about two rooms over from where he was currently hiding out. He could get there easily enough.

Dick sent him a thumbs up before replying with another, distinctly more uncomfortable photo of the man. He smiled awkwardly and Tim could finally get a better look at his face. Tim's brows scrunched together. A lichtenburg scar stretched up from beneath his collar and trailed along his jaw and in the light the man's eyes almost looked green.

He ran the photo through his facial recognition software, getting at least a few pings on himself before finally landing on Jonas Spencer, private security currently assigned to shadow one Morgan Deveraux. His history was solid, highschool records, even a spotty criminal history (points where he'd almost been arrested for bar fights) before he'd joined up with his firm.

So. not a clone. Probably.

Tim would still need to check it out. He pushed past a dark haired woman and entered the main show room. Dick, luckily had kept him in conversation but Jonas looked flighty, his eyes always drifting back to his charge.

Then he caught sight of Tim.

He froze. Staring at Tim for a moment before he tapped his ear- and what Tim assumed to be a comm. He made a move for Morgan, leaving Dick in the dust.

The lights flickered. Jonas reached for Megan, his hand wrapping around hers. Tim could've sworn his eyes darted upwards. Then there was a complete blackout. There was a clatter as a vent grate fell to the floor, shouts arose from the attendees.

Then the lights flickered back to life.

Jonas and Morgan had vanished, and so did the necklace as well as three other paintings.

Good news, its not a clone. Bad news, he might have a twin brother who is in a gang of thieves.

--

Daniel Fenton, or as his ID currently stated 'Jonas Spencer', wouldn't exactly call himself a thief- personally he was more of a collector. Or a curator, whatever the hell you might call a guy who grabs haunted and or cursed objects and dumps them in an alternate dimension.

And it wasn't exactly like he was normally the one stealing things either! That was mostly Sam, he'd done for a bit when they'd first started up (pushing his hands through the glass and taking a necklace with him, or making a painting completely invisible as he whisked it away) but then Sam started calling it 'cheating' and claimed 'his technique was lacking' and promptly took over his position.

(He didn't exactly mind, using his powers too often made his skin crawl. He may not have the GIW constantly hunting him, but he'd had enough run ins to make him sweat. He also didn't want to think about his parents.)

So maybe their entire deal wasn't completely altruistic. When you've been on the run since seventeen and had decided that you, your best friends and your older sister are going to become international thieves, sometimes you have to steal things so that you can have an income. And sometimes stealing is fun.

Unluckily their current job wasn't recreational. They'd heard word of a haunted necklace, there was a string of bad luck connected to it. Mirrors shattering, injuries popping up only days after interacting with the piece, lights falling out from the ceiling. There'd also been a case of near death.

Very clearly the latest display piece was cursed meaning they needed to grab it before it was shipped back into it private collection in France. That meant a time crunch, meaning they wouldn't be fully prepared. It was fine- they'd stolen the dagger of Amon Ra when they had half a day to plan, so three should've been fine.

He and Jazz manned the floor, Jazz kept to grifting while Danny worked as support if things went sideways on any front. Jazz, currently wealthy socialite 'Morgan Devereaux', draped an arm around a politician as he guided her through the collection. Jazz shot him a glance telling him to stay back, keep monitoring the main floor with the necklace.

That was fine. He could do that. He approached the curator and complimented the piece, letting her tell him about the struggles she had getting it overseas let alone her conversations with the owner. Ok, so definitely cursed.

Danny felt eyes on his back, and from the corner of his eye he saw someone take a photo. Tall, dark hair and a bright smile.

Sam pointed out that it was a Wayne.

At that point Danny made an attempt to leave, if he was going to get into a fight we wasn't going to do it there. He'd be too close to the necklace for Sam to get in and grab it without attention being drawn to her too. But Grayson cornered him impressively fast. He asked Danny for a photo, claiming that he looked just like his brother. Danny relented.

Then Tucker chimed in that someone had ran his face. Fuck. Dick kept him in conversation but Danny was eyeing their escape roots. Sam warned that another was coming through the left entrance and that she'd already lifted his phone. Danny turned, preparing himself for confrontation.

Then Danny saw him, his doppelganger.

Grayson hadn't been lying. That thought was terrifying.

Danny sent two taps into his earpiece and made his way towards Jazz. They couldn't risk staying any longer. Danny didn't know if they'd been made or not but he wasn't taking chances. He nodded to Sam who went for the jewels as Tucker cut the lights. Jazz and Danny took a painting each.

Sam went for the vents and Danny and Jazz disappeared through the front door.

[amaranthineghost]

THE MIGHTY HAS FALLEN (BUT YOU'LL RISE AGAIN, LOVE) ( max verstappen. )

max verstappen x reader

after a tough race cut short, max pushes away any person around him, but not her. never her. she always picks up the pieces to put him back together.

authors note: I love max. I know he's not the self-deprecating typa guy, but in this, he is, OKAY. charles is after this <333

HE WAS A BOMB. the fuse getting shorter and shorter every minute that his patience was tested. everything around him seemed to irritate him more and more as he tried to keep himself from exploding, for pr's sake.

he just wanted to avoid the media all together, for obvious reasons, but he was contractually obligated to give his words to the journalists under the media tent. putting him under a microscope and asking questions that had an undertone of scrutiny in hopes of catching him break. he was close, but he wouldn’t.

it hadn’t even been a fault of his own, he rarely made those anymore. the car had caught fire, but not due to a mistake he had made, and even if it had been, he wouldn't have admitted it anyways. still he felt the guilt of his lack of performance, beating himself up after every question asked about his car and what had happened.

it was just stupid. the questions were stupid. the car was stupid. this whole race was stupid.

the pressure to perform, even in the best car on the grid, was high. despite his seat being secured for plenty of years to come, he still had expectations to meet and records to break.

it was obvious to everyone that max was hard on himself every time he didn't perform his best, his girlfriend especially noticing when she’d find him in his very luxurious driver's room sulking at even the slightest of a mistake made by him.

it didn't happen often, but when it did, she'd been there for him. he knew that.

he wanted nothing more than to crawl into a hole and never be seen again because world champions don't make stupid mistakes.

even if this hadn't been a mistake he made, he should've known. even if there was no possible way he could’ve, he should've.

he was raised to believe that he was only deserving if he had been first, that he was destined to fail after every second place or worse finish.

so it wasn't surprising when he thought he didn't deserve her. in comparison, or more like his eyes, she was simply perfect.

and she understood him, which not many people could because he wouldn't let anyone pick apart his brain like she did.

he locked his thoughts and feelings in the dark that shrouded his mind from early childhood trauma. he promised he would never let anyone see.

but he was never great at keeping such promises because it hadn't taken much for her to pick the lock to his brain. even though he wasn't ready to spill every detail of his upbringing to her, he trusted her.

and he didn't get to do that all too often.

the media had been brutal—he knew they would be—and yet it still crushed his mentality and faith in himself.

with his race suit around his waist despite having time to change beforehand, he walked through the paddock in shame at the early retirement.

it wasn't like this determined the outcome of his career because the next race, he'd be back on top. he didn't feel so sure of it though because all his thoughts were on this failure. what if he failed the next race?

what if he failed the whole season? what if he fails her?

unlikely, the people know, but he had so much confidence which had so easily crumbled when it got a little too hot. he wasn't sure of himself anymore.

anyone could see the turmoil bubbling underneath his skin, harsh waves crashing in the ocean of his blue eyes as he pushed past anyone and everyone.

the walk through the paddock was short, considering the red bull motorhome was the first of ten. max hastily entered through the automatic doors, skipping steps as he was eager to hide out in his driver's room.

he felt the eyes of the staff follow him down the hall until he disappeared quickly around the corner. he didn't want to be seen by anyone.

the door to his driver's room closed as fast as it was opened, but much louder. she heard the slam of the door echo down the hallway.

she didn't flinch, she just calmly greeted staff with smiles and left a bag of sweets on the table for them. she always brought something for the team, to celebrate every victory and despite this not being one, they still deserved it for working hard.

since she had gotten there not too long after him, she lingered around the lobby. she didn't want to be waiting around for him to show up and have him brush her off because he wasn't in the right headspace.

he would never mean to dismiss her, and she knew to give him at least a little time to himself to think and process things. she couldn't give him too much time though because she didn't want his self-deprecating thoughts to eat away at his confidence.

from what she analyzed from the staff and their demeanor, he'd probably caught them off guard when he slammed his door.

she wouldn't apologize for his behavior because she would make him do it when he cooled down.

so she hung around and made small talk with the sparse staff around to allow max a few minutes to himself before excusing herself down the hall.

she had a bomb to defuse after all.

the clack of her heels on the hard floors bounced off the walls, but she walked quietly enough so max didn't hear her coming. he knew she would though. he knew she would find him with his head in his hands, barely covered in sweat because he didn't race for more than three laps.

his face was still flush with disappointment though. he didn't want her to see him like this even though she was with him during his last disappointing race, but even though his singaporean grand prix finish wasn't great, at least he hadn't been out of the race.

max hadn't DNF’d in two years because he was simply just that good, and he still is. he just didn't feel like it.

his hands pressed so hard against his eyes, the blood vessels in them would have popped if he pushed any harder. he had taken off his red bull hat, he felt he didn't deserve the number one right now. it was thrown lazily onto the makeshift bed in his driver's room.

the room was practically silent, every so often interrupted by a deep sigh of disappointment that escaped his lips. he had sat there for a good couple or minutes, sulking.

when she reached his door, she held the bouquet of flowers she always got for him close to her body with one arm while she raised the other to knock. her hand only slightly hesitated before her fist made contact with the door and a few seconds later, she tried entering. it was locked, which was usual whenever he was brooding.

at first, when max heard the knock, he thought of all the people last on his list that he would want to see right now, but on the bottom of the list was the person he wanted to avoid the most right now.

his dad.

their relationship was rocky. he never supported max at any place unless it was on the very top of the podium, and even then max thought he looked unpleasant.

“go away,” was all max could mutter through his hands as his heart started to pick up the pace.

she sighed, shaking her head with a smile pulling at her lips, “max.” it was all she needed to say.

part of him didn't want to let her in, he didn't want her to see him like this, but he knew she was just as stubborn as him, if not more. he knew she would stand there all day if he didn't open the door to let her in.

and he would always let her in.

she heard the low creak of the sofa she could imagine him sitting on, but not his footsteps while he made his way to the door. she only knew he heard her when the lock clicked and the door slowly opened inwards to reveal the red-faced max verstappen.

she stood staring at him, her head tilted as she studied his face. he didn't move, he just watched her eyes dart around his appearance, and he felt himself getting hot under his fireproofs.

“are you going to let me in, verstappen?” she teased, a sly smile on her lips as she watched her boyfriend roll his eyes.

he scoffed, stepping aside, “don't call me that.”

“what?” she acted innocent, stepping into his driver's room with the fresh flowers, seeing the already prepped vase, “don't call you by your name?”

“you know what I mean.” though he tried to keep a straight face and act like he was still mad, he couldn't keep a smile from creeping onto his lips. she just had that effect.

she heard the door close and lock again as she took the wrapping off and placed the flowers in the vase. she shrugged at his words, her back still towards him, but she knew he had sat back down.

“you didn't have to get those,” he mumbled, “didn't win.”

she sighed, crumbling the wrapping in her hand and throwing it away before walking to where he sat. she stood in front of him as he looked up at her.

even with heels, he was still much taller than her and even though he was sitting, he reached barely below her chin.

she spread her arms to offer a hug to him, which he gratefully took, his arms snaking around the low of her hips. pressed against her chest, her arms wrapped around his head, running her fingers through his hair.

she felt him sigh against her skin, his eyes closing as they stayed like that for minutes without speaking. she felt him caress the bare skin of her thigh with his thumb.

when they finally pulled apart, his hands still laid firmly on her hips, his hair disheveled from the hug. she ran her hands through it to fix it and he only watched as she did so.

when she finally finished after only ten seconds because guy hair is a lot less complicated than women’s hair, he finally spoke up, “why are you dressed so uncomfortably?”

she was slightly taken aback, seeing as he was just moping about his race not even ten minutes ago and now commenting on her appearance. he only assumed she was uncomfortable, but unfortunately his assumption was correct.

“what do you mean?” she looked down at her attire, which isn't so different from the other wags that she hung out with.

his hand snuck around the back of her thigh and pulled up her leg, “I thought I told you to stop wearing heels, you always complain about them.”

“i’m fine,” she said, about to cross her arms, but her balance said otherwise so she settled them on his shoulders for support.

he gave her an incredulous look because every time she wore heels, without fail, she would complain less than an hour into wherever they were that she wanted to sit.

“okay, i admit i can't wait to get these things off,” she let out a deep breath, putting a hand on her hip, “but I'm supposed to be taking care of you.”

she said in his response to take the heels off her feet for her, a simple gesture really, but this was about him.

“do you want to talk about it?” she massaged his shoulders as he threw her heels to the other side of the small sofa.

“nothing to talk about,” he shrugged, “maybe I don't deserve being first.”

she pushed his head to look up at her, shaking her head, “you just don't realize how much you deserve, max. you're a world champion, a three-time one,” she reassured him, “you've won countless races, and you still have the entire season ahead of you. I know you want to, but you can't let one bad race define your season.”

“I know, you're right.” he bit the inside of his cheek as he thought deeply, “but I have to prove myself.”

“you've already done that plenty of times,” she shook his shoulders in emphasis, “besides you'll still lead the championship, unless charles gets p1, but you'll get it right back if that's the case.”

she was right. she always was, he never doubted her. he would never doubt her because she would never lie to him. she always backed up her answers by building up his ego and confidence back up so he was ready to fight it out on the track next race.

whether it took a couple of minutes or hours to bring his mood back up, she'd take her time in making him feel like the champion he was again.

she would take his phone from him, he didn't need to see the articles being written or the missing phone calls from his dad.

all he needed was her and she would always be there.

—

taglist (found here): @slut4lrh @taylorslovesswifties13 @sbella13 @kaa212 @nhlfs

proofread by @foreveralbon <333

[slippinninque]

🫣🍑Private Dancer🍑🫣

Or: You discover another half to the secret you thought you were keeping

Fontaine x blackfemreader

Warnings: MINORS DNI, cursing, use of the n-word, mentions of smoking/weed, P-in-V, mentions of insecurity, long fic

Truth was, you were a secret shaker.

A tentative twerker. An apprehensive ass-thrower. Your waist whined when being perceived directly and not in a good way. Not only did you decline to throw ass in public, you will also turn away any offers to catch it.

You learned chorography to your favorite sounds, bounced around your living room as you folded clothes. Recorded dance challenges and deleted them a few hours later. You were your very own Stallion behind closed doors.

When you were alone, though...

It took only a handful of awkward encounters and an asshole ex-boyfriend suggesting you 'stand to the side' for you to be determined to find your rhythm.

Looking up tips online and went to any beginner's classes you could find in the area. Ballroom, salsa, the pole--it all helped you understand your body outside of what it looked like. It was about what you trained it to do, what you wanted it to do.

Investing in a really good floor length mirror was the last puzzle piece you needed to really find your beat. From there on, you and the mirror were lovers.

Only your small circle of friends knew. That was thanks to enough years of trust and tequila, leading to wild nights at house parties with the radio cranked high.

You eventually learned that it was nothing to be ashamed of. It's not like it kept you away from fun or being included in the antics. If you went out with the ladies, you hyped them and kept a cute lil' two step. You held the title of Camerawoman with pride and your background cackles were famous in the group chat.

The booty wouldn't boogie with anyone else around and it's been that way for years.

It was your own little secret. No one had to know everything and you babbled enough as it was. If anyone cared to stare hard enough to a deserted, dark corner of the house--then maybe they could catch a glimpse.

The sway-snap of your hips, falling beautifully with every beat that you heard. How your hair gleamed, the way your smile swelled with the change of the songs.

Your entire body sang a song.

At least, that's what Fontaine thought when he first spotted you.

Of course you never knew he saw you. Even after the reciprocated confessions and hot-n-heavy honeymoon phase, you thought you went unseen.

Fontaine took your secret for his own, delighting in your shadow shows on the rare occasions you came out to play.

Fontaine could wait and if you had to feel alone to feel secure, then so be it. He used his admiration and desire to touch you, to be a proper witness.

Just being near you was more then enough, it would have been ungrateful to be so greedy.

------

You screamed when you saw him standing there.

The earbuds went off into the wilds of the kitchen, one skittering beneath the fridge.

Fontaine's eyes were popped wide but didn't seem remorseful for scaring your soul to the heavens.

"I thought you heard me when I came in." Fontaine hung up his keys before going in search of your earbuds. You watched after him, mortified.

You were just really into organizing the lower pantry. Lost in shaking your ass with one hand braced on the red potatoes and the other searching for the brown potatoes to put them back in their proper spot.

When you turned to grab the few 'taters that eacaped, you saw your man standing a few feet away from you with his arms crossed and head tilted.

How long has he been here?

Oh god, you have never danced for him. You have never danced in front of him--you weren't even serious. There wasn't a problem with you shimmying to the beat in his lap at a function or waving from your hips up while riding in the car to some jams.

This was different.

"Hey, hey--whatcha curling up for? C'mon now, I already know you can move."

"It-- that, um, I-I'm not that good, so, y'know..."

Fontaine pocketed your traumatized earbuds and kissed your hands until you inched them away enough for him to see your worried gaze. He tutted quietly, taking your hands into his and kissing your knuckles.

"What matters to me is what makes you feel good, baby." His voice rolled into a purr as he continued, "Lucky me that you look so fine when you do."

You wriggled as your shyness battled against the excitement of having Fontaine looking at you the way he was.

"So I don't look.... awkward? Do I have enough stuff to make it look good?"

"Wasn't nothing awkward 'bout how you were throwin' that, trust me."

Fontaine's hands went down and grabbed two handfuls of your ass. His palms were warm and wide as he kneaded, bringing you even closer to him as you went to your tiptoes. He hooked his chin over your shoulder with a happy little him, distracted by you but only for only a moment more.

"Hold up, whatchu mean by 'enough stuff' ?"

You shrugged and decided not to answer. The truth of past insecurities felt redundant and you rather liked the way Fontaine was making you feel at the moment.

Fontaine grunted, giving you another squeeze before pulling back a bit to look into you square in the eyes.

"Look here-- I'm in love with all this right here, so I'm rockin' with you regardless of what you can make it do. Don't matter if you think you ain't got enough, shit, it's enough fo', me. Understand?"

His words worked out the few kinks in your heart, aches you grown used to and ignored when they flared. You nodded more confidently and only then did Fontaine lighten his hold on you, nodding back.

No telling how long Fontaine was standing there and if you never turned around-- you would have been none the wiser. How many times has he been there? Letting you have yourself, taking only a moment for himself as he had that smile on his face.

It was the same smile he had when he took away the shea butter to rub you down himself. Or similar to the smirk on his face when following after you to the bedroom after you talked a bit too much shit.

Your shoulders dropped as you fully relaxed into his hold. The burning embarrassment in your stomach churned into smooth, seamless and leaving you suddenly eager.

"So, tell me what a nigga gotta do to get a private dance from yo' pretty self?"

His hands helped themselves to another handful, this time spreading to touch between your legs. There was promise in his eyes and you knew you only needed to say yes.

You twist away from him enough to pluck your phone from the counter, sliding through a few songs before settling on something with drums and bass. The speakers pulsed and you began backing Fontaine out of the kitchen and into the living room.

He let you push him to sit in the recliner and he made an appreciative sound at the way you leaned in, pressing a kiss to his lips. It evolved, going deeper until you pulled away with a protesting noise from Fontaine.

"That's the only touching you gonna get from me right now."

"Oh, word?"

"You're going to distract me enough as it is." You said, stepping away from him and stretching your arms over your head.

"Bold as hell to call me a distraction." Fontaine's brows rose as he leaned back to make himself comfortable, "Lookin' at me with them eyes..."

His eyes hooked onto your hips. You stretched, teasingly bending over and holding onto your ankles as you gave a cute lil' shake, looking over your shoulder coyly .

"What can I use to look if it ain't my eyes?" You asked, "How am I supposed to see you?"

"Don't worry 'bout what you see back here, act like a nigga ain't even here."

"Oh, that's impossible now. You still make me feel so shy..."

Fontaine snorted and your gave a giddy smile in return.

What you wore was actually perfect. Tiny shorts and cami, perfect for when you were bounding around to clean house. Just what you needed for you to do a little Bend n' Snap for your man.

The music changed and you looked over at him in surprise, he held your phone but watched you with a mischief. Reaching for the little, polka dotted stash jar you left on the coffee table to pull out a blunt to wag at you.

"Go on, show me what you got fo' me."

Waiting until he fired up, you sauntered closer and tied up the front of your already teeny tank. Fontaine's eyes honed in to your nipples, distracted as he took a drag. When his fingers crooked, you leaned in enough and pursed your lips.

Fontaine blew a strong stream that you breathed in and held. You held as long as you could before releasing the smoke a final time into the air.

Fontaine's blunts were no-nonsense, where he still rolled with leaves rather than the papers you preferred. It felt like a straight shot to the head, the smoke lifting all the chatter in your mind to leave you swirling in electric eagerness.

Without further ado, you showed him what you could do.

Your hands braced on your knees, clasped above your head, went down to touch your toes. You rolled your stomach and snapped your hips mouthing the words to Fontaine as you fully felt yourself. You extended your arms and tried to be as dramatically sexy as possible. Touching all of Fontaine's favorite places yourself, pushing up your breast and skimming your hand between your legs for him to see.

Fontaine was a chaotic DJ as he flipped through your playlist. He went from instrumentals filled with nothing but baselines and adlibs, to Glorilla to Megan Thee Stallion to Trina. Whistling at every peek of cheek and nip, calling out to see the 'pretty lady' when you coyly fanned your legs at him from the floor.

When you got down on your hands and knees, you felt a smack against your cheeks hard enough to snap your illusion. You leaned onto your forearms, ass up in the air, and broke into laughter as more bills rained down. It was like a confetti canon was let off or someone hit the Golden Button for you.

"That felt personal." You said over your shoulder at where Fontaine sent another fan of bills into the air, "You tryin' to tell me something?"

"Yeah--to bring that ass over here so I can get my hands on you," Fontaine patted his thigh, "Thought this was gonna be a lap dance..."

"Private does not mean lap." You sniffed. Honestly, you weren't sure because you've never been to a strip club but with the way he was throwing bills--the living room was cosplaying as a VIP section at King of Diamonds.

You took your time in coming closer, wondering if you could skip on singles before Fontaine snatched you right up when you were close enough.

"This is too much! When did you even have time to take out all these damn dollars?"

"I been waiting on this, baby. Shit, I woulda threw gold if it ain't' hurt..."

You laughed and looked around at the singles carpeting your floor in disbelief, it's like you had a new rug installed! There were dollars all overt the coffee table and even some fluttered over to coat the entertainment center. Was there a dollar up in the light fixture? Was that a fire hazard?

Fontaine's teeth nipped at your earlobe, turning your next remark into soft moan. His hand ran up to cup your neck, breathing you in with a hungry hum.

His voice was all smoke and honey, "This is all well an' good, but I think I'm feeling a certain type of way..."

"Is it the horny way?"

Your cheekiness got you mean little pinch to your sensitive nipples. Jolting only pushed you closer to his greedy hands. It was his turn to touch. He plucked and twisted your nipples, making you mewl and melt into his touch. You ground down into his lap where you felt he needed you most, making him sigh into your ear.

"Gonna be the death of me, ain't ya?" Fontaine husked, "Here lies 'Taine, bust so hard he went on to glory. He leaves everything to his pretty-booty havin' lady."

"What if I promise to shake somethin' on your grave, would that be better--no biting!"

Fontaine growled something into the mouthful of shoulder he had, shaking his head gently and making you squeal and scrunch up to try and escape.

Still warm from being in the spotlight of Fontaine's attention and the pulsing music, your head swam with delight. It felt like victory. You turned and kissed at the side of his face before your lips met.

When your grinding became more insistent, Fontaine leaned back with his lip caught between his teeth.

Allowing yourself to be admired and seen was like nothing else. Fontaine has always shown nothing but devotion to you but you still felt like he was...just being nice. You were holding yourself back from assumed disappointment but this whole time he's been waiting on you.

Talk about blocking your blessings...

"That's what I'm talkin' about. Show me how you feel."

You looked over you shoulder, holding his hands against your breast as you rode in his lap. Fontaine hissed, one of his hands quickly escaped to clasp around your hips to grind up into you.

Leaning forward enough on your hands, your delicates went directly in his face as you tugged at his pant leg pointedly. Fontaine ignored your impatience and ran a hand over you, from between your shoulders down to the backs of your thighs.

You could hear him popping the button on his jeans and the rattle of his belt.

"How bad you want it, pretty?"

"Bad, real bad."

"'Do anything fo' it' bad?"

" 'Let you do anything to me' bad."

It happened fast after that, Fontaine righted you in his lap enough for him to press into your pussy. The stretch dropped your mouth open and Fontaine groaned at how wet you already were.

LOW started and you bounced to the beat, grinning dopily up at the ceiling at the feel of him hitting all your good spots. Your shorts provided a wonderful friction against your clit from how Fontaine shoved the fabric aside to let himself in.

It felt so naughty. To fuck on Fontaine like you were starved for him to the music rattling your walls. The thrill twisted with desire in your stomach, hurtling you faster and faster to your peek.

Suddenly more bills rained down and paired with Fontaine's laugh, more lust than amusement--it pushed you over the edge.

"Thta's it, I feel you, g'on and get yo' shit. Can't believe yo' pretty ass was shy..."

Fontaine took over. A bruising grip onto your hips, tipped you back into his chest as he thrust up into you in earnest.

"Puttin' that shit on me heavy, acting like you don't know what you do to me." Fontaine found a few singles that were being crumpled between you and pressed them to your dewy, lower back.

"Shieet, looks better than money. Wish you can see as much as yo' ass feel it, fuck." He gave your ass slap, you called out as you came. It felt like fire shot through you, leaving you reaching for any bit of him to clutch.

Between the music still going and Fontaine handling you so well, the sensations left you gasping. Legs burning and head filled with needy thoughts, you protested when Fontaine stopped your bouncing and maneuvered you until he slid free.

"Oh, show ain't over yet--you feel me?"

You did. Fontaine was heavy and hot where he tapped all over your ass, leaving kisses of wet spots. It filled you with a flash of pride or maybe even possessiveness. Craining your neck, you did you best to get a glimpse but Fontaine hand cupped your neck licked the shell of your ear.

"Yeah, that's you gettin' all over me. Tryna make me messy just how you like it, huh?"

He hissed when you writhed in his lap, ghost riding his dick until he gave you a little push to stand. Your mouth dropped open to whine but Fontaine turned you towards the middle of the room.

"Show me how you want it."

Fontaine held himself tight at the base, his lips lax enough for his gold to wink in the lamp light.

As gracefully as you could--you went down onto your knees before lying back to put your legs in the air. You rolled over in the blanket of dollars, wriggling down your shorts to one ankle until you could flick them away.

Fontaine grinned down at you, kneeling to slot his palm into the arch of your foot, his other hand stroking himself.

Fontaine moved your other thigh to the side around his hip, leaving you spread completely. You were still working, still giving him a show, but you couldn't bear to keep your hands off of him.

He hooked one of your legs over his shoulder, eyes fixed to where his dick bumped against your mound.

"Prettiest thing touchin' soil and you think it ain't enough..."

"Hurry up, Mr. Lapdance--the show ends when the music does."

When you hand ran under his shirt, Fontaine tugged it over his head swiftly and much to your delight. The sight of his broad chest and delicious skin made you all the more impatient.

Fontaine's eyes flashed.

The image formed in your mind was electric. Pretending to be a little Stallion and running into a hungry handed, greedy eyed Fontaine in low strobe lights.

"You lucky we ain't meet like that. D'you wanna know what I would do if you showed out like that on a pole?

Not knowing just what he had in store for you as you led him to the privacy booths--intent on earning his attention.

When you licked your lips, Fontaine groaned softly, you smiled at him.

What's another little secret?

Pressing into your heat, Fontaine grumbled something about Home Depot.

"I did take a few classes, if you ever wanna see ahn--!"

Drunk on pleasure, you could only cry out as Fontaine chased his thoughts out loud. The change in position, with him looming above you muttering filthy promises--it was too much for you.

"Shouldn't have told me that, now I gotta put a stage in here somewhere in this bitch..."

"O-Oh fuck, 'Taine!"

He froze to watch your eyes roll close as you shook apart beneath him with a sob. Fontaine lowered himself to bracket you between his forearms to kiss you, swallowing your moans. His hips snapped, lost rhythm and then he was coming with satisfied growl.

That was it. You were dead. Your very soul leaked onto his thighs and the carpet below.

'Here lies me, twerked too close to the sun...'

Fontaine releases a heavy, satisfied hum into your ear as he finally collapsed onto you. It should have been stifling and your knew your legs would be useless for the next while, but all you could do was grin at the feel of the dollar bill stuck to his shoulder.

What a way to go....

------

When the playlist finally ended, the silence found you both covered in sweat and dollar bills. Fontaine rubbed a loc of your hair between his fingers and you rested your eyes--head on his shoulder. Your hand wandering aimlessly across his chest as you began to doze.

He tugged gently to get your attention, "Want you to do me a favor."

"Mn. If it involves moving, you gotta pay me."

Fontaine snorted and flicked away the bill stuck to the thigh you've strewn across him. You shrugged a shoulder with a lifted brow, you got me there.

He continued, "If you can help it...I'd like for you not to hide from me anymore."

The change in his tone had you searching for his gaze and of course it was already on you. Fontaine took your hand in his, turning yours until he held it in his open palm.

"I...okay. I can do that for you."

You weren't ready to talk about the past and trying to make sense of your complicated feelings of being perceived. Something told you that it wasn't the time, maybe it was you hiding again, but at least Fontaine took your words earnestly.

He kissed your hand once, twice before leaning his head back and closing his eyes as he went back to playing with your locs.

"Oouf you are terrible." You hid your face into his neck, "But once my legs come back online, you're in trouble."

"Good..and no more watchin' Baddies. Watching them girls fucks wit' your disposition," Fontaine reached for a handful of bills to sprinkle all over you, "You wanna be a Stallion? Lemme know and I'll give you a ride."

Fontaine patted your ass, "Can't threaten me with good troubles, baby."

-----------

ending notes: thank you so much for reading! It's a long one but the idea wouldn't leave me alone! Might need some tweaking and editing since it's another Before Work Drop lmao! Please tell me what you think and what other things I should try, don't be shy! Comment and reblog please! 💕🥰💜

Taglist: @megamindsecretlair @sageispunk @miyuhpapayuh @cardierreh15 @mcondance @thadelightfulone@mag1calenchantr3ss@cocoeffects@wide-nose-and-wonderful @8ttached@thadelightfulone@hobiesmain@thickeeparker@longpause-awkwardsmile@ms-angiealsina

(Added a more after some slight revisions 🫣)

[am-i-the-asshole-official]

AITA for being paranoid about US Border Security?

🪤 <- for searching later

Background info: I live in Canada, (relatively) close to the US border. Because of this, when shopping online it can be cheaper to have orders shipped to the nearest American town and then drive down yourself to pick them up. I hadn't done this myself but it's pretty normal to do around here.

This happened at the end of this summer, so the situation is fully over but my (white) friends immediately adjacent to this situation have said that I was basically the only asshole here and I feel that I am, at least, only one of the assholes. I want people's genuine opinions however. I have since stopped talking to this entire group of people, who I'd previously been friends with for 4-5 years, over this issue and a couple others.

My friend (20s, white) had ordered a package to [nearest American town], and because they don't have a car, they were looking for someone who could do a day trip to the states so they could pick it up. I (20s, white-passing, but from a mixed South Asian Muslim family, & I have very recognizably Muslim family names) offered to drive them down with my car, they agreed. We were going to split gas money, the date was set, everything was ready to go.

A few days prior to when we were going to go, my south asian parent reminded me that because I have muslim names, I need to be very careful when crossing the border, because the US Customs is well known for profiling muslims/arabs and pulling them aside for intensive screening. My parent also pointed out that, because my friend smokes weed basically every single day (legal in Canada), I would need to make sure that they were not carrying any weed with them when we went.

I was freaked out by this, and was not thinking super clearly in the moment because it was close to midnight and things my parent had mentioned about previous experiences going through Customs had scared me a lot.

I immediately texted my friend, saying that Customs would find weed on them if they swabbed them, and that it would be "a big problem." They replied that Customs doesn't swab for weed, and that they "failed to see any problem." I replied that Customs is allowed to go through your phone (people have been turned away at the border for admitting to having used cannabis before, but if you tell Customs that you've never smoked weed and they find evidence to the contrary they can ban you from entering the country for lying to border personnel.)

I linked them to an unofficial site that went into detail about what US Customs agents can do if you have weed on you or admit to having smoked previously. My vague intent at this point was for us to get everything in order so that none of the bags/jackets/etc we were taking could possibly have had any weed crumbs/dead old vapes/edible packaging in them , but I didn't get a chance to say this because they immediately replied that even if Customs tested them and found weed in their system, that they wouldn't care because it's legal in Canada. I said that Customs very much would care, and they said that I was insulting them and accusing them of having a criminal record. At this point they sent a further ~10 upset/angry texts in a row, which I didn't open or reply to because I was really upset at this point and needed a minute.

At this point (around midnight), they phoned me, I picked it up and they immediately(!) started yelling at me and saying I was a piece of shit etc etc. I told them they sounded dysregulated and should take a minute to compose themself (I phrased what I said in an aggravating therapy-speak way, bc I had been watching vids about cptsd immediately before they phoned me, but I was extremely freaked out, as I think most people would be when their friend is suddenly yelling at them, and it was the first thing that came to mind). This just made them yell louder, so I told them I refused to let people speak to me that way, said goodnight, they said goodnight, we hung up, and I blocked their calls and texts so they couldn't continue berating me.

After this, I realized that I'd completely neglected to mention that the reason I was particularly scared was because of US Customs' Islamophobic profiling, but I had gone into the interaction assuming (incorrectly) that they already knew implicitly that that was going to be an issue, because we'd known each other for 5 years and I've definitely talked (not recently) about how going thru US Customs is always a pain in the ass because my whole family gets profiled and taken for extra questioning, so right before I went to sleep I briefly unblocked them and sent a text saying that the reason I was so paranoid was because of the extra questioning I was already expecting to encounter at the border, but that it was now irrelevant anyway because I refused to be in a car with someone who was totally fine treating me this way.

I've since stopped talking to this person and, by association, my (white) friendgroup because they sided with them completely. It was a long time coming for other additional reasons I can't get into though.

TL;DR

Planning trip from Canada to US in my car with stoner friend, realized a few days before trip that US Customs can arbitrarily fuck your shit up if they find evidence of weed on you. Got scared and tried to tell stoner friend that it would be a big problem if they had weed on them, they flipped their shit and yelled at me over the phone about it, I blocked them (functionally cancelling the trip).

I believe I was accusatory in a bad way, and that I should have communicated better, but ultimately that my fear had a 100% legitimate basis and should not have been completely and totally dismissed by everyone around me, even though I was too extreme in my paranoia

(They were able to get another ride and pick the package up later)

What are these acronyms?

[coffeeadict61]

Humans Are Weird: Female Rage

Report: #298

Topic: Female Rage

Rage: Violent or uncontrollable anger.

I have studied the human race for months now but today is the day I have learned to fear them. Forget their unpredictable bodies, or overly complex inventions, or the horrific moments that crowd their history. It was only today I feared for my life in the presence of a human being.

I often record anger in incident reports and the like, but women make up a very tiny proportion of that. They tend to "keep their cool" ( a human turn of phrase) better than men on average. This doesn't seem to be a natural attribute but more of a learned survival mechanism against violence and abuse. It only seems to break the surface in grief or after years of trauma. But the new astrophysics intern Colette [Last Name Redacted] showed me a new human emotion. Rage.

Our ships astrophysics department was partnering with our engineering department to design a small weapons craft to protect us from the "space pirates" or looters we keep encountering. I had created a bond of "friendship" with little Colette, I suppose little doesn't fit. She is above average height and slightly underweight, (she is having trouble adjusting to our menu due to "texture issues" which I need to educate myself on). Moving forward. She came to speak to me on a very serious matter a week ago exactly while I was on my daily rounds. This was the reason I was behind schedule, she has, and I quote, "little legs" in comparison to mine. Colette spoke of the weapons project she had been assigned too. She spoke at length about her supervisors who wouldn't listen to her. She had discovered a bug in the engine system. A four that looked like a nine or something of that nature, and believed it to put the test pilots in danger. She requested that I ask management to promote her so that her voice would be listened too. I tried to calm her worries but she was insistent so I told her I'd try to bring it up in the next meeting. That meeting was yesterday. In the six days between our conversation and my turn to give my reports for the management council, I had talked myself out of my promise. I figured that her superiors knew best and she was just ambitious and maybe she didn't see what she thought she saw. Regardless, it is the biggest regret I carry.

The test flight launched today. The entire crew was given an hour additional break to watch. Colette tried to prevent the launch, arguing with the head scientists, trying to show them test she ran digitally, but they had security pull her back. She came to find me, asking if I spoke to management. I didn't answer. The announcer counted down in human numerals.

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 LAUNCH

I breathed a sigh of relief as the craft glided safely away, but Colette didn't, she didn't move an inch. The projects leader gave instructions through a radio. The experimental engines roared to life. Then, a moment of silence. Before the entire space craft was engulfed in a cloud of fire and gas. The silent explosion shook the floor beneath us as gasps and screams gave it a voice. The entire crew was killed. Many of them, friends or family of the onlookers. The onboard medic, the project leader's son and Colette's young husband. She collapsed to the ground sobbing, unable to stand on her shaking legs. I couldn't get her to move. I didn't try very hard.

Security swarmed the crowd, pushing them back from the windows and herding the grieving crowd to the different living areas. Many had to be carried. I carried Colette.

Hours later, after an emergency meeting and a meal, everyone was in bed. All but the council, security, the engineering department,and the astrophysics department. We sat in heavy silence as the project leader explained the error that lead to this tragedy. I studied him closely. No tears, just a stone cold face and a tremor in his hands. Suddenly the doors crashed open as Colette burst in. She wasn't grieving now. Colette grabbed the microphone from the leader's hand and threw it at the wall. It went straight through. Then she spoke. Shaking slightly, controlled rage gave the impression of bullets falling from her mouth with each syllable. "Murderers. You are all murderers." No one moved as we took on the weight of her statements. She spoke again but this time it was wasn't controlled. This time her rage wasn't an undertone but the message. This time she screamed it in a voice that echoed around the room and shook with each new sob.

"I TOLD YOU! I FING TOLD YOU THEY WOULD DIE! WHY DIDN'T YOU LISTEN TO ME?! HOW COULD YOU KILL THEM LIKE THAT?! IT'S YOUR FING FAULT!"

She broke anything within reach. A mug, "THEY WERE YOUR TEAM!" a chair, "WHY DIDN'T YOU PROTECT THEM?" a table, "YOUR OWN SON AND YOU STAND HERE CALLING IT AN ACCIDENT!" her voice. "IF YOU HAD BELIEVED ME AND MY EVIDENCE INSTEAD OF PLAYING F***ING POLITICS…"

She stopped. She stopped screaming, stopped crying, stopped expressing her pain. She bottled it up and wiped her face with her sweaters sleeve. She just stared at him. Taking deep breaths as he shook under her gaze. "Why didn't you listen to him? To me?" He fought back his tears and straightened his jacket. "Abe knew the risks-" Colette stepped forward and punched him hard, his nose making an audible crunch. Blood stained her knuckles as she hit him again and again. Finally I got up and grabbed her around her middle, pulling her off before she went to far. The leader whimpered and leaned on a table as she fought to get to him. To tear him apart. Finally she just stood rigidity holding onto me. "Never say his name again. You aren't his father. You're a murderer and you never deserved Abraham." She spit at his feet.

"Coward."

I pulled her out of the meeting hall, locked her in her quarters, and stood guard. I relive her plea for me to approach the council on her behalf. I cannot deny my part in the crew's death and doubt I'll ever forgive myself. Colette will surely never forgive me either.

In conclusion, I advise the guilty professionals and researchers transferred and tried. Both for the safety of our crew and themselves. Their professional licenses should be revoked no matter the outcome of their individual trials. We also need to form a mental health department and start providing dietary options for all diets and sensitivities. I also advise (though I recognize my lack of authority on the matter) that crewmember Colette [Last Name Redacted] be released of all charges and assigned a personal therapist of her choosing. As for the other loved ones of our lost crew, they should also receive support options and memorials for their lost and any other requests we can fulfil. I pray we never have a similar story to tell the next generation.

Human Observer #5743

[tulypes]

selfish

tags: unestablished relationship, black reader, mild angst, brief sexual touch, Jason a little paranoid and worried

Jason felt absorbed, his heart was beating at full speed inside his chest, causing his breathing to become irregular. A part of him hated what was happening. But the other part of Jason was selfish enough to be happy with the whole situation.

The scream was stuck in her throat, tearing through her violently, eager to echo throughout the room. But he didn't want to wake you up.

Insomnia had become Jason's close friend, accompanying him in his short moments of rest. Now he watched over the sleeping woman lying on the messy bed, the result of previous caresses.

The selfish part of him loved having you like this, naked and delicate, sleeping peacefully. His selfishness loved having the comfort and security of female arms, the adorable smile present on the full lips that he loved to kiss so much; He loved coming to your house and playing with the kitten, while listening to you tell him about your day.

The selfish part of him — his heart — loved you. He loved her so much that it made him feel truly alive.

Now the side that Jason believed to be rational filled him with fear, with insecurities about what could happen to you, thanks to everything he lives.

His chest hurt just imagining you dead or injured because of his actions, this woman who slept such an innocent sleep in front of him.

Poor Jason.

He hated that the selfish side won every time the phone rang.

Jason tried to disappear from her life, stopped responding to her messages and didn't even answer her calls. But when the violent raindrops covered Gotham City, he knocked on the door, soaking wet and sobbing about being gone. Crying for showing up too. Damn, he didn't know. I was so confused!

The boy's face cried out for forgiveness, affection and attention, but it also showed fear, anguish and restlessness. You hugged him as if both of your lives depended on that contact, so desperate, but at the same time so sweet.

Sitting in the armchair, next to the bedroom window, he watched the moonlight paint his black skin in such a beautiful way that classical painters would give anything to capture this image.

Jason prayed so hard to the heavens to allow him to stop loving you because he felt if that happened, you would be safe.

Frustrated, he throws his head back and takes his own hands to his hair, tugging at it nervously. Jason was so focused on his world of anguish and paranoia that he didn't notice you waking up in bed.

— Insomnia? — with a voice hoarse with sleep, you break the silence in the room, making green eyes turn to your figure.

— I was just thinking. — A big problem.

— You think too much, it will fry your brain, you know?

Jason didn't respond to what you said, he just laughed weakly. He knew you were right, because he felt like smoke could come out of his head at any moment.

His eyes never leave you for a moment.

Calmly, you get up from the bed and walk to the armchair where he was sitting. He analyzes every part of your body, every detail he had ever recorded in his mind; every curve he could spend a lifetime kissing, and still think it wouldn't be enough.

You stay between his legs, looking at him affectionately, knowing that the maps you completely with his greenish eyes.

— You're so beautiful… — Jason murmured, running his rough, but at the same time so delicate, hands over your belly, going up to your breasts, caressing them.

— I don't like seeing you so worried. — a sigh escapes your lips as you talk to him, feeling his fingertips press your sensitive nipple. — Nothing's going to happen, Jay.

He abruptly stops his caresses. His right leg starts to shake nervously. Jason was a mess inside.

— You have no way of knowing! — His voice comes out rougher than he imagined.

— Fuck, neither do you! It's not fair for fear to get in the way of what we're experiencing.

— I'm afraid of losing you, [Y/N]. I will never forgive myself if something happens to you.

— Nothing will happen while we are together.

He takes a deep breath.

The selfish part of him loved hearing you say that, that nothing could happen if you were together. His selfishness loved knowing that he would bring your body to sit on it, and make you a woman with the moon being a spectator. His selfishness loved knowing that he loved you to the point of being sick without you.

[ankles-be-bitten]

i may have fallen victim to the curse of the Bad Aziraphale Take with this post, so i'd like to right my wrongs:

i still agree with this, however i would like to add some insight: the metatron is definitely orchestrating their falling out. he knows exactly what he's doing & he knows that he can't control aziraphale as long as he has crowley on their side--that's emotional abuse 101. the victim is isolated from their real support systems, and the only place they have left to turn is their abuser. i believe that aziraphale knows what he's doing, and that he's just going along with heaven as far as he can in order to protect his demon, but from the metatron's perspective things have to look like they're going according to plan.

i think... maybe this is only half true? not sure what i was thinking when i wrote this; it was late. whatever.

crowley is an optimist, but he clearly had his doubts about how aziraphale would respond, which is indeed based in reality. aziraphale doesn't have a great track record as far as assuming the best of him in the moment (which, i must add, isn't his fault. it is one of his flaws, however). i think the important thing is that he trusts aziraphale to do the right thing in the end.

i still agree with this. however, i want to acknowledge that i felt this was unfair at the time, but in retrospect i was ignoring aziraphale's dependency on external validation that crowley does not have. crowley is far more independent than aziraphale, and i acknowledged this, but i framed it originally as "crowley has an unfulfilled need," rather than what i now think it really is, which is that AZI has an unfulfilled need.

yeah, there it is. different people, different needs.

as far as it being strange that aziraphale didn't pick up on what crowley needed in that moment right away, i do still feel that way--sort of. i honestly at this point just want to pin it down to him being excited.

whatever you have to say can wait--we have all of eternity to say whatever we want, in complete security. we won't have to hide. we can be together. and he wants so badly to be together. that's literally all he wants. he wasn't even a little interested in returning to heaven until the metatron told him that crowley could tag along. this is manipulation 101, people! the metatron knows, or at least can intuit, that crowley wouldn't want to become an angel again. he knows exactly what he's doing to them. this is not a good faith offer.

most of the rest of that post is me rambling about my interpretation of aziraphale's actions and the reasoning behind them. feel free to read the full take if you'd like, but i don't believe it's necessary to break down the whole thing. it mostly boils down to aziraphale needs to see people as people before he can respond properly to their needs. i may or may not still agree with that, i'm on the fence, but if that is the case, it's 100% because heaven has conditioned him to be that way. you need to earn salvation, you need to earn love, you need to earn humanity.

i originally used job as a counter example, but he may actually be a paragon of this interpretation. if anyone deserves salvation, it was job--righteous job, level-headed job, job who lost everything but never, ever lost faith in the Almighty. if anyone has earned aziraphale's sympathy, it's him.

this is just a wonky take. he does care, or else he wouldn't be making the offer. interrupting crowley might have been selfish in the short-term, but to aziraphale, the long-term result is eternity together unhindered. they will have all the time in the world to be an us if they can only get out from under the watchful, dangerous, probing eye of heaven.

i think i was getting close to the point here, but i was still framing it from the perspective that aziraphale had woefully wronged crowley, and that he's not also a victim of the system here. i was in far less certain terms falling into the "aziraphale is naive" trap, when in reality he just wanted to be safe. as archangel, he can do as he pleases without fear of retribution. he has never, ever felt safe before--not safe to ask questions, not safe to be seen with crowley, not safe to run off to alpha centauri with him. blaming him for prioritizing crowley's safety is more than a little silly.

this is just... the ick. it feels like a whole other person wrote this. i am trying so hard to give myself grace for this absolutely rot-gut take.

yikes. yikes yikes yikes. i'm not sure anymore if crowley has ever expressed a pointed distaste for being an angel again; that may just be misguided on my part. somehow i'm victim-blaming both of them here, while also completely misrepresenting aziraphale's intentions. i'm falling into the "he doesn't love crowley enough/the way he deserves" trap, painting him once again as naive, blind, and selfish. oopsie daisy.

i still believe the kiss was an offer akin to the ox rib, extremely alcoholic breakfasts, what have you. it's possible crowley doesn't feel seen--i might even go so far as to say that that's likely--but not in the way i stated originally. he's heartbroken. he's devastated. he might even feel betrayed. but just because he feels that way doesn't make it the truth, and i think a mistake i've made throughout this particular text is mistaking how aziraphale's actions look from the outside for his actual intentions.

i think this was mostly right up until the part about azi being selfish. he's far from selfish, he's not even close to naive. assuming he made a mistake in the f15 at all, he absolutely knows it now. he will do anything it takes to be with crowley.

at the time of this addendum i think he's made a Plan™ and is trying to convince himself he's made the right choice. all will make sense in the end. or maybe it won't. we'll figure it out--some things take time, and we don't have all the information.

i do believe that about covers it. in summary, they are both victims and treating either of them like they're naive or stupid for making the choices they did is unfair because they're both doing the best they can with the information they have available to them. it's heartbreaking, gut-wrenching, and really, really unfortunate. but it's neither of their fault. it's literally all the metatron. if heaven and hell were out of the picture, crowley would've been free to confess and aziraphale free to reciprocate--but that's just not their reality. everything aziraphale does is in order to keep crowley safe, in the interest of us long-term. crowley knows he has a hard time expressing himself, and so he wants to get it out fast, and that's valid; aziraphale having reservations due to safety concerns is just as valid.

it's neither of their fault.

[givehimthemedicine]

NINA and the magic of VHS ✨📼

I think I just figured out a big part of how NINA works. here's how Brenner is "altering" past events.

something just hit me about this footage that's been staring me in the face this whole time.

before I come to my Big Point, let me establish a few things:

the camera codes don't match

s4 keeps giving us camera POV footage that's labeled per camera. we see codes like CAM 071, CAM 039 and CAM 114.

what's weird about that? nothing, except... here are what the tape labels in the NINA library look like:

alphanumeric codes like CAM B2, CAM A5, CAM TR2. not a single one with just the three-digit numerical codes.

k, put a pin in that.

the NINA library is so spotty

Brenner tells El, "Everything that took place in my lab was captured on video tape. Every success and every failure."

but the dates we saw in that closeup are so sparse. it takes only a dozen tapes to span a month of footage leading up to the massacre (a time period you'd think they'd save every second of):

CAM B6 08-10-79 CAM B5 08-12-79 CAM A2 08-20-79 CAM B5 08-25-79 CAM TR1 09-2-79 CAM RR2 09-4-79 CAM C6 09-6-79 CAM RR1 09-6-79 CAM C4 09-7-79 CAM B5 09-7-79 CAM TR2 09-8-79

no idea what a lot of these camera codes denote, but it's not too hard to guess RR means Rainbow Room.

I can tell you off the top of my head that there are four cameras in the Rainbow Room. and one in each corner of the training rooms, at least one apiece in test rooms, bedrooms, hallways. at least one apiece in observation chambers of test rooms - otherwise the One banishment footage wouldn't exist (is that a bit odd now that I think of it?).

and that's not including the tripod cameras with which are recorded close up footage like plinko and the cat.

so, why so few dates and camera angles?

@lilly-flowerr once kindly calculated an estimate about how many VHS tapes would be produced from 100+ cameras' worth of continuous footage for the duration of the HNL program and the result was in the ballpark of several million.

tbf, Brenner never claimed this was all the footage. so I figured, likely, this library actually just houses a pared-down selection of footage relevant to the massacre.

but the problem with that idea is... consider how when we see El get NINA'd with RR footage: she's being shown four views of the room at once. that's already impossible, based on the selection we see available in the library. there aren't even four RR camera views represented on that shelf, let alone all from the same day.

pin that too.

live feeds vs playback

I thought hey, if those camera POVs had dates and everything on them, why isn't that stuff on El's NINA videos? are they hiding that data to facilitate screwing with her?!??

which, yeah. but here's the One banishment footage that Brenner watches alone. no dates on that either:

so I went to look for other times we've seen lab playback to see if there are ever dates.

Hopper checking out the pipe in season 1; Owens reviewing Will's checkup:

that's actually a plot point on the Hopper one because he decided the lab was lying to him about which night that footage was of - if the tapes showed dates onscreen, that wouldn't have been an issue.

so then I thought, ok, if that data doesn't appear on playback, it must only display on monitors showing live feeds, and that stuff doesn't actually get recorded onto it. right?

well here are some live lab feeds: El and the cat; detained Nancy and Jonathan; scientists watching Will's checkup; Owens directing Bob to safety from demodogs. no dates anywhere.

so... if there's no data on live feeds or on playback.... where ARE those dates on the NINA cameras being displayed? there's no internal viewer on those security cameras, like looking through a camcorder viewfinder, so it's not like it's merely "the camera's view" unseen by any actual entity.

so like... who's seeing that? how are we seeing that?

pin that too. I promise we're getting close.

OSD (on screen display)

quick bit of context for those who didn't grow up with VHS.

in VHS days, your video camera (if you had it configured to do so) would put the date onto your home movies. it wasn't a separate layer you could turn on/off after the fact, like DVD subtitles. if that feature was turned on while you were filming, that date was forever fused onto the footage itself. any time you ever played that tape back, you would see that date. there's no way to get rid of it.

osd however - PLAY PAUSE FFW and all that - those labels aren't fused onto the actual footage. they appear momentarily only as you navigate the tape with your VCR. DVD players do the same thing, you're probably familiar.

you can watch the osd labels appear/disappear as Joyce investigates Will's Halloween tape, while the date stays put.

they give us the live camera view of Bob (which has just the date) vs Joyce playing it back on her VCR later (which has the date and also osd). why the timestamps are different is a whoooooole other post.

so now that we're all on the same page about how dates vs. osd works on VCRs,

I'll bring you to the only time I DID find dates on lab playback:

4x6 when Brenner pops this tape in his VCR.

"who's even seeing those ?" Brenner. yeah, that's not my stunning realization. but look what we see up in the top left corner: osd. PLAY.

so here finally is my point: if PLAY appears on the screen as a result of Brenner hitting play on his VCR....

let me direct your attention to the upper left corner of that other footage:

those camera POV shots all say 🔴REC.

those aren't recordings.

they ARE recordING.

Brenner is taping these past events, live, during NINA.

"how do you explain Little El showing up in some of the camera povs? brainwash her all you want, but she would show up big on a tape being recorded in 1986."

indeed! which is why I'm not going so far as to claim Brenner is recording The Actual Past. what I do believe is that he's recording El's memories of the past, in which she is Little El.

"and how are you gonna say Brenner is able to record El's memories right out of her head with a VCR? yes this is fiction, but VHS technology isn't. c'mon."

it's not actually that far fetched! El canonically has a very similar ability - it's been swept under the rug in comparison to the glamor of telekinesis, not used since season 1, but it's well established:

she not only can hear people remotely, but also relay what only she is hearing via radio/intercom to where others can then hear it.

Brenner was filming this test on a tripod camera, which wouldn't have been affected by the cut in power that happened when El started relaying. so he walked away from this moment with a recording of something only El was able to hear.

which is exactly how NINA works. add video technology, and there ya go. if it didn't already exist in 1983, this scene was Brenner discovering the concept.

onward:

Brenner's tapes aren't the tapes El is being shown.

watch this in 4x7: he inserts this tape, hits play, and then we cut to El in NINA, watching all the monitors flash to life with footage of herself in the infirmary for her bullying concussion.

the implication from the editing is that this particular VHS yields that particular footage for El to watch, but that's a false assumption they want us to make.

first, playing one VHS doesn't result in several screens with different footage rolling all at once. one VHS only holds one camera feed. all NINA's monitors can't be fed by one VCR.

second, "Infirmary" would most likely be abbreviated "I" or "IR". the tape he played said CAM TR2, which could stand for either Training Room or Test Room. El experiences 9/8/79 "memories" of both, so I'm not sure which this would be. regardless, it's not Infirmary.

third, as we've covered before, all the lab footage El is shown inside NINA is devoid of dates and cam codes. that's not characteristic of the tape we saw Brenner play in his VCR.

fourth, as we also covered before, not all the camera angles El's seeing are even represented on that shelf of massacre-month tapes.

so Brenner may indeed have captured everything in his lab on video tape, but the VHS library we and El are shown while he says that? pretty sure that's NOT what these tapes are.

it's implied that he's popping tapes into his VCR at the same time El's off in her memories. but if it's not for the purpose of showing them to her.... what is he doing with his?

"but nat, his finger hit play, not record."

well they're not gonna SHOW us him hitting record or we'd guess!

he's hitting play to get the tape queued up to the right spot to record on, which you gotta do with a VHS or else you could overwrite something important that's already on there.

if Brenner is recording whatever El is seeing, wouldn't that help explain:

the varying appearance of El as both big and little within the camera povs. at this moment, El is big because she's aware she's her current self (she's fully conversing with Brenner). this is definitely not really past footage, because it's not like Little El stood up on a chair and yelled into a camera in 1979. after this point though, she accepts what's going on and submits to the "memories" in which she is little, so she's seeing herself as little, so from then on she appears as Little El on the fresh tapes.

the different camera labeling within NINA and its library of tapes - they need to differentiate between old/real/fake/new camera views.

the sparsity of the VHS library - maybe only key moments need to be overwritten

this camera-yelling moment actually is a potential match for one of the tapes on the shelf. it's Sept 4, 1979, and it's in the Rainbow Room. CAM 071 09/04/79 could be the overwriting of CAM RR2 09-4-79. on the other hand, if that were true I'd expect to also see 09-4-79 training room and hallway footage to match those other povs we saw, and I don't, so idk.

the light circle game is the only NINA footage we ever get to see both live camera POV and playback of (although it's not actually the same moment, the dates and cams are different). the numeric camera code on both of these is part of my support for the numeric camera codes representing new footage.

regarding the date and cam code being different on those two bits of nearly identical footage…. what if I... plugged this into Multiplayer NINA theory real quick and said that maybe CAM 126 is fake-old footage that's been more recently rerecorded in someone else's NINA? that maybe that's what's on all of Brenner's tapes before he records El's new stuff onto them?

so here's my current thinking of how NINA works:

decide how you wish El remembered an event and compile cherrypicked real footage and/or staged footage supporting your version of events.

manipulate and gaslight El so that she doubts the veracity of her own memories.

drug her and throw her in a sensory deprivation tank where your selected footage clockwork-oranges her into "fully re-experiencing" your version of events.

presto! the most powerful person in the world now believes your version of events is true because she genuinely remembers it.

by means of El's electronic relay abilities (induced with a buttload of drugs), these false memories that only El is seeing, inside her mind, are displayed for all to see on monitor in NINA's control room.

pop a plain old tape into a plain old VCR and hit record, capturing whatever's on the monitor.

presto! now you have irrefutable original video footage of a past event that never happened.

now you can show that proof to someone else - the government, the media.... or perhaps more importantly another NINA subject, as an ingredient in your tampering with their memories.

so. I can't prove the ol' MindFucker4000 is also a time machine, not in this post, but I do still feel like there's time stuff involved as well. because I can't think of a way right now to claim that recording someone's manipulated memory of the past actually changes that past, meddles with timelines, etc.

can you? I don't have all the nuts and bolts ironed out, but I welcome your thoughts while mine gel!

[makeitmingi]

Cause Baby You're My Muse [Chapter 29]

Genre: Romance, Idol!AU, Music, Slight angst

Pairing: Mingi x Reader (y/n)

Characters: Producer!Reader, IdolLyricist!Mingi, IdolProducer!Hongjoong, Idol!Seonghwa, Idol!Yunho, Idol!Wooyoung, Idol!San, Idol!Yeosang, Idol!Jongho, cameo(s) by other celebrities

Summary: You always preferred producing underground, having an unknown face and governed by your own rules. But when you start freelancing for idol groups, you say goodbye to your lone wolf lifestyle as you learn to work with idol producers and lyricists.

Word count: 3.3K

Warning(s): Maybe not a warning but they take a bath together... Purely innocent though!

"Good work everybody." You clapped and bowed to those that came in for the additional recording. It has been back to back schedules of back up vocals, adlibs and editing.

"I got to go for another meeting. I'll see you soon." Hongjoong gave you a brief hug before running out of there.

"Great work today, Indigo. Make sure you go home and rest." Jongho smiled, packing his lyric sheets into his clutch and tucking it under his arm.

"Thank you. You too." You chuckled. Once you packed up your things and turned off the recording studio lights, you headed back to your own studio to start on the editing. All the sessions have been productive and yielded good results.

"Boo!" Mingi jumped out when you opened the studio door. You just stared at him with a raised eyebrow.

"A little reaction would have been appreciated, love." He gave you a flat look and crossed his arms.

"Oh my gosh, you scared me..." You spoke monotonously as you headed to your desk to put your things down. As you were plugging in your laptop, your eyes caught sight of something new.

"What's this?" You asked softly, picking up the photo frame. Mingi came up behind you, wrapping his arms around your waist.

"A present." Mingi chuckled.

It was a mirror selfie of you and Mingi, the day where you were both doing facemasks and he stuck his cheek to yours. You couldn't help but laugh at the memory.

"I love it, Mings. It's a great surprise. Thank you. I'll treasure this." You turned around and wrapped your arms around his neck, giving him a kiss. Mingi leaned over you like he always does because of his towering frame. His hands held your waist securely as he closed his eyes, savouring the kiss.

"We're at work." You panted as you pulled away. Mingi couldn't help but chuckle, seeing your flushed face.

"Stop~" You whined, hugging him so he wouldn't see your face. Your cheek pressed against his chest, letting you listen to his heart beat. Mingi stroked your head.

"You're cute when you're all flustered."

"Okay, now I know you're just making fun of me." You lifted a fist to hit his chest.

"I have to go back to work now..." You mumbled but didn't make an effort to move. Mingi's familiar warmth made you yawn. Your eyelids suddenly felt heavy.

"Uh, baby, are you falling asleep standing up?" Mingi asked in amusement when he noticed you leaning more of your body weight on him. You let out a tired hum, not even bothering to deny it at this point. He didn't mind, continuing to support your body.

"I'm falling asleep on you. You're my boyfriend, I can do that." You grumbled like a tired child that was annoyed from being disturbed.

"That's true." Mingi laughed. The fact that you called him your boyfriend made Mingi's heart flutter. He hoped you couldn't hear the way his heart was racing.

"Why don't we go home and nap, hmm? Then you can wake up and work there." He suggested.

"I'm not productive at home." You sighed. As much as you wanted to just be in your bed with Mingi, you knew you had to work now.

"Why?"

"You should know why..." You finally raised your head to squint your eyes at him accusingly. You and Mingi were always getting distracted by each other when you worked at your home studio together.

"There's nothing wrong with me wanting your attention." He defended innocently, leaning down to affectionately bump his head against yours. You snorted as you laughed, patting his shoulder before moving to get a bottle of cold coffee from the fridge. You took a sip and held it out to Mingi.

"Come here you." He grabbed the coffee with one hand and his free other hand pulled you down while he sat on the arm chair so you ended up sitting on his lap.

"Mings!" You giggled and tried to get up but he anchored you down. He drank the coffee, a nonchalant look on his face.

"Let me just go a little bit of work. We'll go home after, I promise." You squirmed.

"Fine." Mingi let you go. You got up and kissed his cheek before going to sit at your computer to start editing. Mingi didn't leave though, he pulled up a chair to sit beside you and watch you work.

"Do you have any schedule today?"

"Nope. I'm free tomorrow too since management wants Hongjoong hyung and I to help with producing. So I'm all yours." He grinned.

"Good because I don't intend to wake up until the PMs tomorrow." You chuckled, typing on your computer and editing the tracks as you spoke to him.

"I like that plan." Mingi placed his hand on your thigh. He leaned over slightly so he could see your screen. You didn't do too much editing since you knew your brain was compromised with exhaustion. But you were able to layer the vocals accordingly.

"How was the recording session today?" He finally asked.

"It was good. Jongho and Joong are good. We were able to wrap up and I got what I needed today so it's all the post editing work now." You explained.

"Fingers crossed, hopefully we won't need to call any of you back in to do any re-recording." You sighed.

"Even if you do need to, I'm sure none of the boys won't mind. It's not something any of us can control. If we need to, we need to. So don't worry." Mingi shrugged.

"Thank goodness, you guys are understanding of that then." You chuckled, knowing some artists do not like having to come back to re-record things. Mingi smiled, patting your head.

"You do what you think will make the song good." He encouraged. You softened at his words. Everyone, not just Mingi, the Ateez boys and other producers had so much trust in you and your ability. Even if this is your first time working together, they still believed in you and encouraged you.

"Jongho... San back up..." You checked the scribbles on your notebook to make sure you were labelling the audio files properly. You scrutinised your work on the screen.

"What's wrong?" Mingi blinked, seeing you suddenly frown and lean closer to the screen with a conflicted look on your face.

"Nothing wrong. Just wanted to make sure I lay the correct audio tracks over each other." You explained.

"Here you go." Mingi handed you your headphones, knowing you would want it.

"Thanks." You smiled gratefully, wearing your headphones.

Wearing your headphones helped you to isolate the sound, almost visualise it in a way. You were able to listen to the different voices of the Ateez members coming together.

"Mmm." You hummed before nodding in approval.

Even thought Mingi whines about you working and how he just always wants you to cuddle with him, he can never take his eyes off you when he sees you so focused on your work. You glowed, there was this passionate fire in your eyes. It was mesmerising to watch you work your magic.

"Why are you staring at me like that?" You asked Mingi when you glanced to the side and just saw him looking at you. He didn't say anything, merely moving himself to be closer to you.

"Nothing." He shook his head. You moved your arm to let him rest his head in your lap.

"Oh, they wrote back about the OST..." You said.

"Mhmm." Mingi hummed to tell you he was listening even though his face was planted on your thighs.

"They didn't like the first draft. They want it revised entirely." You summarised. Mingi didn't react at first. He didn't want to coddle you right away, knowing you didn't like that.

"It's fine, I might just have to ask for an extension now." You sighed. You were accustomed to people asking you to make changes, not everyone was going to like your work. Honestly, you were more worried about the additional workload and meeting deadlines.

"I'd rather you ask for an extension then to overwork. You already have a lot to do." Mingi scoffed.

"Usually, it's small edits. To redo the whole song is going to take a while. My schedule doesn't let me sit down to look at it thoroughly." You pulled up your schedule.

"Wow." Mingi lifted his head when he saw all the coloured events on your calendar.

"It's all just producer meetings and time set aside to edit the tracks, that's blue and yellow tags. Red tags are the deadlines or check ins with management on the progress." You explained.

"Still... That's a lot." He laid his head back down.

"You're going to be even busier than this when you start learning the dance, the pre-comeback trainings and the actual promotion period." You chuckled. You knew that idols were the busiest during their comeback periods and the period leading up to the comeback. Plus Mingi had producer meetings like you.

"Don't worry, I'll still make time for you." He held your hand, kissing the back of it with a cheeky grin.

When you were done with your work, Mingi was quick to help you pack up your things. You could only watch in amusement. After that, you both took a taxi back to your house.

"I'm going to shower." You dropped your bag, shuffling into your bedroom to get clothes.

"Okay." Mingi said. When you entered the bathroom, you saw Mingi running a bath for you, sticking his hand in to check the temperature.

"Thank you, Mings." You smiled tiredly.

"I'm not sure if the bath bombs are Haneul's but I dropped one in. It's so pretty when it fizzes. Very colourful." His eyes sparkled with amazement. You couldn't help but laugh.

"It's alright, she has plenty of bath bombs." You patted his shoulder. You never really take a bath in your own bath tub because you never had the time to. Haneul, on the other hand, loves taking baths and watching the bath bomb fizz and melt.

"Have you used a bath bomb before?" You asked.

"No. It's my first time using one. I didn't know they put glitter in it. Won't it be a pain to wash after?" He tilted his head.

"I think they use a special dye and glitter, it washes away easily." You chuckled, looking into the mirror and tying your hair up into a bun. Mingi scooped some of the water.

"You're right. It's not sticking to me." He looked at the glitter move in the little bit of water he had in his palm.

"Better get in before the water gets cold." Mingi stepped out to give you your privacy. You sunk in, sighing blissfully as the warm water relaxed your muscles.

"Is the water good?" Mingi asked from the other side of the door.

"It's perfect. You can come in." You giggled. Mingi opened the door and saw you sitting amidst the bubbles, the water up to your chin.

"I didn't know I needed this but now that I'm in here, I really needed this. Thank you, Mings." You leaned forward to give him a sweet kiss. Mingi smiled, proud of himself. He stayed by your side, the two of you on separated by the wall of the bath tub. He didn't say anything as he wanted to give you peace and quiet.

"Mings?"

"Hmm?" He lifted his head from his phone to meet your eyes.

"Want to join me?" You blinked. Mingi's eyes widened at your question. He was frozen, staring at you as if you had two heads.

"J-Join you?!"

"There's more than enough space. If you're comfortable and want to, that is." You shrugged. You just wanted him to hug you and you felt bad for leaving him to sit there on his own.

"Ummm... Okay." He scratched his head, a faint blush taking over his cheeks. You moved up for him to sit behind you.

The water sloshed and moved as Mingi settled behind you. He kept his boxers on and you didn't question him, if that's what he was comfortable with then it's fine. He gently held your waist, moving you back to lean on him.

"What's this?" Mingi asked, noticing something on your left shoulder blade for the first time.

"Haneul's birth flower and name in brush strokes." You replied. His thumb smoothed over the ink, making you shiver.

This new thing Mingi learnt about you made him smile. It was just a whole new level of trust and intimacy that showed how close you were now.

"It's pretty and suits you. I love it." He complimented, mesmerised by it.

"Thank you." You laughed. The brush strokes wrote 'my sky' in Hangul since Haneul's name meant sky and she was your sky. It wasn't something you paraded around since it meant a lot to you.

"Wooyoung, Hongjoong and San have tattoos too. But San said his hurt a lot." Mingi stated.

"The area he got it at does hurt quite a bit." You nodded, remembering the friendship script above San and Wooyoung's knee. You knew Mingi wasn't one for needles because of the pain, that's why he wears clip on earrings. Even though he maintains that he's just lazy to care for it after.

"Did yours hurt?"

"Not really. The lady that did it for me was Hyuk's friend. She's very gentle and I guess the area doesn't hurt as much. Hyuk's neck one hurt a lot more." You shrugged. Mingi kissed your shoulder.

"I don't know if I could get one. But I guess if the meaning compels me enough to get one, I would." He thought out loud.

"Sure, I mean, I didn't get one just because. I got it for the meaning. Getting random ones isn't something for me, I think." You chuckled.

The both of you just sat there, with your eyes closed, savouring the warm water.

When you both found yourselves falling asleep in the water, you and Mingi decided to get rinsed off. He left you to wash your hair while he stepped out. He retrived and changed into some fresh clothes that he had in your house.

"Mings? Where are you?" You dried your hair, looking for the tall male.

"In the kitchen! I made fried rice with stuff I found in the fridge. If that's okay." Mingi said, standing by the stove.

"That's fine. Thanks for cooking. I was gonna suggest ramen." You laughed. You hung the towel over your shoulder as you bent down to get two cans of beer from the fridge.

"Beer?" You cracked open the can.

"I'm guessing you've learnt how to open the can one-handed from San?" Mingi chuckled, taking one of the cans from you.

"It was a cool party trick...?" You shrugged with a giggle. You clinked your can with his before taking a sip. When Mingi finished cooking, you both decided to eat out of the frying pan he cooked in to minimise the dishes to wash later.

RINGGGGG

"Ugh." Mingi groaned. You looked at him in confusion. He turned the phone to you and you saw Hongjoong's face on the screen. You giggled, swiping to answer for him.

"Why did you accept?!" He yelled. The camera moved a little before Hongjoong's face came into view.

"Oh, hi Indi." Hongjoong waved.

"Hi, Joong." You smiled with a small wave. Mingi squinted his eyes at you, turning the phone away so Hongjoong looked at Mingi instead.

"What do you want?" Mingi groaned. You giggled, focusing on your phone while Mingi spoke to Hongjoong. You didn't pay attention or listen to their conversation, you were too tired to focus.

"Joong, I need you to save me. They don't like the OST draft track I sent them and want me to redo it so I need your help. Tell me what I'm doing wrong and what I should do." You leaned on Mingi's shoulder, interrupting their conversation and adding in your request since you suddenly remembered.

"Oh, a redo? Sure, Indi. Let me know when you're free to work on it." Hongjoong chuckled. Mingi turned to look at you but you just grinned innocently.

"I still don't know how I feel seeing you together like this." He said.

"Get used to it." Mingi wrapped an arm around your shoulders, kissing your temple, a playful smile on his face.

"Yah, yah, yah. That's enough!" Hongjoong scolded and scrunched his nose with a frown. You pulled away from Mingi, throwing your head back as you laughed.

After the food was finished, you left Mingi to finish up the call with Hongjoong and went to do the dishes and clean up. Mingi noticed you were just wearing a big shirt and covered you with his body.

"Ah, captain. Can't you text me this or tell me this tomorrow? I want to spend time with my girl." Mingi groaned.

"Exactly. I'm only doing this because I know you're there with her." Hongjoong smirked.

"I'm hanging up. I'll see you at the dorm tomorrow." Mingi hung up despite Hongjoong yelling at him. You shook your head with a smile at how the two of them were acting childishly. Mingi slipped his arms under you and carried you up in his arms.

"Mings!" Your arms went to loop around his neck to hold onto him. He kicked the bathroom door open so you could both wash up and get ready for bed.

"I just realised you're wearing my shirt." Mingi smiled, his arms pulling you closer as you cuddled on your bed.

"Yeah, it's so long on me. But I guess that's what happens when I do our laundry together. I'll put it back after I wash it." You laughed.

"Mm-mm. No need to return it, I think I prefer seeing you in my clothes more than me." Mingi kissed your cheek. You ran your hands through his hair, resting your leg over his waist.

"I'm sorry your OST didn't get approved." He whispered, hand coming the cup your cheek, his thumb gently smoothing the skin.

"It's okay. Rejection is a part of the process." You smiled softly, leaning into his touch.

"But I don't want you to overwork." He said. He tucked a lock of hair behind your head, not wanting to bother you. That's another thing you've noticed. While you loved his big acts of love, Mingi was also observant. It was the little things that he did with you and for you that made your heart flutter.

"I won't. I promise." You gave him a kiss. Despite your words, Mingi still had a worried look on his face. You looked so tired with all the recording sessions you've been having.

He didn't like seeing the toll on you and was worried that you would burn out soon. It was common for those in the music industry.

"All I need is for you to be with me. And I'll be okay." You smiled.

"You know, I'm always with you, baby." He laughed, bumping his forehead against yours.

"I know that. I just had to say it." You buried your face against his chest shyly. You couldn't directly express your feelings like Mingi could but he knew the underlying meaning of your words.

"Don't do that... I'll fall asleep..." You yawned, referring to how Mingi was lightly patting your back.

"That's the intention. You should sleep, baby." Mingi kissed your head, continuing his actions. He watched how you didn't even fight the sleep, your eyelids slowly drooping before you fell asleep. Mingi smiled proudly, happy to know he had this effect on you.

The effect that made you feel safe enough to fall asleep around him so quickly. You trusted him to be able to be so vulnerable around him. Mingi yawned and fell asleep, holding you close to him.

~

Series Masterlist

[agent-calivide]

It is Bitching About Things That Do Not Matter O'Clock, but like. I know poking fun at John Juniper is a delight. I love calling him a bitch and insulting his acting and stealing his masks, but- he's not- he's not completely incompetent, y'all know that, right?

Firstly, Zor would never hire someone they didn't think could do the job, but also a lot of Juniper's fuck-up's are directly tied to either the EOD getting lucky or Zor literally setting him up for failure.

Like, we know he's good at keeping a mask on even in a moment of panic, when the Masque of Red Death blew up the first thing the did was shout "This is not part of the show, everybody run!" to evacuate the theater, something to convince the public he was a Good Man and kept suspicions around him low.

On Jet Set, the only reason Phoenix doesn't die is the EOD getting lucky and happening to have the autonomous jet's instruction manual in their records. Like, he had signal jammers, he left on the DNA Identification security system, and he sabotaged the missile defense system just in case they had to turn to plan B. These are not things left on a jet made as a custom trap for Phoenix, the pieces to save themselves wouldn't be there if it was. This is a normal jet that Juniper uses that he ensured got sabotaged so the Phoenix would be a sitting duck. Even if he didn't personally put out orders to have the jet get sabotaged, he did have the foresight to put a few boons on the jet that could kill Phoenix. Explosive cigars, poisoned food things like that. "Please, enjoy! I picked up a box of those just for you!" So he knows what to supply the agent with to try and cut this little problem short, and even if those don't work there's still the missile and the Zoraxis base they were headed to anyways. Phoenix getting out of that mess was combination of nosiness and pure dumb luck on the EOD's part.

We don't see much of him in Eaves Drop, but we do see that Zor and Fabricator are already planning on disposing of him by using the Mimic Mask and that he is generally doing a damn good job at tricking the heads of state into various traps for the most part, we just saw it with the Prime Minister in Stage Fright and we're going to see it in Party Crashers with the Primere later.

Party Crashers is where I think most of this "Oh, he's just a whiny baby" comes from, and it absolutely is John at his worst, but it get treated like his baseline??? Like, he loses his cool, he screams, he panics, he absolutely freaks out, but he also is throwing a party to kidnap the last head of state, is being chastised by the Fabricator, his friend of multiple decades is backstabbing him actively (as Gibbs should, but it's just another stressor for Juniper), several bombs have dropped or his party got a smoke grenade thrown in it, alarms and sprinklers have both gone off, and nOW SOMEONE'S TOUCHING MY FUCKING COLLECTOR'S ITEMS?! I too would be losing my shit. Add in he is seeming surrounded by people being incompetent (throwing grenades without closing hatches, missing their shots, some reason the tank of lethal gas is empty, the woman who was supposed to be helping is just laughing at you and your entire team of security is dead save for a small handful and it's all because of ONE person???) and I can't blame him for not being chill, suave, or particularly clever in that moment. And to be frank, I think every IEYTD "Final Boss" has a moment of foolishness. Solaris throws you radiation boxes that you use to take down the Death Engine and literally says "Calculating force... aaand CATCH!" and I could make a whole other post on Prism's speech on the mountain side but they're not defined by those "worst" moments. Mostly because they don't last nearly as long as Juniper's, but that doesn't mean it should be his defining moment either.

Then, in Safe and Sound, not only does he successfully trick the agent into thinking he's the Handler in the first place, but he has them drugged, kidnaps them, and then admits that if he had it this way he would have just shot the agent. No fanfare, no crazy traps, if John coulda, he would have shot the agent in the head while they were unconscious and called it a day. But Zor is the one who wants the trap, the footage, the fanfare. Juniper is pissed that the jet didn't work as is, and now he can't even just take care of the agent the easy way and ensure that they're out of the way. He says he expects the agent to find a way out, he know what they're capable of, and he's sure they're gonna find a way out because he's the one that's been dealing with them for the last week! Zor is the one who thinks this trap is gonna work and demanded Juniper put Phoenix in it. Yeah he gives a theatrical monologue, but if he had say in the matter he wouldn't get the chance to in the first place!

Then in Rising Phoenix, HE MAKES GOOD ON THAT THREAT. Try to pick up anything that you dropped on the ground outside of the elevator, tell me how that goes for you. He's got scary good aim, he sees the Phoenix and immediately goes "well, shit, one sec folks, I gotta kill this agent" and then just pulls a gun and starts firing. And rather than focusing on the agent, he does have the foresight to shoot a MOVING, FLOATING TARGET so you can't do anything to him! He is very capable with a gun and likely the only reason Phoenix survives Party Crashers is Juniper doesn't have a firearm. And then, in a moment of panic as he hangs from a catwalk (that absolutely should not have had its powerbox so obviously out in the open if Zor wasn't planning on the agent either killing him or putting him in a position for Zor to pull the trigger) he tries to plead with the agent. He doesn't know the mask is a death trap at this point, and the only choice he has is to hope the person in the room with him can help pull him back up from the pit. He puffs up his chest, acts like he has all of the cards, but that's because that's the only chance he's got of making it out of this thing alive. He doesn't know the mask is what's gonna kill him in the end, he just knows that the Fabricator, the crazy lady who makes death traps for fun, has something in the room with him and that Zor intends on using it to finish John off.

And once John's toast literally Zor just shakes their head and mockingly calls him a disappointment before turning to Phoenix and saying it's in their hands now. But the entire time that Phoenix is working on this briefcase, Zor is teasing them, toying with them, and is audibly disappointed if you fail to disarm the briefcase in time. Phoenix was supposed to get the briefcase, John was supposed to die, and he really was implied to be doomed from the very beginning.

He's not a whining, screaming, incompetent bumbling idiot. He is very capable, he is literally just set up to fail so Zor can see Phoenix perform.

Edit: just for clarification, I do think he’s rather petulant, bitchy, he can be whiny, he’s an absolute douche, and what he did in that cellar is nothing short of a tantrum, my point is just that he isn’t a completely incompetent man baby. He knows what he’s doing and in at least one situation had more sense than Zor (Safe and Sound).

[sugawhaaa]

Felix x reader Part. 1

"Im just doing my job."

💄Warnings::foul language used

🍦genre::fluff, non idol AU, one bed trope, slow burn

🌙pairing::security guard!Felix x famous!fem!reader

🏷A/N:: at first this idea seemed kinda cringe but now that I'm writing it I'm like, omg...also the next (estimated) 2 parts won't be as long (hopefully) because I had to introduce you to the world of this fanfic 😭

Your father is a worldwide famous actor that is constantly working. He may as well be royalty based on the way he's treated at work. Meanwhile your mother is a kpop artist that is still producing as a soloist. The three of you lived in basically a mansion of a house. All your life you've been harassed by cameras and interviewers, you willingly go to interviews but getting harassed at airports? Not so much. You understand the fact that at interviews all they're going to be asking you about is your parents but it always seems to be that as soon as anyone hears about your parents being well your parents they flip.

Comments such as "really you look nothing like them!" Or "gosh you must be so young!" Get hurtful and repetitive. 

But nothing is worse than getting bothered at your own house. You'll be eating dinner when there's people peeking through the windows or recording you getting changed at night. Your parents became aware of these creeps and stalkers and gave you, what they call, an assistant. His name? Lee Yongbok is his Korean name but he prefers being called Felix when not in business. He's very kind and generous but his speech seems to be limited when it comes to you and he's very stern and serious.

You can't help but feel bad for him. He has just as busy a schedule that you do and sometimes he does chores for you. He stays cool and calm and says it's nothing but is it really? He gets tired and often gets headaches. You offer him medicine but he refuses and uses his hands to massage his head instead. Felix often spends late nights with you and babysits you when your parents are out to simply enjoy themselves or do something for work.

Since you are now 18 years of age you've been thinking. What am I going to do with life? 

Ever since you were only a kid people asked you what your plans for your future are but they always give you two options. As an example an interviewer would ask "what are your plans for the future? Do you want to follow your mother's footsteps or your fathers?" You always try to explain in a kind way that both sound like promising futures but it might not be for you. Then they'll ask "Oh what else do you have in mind then?" 

Your honest answer? I don't know. But you have to give fans and TV more of an answer than that. You always bullshit it and come up with some random career and go with that. 

People also often ask about your school life, but ever since about 4th grade you've been home schooled. By a professional of course. Your parents wouldn't want anything less. Your teacher's name was Namjoon. He was very witty and knowledgeable about anything and everything. He was quick and knew lots about other countries, he's explored a vast amount of countries and often tells you about them. Felix isn't often around when Namjoon is but you just know that Felix would love him! Felix was born in Australia and Namjoon has been there on multiple occasions so they'd get along well. 

As of right now it's mid may, close to June and you are so done with schooling. Only about two months left and you're done. For a while. But there's also traveling, interviews for jobs and TV, hotel rooms, stalkers, busy cities, waiting around the hotel while your parents film or talk business with their staff. Felix usually doesn't come with you on these trips so it gets extra boring real quick. You're in all these different places around the world but you don't get even 5 seconds to enjoy it before getting dragged to a hotel or filming set. 

Today you woke up kind of late, around 10 am, and you instantly grabbed your phone to wake yourself up. You scrolled through some YouTube shorts when you saw a thumbnail for a short video. It mentioned your mother so you kept on reading the title and it said "M/N L/N caught cheating on husband! (She's been married to D/N for 13 years!!!)"

You rolled your eyes "it's been 14 years actually." you thought to yourself. You turned off your phone and hauled yourself out of bed and slipped on your shark slippers. You stretched and headed for the bathroom just down the hall from your room. When you opened your door you heard some cooking sounds from the kitchen downstairs and a delicious smell of bacon and eggs. Smells like moms cooking. 

You used the washroom and as you were washing your hands you looked up into the mirror to see your awful bed head. Right…you went to bed with wet hair last night. You dried off your hands and when you opened the door you heard your mother call your name. You went over to the indoor balcony in your house and looked down to see your mother "Yes?" You called out. 

"C'mere I have something important to tell you," you looked shocked and went down the nearby staircase. You rubbed your eyes as you went over to your mother in her pink house coat and cat slippers. "There's a slight change in plans. We're leaving for Australia today!" She said with a bright smile as she flipped an egg. You smiled with her.

"When do we leave!" You said basically jumping.

"1 pm!" She grinned as your jaw dropped.

"That's in four hours!" You freaked as your mom nodded. 

"I already made you an Australian breakfast," she smiled as she handed you a plate. You thanked her and gave her a kiss on the cheek before running to your room. You had nearly nothing packed! You were supposed to leave in roughly four days so you had like one outfit planned. It had a beret, long sleeve white dress, burnt pranced sweater and some basic sneakers.

Other than that you had nothing! You ate your breakfast really fast and got all the necessities. Hair brush, tooth brush, hair clips, make-up, skincare, pads, extra change of under garments, meds, bandaids everything! Time for clothes and hair accessories. You checked the time and only an hour had passed but your phone was at 18%! 

Ugh could anything else go wrong today?! 

You plugged in your phone and started putting outfits together. You finished all the clothing in about 30 minutes, not too bad considering. You then got in the shower and did your 50 step routine. At the end you relaxed a bit in the warm water but only 2 minutes into relaxation the water got cold. That doesn't happen too often but everyone's probably showering right now. You dried off and did some simple skin care before you ran into your mother in the hallway. 

"Whoa dear, relax." She giggled before taking a deep breath, she influenced you to do the same and you copied her. After a few deep breaths your mother oh'd. "I forgot to tell you," she said after hugging you. You looked at her with a confused and curious look. "Mr. Yongbok is coming with us!" She clapped and your face lit up. 

"Oh! He's gonna love that!" You said happily when your mother got a notification on her watch. She whipped out her wrist to check what it said and you quickly looked at the time on her watch. "12:13!? Damn I'm doing pretty good on time," you smirked before saying bye to your mother and going back to your room to keep packing. You packed some things that you might not need as much as you played some upbeat music. Bathing suit, housecoat, slippers, fidget toys, you know all the things that are kinda unnecessary to have a good time. You then dried your hair, styled it and did some simple but cute makeup. Then it hit you.  

"I don't have an outfit to wear today!" 

You put together a comfy yet cute outfit and finally got to sit down and relax on your phone but time goes by fast. Soon it was time to start heading for the airport. 

You and your family brought everything out to your big black car. One of your mother's staff was going to be driving you all there and helping with luggage. 

When you arrived at the airport you managed to spot Yongbok in the crowd. His long sandy hair covered his eyes as he looked down at his phone. You went over to him and he looked up before a squishy smile appeared on his face. You two chatted while sitting on a bench in a private section. The adults all discussed important matters while you and Felix talked about a video game you were playing on your phone.

"So they're all cookies…?" He questioned as he leaned in to see your phone screen.

"Yup!" You nodded as the cookies on your phone battled. 

"And they fight for their kingdom that you are in charge of?" He tilted his head as he looked at your focused eyes. You nodded again while humming. Your plane was then called to board, you and Felix got all of your things together and got on the plan. You were in first class today and this was Felix's first time up here. He embarrassingly asked a lot of questions during the whole flight. You thought it was cute but he found it embarrassing.

"Oh I've never asked you before," you started, catching Felix's attention. "How old are you?"

"Oh I'm twenty," he chuckled before putting a black mask on. 

"Really!?" You said with pure shock. "You look so much younger…" you looked at him intensely.

"How old did you think I was!?" He laughed "I am technically your security guard. I wouldn't really be in this position if I wasn't at least 18." He made a good point. But still he looked so young and handsome. You laid back in your comfy seat and closed your eyes with a sigh. "Tired?" Felix whispered in that deep, steady voice of his. He was so close to your ear and it made the butterflies in your stomach go wild. 

"Mhm" you nodded before relaxing your face again. Felix let you rest on the way to Australia. 

°○°○°○°○°○°○°○°○°○°○°○°○°○°○°○°○°○°○°○°○

You woke up to Felix calling your name and gently shaking your arm. You woke up confused as fuck. "What? What?" You groaned as you looked around the plane.

"We're almost there, I just wanted to make sure you were awake enough when we got there," he said before handing you some water. You drank it, the cold liquid going down your dry throat. Your lips popped off the lid and you took a breath. You nodded and handed it to Felix. He took it and set it away again.

"Are you excited to be back home?" You smiled at him.

"Of course." You saw his eyes smile just above his mask. "Are you?" He said as his fluffy hair turned your way. 

"I love Australia. I think it's a beautiful place, other than the spiders," you said, making Felix chuckle. "But I hardly ever get to go out and see these places we visit." You said sadly.

"Oh? Why?" Felix seemed to misunderstand this entire trip. Maybe he thought he was going to be able to see the old parks he went to and old restaurants he went to. Hopefully he isn't too upset.

"Well…" you gestured for him to lean closer to you. "My parents don't usually let me go out. They usually leave me in the hotel while they're out and about." You whispered in his ear so your parents wouldn't hear you talking bad about their treatment towards you. Felix looked surprised and disappointed. 

"Hopefully we can go out and just hang about!" He smiled with his eyes again. You nodded before going back to looking out the window. 

"Oh we're almost there!" You said pointing your finger at the window. 

After you all landed on the safe Australian land Felix took a deep breath and took in the landscape. 

"You and your parents know English right?" Felix mumbled as he leaned over to you.

"Um the basics?" You shrugged. Felix face palmed and went to go talk to your parents, leaving your side empty. They talked a lot and worked out a plan and after an s-class car ride to your 5 star hotel you finally got to feel the comfort of a soft squishy bed. But before that…

"I think we should divide the rooms by two. You and Felix go in one and me and D/N will go in the other," your mom smiled and everyone agreed. You arrived on the 5th floor and found your room. Felix opened it and let you in first. You jumped on the bed and soaked in the soft sheets. You let out a deep sigh.

"So comfy~" you said as you cuddled up in the blankets. When Felix walked in with both of your bags he scanned the room. His eyes landed upon this little bench by the window. There was something weird about it, he bent down to look at it. He pulled off one of the cushions and found a camera. He kicked it extremely hard, shattering it and shooting the pieces all across the room. You instantly sat up and looked at the mess he had made. He started picking up the pieces of glass and plastic. You got off the bed to help him. 

"Careful." He said standing up and putting a hand in front of you. "There's glass." He said before bending back down to clean it up. 

"I'm literally wearing shoes," you laughed.

"Still don't wanna risk my princess getting hurt," 

You blushed at what he just called you. Not only princess but HIS princess. Your heart fluttered as you sat on the bed, cheeks hot. "S-sorry." He blushed as he swept up the glass with a little hand broom from the bathroom. "I used to call my little sister that and you remind me of her so it kinda slipped out…" he explained.

"Don't worry I liked it," you said with a wave of your hands. An awkward silence fell upon the room. Thankfully a knock on the door broke the silence. Felix immediately shot up and headed for the door. "I'll get it." You said putting your hand up to his chest to stop him in his tracks.

"What if it's a creep?"

"Felix. It's fine."

"There was already a camera in here."

You rolled your eyes and opened the door. It was just a staff member bringing your extra luggage. You thanked him with a bow and started taking out some of your luggage. Meanwhile Felix checked all the mirrors for cameras and made sure everything was safe. 

Your parents then messaged you saying they were going to a meeting and you were free to roam around with Felix. Your face lit up. 

"Felix, Felix, Felix!" You said jumping up off the bed and over to him, your phone in hand. He turned to you. "My mom said we can go roam around as long as we stay near the hotel!" You basically jumped with excitement and Felix's face lit up as well. "But I'm kind of tired…" you said with disappointment.

"It's okay," Felix said as he put his strong, boney hands on your bare shoulders. "There's an ice cream shop just down the street from here. It's really good and the staff are always very friendly. After that we can come back here and relax until you want to sleep." 

You nodded and started getting ready. "Also your mother deposited $400 to your account." He said after he checked his phone while you brushed your hair and put cute clips in it. 

"Okay tell her I said thank you please," you said as you topped up your makeup. With that Felix started typing on his phone while still standing in the same spot as 5 minutes ago. You grabbed a purse out of your suitcase and pulled Felix out the door with you. You grabbed onto his arm with both of your arms. He guided you to the ice cream stand and you both had a wonderful time eating your ice cream. Felix got a reeses pieces flavor and you got (flavor of choice) as you walked down the street in the dim lights finishing off your ice cream you looked at Felix. His cute freckles scattered across his face, his wavy hair so effortlessly perfect, his eyes big and pure, full of wonder, his puffy lips shaped like that of a chick, his eyebrows dark and sharp, his jawline handsome and fair. As you were admiring his every feature he looked down at you and your eyes instantly shot away. His little beak lips formed a smile before going back to his ice cream. 

When you arrived at the hotel to sleep for the night you realized, there's only one bed! 

Felix had previously set his things on the cushioned bench by the window so he started heading for that. He was adjusting the pillows when you stopped. 

"Sleep on the bed tonight, it's okay!" You said putting your hand on his back. 

"No, no, you take the bed."

"No, I insist you use it tonight."

"No, I insist." You bickered back and forth.

"How about we both just use the bed?" You said crossing your arms as you awaited his response. 

"As long as you don't mind sharing." He said as he dragged his things over to the nightstand. You went to the washroom and changed your clothes while you were in there. Meanwhile, without you knowing, Felix was also getting changed. You stepped out of the bathroom in your cute short pajamas to find Felix shirtless with his fly undone, a shirt in between his arms being prepared to be put on. You gawked at the sight before you caught his eyes on you. 

"S-sorry!" You jumped and turned around, covering your eyes. Felix just laughed.

"Sorry, I'm used to having just guys around…" he said as he continued to change without your eyes staring him down. 

"That's understandable, I almost did the same!" You said as you rolled on your heels. The sound of his belt and pants hitting the floor making your cheeks heat up.

"Perhaps it's because, I feel comfortable around you…" he muttered as he put on some shorts. 

"I feel the same." You smiled "I'm glad you feel comfortable with me and I hope you keep these feelings!" You said before turning around to see him heading for the left side of the bed. Felix smiled and you two started chatting about your experiences with each other. First impressions, embarrassing moments, close calls etc. 

Eventually you got tired and turned out the lights. Hours later you still lay awake looking out the window at all the city lights lighting up the midnight sky. 

"Can't sleep?" Felix asked in a deep voice.

"Nope." You sighed. "You should focus on sleeping instead of me,"

"But it's my job," Felix chuckled. 

"That power kick you did earlier was dope." You giggled to yourself.

"Haha, just doing my job!" He laughed. 

"Still, every time you do that I get more and more impressed." You smiled as you rolled over to look at him, his eyes already on you. 

"Do you know what the plan for tomorrow is?" He asked with pink dusting over his cheeks.

"Nope." You said with a light roll of your eyes.

"Either way we should get some sleep. Goodnight, princess," he said as he rolled back over to face the wall. Your cheeks were hot and the butterflies in your tummy were going insane at his choice of words.

[ridestomars]

LAST CHANCE ON THE STAIRWAY – S. HARRINGTON HEADCANONS

𖥻 summary: fake dating old money!steve. 𖥻 pairing: old money!steve harrington x fem!reader. 𖥻 warnings: no mentions of y/n, not proofread - we die like men here.

💭 liv's thoughts: it's been a long time since i've written something, so i decided to make my big comeback with a concept that is very dear to me <3

DO NOT INTERACT WITH THIS WORK IF YOU'RE UNDER SIXTEEN.

♡ㆍWhen Steve comes up with (as he called it) a "miraculous, failproof" plan, he wouldn't stop trying to persuade you to join in. It will get to the point of being annoying, because being the brat that he is, this boy can't take a no. 

♡ㆍAnd that is why he is doing everything in his power to make you take up on his offer, which means that he is showering you with useless gifts just for the sake of you saying yes. 

♡ㆍBooks, cassettes, clothes, vinyl records… heck, even a brand new Walkman. He is truly going all in – and the plan hasn't even begun. 

♡ㆍThe thing is: Steve is one stubborn guy, and when he makes up his mind about something, he is going to get it. And he has decided that instead of getting a girlfriend the way normal people do, he has to have you as his fake girlfriend. 

♡ㆍYou could argue that it's because you're one of his, erhm… less fortunate friends, but deep down, Steve knows that this is his only shot at getting you as his girl. 

♡ㆍTo him, it's like you're this very unattainable girl, someone who's so different from everyone he's known his whole life. You do things for yourself, and you're so ahead of him in so many ways that Steve thinks that you'll never give him a real chance. So, he has to make do with this fake shot at getting to your heart.

♡ㆍAnd boy, does he grab that chance by the horns.

♡ㆍEven though you made it very clear that you were still very much friends, and you didn't want this to get too close to comfort, Steve is already thinking about your matching clothes for his parents' annual gala, and planning a romantic date on the golf course at the town's club. Only because his rich friends will be there to witness you playing together, and you "gotta make this relationship seem believable!"  His words, not yours.

♡ㆍSo, of course, he's going to bring you to his favorite rich-boy activities. 

♡ㆍThe first, which is his most dear, is shopping. And it's something, as you found out, that he does pretty much daily –– spending one hundred bucks like it's absolutely nothing. But, hey! Steve was never known for being responsible, was he? 

♡ㆍHe takes you everywhere, slowly finding out your personal tastes and favorite stores, and you're pleasantly surprised with how much you enjoy shopping with him. 

♡ㆍSteve is all for the silly antics: picking out a dozen clothes and making a ridiculous fashion show in the fitting room's small hallway, or wearing clothes that are the wrong size just to hear you giggle and tease him.

♡ㆍIt's nice to have him there for support since he always encourages you to try things you wouldn't have otherwise. Steve is not one to be afraid of making a bold fashion statement, and he wants you to feel secure enough to do the same if you want to. 

♡ㆍSo, if you see something that shows a little more skin than you're used to, or maybe a bright color you have never tried before, he is going to be your number one supporter. It does help that he finds you absolutely beautiful no matter what you wear. 

♡ㆍShopping with Stevie also means that you are coming home with a bunch of shopping bags, but don't worry! He will carry all of them for you, even if it covers his whole arm, because he doesn't want you to ruin your fresh manicure.

♡ㆍBut besides shopping, Steve always invites you to go to the club to play golf, or tennis with him… even though you have no idea how. 

♡ㆍSteve is convinced he is a good teacher, though. And that is what opens the door for opportunities for him to hold you tightly against his body, his big hands holding your arms as he explains how you should grip the golf club, or the tennis racket. 

♡ㆍHe keeps telling you that it's good to be close to you like this to show you off to his friends, but with time, the excuses fade as you both discover that touching is good, and that there's nothing better than to be in each other's arms. 

♡ㆍThose lingering touches, small smiles, and longing stares are almost like an unconscious thing that happens between the both of you, and you find yourself enraptured by them, completely forgetting about the boundaries you had set to avoid getting too caught up in this fake relationship.

♡ㆍBut it's difficult when Steve is the best fake boyfriend you could ever ask for. If you thought that he was just a good friend, man, you're in for the most delightful ride of your life… because if you feel like you're getting the lines between your real emotions and your fake relationships blurry, Steve had already jumped headfirst in it.

♡ㆍHis attentiveness just triplicates, and it's like he just wants to please you all the time. But it all happens so naturally that you start to wonder if dating him was supposed to happen sooner or later in your life; it just feels like the next step, really. 

♡ㆍAnd what surprises you the most is that you could complain about his intensity or his blatant crush on you, but you don't want to. 

♡ㆍIt's just needless to say that you're in big, big trouble.

♡ㆍBut let's talk about the good stuff, shall we? 

♡ㆍHaving so many gorgeous outfits, it's only natural that he will help you pick out great combinations for your nights out, especially when you have to attend his parents' events together. Trust me, he's gonna make sure you go either with matching colors, matching fabrics, or matching designers. 

♡ㆍYou are the only reason why those types of gatherings get bearable for him, honestly. 

♡ㆍLike I said in a previous post, the Harrington family is renowned and known all over America, so that means that hearts will be crushed once Steve appears on the cover of a gossip magazine with his hand over your waist, holding you close as you two pose for the camera. 

♡ㆍWhich takes us to why he made this whole plan up in the first place: he just wants to escape the madness of having people speculate about his dating life all the time and the crazy gold-digging mothers that practically throw their own daughters in his direction. Having a serious relationship keeps the craziness of being the country's most eligible bachelor, and it shuts down his parents, too. 

♡ㆍHe loves to take you out dancing at those parties, even though they're very conservative when it comes to their music; it's either soft jazz music, or some old classics that no one your age has heard of before. But you make your own choreography, pretty much mocking how the other very square couples are dancing.

♡ㆍIt's literally the Laurie and Jo scene from Little Women (iykyk). 

♡ㆍAnd please, he absolutely loves to get shitfaced at those parties! There are two things he really enjoys about those gatherings: the food and the neverending champagne. And he certainly savors every glass and those fancy finger foods – once, he almost took a whole tray of those. 

♡ㆍTipsy-Steve is just a ray of pure sunshine, and a ball of energy. He loves to dance like nobody's watching and to talk to everyone, including those he claims to dislike. It's funny because his cheeks get so red, and even his way of talking changes a little: his voice gets squeaky, and he merges his words together because there's just so much going on through his head. 

♡ㆍBut Drunk-Steve is a whole different person. He can barely keep his eyes open, and he has to spend the rest of the party sitting down somewhere because he gets too lazy… and now his words start to slow down, and he begins to feel a little more sentimental. So, as soon as the bubbly champagne takes its toll on his brain, he still can't stop talking, but most of his words are sweet compliments for you.

♡ㆍIt's like he feels a growing and unstoppable need to be a total sweetheart to you, praising you for just reaching out to brush his hair out of his eyes. And his clinginess just goes through the roof, wanting to be near you, even though you had just spent the last three hours together. 

♡ㆍIt's in one of his drunken spurs where you get to know his actual feelings toward you, because he simply can't keep his mouth shut. He goes on extensive rants about just how great he thinks you are, and that you just might be too good for him… and Steve has such a heartbreaking puppy face, pouting as he tells you all about what goes on in his heart, that it's hard to feel anything but a sense of growing affection for him. 

♡ㆍIt's funny, because one night he's pouring his heart out to you, and the next morning, he doesn't remember anything that he had said. And you don't say anything either. Maybe at the next party… or until your deal is over. There's always time, right?

LIKES, REBLOGS AND FEEDBACK ARE APPRECIATED! steve masterlist | main masterlist | navigation ── hey! wanna talk? leave me a message after the beep. currently accepting requests for steve and eddie. 

𖤐 taglist: I AM RESTARTING MY TAGLIST! if you want to be added to my taglist, just click here.

[mj-ackerman]

Sorry if you already made a post about it but what are your thoughts on the "Anya loves Loid more than Yor" thing? I personally don't agree with it at all. I think Anya does try harder with Loid because she knows about Strix but not necessarily because she loves him a lot more than Yor.

Hello, yes I already made a post about this but only on Twitter hehe.

Regarding my thoughts about the "Anya loves Loid more than Yor" thing, I don't agree with it AT ALL. I believe Anya loves them both equally, there's was no competition and it SHOULDN'T be a competition as to who she loves the most. Anya also said it herself, she loves both her mama and papa because they're fun to be together and gave them BOTH a 100 perfect score

She even said that she likes it the best when she can be together with the both of them.

That's why she likes and enjoys their little family "ootings" so much because it's the time where she can spend time with both her mama and papa together.

I also didn't like how the post claimed that Anya is much closer to Loid just because he was the one who adopted her because that's not entirely true. While it's true that it was Loid who got Anya out of the orphanage, Anya quickly got along with Yor the day she became her mama, she was even comfortable enough to ask her if she wants to hold hands with her, it's just that Yor's thoughts about how she broke Yuri's ribs from hugging too tightly had scared her.

I also didn't like how OP reduced Yor's role and made it sounds like she was only chosen by Anya because of the fact that she was aware that Loid was looking for a wife when it wasn't the case. She chose Yor to be her mother because the idea of having a spy father and an assassin mother excites her. She was entertained by the thought of what adventures a spy and an assassin could bring in her life.

She loves head pats - Why yes, she do loves head pats, especially head pats from her papa because it's the only genuine sign of affection that he could afford to give her as of the moment.

And yes, Anya does try harder with Loid but it's not because she loves him more than she loves Yor. It's because she thinks that she gotta do her best and try harder in order to keep Loid and have him stay with her, with their family.

Anya doesn't really have to try hard for Yor's affection or to put an act to impress her because she knows very well that her mama will accept her and love her no matter what but it's different for Loid. While she's also aware that despite Twilight's cold demeanor, he's actually a big softie for her, she doesn't really understand what he feels about her because right now he's in a lot of denial. She even canonically questioned whether Loid loves/cares for her or not.

But with Yor, she already had that security to the point where she immediately even became her safe place, but again, she loves them both EQUALLY, it's just that for that reasons I mentioned, she gotta try harder for Loid.

I love the user's post & metas, they give good insights and character analysis and I do think it's not their intention to start a discourse regarding this matter, they were simply giving their opinion about it, it's just that the way they worded it was really bad. I think if they didn't said "Not even close" or had put the unnecessary add up of "there's a reason why anya let yor holds her hand but it's loid who hold and hug her" (I was disappointed by that statement because that's not true AT ALL, and for the record Loid haven't hug Anya yet, picking her up and holding her doesn't count as a hug btw) I think people wouldn't react the way they did.

It's actually fine if people likes Loid more than Yor, there's nothing wrong with that. I just hope whenever they praise him or build him up to be as a good father figure, they wouldn't need to tear Yor down, because it's really sad to see Loid being praised of doing the same things that Yor is also doing but she's being hated for it or they don't think it's something admirable because it's something expected of her because she's a mother and wife :/

[irregularincidents]

As the 1960s rolled to a close and with the Vietnam War proving itself to be increasingly unpopular amongst the American public, in 1968 President Lyndon B Johnson began secret talks with the North Vietnamese to begin the process of ending the conflict.

Unfortunately for the people of Vietnam and... pretty much everyone directly involved, Richard M Nixon was running on a platform of ending the war as well at the time and the Vietnam War ending too soon under a Democratic president wouldn't do his campaign any good... So naturally, the staff in Nixon's election team were instructed to sabotage the proceedings.

In a telephone conversation with H. R. Haldeman, an aide who would go on to become White House chief of staff, Nixon gave instructions that a friendly intermediary should keep “working on” South Vietnamese leaders to persuade them not to agree to a deal before the election, according to the notes, taken by Mr. Haldeman.

Additionally, it was discovered via the FBI bugging the phone calls between the South Vietnamese ambassador and of Anna Chennault, one of Nixon’s aides, that she had been advised to do the same things ahead of prospective peace talks that were planned to take place in Paris.

Johnson, who habitually recorded his own telephone conversations, is on tape as having been aware of what Nixon and his people were up to, and needless to say he wasn't exactly happy.

In the recently released tapes, we can hear Johnson being told about Nixon’s interference by Defence Secretary Clark Clifford. The FBI had bugged the South Vietnamese ambassadors phone. They had Chennault lobbying the ambassador on tape. Johnson was justifiably furious — he ordered Nixon’s campaign be placed under FBI surveillance. Johnson passed along a note to Nixon that he knew about the move. Nixon played like he had no idea why the South backed out, and offered to travel to Saigon to get them back to the negotiating table.

Despite it being a matter of record that Nixon's presential campaign was trying to prolong the very war he was promising to end, Johnson unfortunately chose not to make said evidence public. Partly because this would mean he'd have to admit to spying on the South Vietnamese ambassador, partly because he thought that his vice president Hubert Humphrey was a lock to win the next election so Nixon wouldn't be a problem anymore, and allegedly because Johnson believed that revealing Nixon's actions would cause the public to loose faith in the government...

Unfortunately, by the time the election finally rolled around, Nixon won the popular vote against Humphrey by just 1%. At that point, despite/due to placing Henry Kissinger in charge of the peace talks to end the war on Nixon's terms, the fighting continued for an additional five years with bombing spreading into neighbouring Laos and Cambodia, resulting in thousands more deaths.

As Robert Evans of the Behind the Bastards podcast put it on their series of episodes about Kissinger, the issue was basically that while Nixon wanted to get out of Vietnam, Vietnam wanted America out of Vietname, and the American public wanted America out of Vietnam, both Nixon and Kissinger didn't want to leave in a manner that made it look like they'd lost. Hence the escalation in fighting and bombing, because they'd gotten themselves stuck in a situation they had no easy solution to escape.

AND YET, it could have gotten worse.

In some tapes released by America's National Archives from 1972, between his complaining about Jews and liberals to Kissinger (yes, he was aware Kissinger was Jewish, yes he called him antisemitic stuff to his face), Nixon brought up a new suggestion...

Nixon is heard discussing an extension of bombing raids over North Vietnam with Henry Kissinger, the national security adviser. Then, rather abruptly, he says: "I'd rather use the nuclear bomb." Whether Nixon was serious or trying to provoke Mr Kissinger is not clear. In his baritone voice, his adviser replies: "That, I think, would just be too much." But Nixon then goes on: "The nuclear bomb. Does that bother you? I just want you to think big."

The Vietnam War eventually came to a close on 30th April 1975, seven years after Nixon sabotaged an attempt to begin ending the war sooner.