#The idea needed to actually go off and get viral well before the actual proposed date

[theorderofthetriad]

honestly with the way tumblr is going we the users need to set up like a weekend boycott to make it clear this shit is going to hurt the site and drive away the userbase, i've been here twelve fucking years but i don't want to put up with the shit tumblr is putting us through this year, it's fucking atrocious! why the fuck should we stay on a website that doesn't fucking respect us or seem to actually WANT to keep us around!

well, tumblr, if you don't want to keep us around, we don't need to fucking stay here!

boycott from friday 6/16 through monday 6/19 who's with me?

[heavyhitterheaux]

I Give Husband

First Lady of Private Garden Fic

AN: Ultimate husband vibes from Jackman 🥰 Make sure you read Two Halves of a Whole Idiot and Married Since When? so that this makes more sense

Synopsis: After it was revealed on instagram that the two of you are married by your best friend Urban, Jack has no choice but to come clean when asked about the status of your relationship in an interview with Angie Martinez

Pairing: Husband!Jack Harlow x Wife!Reader

Requested by: a beautiful anon 😘

Please Do Not Repost My Content Anywhere

"Okay, Jack I have pulled up the most Googled questions about you. You ready to answer them?"

Based off of this tiktok 🥰🥰

"I’m nervous but, let's do this."

"No reason to be nervous! Okay, first question. Is Jack Harlow single?”

“Nope, not at all been taken since I was 15 by the same person.” Jack suddenly smiled when his mind immediately went to you. You were in the studio all day writing for your second album 777 so Urban along with DJ Drama, Neelam, and Urban accompanied him.

“Okay, next is who is Jack Harlow married to? Wait... why do they think you're married?"

Jack's breath immediately hitched in his throat as he looked over at Angie as she raised her eyebrows as if inquiring more information out of him. He then turned around to send a death glare to Urban since this had really been all of his fault since he was the one who had let it slip in the first place.

Even though it had been announced on instagram, there wasn’t exactly a full post about it since it was buried deep in your comments. He figured it was only a matter of time before more people caught on.

"Uhh Jack, do you have something that you want to share with us?"

"I mean I give husband in my demeanor so that makes sense that people would think that."

"You didn't answer my question!"

“I guess it was only a matter of time before I couldn’t avoid this anymore. So, yes I’m married.”

“Wait a minute..... your girlfriend well wife.... the First Lady of Private Garden?”

“Correct and our parents were ready to kill us when they found out all because someone couldn’t keep their mouth shut.” Jack explained looking at Urban who held his hands up in defense and Neelam and DJ Drama let out a small laugh.

“Wait, I need details! You two are so young still! What age did you get married?”

“We were both nineteen, it happened before we moved to Atlanta. Our parents had no idea, but they do now and it was actually revealed a few weeks ago on instagram buried deep in one her posts in the comments so unless you had seen the post, you wouldn’t have known.”

“And so it’s been almost five years?”

“Almost five years and a lifetime to go. Our original plan was to announce it once we reached the five year anniversary mark this year anyway.”

“When’s your anniversary?”

“December 21st. I proposed maybe a few days after her birthday in the beginning of December.”

“So, who were the witnesses? And how was it kept a secret for so long?”

“All of Private Garden were the witnesses as well as Y/N’s older sister Danielle knew. Everyone was sworn to secrecy from that day and I admit it was sometimes hard when I would be talking about her and I had to make sure that I didn’t say my wife, I had to say my girlfriend and she had to do the same thing.”

“Okay, I can live with that explanation. Next question, who inspires Jack Harlow?”

“This should be a given, my wife Y/N does. Damn that feels good to say and I don’t have to hide anymore.” Jack said while letting out a small laugh.

“I love that, explain a little bit more.”

“She never let me give up for anything even though there were times that I wanted to. You know maybe I didn’t feel like doing a show that night and she would be like, do it now because it’s going to pay off in the end and she was 100% right. I owe a lot to her and she would always tell me to keep going.”

“Happy wife, happy life right?”

“Truer words have never been spoken. I always make sure that she’s good before I can even focus on myself.”

“And I bet she would say the exact same thing about you.”

“That’s just how we are. All of our close friends know. That’s my ride or die.”

“Now, let’s see what’s up next. Is Jack Harlow a father?”

“I mean my wife calls me daddy if you get what I’m saying....”

“Y/N is about to kill you for that.” Angie said while everyone in the studio began laughing at Jack’s answer.

“That’s definitely going to be a fun conversation later. But no, not yet. But when the time is right we’ll know.”

“Okay, what is Jack Harlow’s real name?”

“That is literally my real name, but my full first name is Jackman.”

“Jackman Harlow?”

“Yeah, like Hugh Jackman.”

“Is there a middle name that goes along with that?”

“There is, and the real ones know what it is. Yall already know everything else and that’s my last shred of privacy. I didn’t want to give out the whole government but damn.”

“Last shred of privacy?”

“I already use my name as my stage name like a fool.”

“You know it’s not too late, you know.”

“What? Yes it is. Trust me, they know my face now.”

“It’s not!”

“Is it too late for you?”

“Definitely yes, but I’m not an artist.”

“Okay so what if you went by Lil Ang for the rest of your career?”

“No! Definitely not!”

“See, exactly my point, it’s too late for me.”

Just then Angie was alerted to a call coming through and it happened to be no one other than you.

“Uh oh.”

“What is that uh oh for? You got me nervous now.”

“You’re about to find out as I answer this call....Hi Y/N or should I say Mrs. Harlow, nice of you to join us.”

“Got damn it!” Jack exclaimed while waiting to hear your voice and Urban’s eyes went wide. 

“Hi Angie and hi husband. I heard you were talking about me.”

“All good things though, all good things baby girl.” Jack explained while having nothing but a smile on his face. 

“Hmm really? Even about the me calling you daddy comment?”

“Well did I lie?”

“JACKMAN THOMAS!”

“THERE IT IS! MIDDLE NAME REVEALED! THANK YOU FOR THAT Y/N!”

“Damn it babe!”

“You act like it’s a secret, people can literally google that about you.”

“So! I You have taken my last shred of privacy away!”

“Stop being dramatic and you can definitely have a stage name.”

“Immediately no, we’ve been through this.”

“My vote is for Lil Jack Jack.” You answered before busting out laughing. 

“Now I know for a fact you didn’t just say that.” As Neelam was trying to contain her laughter. 

“Wait, I have a question for you Y/N.”

“Anything, Angie.”

“Is Jack really 6′3?”

“Yes, and I would know because I have to constantly climb him like a tree seeing as I’m not even 5′5.”

“So, the stage name won’t fit!” Jack exclaimed.

“It’s a play on words, baby! Keep up!”

“And since I have you Y/N, when are you coming to visit me so we can talk about your husband more?”

“HEY!”

“Soon and very soon. I cannot believe he said that but then again I do. Been dealing with him since I was 15.”

“Babe! You make it sound like a chore.”

“Never that, Jackman. Wouldn’t want to be with anyone else and you know that.”

“I do. We in this forever.”

“Yes we are and babe?”

“Yes mamas?”

“I’m hungry can you get me food and bring it to the studio please?”

“I mean what are you hungry for? Me or something else?”

“JACKMAN BEHAVE! This is why I can’t take your ass anywhere as it is. You never know what to say outta your mouth and don’t you dare say what I know you’re about to say.”

“I love you?”

“I know that wasn’t it but bye husband I love you too and bye Angie!

You hung up and Angie suddenly looked back over at Jack.

“You’re in trouble with your wife aren’t you?”

“Ehh, maybe just a little bit.” 

Liked by y/ninsta, saweetie, urbanwyatt, brandisimmons, laflare1017, neelamthadhani, champagnepapi, druski2funny, and 2,268,901 others

jackharlow: Wifey 😍💕

y/ninsta: hubby 😘

saweetie: my best friend is a muthafuckin baddie 😍

druski2funny: now what in the world made y/n marry you?

jackharlow: druski2funny because she loves me dumbass

druski2funny: jackharlow ehhh idk tho, she would be taken better care of if you sent her my way

jackharlow: druski2funny not a chance in hell

y/ninsta: druski2funny I only have eyes for Jackman we all know this. no one else compares or comes close

jackharlow: y/ninsta I can have you cum right now if you let me

y/ninsta: jackharlow BEHAVE!

urbanwyatt: jackharlow yes what wifey said because I just can’t take it anymore

jackharlow: urbanwyatt you’ll be okay

urbanwyatt: jackharlow speak for yourself

normani: still can’t believe yall asses been married for almost five years and wasn’t about to say a damn thing to anybody

y/ninsta: normani we were! in December!

normani: y/ninsta lies

saweetie: y/ninsta I cannot wait to wedding plan!

y/ninsta: saweetie me either! this is going to be really special. we worked so hard for our success and it’s finally happening and now we can afford a real wedding 🥰

jackharlow: y/ninsta can’t wait to see you in white or... off white for that matter

saweetie: jackharlow yeah because we know for a damn fact that there is not a virgin bone in her body

y/ninsta: saweetie AND WHAT ABOUT IT?!

2forwoyne: y/ninsta what about a purple wedding dress?

y/ninsta: bye 2forwoyne

angiemartinez: the love you two have for each other is amazing. y/ninsta I can’t wait until you visit me so we can talk about the album and married life!

y/ninsta: angiemartinez I’m looking forward to it!

jackandy/naremyparents: can we talk about that daddy comment that jackharlow said earlier?

jackharlow: I don’t recall 👀

y/ninsta: jackharlow don’t play because you definitely do

jackharlow: y/ninsta I mean that’s what you call me and you know better because I will literally not answer to anything else.

sza: jackharlow oh really? 👀

druski2funny: urbanwyatt said yall were nasty as hell but this is another fact that has confirmed it

urbanwyatt: druski2funny I have ptsd from them

y/ninsta: urbanwyatt stop being dramatic and jackharlow I think I’m hungry for you and not food anymore 😏

jackharlow: y/ninsta say less, daddy’s on his way baby girl 😏

Taglist:

@harlowsbby

@babyharleezy

@hoodharlow

@stefansalvatoresgf

@jackiehollanderr

@primadxna-girl

@dessmxsworld

@cockslutslurper3000

@raelorns21

@variety-fangirl

@gbaabyyyy

@kamorsstuff

@harlowthot

@sinsandsuccubus

@curlyhairclub

@bootlegroach

@haylexo10

@thinkingaboutjharlow

@fluidsentiment

@charli123456789

@moody4world

@yourstrulymayah

@yana4life

@beanbagbitch

@alinadolans

@carma-fanficaddict

@minaxcarter

@arination99

@xjup1t3r

@venusvinc

@jacksmoviestar

@jackharloww

@midnight-star47

@minkookie95

@inluvwithladybug

@tynesharandolph8633-blog

@exoticr0ses

@jharlowsangels

@jackierose902109

@jackmansbabymama

@cmalass

@megawhoree

@softtcurse

@sia2raw

@miniaturehideoutmentality

@hoya122

[zillennial97]

Fake/Pretend Relationship | Larry Fanfic Recs

And Then a Bit by infinitelymint | 158k | Explicit

“We’d like to give the fans what they want.” Magee states, placing his hand on the table in front of him and leaning forward. “We want to give them Larry Stylinson.”

Or, take a parallel universe where Louis and Harry were never together, mix in a two year hiatus and an impending comeback, pour in a dash of lost fans, two tablespoons of strong friendship and a Modest! employee with a good idea. Add a squeeze of pretending to be a couple, lots of kisses and a tattoo or two. Stir. Serve: the mother of all publicity stunts.

(aka Harry and Louis fake a relationship for publicity. Eventually it becomes a lot less fake and a lot more real.)

Wild Love by purpledaisy | 130k | Explicit

“Good,” Julia says, clearly pleased to have them both uncomfortable and unable to look at each other. “Now, I only have one more question before you can go. What are you planning to do when this experiment ruins your friendship?”

“We said we’d stay friends no matter what,” Harry says smoothly, his chin lifting in defense.

“That was our one thing going into it,” Louis agrees. “Stay friends no matter what.”

Julia raises a perfectly manicured brow, “That’s all fine and good. But I hope you realize your emotions aren’t going to realize this is an experiment in the end. If one of you falls for the other and finds out those feelings are not reciprocated, you’re not going to be able to laugh it off as a social experiment. I’m not saying you shouldn’t do this, I’m just hoping you’ve considered all of the possible outcomes.”

- AU: Two best friends try to date each other for forty days. It's supposed to be fun until emotions make it complicated.

California Sold by isthatyoularry | 123k | Mature

Notoriously closeted boyband member Harry Styles is famous on a global scale, meanwhile Louis, as his best friend, is back home in Manchester, living the typical life of a 24 year old. When Harry needs Louis with him in LA, a publicity stunt gone wrong changes their friendship forever.

A fake-relationship AU between two lifelong best friends.

Dance to the Distortion by Lis (domesticharry) | 96k | Explicit

Louis accidentally breaks Harry's camera lens and in order to get it fixed, they decide to participate in a romantic couples study. The only issue is that they are not actually couple. Well that and the fact they cannot stand each other.

You’ve Got My Devotion (Hate You Sometimes) by lucythegoosey | 95k | Explicit

Harry was in the biggest boy band in the world. He was also one half of the best (or worst, depends on who you ask) kept secret relationship in the music industry.

Now, almost five years on, after One Direction has broken up, and Harry and Louis' relationship has as well, a video threatens to put everything at risk.

One determined Irishman, a massive publicity stunt and two begrudging exes are all it takes to bring One Direction back to life and maybe, just maybe, Harry and Louis' mangled love life too.

Or: Harry and Louis are forced to fake-date after an old video from when they were dating emerges.

Faking It by TheCellarDoor | 46k | Mature

A uni AU in which Louis has been Harry’s best friend since he offered him cubed fruit on the playground, and they spend more time cuddling in their dorm beds than they do apart, but it’s not like that. Or is it?

Aka Harry pretends to date his best friend to escape unwanted attention from a too insistent classmate and hopes it won’t blow up in his face. Featuring embarrassing dildo accidents, awkward boners, longing, first times, late night conversations, emotional discoveries and Niall as the exasperated friend with bad advice.

Play Pretend, Find a Friend? by angelichl | 40k | Explicit

They had to pull back for air. Louis surveyed the guy’s face, in awe of his blown pupils and sharp jawline, the way their shared spit glistened on his lips.

“Hi,” he breathed. He blinked, and came back to himself a little bit, blushing at his own boldness. “Sorry. Is this okay?”

The stranger removed his right hand from the curve of Louis’ waist in order to cup his jaw, tilting it up to the angle he desired. He pressed their lips together, murmuring, “Definitely.” And then he kissed harder.

When Louis sees his ex-boyfriend kissing a random girl at a party, he acts out of blind jealousy. He kisses the first guy he can find. It turns into a thing.

INSPIRED BY CLOUDS.

From the Start by allwaswell16 | 32k | Explicit

Louis has no idea that one act of kindness will cause his life to spiral out of control. But that's what happens when his new friend fake proposes to him and a video of it goes viral.

Like Candy In My Veins by littlelouishiccups | 31k | Explicit

“Um…” Harry said slowly after a moment. “Okay. That’s… this is… Let me get this straight.” He lifted up a hand and swallowed. “You told your family that you have a boyfriend… and my name was the first one you thought of?” “Harry Potter was on TV, alright? It wasn’t that much of a stretch.” Louis pinched the bridge of his nose. He couldn’t believe he was explaining himself to Harry fucking Styles. He couldn’t believe he was stooping this low. “Forget it. I’m sorry I even thought about bringing you into this.”

Harry snorted. “What? Did you want me to pretend to be your boyfriend or something?”

(Basically the A/B/O, enemies to lovers, fake relationship, Christmas AU that nobody asked for.)

[slither-in-gryffindor]

Mystery Lover

Square Fill: Free Square

Warning/s: None

Word Count: 1,790

Summary: Darcy Lewis posted videos that the world cooed over, Natasha Romanoff being in love.

A/N: This fic was made cause I couldn't get the song out of my head 😂 and I also had an excuse to write a socmed au. It started out as a karaoke prompt and it just went from there 💁🏻‍♀️

Ao3

The team didn’t really plan anything that night. Everyone was in the common room lounging while the world is peaceful. Tony and Bruce was puzzling over an equation in a hologram. Thor, Steve, and Sam were exchanging stories at the couch. Clint and Natasha were rapidly exchanging knives while sitting at opposite ends of the room. And Pepper and Maria were signing documents at the coffee table.

“I am now here and the party has started! Up up up people, we’re going out!” Darcy’s voice echoed cheerfully as she sashayed into the room.

The brunette moved towards Maria, “Tall, dark, and handsome Director Hill. I would like to propose an outing that we all clearly need. It’s a Friday and we’re boring!”

“That’s your argument?” Maria asks amused.

“Well, I already have a bar in mind. It’s good but kind of hidden too and I already talked to the owner so we’re going to be the only one there. I also agreed that they could have pictures with you guys, but only if they post it after we leave.”

Maria chuckles. “You really thought this through. Okay.”

“I know it’s - wait okay? I just made you agree with me this is the best day of my life.” Darcy clutched at her chest and faked swooning. Jane just shook her head fondly at her friend’s antics.

The three women fondly watched Darcy as she puttered around and started gathering the others. “We’re going karaoke! Avengers Assemble!”

_____________________________________________________________________________________

It hasn't even been an hour, but the video was already viral. Hours after the Avengers left the bar, Darcy posted a video of them singing karaoke. Naturally, anything related to the Avengers goes viral, but the difference is that this is the first time the Black Widow made her appearance. And what an entrance she did.

The people had always been curious about the mysterious Avenger. They know who she is, and sees her attend events like the others, but pictures and interactions are scarce. So when they saw a video of her singing, and a love song at that, it blew up. Gossip blogs already have their choice of romantic interest, and even news feeds deemed her performance as news worthy.

The video started with a panoramic shot of the bar, and a rowdy applause came from the boys when a redhead swaggered to the stage. Natasha Romanoff looked at someone behind the camera and roguishly winked.

Whoops were heard when the familiar fast-paced notes sounded in the air. Her grip on the mic was confident and she let her body playfully move.

She bobbed her head. Eyes closed and feeling playful.

Making my way downtown Walking fast paces pass And I’m homebound 

The redhead’s mischievous gaze suddenly focused behind the camera.

Staring blankly ahead Just makin’ my way     I’m makin’ a way through the crowd    

And I need you. Natasha stretched her right arm forward.

And I miss you. She blew a kiss.

And now I wonder. The camera caught a hand darting forward and catching it. Just as Natasha smiled widely.

Darcy could be heard whispering an amazed, “oh my Thor they’re so cute!” and she swiveled the camera to take the others' reactions. Similar state of happiness and delight were seen as they cheer for their normally reserved friends.

An utterly soft smile was on Natasha’s face and everyone was just pushing and cheering because it’s the first time they saw that smile. Normally the couple would refrain from public displays of affection but they weren’t complaining. It was cute how the couple acts.

If I could fall into the sky Do you think time would pass me by Cause you know I’d walk a thousand miles If I could just see you… tonight.

The last line ended and everyone was still reeling, but the thundering hoots and applause followed immediately. Natasha bowed and smirked before strutting off the stage. The video cut, but not before catching the redhead smiling warmly at someone that the camera unfortunately didn't catch.

‘Cause you know I’d walk a thousand miles If I could just see you… tonight.

@darcygodtaser: If you’re as romantic as @n_romanoff, you can date me. But I think I’ll be waiting for a long time.

@muff_in: @n_romanoff oh my goddd what the fuck, I never thought someone's voice could make me melt into a puddle.

@bwcanrailme: can we talk about how @n_romanoff was totally singing for someone??? Can we have a hint who she's singing for @darcygodtaser

@redavengerlover: badass, avenger, and singer. Is there something @n_romanoff can't do?

@arrowbird: @redavengerlover @n_romanoff can't walk into corridors without bumping into walls when they smile at her.

@ironman3000: @redavengerlover @n_romanoff can't lift weights without dropping it on her foot because she saw them doing pull ups without a shirt.

@stevieamerica: @redavengerlover @n_romanoff can't walk properly on heels because she saw them in a tailored suit and tie.

@drgreen: @redavengerlover @n_romanoff can't stop smiling whenever she gets a good luck text from them

@thornir: @redavengerlover @n_romanoff THE LADY SPIDER SAW THEM IN ASGARDIAN ARMOR AND CANNOT SPEAK FOR 5 MINUTES

@itsbitsypuppy: I love how the avengers just exposed @n_romanoff that she's just like the rest of us mortals and gay panics too

@n_romanoff: Well I don't.

  _____________________________________________________________________________________                                                                                                      

                                                                                                                Another video was posted by Darcy and this one was even more viral than the previous one. And this time, everyone had absolutely gone wild. The speculations to whom the illustrious Black Widow was dating had finally been put to rest.

The revelation had sent everyone reeling. News feeds reported the event, and social media sites crashed due to the high amount of online traffic.

The video started with a beautiful view of a flower field. Purple, yellow, red, blue, you name it— there were 30 varieties of blooming tulips that filled the area. Behind the multitude of colors in the field is the extraordinarily green pine trees, and even farther is the snow-capped mountain — Mount Cheam.

An impressed whistle pierced the silent showcasing, and the camera flipped to show Darcy wearing a gray overcoat paired with a blue scarf.

“Beautiful right? But that’s not actually what we’re here for. We’re in Canada!”

“I don’t know where exactly but we were invited by our favorite blue-eyed commander because —” Darcy trailed off, lips pursing as she tried to remember.

Looking around, the brunette walked over to Steve, “Steve! Why are we here again? I can’t remember why.”

He scratched his head, “Pepper didn’t really give a reason. She just told us that Maria wanted us here.”

A voice off-camera caught their attention and Darcy looked straight at the lens, “Alright guys, that’s Pepper calling us.”

The team shuffled and stood at a distance, watching as Clint lead a blindfolded Natasha to the center of the field. He joined the rest and just sushed them when they saw Maria walking towards Natasha.

Excited murmurs came from the other Avengers.

“I think this is it.”

“You mean?”

“I think so.”

“Will we hear them?”

“Yeah, we set up a drone don’t worry about it. ”

A tall lean woman came into view and tapped Natasha on the shoulder, “Hey sweetheart, you can remove the blindfold now.”

Natasha looked around and the woman caught her hand to turn the redhead towards her, “Maria, our anniversary isn’t for a few months yet.”

Maria chuckled, and exhaled shakily, “I know. But that’s not why I’m doing this.”

She entwined the redhead’s hand in hers, “Nat. The first time we went here, we were just dating for a few months but I already knew we would last. Because when I look at you, I see a future with you by my side.”

Taking a deep breath, she put their entwined hands on her chest. Letting Natasha feel how fast her heart was beating. From the equally breathless look on the redhead's face, it looked like she already has an idea where this is going.

“Years have passed but it only cemented the fact that I want that future. So I’m standing here, in a field full of tulips because I’m deeply in love with you, Nat. And if you would let me, I’d like to love you for the rest of my life.”

“So…” Maria took out a jewelry box and got down on one knee, “Natasha Romanoff, will you marry me?”

Natasha was speechless. Staring wide-eyed at the kneeling woman.

Everybody held their breath, clutching each other in anticipation. Darcy was holding on to the phone so tight it shook.

An amazed, “Yes.”

“Yes?” Delight coated Maria’s voice.

Natasha let out a teary laugh, “Yes! Of course Masha!”

The video was no longer focused because Darcy jumped and hugged the others. Excited squeals and cheers erupted. Maria raised her hand to call them over. They ran towards the couple, hugging in celebration.

“This calls for a party!”

        _____________________________________________________________________________________

                                                                                                         Accompanying the video is a group photo of the team with the newly engaged couple. Clint, Tony, Steve, Thor and Bruce was at Natasha’s right, beaming proudly like brothers. On Maria’s left is Pepper, Darcy, and Jane looking at the camera with broad smiles. As for Natasha and Maria, they were smiling so widely their eyes were sparkling.

@darcygodtaser: Congratulations to our beloved spider @n_romanoff and commander @off_hill ! They’re perfect for each other. They’ve got to be the most romantic people I know. Trust me, I’ve dated before.

@tap_me: OH MY GOD @n_romanoff is getting hitched!!! And to a woman! I think I’m in wonderland. Her fiancée @off_hill is so romantic, and fucking gorgeous even from afar.

@gaymer: The gays win!!!! Fuck the people who told us @n_romanoff was dating a man. @off_hill and @n_romanoff are lucky to have each other. Congratulations!

@spiderlover: Who’s taking which surname? Natasha Hill? Maria Romanoff? Romanoff-Hill? Hill-Romanoff. I HAVE TO KNOW @n_romanoff @off_hill

@n_romanoff: @off_hill I think Mrs. Maria Romanoff-Hill has a nice ring to it.

@off_hill: @n_romanoff As long as you marry me I don’t care what surname you pick.

Laying on their bed and content, Natasha nipped Maria’s jaw, “Damn it Hill, I thought you’d argue with me.”

Maria looked down with a raised brow, “Do you want me to argue with you?”

She shrugged, “Not really, but this is why I’m marrying you, you keep me on my toes.”

“Of course I keep you on your toes, how would you kiss me otherwise.” Maria giggled at her own joke.

Maria’s laughter stopped Natasha from retaliating. She gazed at the commander and couldn’t help but smile. She’s going to marry this amazing woman. She couldn’t wait.

[hamatoclan76]

Lets talk about ¨Fast Forward¨ and ¨Back To The Sewers¨

So, yeah. I was finally able to finish watching the TMNT 2003 series. I know i could write an entire review about the series but i decided to focus on the two last seasons ¨Fast Forward¨ and ¨Back To The Sewers¨ since they are quite controversial seasons in the fandom due to their writing.

I’m going to explain what i think these seasons did right and then what went wrong with the writing that made them not get so well-received in comparison to previous seasons. I´m going to start with Fast Forward and then move to Back to the Sewers.

Time Travel to the future

(Fast Forward Intro)

(Fast Forward) Season 6 starts with the turtles accidentally time traveling to the future, year 2105 to be precise. That’s 100 years from the current timeline. It´s a risky idea but not bad, right?

But here is the problem: There were already unexplored main plotlines that needed to be developed: Karai´s possibe redemption, the foot clan, Hun, etc. Instead of finishing those arcs that were already established in the series the writers/producers decided to jump to a completely new setting that had almost nothing to do with things that were previously explored.

So that´s one of the biggest problems with this season. If this was a spin off, this wouldn´t be an issue at all. That´s because the audience would know that the spin off exists as its own thing and it isn´t part of the main series. Watching ¨Fast Forward¨ was weird to me. It was like i was watching other series but with the same characters.

Before talking more about the problems i have with this season. Let´s talk about what i enjoyed:

I really liked the arc about Cody learning to be his own person and realizing how his uncle was manipulating him (if not abusing him). His relationship with the turtles and Splinter is really sweet. It was nice to see how they took care of him and he let them live with them while he was reparing the time machine.

Bishop episodes are really good. I wished we could seen more of him. The idea of him getting redeemed and forming an alien alliance is very interesting.I always saw Bishop as well intentioned extremist, In the sense he believed he was helping people with his horrible methods. I like how he recognizes he did terrible things in the past and he is trying to make up for his crimes.

I enjoyed some  of the slice of life moments.It helped developing the characters in a way that allowed me to see what they do when they are fighting aliens or the foot clan. For example: One of my favourite episodes is Raph and Leo going to wrestling match and chaos ensues. That episode explores Raph´s passion for wrestling, something i think the series didn´t before.

I like the concept of the ¨Dark Turtles¨. Yeah, i know it is a bit ridiculous but i would have been great had the series given them a proper redemption arc since it was implied they weren´t really that bad. ( DNA is thicker than water in one of my favourite episodes of Fast Foward).

Now that i have talked about the things i liked i´m going to move to my problems with season 6.

I think that one of the reasons i feel conflicted about Fast Foward is due to the lack of actual plot or stakes. It feels like things are happening but at the same time they aren´t. Many episodes have more mundane premises. The villains are less intimidanting and they don´t add too much to the story. There are some good episodes like ¨The Journal¨ and the one about Mikey training but overall it is like the writing itself is dull and boring.

It would have been better had the writers focus on developing the characters better (like Raph having problems with adjusting to the future). There are concepts that are great. The thing is that they later get dropped or forgotten (Dark turtles subplot). There could have been an entire arc about Bishop helping the turtles with getting back to their time as a way to make up for his actions.

Speaking of the time portal, that thing is brought up in only the first episodes and then its barely mentioned again in the season. Like.. wasn´t the main plot about them getting back to their respective timeline? It´s like the main characters were so comfortable living in the future that they forgot about their main goal. There episodes that are just about them hanging out instead of finding a solution. It´s okay to have slice of life moments while they are waiting for the machine to get repaired but it could have been at least hinted that is Cody is working on it.

Fast Forward would have worked better had the crew of show put more effort into writing the story, thinking what they wanted to do with the characters and explored concepts that were interesting. And before you ask: No, i don´t think this season being more lighthearted is an issue, the real problems is that writing itself is sloppy and isn´t as good as previous seasons.

Back To The Sewers

(Back to the Sewers Intro)

Season 7´s main plot is about the turtles trying to find all the ¨bytes¨ that made Splinter after he was disintegrated in Cyberspace. Many episodes are about them enterting in Cyberspace and looking for these bytes to make Splinter whole again. The team also has to deal with a new type of Shredder that is a fusion of viral and Ultrom Shredder´s memories. (More of that later)

Things i like from ¨Back To The Sewers¨

Donatello´s character arc: It was very refreshing to see another side of Donnie. At the started of the season he blamed himself for losing Splinter (something he had not control of). His arc is kinda similar to Leo´s arc in Season 4 except he was able to let go his guilt more easily than Leonardo. Unlike Leo, Donnie wasn´t so afraid of failure as he was obsessed with fixing the problem to the point he isolated himself.

I really like how the Cyberspace and the real world are connected with one another in this season. Some episodes have premises that are downright terrifying such as getting stuck in a false parallel reality or people hacking and rewriting your memories. I think this season had very interesting concepts that much like Fast Foward they didn´t reach its fullest potential.

Casey and April´s relationship was fantastic. It was sweet to watch Casey proposing marriage to April. Their wedding was great conclusion for their relationship too. I like how Casey struggles with asking April and how Raph helps him. It´s definitely one of the highlights of Back to the Sewers.

What went wrong with Season 7?

First of all, i think that one of the biggest issues was how short the season was. It has only 13 episodes to develop the main plot and characters. For that reason good concept don´t get enough time to be explored. They are introduced and dropped in one episode. I would have love to watch a three part story arc of the turtles getting brainwashed to make them believe that they work for the Foot Clan. I mean, that was creepy when i watched it.

If season 7 had 20 episodes-for example- then there would have been more time for the main plot to be better paced. What happened in reality is that with 13 episodes it made arcs feel rushed. Some things were left unanswered, dropped or forgotten.

Another issue i have is the lack of Karai content in this season. Season 5 ended with her falling in love and she was never seen again. I know she gets redeemed in the film but it is really weird how she goes to April and Casey´s wedding in the finale and she is never mentioned by the Foot Clan in Back to the Sewers. They could written an episode about how she left the Foot Clan and how she wants to settle down.. just something to learn what happened to her.

Speaking of the Foot Clan... Why they had to bring up Shredder again for this Season? Why just not make Viral the main antagonist? She was fine as a villain, Why in the world they needed to bring him back? There are so many other characters that could have antagonists for this story. 

Virtual Shredder brings up tons of questions as well. When did Ch´rell deciced to upload his memory on the Cyberspace. Why not on a spaceship or computer? Why on the web? It´s so weird.

My last point would that Back to the Sewers had potential to be a darker season because of its themes and story yet is very lighthearted despite how twisted some concepts were. I wished they could been taken more seriously with having actual consequences for jumping into Cyberspace, how risky it is and what would happen if someone got trapped in there.

So there you have it. Note that i don´t think the last two seasons are horrible, in fact i have fun watching them. I just don´t understand what went wrong with the production that made the show suffer such a downgrade in quality. Maybe the producers thought the series was getting ¨too dark¨ and decided to write a more lighthearted show. Maybe there were new writers in last seasons, that may explain why the writing became more dull. I wished the Tmnt 2003 would have gotten better treatment that the one it got.

[mysteriesofloves]

Do you have any dair headcanons or anything? ❤️ About whatever!

a few random/domestic ones:

blair loves historical romance books. she reads them in the bath and during her lunch break at work, a little getaway. they are not all trashy! (i say to you, but also she says to dan). there are a lot that are well written, and they’re addictive. dan is very offended by this, but then he reads one she left on the nightstand and it makes him blush. blair catches him and teases him about it endlessly, but also flips through them to give him some ideas.

dan proposes by leaving her a coded message in the acknowledgements of his recently finished novel, and then asking her to review it. blair comes storming in the room, dramatically throws down the draft (physical copy, because when blair edits his work she likes it to be very visual) and exclaims that she would’ve liked a more romantic setting to read his proposal than over brunch on a sunday when her only plans for the day were to catch up on downton abbey and get her legs waxed. dan says, before we argue about this, that’s a yes, right? blair says, obviously, you idiot. (she makes him publish the actual proposal in the actual acknowledgments).

they have two kids; katherine tallulah waldorf-humphrey and harold waldorf-humphrey. they go to private school outside of the UES. katie’s a daddy’s girl, she’s quiet and she makes a fuss when blair does her hair or puts her in a frilly dress (dan, i think she’s broken, i need a refund!!!), she doesn’t make an effort to make friends, always has her nose in a book, and she’s really, really sweet (other than when she fights with mom, which is a lot). harry, on the other hand, is outgoing and snarky and constantly in trouble. he rules the metaphoric met steps without even trying.

courtesy of iz @dykemulder: dan writes storybooks for his kids and reads them before bed so they have their own little world just for themselves.

blair does one of those vogue “beauty secrets” youtube videos (serena does one too and it’s just sunscreen and lipgloss and it gets a ton of hate) and in the background you can see dan playing with the baby and it goes viral with buzzfeed articles like “blair waldorf’s husband is a dreamboat” and “i liked dan humphrey before it was cool”. blair is furious, almost threatens divorce.

this leads to blair forcing a begrudging dan into a bunch of obviously staged instagram photos (dan not-so-secretly loves having blair show him off but cuddling the baby and the cat shirtless?! he has a serious writer image to uphold).

blair calls dan “kitten”. goodnight

[recentanimenews]

Those Snow White Notes – 01 (First Impressions) – Challenge Issued

AOTS Alert. Repeat, we have an Early AOTS Alert. Those Snow White Notes is an absolute joy to experience from beginning to end. Its absolute banger of a first episode tells a story of inspiration, loss, loneliness, listlessness, self-worth and self-actualization, jealousy, love, and much more—so much it feels like a little self-contained mini-film.

Oh yeah, did I mention it centers around a shamisen player, so the show’s music is supervised by The Yoshida Brothers, in addition to being directed by the fellow who not only gave us the tone-setting first episode of Rakugo Shinjuu, but both seasons of the excellent Master Teaser Takagi-san, of all things? We’re clearly dealing with some talented folks, so it’s amazing it doesn’t feel nearly as pretentious as it should.

A lot of that has to do with how simply and how efficiently the story is laid out and how easily it is to slide into the lives it follows. We start with Sawamura Setsu and his big brother Wakana listening through a cracked door as their grandfather plays to a transfixed crowd. An aside: I’m probably not alone when I say the sound of a well-played shamisen activates my sense of musical awe in addition to my ASMR, resulting in persistent goosebumps every time I hear it…or even think of it!

That said, as soon as the sweet music is over, the warm scene is replaced by a face-slap of a bitter winter scene, in which the Setsu is leaving home. When his gramps died, his “sound” disappeared too, so he’s going “somewhere loud” in hopes he can get it back. He doesn’t know if Tokyo is that place, but he knows he can’t stay home, saying “there’s nothing here anymore.”

We’re only two minutes in, and we’ve already learned so much while being treated to what is the first but hardly the least shamisen number. (It’s also clear I’m going to end up writing way too many words in this review! If only we had an editor around here…)

SWN’s next efficient-yet-effective character portrait is of Tachiki Yuna, an actress/model who is paying the bills with a hostess club job, having to keep smiling and pretending to be happy to be there even after her agency notifies her that she was passed over for a role. After her shift she’s encouraged by her boyfriend Taketo’s texts, and she considers herself fortunate to “have a man who’s talented.”

Yuna happens to be in the bustling streets of Roppongi when Setsu literally bumps into her after getting temporarily dazed by the sheer brightness of the city lights. The two part ways, but Setsu immediately bumps into some less savory characters who start to beat on him. It’s here we learn that Yuna has a heart of gold, as she comes to the Setsu’s rescue with some karate kicks.

After dreaming about his grandfather essentially telling him to stop playing the shamisen if he dies, Setsu wakes up in girly pajamas in Yuna’s cozy apartment, and she cooks the two of them breakfast. Setsu learns that Yuna is a 22-year-old gravure model. Yuna learns Setsu is a Tsugaru shamisen player, but he can’t play for her because he’s “empty inside”, which just happens to be how she’s been feeling lately.

When Wakana hears from Setsu in a letter, he assumes his little brother just went to Tokyo to get laid. But seeing in Setsu a kind of kindred soul, she proposes he continue living with her and doing the housework until he can get his sound back. Before long, a week passes, the longest he’s ever gone without playing since first picking up a shamisen.

Yuna takes Setsu to a restaurant to meet her great and talented boyfriend Taketo along with his band, and Taketo is revealed to be a preening, self-involved jackass who is far beneath Yuna. Setsu intervenes when he sees Taketo trying to extract some serious cash from Yuna to pay for studio he’s renting. He then tells her he’ll be too busy writing music to hang out later that night.

When Yuna and a bandmate have to hold Taketo back, Setsu peaces out, running through the crush of people and noting just how much noisier Tokyo was than a bumpkin like him could have imagined. He gets caught up on a word his gramps used about his sound—”disgraceful”—not because Setsu sucked at shamisen, but because all he ever did was imitate his gramps.

But right here and now Setsu is mad and wants to express it. He wants to play. So he sits down beside the river and plays. Yuna happens to pass by as he’s starting to play, and while he’d later describe the performance as rough and ugly due to the rust of a mere week, but Yuna and I become entranced.

As someone who can only understand between 1-10% of any given spoken Japanese sentence, the language itself is a kind of music, although I know enough words and phrases to know that it isn’t, so it remains separate from the real thing. But pure music like Setsu’s strumming transcends words as it expresses emotions, ideas, and memories of both player and listener.

In Yuna’s case, she’s transported back to her meeting with her agent, who was trying to get her to audition for racier movies and TV. Rightfully insulted by the insinuation she’s nothing but a pretty face and body, she throws a glass of water in his face, and is warned that she won’t go far if she turns such jobs down.

In the midst of listening to Setsu’s raw and angry performance, Yuna takes comfort in knowing even if her career doesn’t amount to anything, at least she has a good man in Taketo. She stops by the good man’s place to find him with having slept with some other woman, to whom she says “you can have him” and leaves as Setsu’s piece comes to a bitter, final note.

When Setsu comes home, Yuna is still awake, and tells him she heard his music. When she did, she realized they’re not alike at all. Setsu isn’t a “sad person with nothing going” for him like she is, and so she can’t help but feel jealous of him. She says she’ll be going away for a while, and asks him to vacate her apartment while she’s gone.

Another day, Setsu encounters Taketo on the street, who is preparing for a concert with his band. Taketo decides to use Setsu as a hostage, telling Yuna he’ll break his arm if she doesn’t show up. For this shitbaggery, Taketo is promptly punished with a Karma Kick from Yuna, coming to Setsu’s rescue once more.

She apologizes for involving Setsu in her drama, but with the wind kicked out of Taketo, she needs to ask for him to be involved a little bit longer. They need someone to go out there and entertain the crowd until the scumbag recovers. Just like that, Setsu finally gets a stage and a crowd on which to test whether he can get his lost sound back. Three guesses as to whether he manages this.

The ensuing powerhouse of a performance by Setsu calls to mind the best music scenes of Your Lie in April, only in this case the crowd was expecting a rock band, not a Tsugaru shamisen player. As he nervously tells the initially confused crowd, he plays “Jongara Bushi”, and as he does, he recalls in black-and-white memories what his grandfather had to say about the peice.

Gramps described the beginning as passionate and hot-blooded, but it starts to calm, grow progressively sadder and heartrending, weakening and waning. He’s basically describing a life. But, unlike a fiery youth who calms down in middle age and eventually withers and passes away, “Jongara” claws its way back, refusing to be beaten down, issues a challenge with its final furious crescendo.

The crowd watches in dead silence, just as Yuna did, and you can’t help but think of what is flashing through their heads while they listen; while they’re being taken on this roller coaster ride of powerful emotions. Just like April, the stage lights illuminate dust motes to give the simultaneous appearance of snow and magical sparkles. Setsu is casting a spell on everyone in that hall with his sound, and not even Taketo can deny its power.

Not only that, but the performance is being live-streamed on the internet, where even if it doesn’t go viral, it’s being watched from home by someone Setsu is sure to meet at some point; perhaps someone who like him has been around shamisen music enough to know that by their standards his performance was just okay. But I’m with Yuna, Taketo, and rest of the crowd: that was fucking awesome.

Also awesome? Yuna doesn’t take Taketo back. They’re done, and he knows he “lost himself a good woman”, even if Yuna would argue that she’s good at anything. Also, while I’m sad to see her go, Yuna does go on her trip to find her…well, not sound, but I guess to find what it is she can contribute to the world and feel good about it. Modeling and porn were decidedly not those things, but I hope the show won’t lose sight of her journey.

Setsu continues to live in her apartment after she leaves, but Taketo tends to come by a lot, so it’s clear that while he’s an asshole, he and Setsu will probably continue to interact with each other, if not outright befriend each other. While Setsu has the kettle on, he recalls walking Yuna to the train station, gives him a kiss before pushing him away and boarding the train with a final wave goodbye. Assuring him that whatever girl he ends up with “will be very happy”.

Back at her apartment, Taketo says that Setsu seems most alive when he’s playing, but if the shamisen is what gives him life, then sooner or later that world will “drag him in.” Taketo is hitting the nail on the head when their talk is abruptly interrupted by the most ridiculous occurrence in the episode: on the snap of a woman’s fingers, the door to Yuna’s apartment is forced open, a smoke bomb goes off, and two SWAT officers flank a glamorous woman with silver hair, blue eyes, and an April O’Neil jacket.

She’s here for Setsu, whom she calls “Baby-chan”, and Setsu calls her Umeko, but I know from the initial description of the show that this is his mom…who it’s immediately clear is a lot. Looks like however much of his sound Setsu believes he’s found in Tokyo, Umeko will have an unnegotiable say in his life…at least as long as he’s still a kid!

By: sesameacrylic

[yoon-kooks]

Witch Hazel- Pt.5

Pairing: Jungkook x Reader

Genre: FanficWriter!Jungkook, Idol!Reader, College!AU, Angst, Fluff

Summary: There are two students in your art class with a secret: you and the quiet Jeon Jungkook. You’re a problematic idol singer, infamous for your ice cold reputation and perpetual resting bitch face; he’s the artist and author behind the viral comic series based on a certain ice queen idol. After a blowup of destructive rumors, lost motivation and inevitable solitude, you stumble upon Jungkook’s comic and find a new and unexpected light.

Word Count: 3.7k

Warnings: none

Parts: 1 // 2 // 3 // 4 // 5 // 6 // ?

-

“So are you in, Jimin?”

“I’m in,” he chuckles at your little proposal. His laugh retains its charm, even through the phone. You’d be lying if you said you weren’t a little jealous of that charming quality of his. “But can I ask you something, Snow?”

“Go for it.”

“Why me?”

“To prove a point,” you say. “You also have something to prove, right? Otherwise you wouldn’t have shown up at my concert that night despite being well aware of how the public and media would react.”

“Right… Sorry about that, by the way.” You hear the sorrow still beating him up in his lowered voice. It makes sense that he feels the need to blame himself for all the backlash you received, but he shouldn’t have to feel guilty when all he wanted was a little freedom as a normal human being and not as the perfect idol the world makes him out to be.

“It’s fine, Jimin. We may be glorified idols at the top of the industry, but there are a lot of things we have no control over.”

“True… Sometimes it seems like the only way to escape the judgment of the public eye is to hide behind a mask, huh.” Jimin sighs. “But we can’t always live like that either.”

“Exactly.”

After hanging up, you toss your phone aside and pick up your guitar.

-

On your way to class, you’ve made a habit of checking jk.seagull’s blog for any updates on Witch Hazel, and you’re delighted when you find this new text post:

“it’s not done yet, but I’m planning on posting a new chapter this afternoon after class!”

To celebrate the occasion, you stop by your local coffee shop to pick up a special mocha with extra whipped cream. You’re already late for class after failing to hear your five alarms this morning anyway. And besides, maybe you deserve a little pick-me-up after all the writing you’d done the night before. For once, you feel pretty good about the direction you’re headed in.

Not even a scolding by your professor could ruin your mood.

“Oh, Y/N. How nice of you to join us,” your professor motions for you to take your seat as soon as you step foot into the art room. “I was just talking about how certain students have not been taking this class seriously as of late.”

She glances directly at you, along with your tablemates, Taehyung and Jungkook. “Sorry,” you mouth with a lack of sincerity, before taking a long sip of your mocha.

“And because of that,” the professor continues, “I’ve decided to move up the due date of our portrait project to tomorrow.”

A collective groan fills the room from the entire class, with the exception of those few lucky bastards who’ve already completed their project early. Once the class is dismissed, the scramble to actually get shit done begins. Even Taehyung opts to stick around as opposed to his usual obligations, and that speaks volumes.

As soon as your team relocates to one of the empty art studios nearby, however, it’s apparent that no one is really vibing with this project.

“So… what’s the assignment again?” Taehyung scratches his head. As much as you’d love to scold the boy for his lack of awareness of anything happening in art class, you haven’t been in the proper mindset to give the project any thought either.

“Something about drawing ourselves based on how others perceive us?” Jungkook yawns. “Or was it drawing each other’s portrait?”

“The first one, I think,” you say. “It doesn’t really make a difference when Jungkook’s gonna end up drawing Taehyung’s portion anyway.”

“True,” the boys say together. If there’s one thing you’ve learned from your art class shenanigans, it’s that the more you get to know someone, the easier it is to understand them and their actions—even if they’re completely different from you like Taehyung.

“If that’s the case, let’s hurry up and let each other know how we perceive one another. I have a doubleheader later on that I’d really hate to miss,” Taehyung nods in satisfaction at his clever wording for what you presume to be back-to-back one night stands. “I’ll start: Y/N, there’s not much I know about you besides the fact that you’re unfriendly, but I think that’s intentional. Like you’re hiding a dark secret or something. Jungkook, if you weren’t so shy, I’m sure you’d get laid more often.”

“Let’s not sugarcoat anything,” you roll your eyes. “I would say you, Taehyung, abuse your charm to get what you want. You use sleeping around as an excuse to avoid responsibility. And you embrace it because you fear that that’s the only thing people will ever acknowledge you for.”

“I’m not usually a masochist, but I kind of like it when you roast me like that, Y/N,” Taehyung shrugs it off, though you know you’ve hit the mark. Everyone has a poker face, and Kim Taehyung is no exception. To take the attention off of himself, he throws an arm around his favorite art buddy. “Roast this guy next.”

You glance over at Jungkook who’s in the midst of adding to your roast on Taehyung. It’s interesting to see how differently he acts with Taehyung, with you, and with everyone else. The more he knows someone, the less he withholds. If he knew you more, you wonder what he’d tell you. “I agree that if Jungkook weren’t so shy, there’d be more potential for a lot of things, but-”

Buzz! Taehyung looks down at his phone. “Well, that’s my cue. Jungkook, Y/N, you know what to do~”

“Have fun at your doubleheader,” you wave off your incompetent teammate until he’s out of sight. “Should we be enabling him like this?”

“Probably not. But even I can’t say no to that charm of his.” Jungkook sighs as he pulls out a blank sheet of bristol paper. In what feels like an instant, several dots and lines transform into a general outline of Taehyung’s face. “I’m surprised you haven’t fallen for his charm yet… unless…?”

“Look, I get the appeal of a smoothtalker who walks with confidence, but Taehyung really isn’t my type,” you laugh.

“Still, I’m a little envious of him.” Jungkook draws Taehyung a nice and natural wink. “Because he isn’t afraid to chase after what he wants.”

You want to tell the boy that he should chase after whatever it is he wants, but you know that’s easier said than done. After all, you know exactly how it feels to take that leap of faith, only to fall short before reaching the dream you so desired. So all you can do is nod and start working on your own portrait.

For about five whole minutes, you try to sketch out a decent upside-down egg shape for your head, but it always comes out a little lopsided or rough around the edges. Once you’ve got a little mountain of eraser shaving piling up, you decide it’s time to sneak a peek at Jungkook’s sketch to get an idea of how a well-seasoned artist draws a proper face.

What you see instead, however, is the boy staring back at your mountain of eraser shavings. You swear you hear a little pft come out of his mouth. The nerve.

“Hold your pencil like this,” he says, holding his own pencil with his pinky sticking out.

You replicate his grip, wiggling the pinky. “Is this some sort of weird pinky promise that artists do?”

Before Jungkook can even respond, your pinky is already linked to his. Funny how his finger curled around yours as if it were the most normal thing to do, but his burning cheeks say otherwise. You might’ve jumped the gun on this one.

After blinking at the empty pinky promise for a good three seconds, the boy finally lets go. “Use that pinky to steady your hand as you sketch.”

“Oh… right…” You feel a wildfire spreading across your own cheeks. Your dumbass somehow misinterpreted a drawing technique for something as childish as a pinky promise! Whether it’s because you’re flustered or just shitty at art, you fumble around to get your pencil on the paper. “…How do I do it again?”

Rather than trying to explain or demonstrate it to you, Jungkook motions for you to come closer. So you do. He takes your hand and individually sets each finger onto your pencil like a guitar teacher helping their student find the right chord position.

You’re pleasantly surprised by how gentle his touch is. Rather than forcing your fingers to conform to the conventional ways of an artist, he gives them the little push they need to find their own place along the length of the pencil—wherever is most comfortable for you.

Once you’ve got a good grip, Jungkook guides your pencil back to the canvas with your pinky just barely touching the drawing surface. “Now try drawing the outline of your face again.”

You do as you’re told and see immediate results. Although it’s not a perfect egg, your lines are noticeably smoother as if your skin had just been cleared. Jungkook gives you and your improved egg a thumbs-up, which you return with a thumbs-up of your own.

As you both resume your portraits, you can’t help but wonder if it was the tiny adjustment of how you held your pencil that made the difference. Or if it was Jeon Jungkook himself. You suppose only time will tell.

Several hours later, Jungkook has finished Taehyung’s portrait, you still need to color yours in, and an announcement goes off through the intercom.

“Due to the art auction charity event tonight, this building will be closing in ten minutes. Thank you.”

You groan. This is the worst case scenario for your damn group project. Because if you’re kicked out of the studio, you won’t have access to all of the necessary art supplies.

Unless…?

You exchange glances with the most devoted artist you know.

-

Jungkook’s apartment is not exactly how you imagined a weeby Snow stan’s habitat to look. There’s not a trace of Snow, nor is there a hint of magic anime girls floating around. But the one thing you did correctly predict is the amount of art scattered across the boy’s room.

Everywhere you look, you’re blown away by something different from the last. A painted city landscape detailed enough to be mistaken for an actual photo, a busy abstract pattern that makes the little wheels in your head spin, the familiar animation booklet of the flower in the snow, and an interesting little doodle that doesn't seem to scream “college art project”.

You try to make sense of what appears to be the chaos that ensues when the worlds of mathematics and music collide. Half of the basic times tables chart is replaced with values represented by music notes. The math nerd in you laughs when you see that a sixteenth note is correctly placed where two quarter notes align. Similarly, the music sheet on the other side of the doodle has a time signature of “75%” aka ¾ time aka the rhythm of a waltz.

“How old were you when you drew this one?” You point to the artwork titled Math Musician written in tiny font at the bottom corner next to the boy’s initials.

Jungkook chuckles, probably out of embarrassment. “I think I was ten.”

“Imagine being a talented artist at age ten. Can’t relate,” you clown yourself as you pull out your unfinished portrait from your art bag. In addition to looking “unfriendly”, your drawn face is rather lifeless and more so demonic for some reason. Hopefully some color will bring more dimension and life back into your flesh.

Just then, you realize you’ve made a fatal mistake.

“Umm, Jungkook?” you continue to stare down at your mistake. “I forgot to factor in your opinion of me into my portrait and now I just look unfriendly like Taehyung said.”

Jungkook tilts his head to get a better look at your monstrosity. His reaction could go one of three ways: he could laugh and give you a hard time about it, he could help you find a solution, or he could do both.

“You definitely nailed the ‘unfriendly’ part,” he snickers. “The RBF is strong with this one.”

“So you agree that I’m unfriendly?” On one hand, that would be good because you won’t have to revise your portrait if Jungkook shares the same opinion as Taehyung. On the other hand, you don’t want Jungkook to have that opinion of you.

“Not necessarily,” he says. “I think if people looked beyond your unfriendly demeanor, they’d find someone very different.”

Before you can ask the boy to elaborate, he has already left and come back with the solution to your problem: fancy coloring markers.

“Since you already drew your appearance based on Taehyung’s opinion, you can color it in based on my opinion, if that makes it easier.” Jungkook hands you an assortment of markers, though a large portion of them are just different shades of one color in particular. Yellow.

Yellow was the last color you were expecting. You expected cooler and darker tones like blues or greys to match your ice queen personality. But yellow? Yellow, to you, has always meant bright and happy.

“Yellow is a happy color, isn’t it?” You start swatching each shade of yellow to see how they translate onto a white canvas. Your favorite shade out of the bunch is the soft pale one called Banana Milk, but that still doesn’t mean it suits you. To prove your point, you hold up your unfriendly demon portrait to your actual face and pout. “Do either of these faces look happy to you, Jungkook?”

“No, but they do look silly.” The boy cracks a smile at your humor. “In a good way.” The way he smiles so brightly plants a dangerous little seed in your head. Maybe the yellow is meant to represent not how he perceives your feelings, but rather, how he perceives his own feelings for you.

-

By the time evening comes, you’ve shaded in every inch of your canvas, completing your portion of the portrait project. You were right—the bright colors really did help bring life back into your face, and there’s less of a demonic aura about it now.

It also looks like one big contradiction: an unfriendly-looking face with a cheerful brightness around it. But that’s probably what Jungkook was referring to when he said you were very different beneath your unfriendly mask.

As you stretch out your arms and yawn, you peek over at the boy’s progress with his portrait. He stares down at his markers scattered across the floor, pushing his long locks out of his eyes, in search of his next color. From the small portion that he has colored so far, you notice a big difference between his portrait and yours. While your color scheme is bright and flashy like a star, Jungkook’s is soft and subtle to mimic his shy and lowkey personality.

“Use this,” you toss him the Banana Milk marker and pull a scrunchie off your wrist, “and this too.”

Jungkook places the pale yellow marker down right on the area he’ll color next. He doesn’t, however, know what to do with the foreign hair accessory in his palm. He just blinks at it.

With a dramatic sigh, you join the boy on the floor and take back the scrunchie. Like a puppy with long bangs poking its eyes, he lets you comb your fingers through his hair before tying a tiny sprout on top of his head.

“So this is what the world looks like,” he nods, as if his long hair had greatly hindered his view of the world in front of him. At the same time, he spots the finished product of your portrait. “Your self-portrait is a lot different from how I would draw you.”

“I would’ve appreciated a compliment for my hard work, but go ahead and insult me, Jeon.” You square up.

“Oh sorry. You did a phenomenal job, Y/N.” He doesn’t even try to put effort into masking his sarcasm as pity praise. But that’s expected in how he hasn’t missed a single opportunity to tease you and your shitty art. “It’s just interesting how differently others interpret us from how we interpret ourselves.”

Now you’re curious. “How would you draw me then?”

“You want to see?” Jungkook pushes his own portrait aside and starts digging around for a sketchbook with a blank page to spare. What possesses him to prioritize a drawing of you before his own portrait that’s due in less than 24 hours? You won’t allow that.

“I want to see it after our project is finished, please,” you pull his unfinished portrait back in front of him before making yourself comfy on the boy’s bed. “In the meantime, I’ll be reading you-know-what.”

“Smut?” The boy has a dirty mind, it seems.

“Unless Witch Hazel plans on getting a little smutty, no, I will not be reading smut.” With a hmph, you scroll through jk.seagull’s blog. “I wonder if the new chapter is posted yet.”

Jungkook, too, picks up his phone with wide eyes when he hears you say “new chapter”. Your hype and excitement around the fanfic must be rubbing off on him.

But unfortunately for you, there is no new post since the one you saw before class. You make a sad booboo face, but it isn’t the end of the world either. You’ll just have to reread the series from the beginning as you wait for either Witch Hazel to be updated or Jungkook to finish the project. Whichever happens first.

“Wait, I think the seagull guy just posted something.”

You’ve never jumped onto your phone so quick when Jungkook mentions the seagull guy. It isn’t a new chapter of Witch Hazel, but instead another small text post.

“sorry for not updating witch hazel today like i said i would!! i was bombarded with an unexpected art assignment;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;”

Your sad booboo face disappears. It seems you’re not the only one struggling to find balance between the arts and the need to satisfy others. “Isn’t it funny that he’s an art student too?”

“Haha, yeah…” Jungkook’s voice fades as he returns to his portrait.

“Maybe that’s why I like his work so much,” you say, clicking back to the very first chapter of Witch Hazel where Snow is helping out those who she had unintentionally scared away with her witchcraft. “He just gets it.”

“He gets what?”

With the biggest yawn, you shrug because you don’t really know how to put it into words. It just feels as though you and him think alike. And the thought of that is comforting enough to put you to rest until Jungkook finishes up the project.

“Y/N.” You hear things shuffling around in your half-asleep state. When you rise from mysterious pile of blankets on top of you, you see Jungkook putting his art supplies away and clearing space on the floor for him to camp out since you’ve apparently claimed his bed.

“Did you finish?” You check the time in the dimly lit room, and you’re shocked to see it’s past midnight.

“Yeah.” He pulls your scrunchie out of his hair and drops it into your palm. “Thank you for your service.”

“Keep it.” You slide the hair tie onto the boy’s wrist when you notice he looks a little different somehow. The hoodie he was wearing earlier is replaced with a plain white tee, and his torn jeans have become grey sweatpants. The unspoken reality of you stay over at the boy’s apartment is slowly becoming realized. “In exchange, I’d like to see how you’d draw me.”

“Already done,” he says, jogging to his desk and back to you with a page from his sketchbook in hand. “I drew you as a superhero.”

“What kind of superhero?” You kick the blankets off of you and reach for the drawing, but of fucking course, Jungkook pulls it back real quick just when you were about to snatch it. “Let me see!”

He keeps it hidden behind his back for a while until he gets a little too cocky and dangles it above where you’re sitting on the bed. It would be too predictable for you to reach for the hand with drawing in it, so you decide to aim for the other arm to trap him in.

But rather than latching onto his arm, you catch only a piece of the scrunchie around his wrist, causing you both to lose balance. Your back hits the soft bedding as you stare up into the eyes of the boy who just so happened to land on top of you. Aha, you finally figure out why he looked a little different after you woke up. No glasses, just his handsome brown eyes.

You’d give yourself a pat on the back for figuring that out if you weren’t distracted by the drawing of you as a “superhero”. You were expecting something tough like the Avengers or Sailor Moon or even Izuku Midoriya. But instead you see someone who looks very much like yourself with a guitar and yellow flower crown.

“That’s not a superhero,” you say quietly.

“There are people who would feel otherwise.” Jungkook plops down next to you on his stomach.

“Like who?”

“Like people you share your music with.”

You bite your lip before rolling off the bed to run and get something. When you hop back onto the bed, you drop a pencil into Jungkook’s hand make him hold it with his pinky out like he had shown you earlier. You do the same with another pencil and link your pinky to his once more.

“Promise me you won’t tell anyone what I’m about to tell you.”

[princecupcakee]

Park Bench | Reddie

Read on AO3

Rating: E

Pairing: Richie Tozier/Eddie Kaspbrak

Word Count: 2,969

Chapter: 5/8

Past Chapters: Chapter 1 (AO3), Chapter 2 (AO3), Chapter 3 (AO3), Chapter 4 (AO3)

Next Chapter: 

Summary: Recently divorced and ‘incapable of love’, Eddie Kaspbrak moves to Los Angeles for work and a small, small hope of a fresh start. Broken up and never dated again, Richie Tozier tries to get back into love with help from his love of music. Quickly meeting eyes and one concert later, they think that maybe love isn’t that bad. So they try it one more time.

Chapter 5: Richie Tozier And Eddie Kaspbrak Get A Turtle, Richie Tozier Plans A Proposal, Richie Tozier Goes Viral

Tags/Warnings: Angst / Unhappy Ending / theres only one sex scene but this is explicit anyway / Bisexual Richie Tozier / Gay Eddie Kaspbrak / Post-Divorce / Implied/Referenced Cheating / Inspired By Remembering Sunday (All Time Low) / Inspired by The Book Ninja by Ali Berg / Implied/Referenced Child Abuse / Implied/Referenced Abuse / Implied/Referenced Manipulation

Tag-list: @richietoaster​, @s-s-georgie​, @mikeuris​​, @gazebobullshit​, @that-weird-girls-blog​, @tozierking​​, @thoughtfullyyoungduck​, @s-onora​, @bellarosewrites​, @lermanslogan​, @ambitiousskychild​, @ghostnebula​, @vanillaredvelvet​, 

(Ask if you wanna be on the tag-list!!)

Chapter 5

Richie Tozier And Eddie Kaspbrak Get A Turtle

“Look, if you don’t get me the papers before the end of this week, we will lose this client… yes, I know. I have a meeting with them at the end of this week…yes, I need them tomorrow, Karen… yes. Yes, thank you.” Eddie sighed and threw his head back on the couch. His last few days have been absolutely hectic, with one of their biggest clients yet, he’s barely been able to get a break.

“Eds!” Richie called, opening the door, “I’m back! Where are you?”  He had gone out to see Walter and Maddison for a few hours while his parents were busy with his sister. He didn’t ask for more details.

“Yeah! I’m here!” Eddie tiredly calls.

Richie smiled weakened when he saw Eddie tiredly sprawled across the couch, “I got a gift for you.”

“What is it?” Eddie smiles, pulling his head back up.

Richie takes his hands away from behind his back and holds… a turtle. Richie’s eyes wide and bright, “look! I went to this restaurant across the street —don’t ask why— and found this little guy in a cage! It was ridiculous! I told them if I could have it and they just let me.”

“Why… why would you get me a turtle?” Eddie irritatedly asked.

“I thought-“

“Are you stupid? Richie, what are we supposed to do with a turtle? How are we supposed to take care of it?”

“We can go to the pet shop and-“

“Neither of us know how to take care of a turtle. Are you sure its even safe? W-we could get, like, Salmonella or something!”

“Eds.” Richie strictly said, his face showing no sign of anger, “it’ll be fun though. We can take care of it together, we can go to the pet store and get stuff- I’ll wash my hands after touching it every time.”

Eddie looked at the turtle skeptically, “fine,” he finally said. Richie’s smile came back and sat down beside Eddie who slightly moved away after. Ignoring the movement, Richie asks him, “what do we name it? We can name it, like, Pennywise.”

“What? No! That sounds horrible! That sounds like a- a fucking horror movie character or something!”

“That the name of the killer clown that you thought broke into Ben and Bev’s house and tried to kill you?” Richie snickered.

“Fuck you,” Eddie hisses with no real anger.

“Well, what names do you have?”

“Uh, I don’t know… Maturin.”

Richie gave him a look, “Okay, thats no better than mine!”

“Yes, it is!”

“No, no, no, you know what? Hold on,” Richie rambles, taking his phone from his pocket. Quickly typing something, Eddie gets a notification from his phone. Thinking its Karen (finally) giving him the papers early, he sighs and opens his phone. Karen is still definitely late with giving him the paperwork, but now Richie has created a group chat. Eddie was already fearful of what would come.

The Family - Ben Marsh, Beverly Marsh, Mike Hanlon, Bill Denbrough, Stan Uris, Richie Tozier, Eddie Kaspbrak

Stan: What the fuck is it this time, Richie.

Bev: Stan be nice

Richie: Yeah stan be nice

Richie could hear Eddie snicker beside him.

Richie: but anyway, me and Eddie are dads and we need a name for our child

Bev: how did this motherfucker get a kid

Bev: I thought it would be stan and patty first

Eddie: How did you get Mike and Bill’s numbers?

Richie: Nothing.

Stan: He’s lying, he never uses punctuation.

“Shit,” Richie murmured.

“How are you this bad at hiding things?”

Mike: He asked us what your favourite food was so he would know where to take you out on a date, Eddie.

Richie: nO

Richie waited for Eddie’s reaction, he assumed that Eddie wasn’t uncomfortable, seeing as there was a blush on his face.

Stan: Wait a minute. Mike Hanlon? Like, ‘first-ever-school-day-was-college’ Mike Hanlon?

Mike: Thats how you remember me?

“They know each other?” Richie says from beside Eddie.

“I think they were exes.”

“Really?”

“Thats what I remember” Eddie shrugged looking back down on his phone. He knew it was pretty stupid to be texting in a group chat while they sat together, but they did need that name. (Thats what Eddie tried to tell himself, if the true reason isn't obvious enough.)

Stan: Holy shit. Dude hey how’ve you been?

Mike: Pretty good actually.

Richie: GUYS WE’RE NAMING MY CHILD

Richie: HELLO!! PAY ATTENTION

Mike: I’m staying in LA for a while since they needed more people in this branch.

Mike: Thats also why Eddie and my boyfriend are here too.

Stan: Good for you, man. I’m assuming your boyfriend is Bill Denbrough because thats the only name I’m not familiar with.

Ben: You’re familiar with Eddie’s?

Richie: GUYS

Stan: Richie doesn’t know how to shut up.

Richie: DO YOU NOT CARE THAT I HAVE A CHILD NOW

“Richie, how are you still this annoying over text?”

“You love it.”

“I really don’t,” he laughs and shakes his head. He does.

Bev: Richie, if you did have a child I would know immediately.

Mike: Yeah it is :)

Richie: DAMN HETS LISTEN TO ME

Mike: not hetero

Bill: I’m not straight either

Richie: DAMN PEOPLE LISTEN TO ME

Stan: I’ve generally had enough.

Bev: Alright, Losers (not you Ben and Mike) we’re all getting lunch. Bring your ‘child’, Richie. We’ll name him there.

Richie Tozier changed the chat name to ‘The Losers’ Club’

With Bev sending the address of the restaurant “Our friends confuse me,” Eddie says shutting his phone.

~~~

“Meet my child!” Richie says loudly, earning a few looks from the others in the restaurant. He takes a seat in between Stan and Eddie grinning widely and presenting the currently unnamed turtle.

“Its-its a fucking turtle,” Stan says critically.

“His name is Penny-“

“No its not,” Eddie smiles as he cuts him off.

“What names do you guys have?” Ben asks politely, trying to bring back the lightness of the table before the two had walked in.

“Pennywise.”

“Maturin.”

The table spun with an agreement to Eddie’s name over Richie’s choice as Richie pouts in his seat. A waitress came to check for their orders, a confused look on her face once seeing the turtle perfectly still in Richie’s hands.

“Richie that name sounds like a child’s nightmare,” Bev jokes once the waitress has gone. Richie sticks his tongue out to her childishly.

“Maturin it is then?” Eddie laughs triumphantly.

“Where did you even get that name?” Richie asks bitterly. The rest of the group just laughs.

Eddie loved this. He really did. Everyone talking and enjoying and Eddie finally feeling like he hasn’t done anything wrong. They felt like family. The few people who he could talk to without causing any pain or problem. The few people who would let him be himself without having to feel like he was in a cage. He didn’t want to lose any of this. And from the smile on Richie’s face, he doesn’t think he will.

Richie Tozier Plans A Proposal

Some people would think he was crazy. He thought he was crazy.  They were dating for just slightly more than three months and he was already planning, the date, the time, the place of when he would ask Eddie to marry him. ‘Old habits die hard’ Richie guesses as he sits alone in his bed, writing down the perfect ideas for asking Eddie.

Yeah, he rushed it with Connor, but even he knew that it wouldn’t last. That doesn’t really add up to his actions after the break up. But this was Eddie. Eddie loves him, right? He’s said so; that alone shows he isn’t anything like Connor. He couldn’t be wrong anymore, he didn’t want to have to latch on to Stan as he did before. He was nuisance while living at the Uris’, he admits that he knows he doesn’t have all the reason for it. He basically asked for it when he said, after what was supposed to be a one-night-stand, that he was dating Connor. That was on him.

But Eddie walked out of a concert with him, a stranger at the time, and let him walk him home after remembering that Connor left him at the same concert ground with the same band playing to have another one night stand with a girl. He went to one of his shows after knowing close to nothing about him other than his name when he was late to the first date he would’ve had since his horrible break up.  He went to have breakfast with him at 5 in the morning when he cried about never being loved again the night before. He sat with him in the pouring rain after realising that he was in love. That he was in love, not that he was in love again.

He turns from his back to his stomach, reaching out for his phone. He debates on whether or not to call Bev or Stan, ‘both those bitches are married,’ he thinks. And calls both of them.

“What the fuck do you want I’m trying to make dinner,” Stan says tiredly, his voice sounding distant and the sound of crackling filling the empty parts on his end.

“Whats up, Rich?” Bev says nicely, shuffling.

“I, uh,” he didn’t think it would be that hard to say.

“Spit it out, Tozier, I might fuck up my pesto.”

“Oh shit, you got pesto? Uris Pesto is the best! Can I come over?” Richie says enthusiastically.

“No. Talk, Richie,” Stan says quickly. Beverly laughs in the background.

“I wanna ask Eddie to marry me,” Richie says softly, after a beat of silence.

“Thats it? You interrupted my cooking for this shit?”

“Its serious, man!”

Beverly sighs, “Richie, Eddie loves you. This is all on you though. If you think both of you are ready, then go for it. If you’re just… scared, then, I don’t think you should.”

“I-I’m not scared,” he says to himself more than them.

“You just love him?”

“Yeah.”

“He really isn’t like anyone else, huh?” Bev laughs.

“He really isn’t,” Richie smiles to himself.

“Then do it,” Stan says simply, “if you love him enough to marry him, to ask him to marry you, then that must be something, right?”

“Thanks,” Richie says, fondly, “help me buy the ring soon?"

“Of course, Richie. Now, when, where, and how?” Beverly giggles.

~~~

His notebook opens on the coffee table, leftovers, and a cup of coffee, he attempted to plan. A restaurant didn’t seem interesting to him, a casual proposal in their house wasn’t really fun, their house maybe? The bench. He grinned and jotted down the plan.

Richie Tozier Goes Viral

“Eds, where’s my charger?” Richie asked walking out their room.

“We’ve been dating for, what, four months? How do you still not know where I put our chargers?”

“You clean things too often, I specifically remember leaving it on the floor of  my side of the bed.”

“Your blind ass would’ve stepped on it when you woke up. Your charger is in the drawer,” Eddie said and continued to eat his cereal. Richie kissed his hair and walked back to their room.

Eddie sighed. He loves Richie, he really does, but- “Eds, look at this,” Richie said excitedly almost tripping on his legs as he walked over to Eddie. Richie instinctively wrapped his arm around Eddie and showed his phone screen.

It took Eddie a moment to register what Richie was showing him, but when his thoughts hit him again he grinned, “holy shit, Rich! This is amazing!” Richie’s screen presented a video, Richie’s latest stand-up, posted online; millions of views.

“I know! And that’s not all of it,” Richie said taking his phone back to him and began to tap around, “Look!” Eddie carefully read the text on the screen, asking him to do a professional show, his grin somehow widening.

“Richie!”

“I know! And so many people are asking to be my agent and shit, and- oh fuck, baby, you gotta help me out with all this shit,” he rambles excitedly, hand gestures to try to emphasise whatever point he was trying to get across.

“Of course!” Eddie laughed to slightly lessen his energy as he stood up and kissed Richie. Richie gladly kissed back, lifting Eddie off the ground for a few seconds.

“I love you,” Richie said, forehead against Eddie’s. Richie’s phone rang loudly from his hand and they both looked at the screen and saw ‘Mrs. Molly Ringwald’

“Really?” Eddie asks sarcastically as he pulls the phone from Richie’s hands. He kisses him on the cheek and answers the call on speaker. “Hey, Bev.”

“Oh my god, did you hear about Richie! Is he asleep? I swear the little shit will be late to your own wedding-“

“I’m right here, Bev!” Richie says loudly into the phone.

“Oh. Sorry. But anyway, you heard the news! I’m so proud of you, Rich!”

“Thank you!”

“We heard the news from Bill! He has all these Hollywood connections from his books —honestly don’t know why he won’t just do that instead, no offence Eddie— and he said that you might be getting a… professional show, is it?”

“Yeah! Bill’s a writer?”

“He has some books and actually gets some good money out of it," Eddie muttered the next part,” he might get more if he wrote better endings.”

“Okay anyway, so proud of you, Rich!” Beverly congratulates again after laughing.

~~~

So as they sit in Richie’s small apartment sofa, with his hands on Eddie’s waist and Eddie’s fingers curled around in Richie’s tangled hair, he lets himself enjoy it. Richie’s arms roam under Eddie’s shirt; one hand pressed on his back and the other rubbing circles around his nipple. Eddie lets out little moans, that surge of energy through him that he didn’t even think was possible.  “Are you okay?” Richie asks.

Eddie was confused at first, still needing Richie to touch him. He noticed the pounding in his chest after a few seconds mumbling a breathy ‘I’m fine,’ and goes back to kissing Richie. Of course, a few seconds later he realises why. ‘Push them away, Kaspbrak.’

Richie lightly tugs at the bottom of Eddie shirt, Eddie quickly getting the message and raising his arms up. Richie instantly pushes Eddie’s back onto the sofa after taking his shirt off; his hands tracing every part of Eddie’s bare chest.

Eddie remembers the feeling, of being touched like this, not with Myra. Being touched in a house that wasn’t his and a bed that he wasn’t supposed to be on. But Eddie loved every second of it. Sure there was the guilt, the guilt of having a wife back home thinking he’s out late for work or out with a friend, but the feeling of it was just so good. Eddie thinks he should stop using the word ‘good’ so much but it seemed to be the only way he could describe this odd sensation in words.

Richie was pulling off his pants little by little, struggling to get them off and still keep his mouth around Eddie’s chest. The moment Richie got them off he instantly moved down to Eddie’s legs. Spreading and licking and biting at the inner side of Eddie’s thighs until they left deep marks on Eddie’s skin while his dick would twitch. “Richie take your clothes off,” he mumbled pulling at Richie’s hair in between moans.

“I’m not as pretty as you, baby, but okay,” he laughed, pulling his shirt off and kissing Eddie roughly. Eddie wanted tot protest about Richie’s statement but Eddie pulled Richie by his hair instead. Richie wanted to make a joke about it but was quickly distracted by Eddie grinding against his leg that was in between Eddie’s thighs. Richie bit down on Eddie’s neck, “don’t move, I got it,” he whispered in his ear.

Richie licked at the front of Eddie’s underwear; Eddie bucking his hips up. “I told you, don’t move,” Richie said again, pulling down Eddie’s underwear. Eddie felt cold, but Richie spreading his legs further, and his tongue teased at Eddie’s hole as he whines. Richie giggles slightly pushing his tongue in and gripping at Eddie’s thighs. His thumbs softly rub at the inner side of his thighs, feeling little bumps on the places he had sunk his teeth into only minutes earlier, he pushed his tongue in and out of Eddie’s hole. Richie pushed one finger in first, slowly adding more digits as his tongue kept moving. His tongue and fingers alternated like that for a while, at the same time he was getting hard from the noises Eddie makes.

“Richie!” Eddie shouted. Smirking, Richie aimed for his prostate over and over as Eddie’s moans grew louder and louder. Eddie’s hands had moved down to his dick, moving has a hand at a quick pace. One last strong push from Richie’s tongue or fingers (Eddie was too busy to tell) Eddie shrieked and let out more than he has in a while. Most of it had gotten on Richie’s hair some trailing down his face. “Fuck,” Eddie throws his head back against the sofa as Richie moves up to his chest again. Head resting on Eddie’s chest and kissing his nipple, his hands quickly move down to his own dick and moved. Eddie smiled, holding Richie’s face in his hands and kissing his lips. Richie pulled away and moaned as he came.  “Holy shit,” Richie mumbled forehead resting against Eddie’s as he laughed, “Wow. Been a long fucking time.”

“I know,” Eddie agreed. Despite the anxious feeling bubbling up inside him. Richie didn’t ask.

[whumphoarder]

Viral Wisdom

Summary: When Peter’s dentist decides the kid’s impacted wisdom teeth need to go, Tony offers to have the surgery done at the compound. Honestly, Peter is looking forward to it. After all, he’s seen the viral videos—he’s pretty sure he knows what to expect.

What could possibly go wrong?

Word count: 2700

Genre: Hurt/comfort, whump, minor surgery, fluff

A/N: Thanks to @sallyidss and @xxx-cat-xxx for beta reading!

Link to read on Ao3

“You’ve gotta video it, Mr. Stark,” Peter says between bites of the pizza he’s currently wolfing down as part of what he and Tony have jokingly dubbed ‘The Last Supper’. The kid will be getting all four of his wisdom teeth removed at eight o’clock sharp the next morning, and being a teenage boy with an absurdly fast enhanced metabolism means Peter has decided the twelve-hour mandatory fasting period before surgery will be the worst part of the whole procedure.

Tony raises his eyebrows in mock offense. “Oh I’ve gotta, do I?”

Peter grins. “Yup,” he says, popping the ‘p’. “It’s gonna be awesome. Ned’s cousin got hers out last December, and when she woke up she was so high from the anesthesia that she started accusing the dentist of stealing her teeth and selling them to the tooth fairy on the black market.” He sticks the last bite of his pizza slice in his mouth. “Her mom filmed it and the video went like, viral.”

“You know,” Tony remarks. “Hate to burst your bubble, kid, but I got my wisdom teeth out during my senior year at MIT and I don’t remember anything like this happening. Just a lot of eating applesauce and mashed potatoes while resembling Alvin the Chipmunk.”

“No, no it’s a thing,” Peter insists. “These videos are like, everywhere. I saw this one where this lady woke up and forgot she was married but suddenly noticed her wedding ring and started freaking out, thinking her husband had just proposed. But they had been married already for like, three years.”

Shaking his head, Tony huffs. “You are literally a superhero with a secret identity and you think it’s a good idea to get wildly high on medication and then have me film whatever crap comes out of your mouth so you can post it on, what, Facebook?”

“Ha, Facebook,” Peter snorts as he reaches for another slice. “Good one, Mr. Stark. No one uses Facebook anymore.”

X

The next morning, Peter’s not looking quite as excited as he was the previous night. He sits beside Tony in a plastic chair just inside the compound’s Medbay, anxiously texting back and forth with Ned as they wait for the SHIELD appointed oral surgeon and his assistant to finish prepping the procedure room.

When Peter’s dentist decided several weeks back that the impacted teeth had to go, Tony and May agreed it would have to be done at the compound. Peter’s enhanced physiology means that the dosage of anesthesia required to put him out could also take down a moderately-sized elephant. HIPAA protection or not, Tony would rather not have any raised eyebrows from standard medical professionals.

“You hanging in there?” Tony asks casually. The kid’s foot hasn’t stopped tapping once since they sat down and he’s wondering if Peter’s beginning to regret telling May he’d be fine doing this solo while she’s at work. “Ready to make, what is it then, Vine history?”

That remark elicits a short laugh from Peter. “Vine’s dead, Mr. Stark,” he informs. “It was the true tragedy of this generation.”

Tony sighs, exasperated. “Is it YouTube then? Reddit?”

Peter just shrugs. “Something like that.” His gaze lowers back to his lap and he fires off another text to Ned.

FRIDAY’s voice comes over the speakers, so sudden that it startles the kid and nearly causes him to drop the phone: “Dr. Jacobson is ready for you now, Peter.”

“Oh. Already? Wow, okay,” Peter babbles. “Not even 8:00 yet, no need to rush...” he complains as he pockets the phone.

Tony checks his watch. “It’s 7:58, kid,” he scoffs, getting to his feet. “Perks of being the only patient in the building.”

After a second’s hesitation, Peter stands as well and Tony frowns at the shakiness he observes. “You good?” he checks, lightly gripping the kid’s elbow just in case he decides to channel his inner Victorian lady. “I know your blood sugar’s gotta be low, but I promise, as soon as this is over, it’s all the ice cream and pudding you want.”

“Oh, yeah, that’ll be good,” Peter says half-heartedly.

Tony gives his back a little prod to encourage him toward the door. “C’mon kid. Let’s get a move on. Upward and onward and all that jazz...”

Swallowing hard, Peter begins shuffling forward with Tony guiding him along. “So, I’ve never, um, actually had anesthesia before,” he admits. “And, like, what if something… goes wrong?"

Tony softens, for the first time seeing the actual fear lurking beneath Peter’s façade. “Don’t worry—these guys know what they’re doing,” he assures, giving the kid’s shoulder a squeeze. “You’re gonna be fine.”

Lips pursed, Peter nods a few times. “Yeah. Yeah of course. Okay. I guess I’ll just, go on back there and, uh...“

“Do you want me to stay until they put you under?” Tony offers.

A look of relief instantly washes over Peter and he nods vigorously before stopping to quickly add in a tone of forced nonchalance, “But like, only if you don’t mind.”

Tony chuckles. “I think I can swing it.”

X

The IV placement is a little rough. Peter’s never been a fan of needles, but Tony distracts him by telling him to close his eyes and recite the second row of the periodic table. Once the saline is flowing, the assistant places an oxygen cannula under his nose.

Peter glances up at the dentist. “So, have you ever had someone say something, like, really inappropriate when they wake up?” he asks.

Jacobson chuckles drily. “Oh yes. I actually have a very amusing anecdote about that.”

Both Tony and Peter look at him expectantly, but the doctor just continues preparing his instruments.

“So, uh, what happened?” Peter asks finally.

Jacobson’s eyes narrow. “That is confidential information.”

Peter blinks at him. “Oh. Uh, of course.”

While the surgeon moves over to grab something from the counter, the assistant—a woman probably in her early thirties whose name badge reads ‘Megan’—gives a small laugh. “Don’t worry,” she says. “It can’t make you say anything you weren’t already thinking on some level.”

Peter gulps. “Great.” Turning to Tony, he says, “Uh, you know, on second thought, maybe we don’t need this on video…”

Tony huffs out a laugh. “Oh no, no take backs. In about an hour, you’ll be trending on Twitter. Or wherever the hell this is going.”

Before Peter can say anything, Megan gives a warning of, “Alright, here we go.” Then she injects the anesthesia into the IV port.

The effect is nearly instantaneous. “Whoa…” Peter mutters, shooting his mentor a nervous look. “Feels… weird.”

“You’re fine, Pete,” Tony promises. “I’ll be waiting right outside until you wake up.”

“Yeah…” he breathes out, eyelids drooping. “And ’s’goin’ on Instagram, Mr. Stark…”

A few moments later, the kid is out.

X

“Boss, the surgery is complete,” FRIDAY’s voice comes over the speakers in the waiting area. “The extractions went well. Peter has just regained consciousness and has been transferred to the recovery area.”

“Thanks, FRI.” Getting to his feet from the plastic chair, Tony closes out of the Minesweeper app on his phone and opens the camera one instead. “Guess it’s showtime…”

Already filming, Tony pushes open the door and makes his way back to the small room off to the side of the procedure area. Peter is sitting propped up on a cot as Megan drapes a blanket over him. Tightly rolled wads of cotton are sticking out of his mouth and his eyes are droopy and unfocused.

The assistant gives Tony a small smile. “He did great,” she assures in a quiet voice. “We’ll be right in the other room cleaning up if you need anything.”

“Thanks,” Tony tells her before turning his attention back to Peter and pulling up one of the stools to sit on. “Hey kid,” he greets. “How’s life with four gaping holes in your face?”

“Uhhh… M’s’r St’rk?” Peter manages to mumble, blinking a few times.

“The one and only,” Tony replies, his camera still trained on the kid. “Any dental conspiracy theories you wanna share with the audience? Declarations of affection you care to make?”

Peter’s face screws up into a weak sort of frown. “Wha…?”

Tony shakes his head slowly, chuckling to himself. “See, what’d I tell you, kid? Anesthesia just isn’t that exciting.”

“Uhhgg…” Peter groans, blinking again. The kid’s expression of utter confusion coupled with his already swelling cheeks is honestly adorable. “I-I don’t… I feel weird, I…”

Smirking, Tony focuses the camera a little closer on Peter’s face, ready to film whatever drug-induced ramblings pour forth from the kid’s lips.

But then all of a sudden, he’s watching tears well up in Peter’s eyes.

Tony’s grin falters. “Pete?”

“Oh god…” Peter draws in a shuddering breath, which comes back out in a choked sob. “I-I didn’... I can’t… I don’ like this...”

All traces of humor immediately dissolve from Tony. “Whoa, hey, you’re alright,” he says. As Peter continues to cry, Tony turns off the camera and shoves the phone back into his jacket pocket. Scooting closer to the bed, he takes the kid’s hand. “You’re fine, you’re okay.”

“I-I don’ feel... I, uh...” Peter chokes out between sobs. A bloody wad of cotton falls out of his mouth, which only causes him to cry harder. “Wh-Why ’m I bleedin’?” he cries.

“You just had a few teeth out, no biggie,” Tony assures. He grabs a fresh cotton roll from the table and sticks it in the kid’s mouth. “You’re fine, bud, I promise.”

Still crying, Peter manages to spit out, “Am I... is this… real?”

Tony’s heart clenches, going back to Titan, back to Peter being trapped for five years in some kind of altered state of consciousness. He’s kicking himself for not having realized sooner that something like this might freak him out.

“Ah, kid…” Tony sighs. “Yes, this is real. You’re real. You’re right here with me,” he promises, rubbing his hand up and down over the kid’s arm.

Suddenly Peter’s breath hitches in his throat. “‘m gonna throw up,” he chokes out.

The warning is immediately followed by an unproductive gag. Tony mutters a curse, jumping up and grabbing a plastic emesis basin from the counter. He barely manages to get it under Peter’s chin before the kid makes good on his threat.

“Hey, hey, easy, easy...” Tony says, switching to hold the bin with one hand and place the other on Peter’s back. He winces in sympathy at the bloody cotton and red-tinged strings of bile Peter is spitting out between sobs; he can only imagine how much that has to hurt. “FRIDAY, can you get the doc back in here?” he asks in a low voice.

Pulling in a shuddering breath, Peter glances up from the basin, eyes wide and fearful. “I th-threw up b-blood,” he whimpers, horrified. “...’m I dyin’?”

Aw fuck. “No, no of course not. It’s just from your mouth,” Tony explains, much more calmly than he feels.

The door reopens and Megan is the first to enter. She gives Peter a sympathetic smile as she steps into the room. The surgeon appears a few steps behind, looking totally unfazed by the teary, vomiting teen in the chair before him.

“Ah,” he says with a nod. His tone is factual, though not unkind. “We have a crier.”

“This just happens sometimes, nothing to worry about,” Megan quickly assures. She takes the bin from Tony and hands him an empty one before carefully wiping the tears and vomit off Peter’s face with a paper towel. “Anesthesia can have all kinds of different effects on people.”

Jacobson hums in agreement as he checks Peter’s mouth to ensure his stitches are still holding before giving him fresh gauze to stem the bleeding. The tears have stopped now and embarrassment seems to be rapidly replacing fear as the kid’s primary emotion. Unsure of what else to do, Tony just continues rubbing Peter’s back.

“Everything looks fine,” Jacobson concludes after a moment of looking him over. “You can take him back upstairs now. He’ll probably feel calmer once he’s in a familiar setting.”

Tony doesn’t need to be told twice. “Sounds good,” he says, grabbing the paper Megan hands him with the discharge instructions as he helps Peter to his feet. “Alright bud,” he says quietly. “Let’s blow this popsicle stand.”

X

After getting Peter situated on the couch in the common area, Tony heads to the kitchen and returns with a tray of soft food selections to offer the kid.

“What are you feeling?” he asks, pointing to each food in turn. “Yogurt? Ice cream? Applesauce? Pudding?”

Peter blinks twice at him. “...Butterscotch puddin’?” he asks hopefully.

Tony scoffs. “No, because I’m not eighty. I’ve got chocolate or vanilla.”

“Oh.” Peter’s face falls. “Don’ want anythin’ then…”

“Nope, not an option,” Tony declares. “You have to take your super spidey-kid painkillers soon and I don’t want them to make you sick.”

“But I ‘ready got sick…” Peter moans.

“And it wasn’t fun, was it?” Tony reasons. “Which is why we’re trying to avoid that.”

“But ‘m not hungry…” Peter whines, turning his head away from his mentor to face the cushion, causing the ice pack to side down from his cheek. “Jus’ wanna sleep…”

Tony peels the lid off one of the vanilla pudding cups and scoops up a spoonful. “C’mon, Pete.” He says, holding it in front of the kid’s closed mouth. “You’re not gonna make me do the airplane thing, are you? Because I will definitely be filming that.”

“Uhhh… no...” Peter groans, finally taking the spoon from him. “No more internet…”

X

It’s been several hours now since Tony managed to bully the kid into choking down enough pudding to take his meds before letting him fall asleep. Aside from the obvious swelling, Peter’s looking far better for having had the nap.

“How are you feeling now?” Tony asks, handing Peter a fresh ice pack.

Peter accepts it from him and presses it to his comically large cheek. “Mortified,” he mumbles. “This is so not going on Instagram…”

Tony huffs out a laugh. “I don’t know, maybe it should. Like a PSA of sorts for all the kids out there looking to be the next viral sensation.”

“Wonderful,” Peter mutters, rolling his eyes.

Tony pats him on the shoulder. “You know, while you were out, I was looking up some of those videos you mentioned. I see the attraction. Did you watch the one where the black med student called pickled eggs a ‘hood snack’?”

Peter nods.

“Or the red-haired teenager who woke up thinking he was a gangster in Dubai?” Tony goes on.

“Classic,” Peter mutters.

“Or the girl who wanted to go swimming in the painting on the office wall so she could see the fishes?”

Peter waves a hand dismissively. “Yeah, yeah…”

“I’m telling you kid, I think there’s a market here…”

X

It’s two days later that Tony finally breaks down and shows the kid the video Rhodey took of him back in ‘87, burned directly off the VHS into FRIDAY’s archives:

A teenage Tony Stark sits on the floor of his dorm room, slumped against a twin-sized mattress. His cheeks are swollen to twice their usual size and drool is running down his chin onto the graph paper notebook he’s scribbling feverishly into.

“Tony, you gotta eat something so you can take your meds, dude,” Rhodey’s voice comes over the recording from off-screen.

“Go ‘way…” Tony groans, waving him off irritably. “‘m busy solvin’ th’… prob’em…”

Rhodey breathes out a heavy sigh. “Okay, for the last time, you can’t ‘solve’ the second law of thermodynamics.” He pauses for a beat. “Especially with a purple crayon.”

Tony looks up at him, eyes unfocused, and gives an almost evil grin. “Maybe you can’t but… I’m… ‘m’ really smart…” He blinks twice, then giggles. “m’ Tony Fuckin’ Stark…”

“Yeah, yeah, and Tony Fucking Stark needs to take his meds...” Rhodey mutters. “So what’s it gonna be, dude? Yogurt or applesauce?”

Tony’s face screws up in apparent thought before he mumbles, “A cheese’urger,” he decides. “Then I solve… gravity.”

Fic Masterlist

For more soft Irondad fics, try:

Dad Level: 3000

You Broke Tony

Sweet Potatoes & Stitches

[zen-garden-gnome]

REALLY investigating the debate over vaccines (from a lay-person’s perspective).

I want to unravel some things about the vaccination debate, following days of research into the matter. It wasn’t enough for me to know how I felt, already. I didn’t think my personal relationships had to suffer maximally in order for me to live honestly. So I decided to dig in and make myself more knowledgeable, and to let myself empathize with more people. There was so much to cipher through and it took so much time that I had to take notes to help keep things connected. The process reminded me that the internet is not as easily traversed for all its users, and that in the end, the “vibe” one picks up decides a lot of what we’re willing to follow any deeper (particularly, whether or not we even notice a “vibe” in the first place). Zooming way out also reminded me of just how many “entry points” there are for this subject, and helped me empathize with a lot of people. It turns out, “anti-vaxxer” is a term applied to people across a pretty wide range of subtly differing perspectives. I think we can all agree that the despair and disgust and distrust the world is experiencing won’t improve if we can’t get our attention back, ‘cause that’s largely what this is about. We are inundated with so much manipulative information that we struggle to steer our attention toward the core values that we mostly share, which takes us further and further away from each other’s realities. We know less and less about each other but think we know so much more because we’re surrounded by manipulative/self-preserving chatter.

I wanted to cut through the noise and show where some things connect, and where some others only appear to. For anyone who knows there’s a lot going on but doesn’t know where to begin approaching it. For anyone who feels on the fence in any way. For anyone who feels isolated by their view of the circumstances. For anyone who struggles to understand why so-and-so would think such-and-such. For anyone who thinks they already know. For anyone with even a passing curiosity. And of course, for myself. I’ve worked to collect and organize this for all and anyone. I do my best to stay objective without pretending I don’t have my own opinions. My research wound up focusing on a few key people and their research, the theories that have arisen, the science used to address them, and the demographics who are the most moved by it all. This is an entire research paper and I had no idea it would go this far when I started.

Judy Mikovits is a former medical researcher and current anti-vaccination advocate. She has some valid criticisms of how the US government handled the release of treatments for HIV and for the poor ways people treat their immune systems. She claims in her book (and in a viral video that recently hit the internet at the kick-off of the COVID-19 pandemic in the US) that Anthony Fauci barred her from continuing her research at the National Institute of Health (he denies this). She refers to the COVID-19 pandemic in quotes ("pandemic"), refuses to wear face masks, and discourages others from doing so because she thinks that taking care of one’s own immune system and cleanliness is all she should need to do, by her own words. Vaccines (and just temporarily breathing in more of one’s own carbon dioxide) aren’t worth the risk, she says. Mikovits has spoken at numerous anti-vaccination events and her retracted papers are frequently referenced in their propaganda (and there’s no denying it’s propaganda).

When she was a virologist and medical researcher, Judy started working to uncover viral causes of diseases when she was hired by a couple whose child had Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and wanted to find the cause. The work she published in Science magazine about proposed retro-viral causes of CFS in 2009 was retracted when peers from 9 separate labs failed to get the same results and negated her findings (and when two of her co-authors reported that their patient samples had been contaminated by the virus in the lab, as opposed to the virus already being in the samples). Two years later she was fired from her job over the quality of her work and control of her lab samples, which seems relevant considering the apparent reason why her 2009 results were supposedly wrong. She was arrested and tried for stealing lab equipment and documentation when she left. She returned some of the lab notes and the criminal charges were dismissed.

Judy continues to reference her outdated research to this day (the research about specific retroviruses causing some specific diseases). Now she’s using her debunked data to fire up her main argument: that up to 30% of modern vaccines are “contaminated” with retroviruses and the government is trying to cover up a dangerous problem with its vaccines, putting everyone at risk (especially young children who get a large host of vaccines in a relatively short period of time).

This was where I knew I had to learn more about how viruses and vaccines interact with our bodies. A retrovirus is commonly called an RNA virus, which is a virus that uses a host cell to replicate its viral RNA as DNA. This is the opposite of what DNA viruses do, which is to use the host cell to replicate their DNA as RNA. An RNA/retro-virus also has a type of enzyme that allows it to insert its new DNA into the host cell’s DNA. This altered genetic information can lead to increased erroneous cell production, which increases the likelihood of developing cancer and other diseases depending on where the viral DNA is injected into a host cell’s DNA. Whatever gene is changed may cease to function, leading to disease. For example, HIV is a retrovirus that results in a syndrome that makes one prone to all kinds of diseases.

As it turns out, some vaccines do contain retroviruses! And it also turns out that that’s ok. Sometimes that’s part of the genetic material virologists are working with. Some of our vaccines are only possible with that genetic material. The presence of a retrovirus doesn’t necessary do anything to the vaccine. The vaccinations don’t infect patients with retroviruses because the retroviruses found in the vaccine are non-infectious. It’s an extremely important part of how a good vaccine functions. Viruses can cause diseases, but vaccines don’t contain live infectious material. That’s why there were no reported issues with retroviral infection by our vaccine safety systems (systems that exist because vaccines have never been perfect and always have some potential for side effects, so their risk factors are studied thoroughly). When the technology was available to investigate the retroviruses previously unknown to have existed in the MMR vaccine, they were confirmed to be non-hazardous.

Mikovits is clearly a knowledgeable professional in her field and has some valid opinions/points about health, medicine, and federal failures. But her identity seems to be wrapped up with the debunked research that changed her career, and no professional knows everything, even in their field. The wrongness isn’t my concern. It’s what she’s doing with it, and the fact that she’s ignoring the research negating her old findings.

Kent Heckenlively is the co-author of Judy's new book, and an anti-vaccination activist. The fact that he's also a lawyer really stands out to me. The founders of the Westboro Baptist Church (the "God Hates F*gs" group) are ex-lawyers who use their offensive protests to rile people up and then sue them for "hindering their rights." It's how they make their money. Anyway, Kent is co-founder of a group called Age of Autism, which claims to be dedicated to helping kids and families with autism. But as you can probably tell by the name of the group, they're much more concerned with the fact that they perceive a dangerous uptick in autism statistics (an issue that’s related much more to the evolving access and categorization of statistics and disorders than anything else). Age of Autism doesn’t actually tend to involve people on the autism spectrum in their work (other than to use them as examples), and their focus is not on helping (or even understanding) those with autism, but on getting rid of autism--as if the spectrum of conditions related to autism was a single “disease,” and as if it’s unacceptable that people exist with those conditions (more on that later).

As autism has increasingly become a recognized "condition," it's diagnosis has become more common, and because it's really only diagnosed based on social behavior, it may go unnoticed prior to ~18 months, if it’s noticed at all. Many more people live "on the spectrum" than we ever know (did you know Sir Anthony Hopkins is also on the spectrum?), and before it was more widely recognized, we had all kinds of names (and institutions) for people living with more severe effects. Kent's daughter was diagnosed with autism at around the age that she got some of her vaccines, which led the distraught father to believe it was vaccine related. Sometimes people do have mild reactions to vaccines (nothing’s perfect), and I can understand parents being scared and hurt for their children. I can also understand questioning various authorities. We know good and well that governments use poisons (Agent Orange in Vietnam), diseases (smallpox in the colonies, syphilis at Tuskegee), and vaccines as playing cards in their efforts to control people/power (we saw it again when Trump tried to get exclusive rights to the Coronavirus vaccine being researched in Germany). But lots of people see “Thing 1 Happens, Thing 2 Happens After, Which Must Mean Thing 1 Caused Thing 2.” Unsurprisingly, people can develop identities that revolve around getting rid of the "disease" of autism.

But Autism is not a disease. Autism is an umbrella term for a range of neuro divergences (to be diagnosed you have to hit like... 4 out of a possible 15 some-odd behavioral checkmarks), and issues like those relate to aaaallll sorts of things. Things that people with autism talk about often. If anti-vaccination organizations actually advocated for people with autism, they’d let people with autism advocate for themselves. Because people with autism do self-advocate, and they take umbrage with groups like Autism Speaks and Age of Autism. People on the autism spectrum often have lots to say about the agendas of these groups and the resources that are taken from the those who actually need them. From the Autistic Self Advocacy Network: “While no link exists between autism and vaccines, of greater concern is the willingness of those who promote this theory to suggest that exposing children to deadly diseases would be a better outcome than an autistic child. Vaccinations do not cause autism – but the use of autism as a means of scaring parents from safeguarding their children from life-threatening illness demonstrates the depths of prejudice and fear that still surrounds our disability. Autism is not caused by vaccines – and Autistic Americans deserve better than a political rhetoric that suggests that we would be better off dead than disabled.”

Folks on the spectrum sometimes have lots to say about the toxic living conditions of their childhoods, too. About neglect and abuse and trauma. It’s important to keep in mind that the behavioral issues tied to autism are also the behavioral conditions often tied to things like PTSD and ADHD, both of which relate to life events/patterns. As a teacher, I’ve learned a lot about the links between developmental/behavioral problems and the (dis)ability of parents to respond to their children based on their children’s needs (rather than primarily on the parent’s own traumas). For young children, especially with any kind of special need (a very broad term), simply navigating through a world that’s inflexible with their needs can be traumatic. Our environmental conditions can even effect how our genes are expressed over time (literally, sometimes time IS the trigger for gene expression). Everything is born out of its environment—out of our food, our water, our sense of security, our parents’ genes, everything. 

Which brings me to one of the biggest stories in the vaccination debate: that of Hannah Poling. I bring this up because this is the one I was most familiar with, and the one I empathized with the most--particularly because there was a court case related to it. When she was 19 months old, she received 5 vaccines, and two days later her parents reported new behavior—lethargy, irritation, and fever. Months later, she was diagnosed with mitochondrial enzyme deficit (MED), which means the conditions she displayed were also contained within the autism spectrum. Her parents successfully sued for compensation under the Vaccine Injury Compensation Plan, a program started by the federal government to address public concerns of vaccine safety in light of the noise raised by anti-vaccination groups in the 80s. However, MED is an autosomal recessive disease, which means both of Hannah’s parents had to carry the gene in order for her to get it. She already had it, and either it hadn’t expressed itself yet, or her parents hadn’t noticed (or reported) the symptoms so early in her development. Indeed, the Poling case only claimed that her vaccines exacerbated her symptoms, but this raises 4 important points: 1) There’s no evidence that this is possible, and not because “no one’s looked.” 2) We should really think critically about whether or not we should withhold treatment for diseases like smallbox and whooping cough under the unfounded notion that some vaccines may exacerbate existing conditions, 3) under-reported is the fact that Hannah presented other immunological challenges prior to her vaccinations,  and 4) despite a popular claim made by anti-vaccination groups, there’s actually no evidence that multiple simultaneous vaccines can overwhelm an immune system.

That last one was really important to me, because I had read years ago that a child’s immune system was potentially too underdeveloped to handle so many vaccinations. The notion seemed logical enough, and I felt awful for parents who had these real fears. But it turns out, the immune system of an infant has the potential capacity to respond to thousands of vaccines simultaneously. It has to! Babies are RAW, lol. And it turns out, medical researchers can be pretty damn thorough, so they knew this well before they were delivering grouped vaccines to toddlers. And while the number of vaccines given to children has increased, they contain even fewer antigens than they used to thanks to medical improvements.

But I have another name. Andrew Wakefield was stripped of his medical license in Britain and came to America, where he became a prominent anti-vaccination activist. He published findings in Britain in the mid 90s that claimed that measles (and “therefore” its vaccine) caused Crohn's disease, but peer research failed to repeat his findings and his claims were subsequently debunked. After shifting his focus to the measles vaccine and autism, he wound up leaving the school of medicine where he worked (under “mutual agreement” at the school's request), because he repeatedly refused to re-attempt the research which had formed the basis of his initial claims. Andrew moved to America to continue pushing his theory that measles and its vaccine caused autism, despite already admitting that it was "not proved." He's barred from practicing medicine in the UK and is not licensed in the US.

I bring up Wakefield because the fuss he raised lead scientists and doctors to look into these claims. It makes sense for these potential issues to matter to the medical community, after all. All resulting work refuted any connections between autism and these vaccines. Luckily, this work also looked into some other claims about vaccines, too, such as the concern that mercury in vaccines could cause autism or other conditions. Ethylmercury is used in the preservative thimerosal, which prevents bacterial growth in vaccines. Methylmercury (the mercury found in fish) can be highly toxic to people, while ethylmercury clears more quickly from the body--so quickly that the small quantities used in vaccines don't have time to build up or cause any problems, other than the possibility of a red rash at the injection site (and the fact that, inevitably, some people are allergic to it). However, given the rising concern in the late 90's and gradual improvements in medical science, the use of ethylmercury in vaccines was reduced in 2001, and for childhood vaccines was completely eliminated. Despite this, it remains a popular concern.

There are so many other people and cases and theories, but these seemed to be the big ones.

...But there’s one more variable I need to dissect: The general focus on eradicating autism, as opposed to supporting the autistic. Parents and their supporters are trying to find the right thing to do. It’s their earnest desire to overcome the problems they’ve been led to see, and their energy is being funneled away from them and used against all our best interests. (Perhaps it’s worth considering, too, where everyone else’s energy is being funneled these days…) For me, this is the variable that’s hardest to talk about, because it asks people to look at their own shadows with acceptance and forgiveness.

The development/behaviors of people on the spectrum aren’t necessarily “wrong,” but we’re subtly and explicitly told to see them this way. Many of these behaviors/developments are very natural responses to toxic/inhumane social and environmental conditions and expectations (some of them are even specifically considered evolutionary pros, traits that help people survive these environs), albeit at times difficult to interact with and other times self-destructive. Everything has extremes. And between environments and genetics, parents aren’t always able to recognize the myriad little things that might contribute to developmental and/or behavioral issues. Since so many of these things lie on the autistic spectrum, “autism” becomes a target in and of itself. Parents may see their children as victims of a toxic world, and they may see themselves as strong shoulders under (secretly) unwanted circumstances. Many parents also feel that “no good parent would ever feel that way, so I don’t either.” This kind of inner conflict is incredibly difficult for people to deal with, but the truth is, conflicting thoughts and emotions are perfectly normal. Emotions are valid and thoughts don’t define us. Both are fleeting. Feeling like we’re not “allowed” to feel conflicted makes us feel guilty/bitter/both. (Tested by God” and “blessed by God” have the same ring, sometimes.)

Some parents also experience guilt/bitterness over the possibility of being part of the environmental/genetic (especially genetic) circumstances that contributed to a child’s disorders. Or, guilt over having been unable to bring them into an accepting or supportive society. Plus the guilt over being sometimes unhappy with the resulting circumstances of one’s life. Guilt. Frustration. Bitterness. Sour grapes. Saving someone else from this “burden” and future children from sharing in this “unacceptable” situation becomes a righteous cause. Furthermore, in finding the person/thing to blame, they’d finally be allowed to express all that despair and frustration. The emotional attachment and roiling undercurrent is very attractive to manipulative individuals. I see it happen a lot, and I see people with autism talking about it. My heart truly aches for everyone going through this. But none of this helps the person on the spectrum. Nor does it help the well-meaning parent.

Maybe parents and supporters wouldn’t be so desperate about and fearful of autism (and vaccines) if having a child with special needs wasn’t so isolating. Maybe if our communities, institutions, and organizations focused on empowering and supporting the vulnerable, on creating equity where ever possible, autism wouldn’t be so overwhelming and wouldn’t even be as common. Maybe if we responded to people on the autism spectrum (and everyone else) as they are, instead of how we want/expect them to be, then the whole situation would change entirely.

In my research and personal interactions, the common thread among those who question the overall value and trustworthiness of vaccines is that of a “dark world” full of “bad people.” Things are so dark, apparently, that the global medical and scientific community is less trustworthy than the few who disagree with it on this particular issue. Is it any wonder? Our culture is exploitative and manipulative, and lays out a set of requirements for human value that even the neurotypical struggle to meet. We all hurt! We’re all wary! And of course we are!

But it turns out, much of the darkness we see in the world relates to what we’re looking for (or at the very least, what we’re trained to look for). In an age of endless, algorithmically-driven “information,” it’s very difficult for many folks to navigate, discern, and prioritize--especially when it’s a personal issue, making it easy to exploit our emotions. The machine keeps us fearful and hungry and separate, but perhaps we shouldn’t despair over that. After all, the active effort to keep us fearful and separate reflects our underlying nature to work together, to connect, and to grow.

Researching all this was complicated. Lots dead-ends, seemingly believable stories from once-trusted professionals, self-referential content, emotionally manipulative content, questionable authorities (authority is always questionable), and a shit-ton of complicated medical research. This is the amount of research it took for me to pick through everything. It’s no joke.

And that brings me back to the present. To the stuff happening right now. Areas surrounding anti-vaccination communities are seeing a drastic rise in diseases that had been long gone before the anti-vaccination craze. Not everyone is equally susceptible to pathogens, and our willingness to receive imperfect but well-researched vaccines is about everyone else in all communities, not just ourselves. No matter what anyone chooses to believe about the “source” of COVID-19, it’s disabling and deadly and highly contagious, and just because it may not be highly visible in someone’s community doesn’t mean it’s not ravaging other communities. As for uncertainty over the Coronavirus being “real,” if a person is only willing to believe resources calling for them to be angry and afraid and suspicious of everyone else, it seems to me that one would have to investigate their own worldview, along with one’s view of themselves and their own shadows. If one sees the world as inherently bad and humans as inherently fucked, that relates to how one feels about oneself and an incomplete notion of the lives of other people. That is the perspective of a traumatized person. Self isolation is deadly, so we ought to be wary of things that seek to isolate us. These self-isolating notions are fed back to us by the algorithms guiding our internet activity, keeping our behaviors predictable and controllable. We keep clicking and returning, fed by a sense of tragic righteousness, by the same programs designed to keep people coming back to slot machines. The internet is not a neutral entity because it functions in a capitalist, undemocratic state. It must be used carefully. The book Team Human by Douglas Rushkoff highlights the nature of these algorithms and the systems which use them. But more importantly, it also highlights the things about humans that make us lovable and forgivable. The things that make it possible to manipulate us in the first place. There’s a lot of wild shit going on, but it’s not happening because “humans are bad.” It’s happening because we live in an age forcibly ruled by the most self destructive culture/ideology on the planet. It’s the ideas, not the species. That means we have work to do. Inner work.

Sources:

https://speakingofresearch.com/2019/04/24/celebrating-world-vaccination-week-pt-3-the-post-wakefield-fallout/

https://www.pennlive.com/nation-world/2020/05/who-is-judy-mikovits-and-what-does-she-have-to-do-with-anthony-fauci-and-the-coronavirus.html

https://vaxopedia.org/2018/12/29/are-vaccines-contaminated-with-retroviruses/

https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/nejmp0802904

https://autisticadvocacy.org/2015/09/asan-statement-on-gop-primary-debate-comments-on-autism-and-vaccination/

https://autisticadvocacy.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/First-Hand-Perspectives-on-Behavioral-Interventions-for-Autistic-People-and-People-with-other-Developmental-Disabilities.pdf

https://sciencing.com/differentiating-rna-dna-viruses-4853.html

https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2020/03/a-fake-pandemic-antivaxxers-are-spreading-coronavirus-conspiracy-theories/

https://www.thechildren.com/health-info/conditions-and-illnesses/q-vaccine-safer-getting-real-disease

Also so much Wikipedia.

[honeymoonjin]

How they go public with your relationship

JIN

Isn’t particularly happy about keeping the relationship private but understands the necessity

Finds it frustrating to watch what he says in public and have to call you rather than have you come over, and if he’s honest, he feels like your relationship won’t last too much longer if you never get to spend any decent time together

Tells BigHit he’ll do anything to tell army about you so that he can have a normal relationship because it’s taking an emotional toll on him

BigHit asks him to hold off while they decide an appropriate course of action

Cue chaotic energy jin

He never admits it in words, but does everything else to imply he’s dating

He leaves condoms around his room (even though you two haven’t been able to have sex in months with you never being able to come around), he follows you and likes all your tweets on the official BTS twitter account, he takes you out for coffee multiple times without wearing a face mask just so paparazzi can shoot you two together

BigHit is literally powerless to stop this crackhead so they give him permission to say whatever he wants about your relationship as long as he promises not to share any explicit details (they really weren’t impressed with the condom trick)

Now that he’s in the green, jin invites you to do everything with him and the rest of bangtan

He’s missed you so much that he doesn’t even mind if you have to come to work with him rather than having private time alone because he just wants your company

You are still getting to know the other guys because you were so careful not to be seen around jin before, so you spend a long of time during the workdays talking with his bandmates and becoming friends with them

This makes jin extremely jealous, and whenever he gets jealous he gets extremely horny, and the two of you do have a lot of fucking to catch up on, so for a few weeks the other six members of bangtan sleep with noise cancelling earphones on

He likes to joke around on stage and in interviews about you, and army are surprisingly good about jin being a taken man

Probably because he is a very traditional person and also the oldest in the group, it seems right for him to be settling down before all of the other members

You may have also won over army by posting a generous number of photos of jin (in equal parts extremely unflattering angles and extremely sexy boyfriend material snaps) on your instagram

YOONGI

Yoongi is a pretty private guy, so you might expect he’d be quite happy keeping your relationship private for as long as needed, and for the most part he is

But after a while it’s just so inconvenient to sneak around, and not be able to see you and kiss you whenever he wants, so he will keep asking BigHit for permission

For a while BigHit says no

Yoongi does not like being told no

Yoongi starts writing inside jokes and references to the fact that he’s in a relationship/having sex but because he’s Yoongi, army just assume he’s doing the whole tongue technology thing

a few months after that attempt fails, he takes you to meet his parents while on break, and a fan sees the two of you going around town together and approaches the two of you, asking if you’re together

Yoongi just says ‘technically I’m not allowed to say yes’ and hopes the fan gets the hint

The fan posts a picture she took of the two of you and it spreads like wildfire

BigHit finally lets him reveal his relationship because he knows exactly how to make things difficult for them

Yoongi doesn’t even bother with releasing an official statement, he just lets you and him be seen together in public whenever you want, and a photo of him kissing you after winning an award goes viral, confirming it without a doubt

Fans go back to his most recent songs and piece together that he was trying to tell them this whole time

Nothing changes in your relationship except that you don’t have to be careful all the time, still keeping most things private

He doesn’t talk about you on stage or in interviews much, but he turns into a soft, gummy, heart-eyes ball of fluff when he sees you in the audience at his shows

HOSEOK

Hoseok really really hates having to keep his relationship private

All he ever wants is to share all his happiness with the world, and he wants army to know how happy he is now that you’re in his life

BigHit feel like Hoseok isn’t one of the sex appeal/visual members as much as Jungkook or Jimin, so they let him open up about dating pretty soon

he doesn’t release an official public statement, he just starts talking about you in v-lives, thanking you for your support during concerts and posting selfies with you

The two of you do everything together, and you spend as much time with him and the boys as you can while they’re working, so having your relationship public just means that you don’t have to be as careful with wearing a face mask and avoiding paparazzi

You’re really close with the other members too, and so you often appear in the background of bangtan bombs or other members’ v-lives, and every time army sees you they will comment and say hi to you

Maybe more so than any of the other members’ girlfriends/boyfriends, army take to you really well and almost begin treating you like the eight member of bangtan, as they always see you caring after the other members, making sure namjoon doesn’t leave behind his passport or giving them words of encouragement before they go on stage

Because you’re around hobi so much, you’ve basically memorised all the dance moves, and sometimes when there’s not much time you’ll go around running through the choreography with the other members with hoseok and jimin, and soon enough you and hoseok are known as the parents of bangtan

Hobi is probably the most open out of all the members about his significant other, he would talk for hours if a fan asked him a question about you, and gets excited when interviewers mention you

army keep egging him on about when he’s going to propose to you, and he finds that in fanmeets half of the fans are asking him about you more than about anything bangtan related

if he’s away on tour, you will always be watching his livestreams and will comment to him, and quite often the two of you have a five minute conversation with input from army

Because he loves doing that so much, he livestreams at least twice as often as any of the other members

you are always in the audience at every concert, and hobi likes to come over mid-song while another member is singing or rapping their verse, and bend down on the edge of the stage to give you a kiss

NAMJOON

Has the biggest, most elaborate ideas of how he’s going to tell the world

All those plans go to shit when he’s doing a v-live, showing off his newly decorated studio and his fans spot a framed photo he has of the two of you

ARMY begin speculating about who it could be, and so BigHit decides it’s time to release an official statement

Namjoon sends out a tweet saying he’s in a relationship and that he’s very happy and hopes their fans will support him

He is worried that you’ll receive hate for dating him, but he’s so happy that he can finally be honest with army and show you off

The two of you start releasing more photos together on the BTS twitter account and your instagram

For a while, quite a few fans aren’t happy that he’s dating, and he tries his best to protect you from the brunt of it

It’s not until he asks you to join him on a v-live and army can see you two actually interacting that the hate dies down

Soon enough you have fans commenting on your posts and thanking you for making him happy

now that he doesn’t have to be quiet about his relationship, he’s always talking about you in interviews

Fans create compilations of namjoon talking about you because he always blushes and gets all smiley and dimply when he gets asked questions about you

JIMIN

Writes a song and releases it. Then he reveals a couple weeks later in an interview that he wrote it for someone specific

Fans go crazy trying to work out who it is, but at the time he’s on tour and so the two of you haven’t actually been seen together in a while

interviewers keep asking him about who that person is, and whether he has a girlfriend/boyfriend, and he just gives the camera that sneaky smile and taps the side of his nose

It’s your one-year anniversary on the last concert of the tour, and Jimin tells the audience that he doesn’t want to keep quiet anymore about the person that gives him so much happiness, and he dedicates the song to you

Now that fans have your first name, it’s only a matter of time before they find out who you are

Jimin arranges some security staff for you when he sees the overwhelmingly negative reaction online, and he calls you in tears about it

With your two new bodyguards, you wait at the airport to surprise him when he returns home, and when he sees you he breaks apart from the group and runs to you

You can hear fans screaming and see cameras flashing, but he keeps you tightly in his arms until they make their way to the van, and then you sit on his lap on the drive back to the dorm

Jimin is definitely taking this opportunity to ask BigHit for the millionth time if you can move in

Now that you will be needing security and fans know who you are anyway, they allow it

Jimin is a very popular bias in the group, and it’s a long long time before the chaos dies down, but for those months, the two of you are closer than ever, and he barely lets you out of his sight

One night, when you’re backstage during a concert, jimin once again sings the song he wrote for you, and speaks openly about how hard it’s been with lots of the fans not supporting him having a girlfriend, and all he wants is for army to show you the same love they show him

After that concert, most of army band together so that they can show jimin they love and support him - bringing posters with your ship name on it to concerts, asking if you’re well during fanmeets, and creating a trending twitter hashtag

Fans create imagines on YouTube with videos of Jimin talking about you, and they just chance your name to ‘Y/N’ because what he’s saying and how he’s acting is so romantic and sweet already

TAEHYUNG

Fans start to notice that more and more of the photos he’s tweeting have him in it rather than photos he’s taken, and he doesn’t give photo credit to any of his bandmates so they start to wonder who’s been taking all the photos

army notice tae has been less flirty with fans during fanmeets, and seems less touchy-feely with the other members of bangtan

For a while army think maybe something bad has happened, or he’s getting sick of the idol lifestyle, when in reality, it’s just because he has you to flirt with and cuddle

he shows up to an award show with what looks like a hickey on his neck, half-covered by a choker

He’s not super careful with hiding your relationship, but also doesn’t feel a need to explicitly tell army about you yet, as the two of your are in your own bubble of romance, just happy to have each other

namjoon is shooting a v-live from inside his bedroom one day and when a fan asks if tae is in the room too, he automatically says that tae spends Tuesday nights with you

Namjoon realises his mistake the second he finishes his sentence, and desperately ignores the stream of caps-lock comments asking him who you are and pretends he has to leave and end the stream

Taehyung is angry at namjoon at the start because he’s worried army won’t respond well to him dating you

BigHit have a meeting and ask him to release some form of official statement asap, but he wants to talk with you about it first

The two of you decide that it’s best if tae just posts a selfie of the two of you and say that he’s dating you - something clear but not super specific

It’s not long before you’re getting thousands of comments, tweets and messages flooding in about your relationship with him, but you do your best to not read them

Tae will talk about you and how supportive and wonderful you are if he’s asked, but he likes to keep his relationship pretty private, as he feels it’s more special that way

It takes a while for the fans to come around, but from how much they see of you, they can tell you’re a good match for tae and that you make him happy

JUNGKOOK

Isn’t allowed to reveal his relationship with you for a while, because BigHit wants him to be sure he’s serious about you first, since he’s still quite young and hasn’t been in many relationships before

His hyungs always make sure he doesn’t accidentally reveal something, even going so far as to clean up his room from any hints of a girlfriend/boyfriend (*cough*condoms*cough*, Namjoon learnt this the hard way)

Whenever an interviewer asks the group if any of them are dating/have dated an army before, he gets all fidgety and bites his lip so he doesn’t say anything

Fans notice his weird behaviour whenever dating is mentioned, and they get a little suspicious

he doesn’t complain about not being able to talk about you because he understands how important it is to go about it the right way

So in the end, it’s not actually him that goes public, but jin making a joke during a fanmeet about jungkook’s relationship and accidentally giving it away

Jin’s in deep shit with BigHit but, being jin, couldn’t give a single fuck, and jungkook is kind of happy that he got it over with

Fans are better about him being in a relationship than either of you were expecting, because it’s obvious to everyone how happier he is

And of course there’s a whole load of army who are just happy that jungkookie is getting his dick wet

A blurry, low quality video that a fan took of the two of you surfaces, where you’re sitting on his lap, making out with him in the back of the van, and within a few hours twitter is on fire with the fact that jungkook must be a sub

Jungkook gets wind of this (just imagine him asking namjoon to translate what the English-speaking army are saying and him and you, I’m so dead) and decides to reclaim his dominance, grabbing you out of the crowd during concerts to carry you around the stage, staring directly at you whenever he does hip thrusts during a song, and generally being cocky af ALL THE TIME

Is definitely teasing his hyungs about how he’s getting more action than them

Will bring up his girlfriend/boyfriend out of the blue during bangtan bombs just so he can rub it in their faces

[jungblue]

mixtape (m)

pairing: min yoongi x reader 

genre: smut, fluff, comedy / college, podcast personality au

word count: 15,610

description: Two mystery students from your college run the podcast dubbed ‘mixtape.’ It’s become a sort of phenomenon around campus, listened to by almost everyone. In their most recent episode they discussed various study methods... One of them being oh so tempting.

“This week’s topic is—” Sugar started, of course only to be swiftly interrupted by the second half of the two-man show podcast that had sort of gone viral around your college campus.

But regardless of being cut short, the metallic nature of his voice still managed to worm its way directly into your chest, where it festered into something so captivating that you couldn’t help but sigh. It was cool to the touch as the syllables of his chosen words sent an intrusion of goosebumps along your arms and thighs. It had a certain gravel, a deepness that you could sometimes feel in the pit of your belly if you listened to him long enough with your eyes closed. However, more times than not, the grit would be severed with a vibrant laugh that rang so sweetly that you could feel it clamoring around your heart with giddiness on its heels.

“—Studying! So sexy, right?” Jay interjected mid-sentence, something that anyone who listened to their weekly episodes would quickly learn is a norm.

However, there were times of course where Sugar was allowed the courtesy of going off on long tangents without his friend’s interruption, and in those moments his voice was hypnotic, if you had to put it simply. It tugged you beneath the current of concentration until you were pressing the volume button on your phone to raise his vocals higher. The small hitch of his breath, or exhale against the mic when he would sigh due to the topic at hand, they made you lean in closer to the invisible man on the other side of the pre-recorded audio that filtered through your headphones.

“Another Jay-led interruption here on mixtape, wow how shocking?” Sugar deadpanned, his sarcasm making you grin to yourself in amusement.

“He loves me guys, don’t let him fool you just because he likes to act all cool and stoic while recording. He’s a big softie, honestly.”

“Really? I’m the softie? Who was the one I found crying on their couch the other day because Bridge to Tera-fucking-bithia was on TV?”

“Oh, you really wanna go there?” Jay scoffed, a comeback already settling on his tongue. After all, this sort of playful banter, along with their personality dynamic was the main reason that the podcast worked so well. Because really it was just half an hour of them going on tangents and talking shit to each other. “You cried for hours over that fucking sports anime, Ace of some shit. I had to buy you like three pizzas just to calm your ass down — which you never Venmo’d me back for… Just sayin’.”

“First of all, it’s Ace of Diamond, asshole, and you didn’t play sports in high school so you just don’t get it. Their pain and suffering, the loss, the goddamn character development. It’s just — okay, never mind I’m not getting into this with you because honestly I’m getting a bit teary-eyed thinking about it again.”

They both snorted in laughter over the microphone, and you couldn’t help but do the same because it was honestly infectious. Their conversations were always so natural and funny.

“Okay now that we’re done talking about shit that makes us cry, are you ready to get into this week’s topic that you so rudely interrupted the introduction of?” Sugar asked after they both came down from the high of their breathless amusement.

“I mean it’s studying, dude. Can you blame me? I’m just gonna tell everyone that I really wanted to avoid this topic at all cost, but Sugar here just wouldn’t budge. So if you use our voices as a monotonous background for your descent into sleep tonight, I legit won’t blame you.”

“Nothing is monotonous when it comes to you, so let’s not lie. This is a podcast of integrity dammit.” You heard the playful slam of Sugar’s palm against whatever surface they were presumably sitting at. You giggled slightly at his sliver of humor until he continued. “But really, even though it isn’t the most exciting topic ever, this is still a college podcast, and Jay and I need to cover all of our bases, so you just gotta bear with us. But as a special treat for suffering through my tips and tricks, next week’s episode is gonna be one that I’m sure you were all expecting eventually—”

“—College sex life! That’s right, my friends, we’re gonna get all down in that bow chicka wow wow nitty gritty—”

“I hate you so much,” Sugar said, but you could definitely hear the way his voice shook with laughter at Jay’s ridiculous commentary. That was another reason his voice enticed you so much. It was just really raw, always managing to convey the smile, annoyance, distraction, or frustration that no doubt laced his expression. It was funny, you had absolutely no idea as to what the appearance of your favorite podcast personality was, yet you still managed to picture him inside of your head as he spoke with each and every emotion that his weekly episodes brought him and his lively counterpart to. The curl of his lip or roll of his eyes somehow manifested themselves in your thoughts so vividly. “You sound like such a fratty douche, maybe you wanna reel it in a bit?”

“Well I am fratty, but not the douche kind.”

“Debatable, but admittedly sometimes I do forget that you’re part of Delta Delta Dickhead.”

“Fuck you.”

“That’s next week’s topic, sorry for the wait.”

“Ohhh nice segue, dude. But you’re still an asshole. Anyways yeah, next week’s gonna be a lot of fun, you’ll get to hear all about Sugar’s freshman year filled with pointless Tinder dates and chlamydia surprises — so, so much fun.” It seemed that you and Sugar sputtered violently in surprise at the sudden proclamation.

“Really? You’re gonna rub freshman year fuck-ups in my face?”

“That’s what friends are for.”

“You mean shitty friends,” Sugar proposed.

“Tomato, tomato,” Jay replied by saying the words in the exact same way, with what seemed like a shrug.

“That’s… Not even how the saying — okay, whatever. Moving on. Studying. What’re your tips, and don’t you dare say things about not cramming or waiting until the last minute. Nobody wants to hear that Harvard shit.”

“Don’t be mean, kids from Harvard might listen to this.”

“I mean it was a compliment more than anything. Their time management skills are just alien to me. But the bigger point here is that if there’s anyone from Harvard listening to this podcast please make me the CFO or something if you end up creating the next Facebook or whatever. Just don’t screw me over like Eduardo. I saw The Social Network, buddy,” Sugar warned as he moved in closer to the mic it seemed.

“Great movie.”

“Fucking fantastic movie.”

“No biases whatsoever.”

“Of course, they would never.”

“But anyways, so my studying tips,” Jay paused for a moment, already sighing. “See this is why I didn’t wanna do this topic. Nothing is fun about studying. How can I even make this interesting?”

“Guess you’re just not as creative as me,” Sugar replied, most certainly smirking as he did so.

“Okay, big shot, you go then. What’s your tip?”

There was a small pause before he answered, and it made your breath hitch a little. “Well, it’s a bit not safe for work.”

“You’re lying,” Jay exclaimed immediately. “What the hell kind of studying are you doing? Studying pussy, maybe. Not fucking physics.”

“Well you’re not wrong, I mean on my part at least. But it can definitely be applied whatever way you want, depending on who needs to study.”

You felt yourself sit up straighter against your headboard, slightly (or very) intrigued by whatever this studying tip was.

“Okay, just spill already. Now you’ve got me interested. If this is any good I’m actually gonna be pissed that you didn’t tell me sooner.”

“You’ll live,” Sugar laughed. “But the only thing you’ll need is flash cards.”

“Oh my god, wow I’m getting so hard just thinking about those flexible paper rectangles. Mhm, oh yeah.”

“I’m ignoring you. Anyway, once you have the flash cards you’ll have to find yourself a consensual study partner who’s in the mood to go down on you—”

“What the fuck? That took a turn. I mean a good turn, but still,” Jay interrupted for unsurprisingly the millionth time, and so Sugar simply continued without acknowledging the outburst.

“Once you have the agreement set up, it’s pretty straight forward. Get your stack of flashcards with everything that you need to know for that exam, and for every one that you get right you get some of that sweet, lovely oral stimulation, and for every one that you get wrong you obviously get nothing. Or you could always be mean and push the incentive higher by saying you get nothing for the next five or so cards if you get one wrong. But yeah that is my studying tip.”

You felt your tongue almost involuntarily run along the top of your teeth. There was even a slight flare of pressure in your lower stomach as you imagined the idea of participating in the scenario that you wish you had heard of sooner. Maybe you needed to pick up some flashcards…

“Wait, wait, wait,” Jay finally said after a pause that you chalked off as astonishment. “Dude, that’s… That’s fucking genius. You should’ve written that on a blimp and gotten it flown over campus. Like… Sex and productivity, now that is revolutionary.”

Sugar simply snorted in response. “Okay, it’s not that crazy. I’m definitely not the first person to do it. But I thought I would share for all the unknowing parties out there. So yeah, if you’re gonna have sex, might as well study for bio or whatever while you’re at it.”

“Okay real question though,” Jay suddenly asked, curiosity brimming. “So you’ve actually done this before, right?”

“Obviously, I wouldn’t recommend it if I hadn’t,” He responded simply.

“So obviously the most important question is… Did they pass the test?”

Oh yeah, that was sort of the important part, wasn’t it? That the sex wouldn’t be so distracting that your productiveness wilted because of it. So with that in mind, you waited carefully to hear Sugar’s answer.

“Dude, okay so this might sound like I’m bragging, but I promise it’s just the truth. Every time I’ve done it,” He paused for a second, building the anticipation. “They set the fucking curve.”

You felt your blood spike instantly, and then you had to accept the fact that you just got the tiniest bit turned on by the idea of good grades. What the hell was wrong with you?

“Shut the fuck up. You’ve gotta be lying. I don’t’ believe you. I refuse to believe you, dude.” You could tell that Jay was smiling through his disbelief, even if his words were skeptical.

“I swear. No bullshit. One-hundred percent, all of them.”

“What… the fuck? I don’t know if I should believe you, but to save us from arguing until the end of time on the episode I’m just gonna go with it for now. But like, wow… Oral and studying, who knew?”

“I promise I’m not lying, but yeah try it out guys. Flashcards are sold at your local Wal-mart, Staples, and just about everywhere else you could possibly think of.”

“Yeah, might be kind of weird though. If someone’s about to go down on you, and you’re just like, uhm hey can you read these flashcards to me in this weird study tactic I learned off of a podcast,” He laughed, and yeah you had to agree. It sounds nice in theory, but actually asking someone to do it might be a tad awkward.

“Just put it in the bio of your Tinder profile. ‘Just looking for someone to do the mixtape flashcard study tip with.’ If they get it and are interested, then there you go.”

“First message: You got the flashcards?”

You snickered at the idea, as did the two boys in your headphones.

“Yeah, you’re definitely not getting a reply with a lead-off question like that.”

“Definitely not. I don’t care if you look like KJ Apa, you’re not getting a response.”

“Who’s that?”

“Archie from Riverdale.”

Sugar hummed in response. “Haven’t seen it. It’s that CW show, right?”

“Yes, and oh my god, I can’t believe we’re friends. It’s so good. Like the dialogue is kind of ehh, but the actual story is addicting.”

“Wow, sorry I didn’t take you for someone that would enjoy CW shows.”

“Fuck off, Gossip Girl transcends time and space.”

“You’re in a frat, of course you’d like that boujee shit,” He quipped playfully.

“Not true. I had a girlfriend in high school who watched it, and like… dude before you know it you’re invested and crying that Serena gets everything that Blair wants in life. It’s fucked up.”

You smiled, partly due to your own enjoyment of the teen-socialite drama, but also because of Sugar’s laughter that he was clearly trying to stifle. “Good to know,” He ended up saying with light traces of humor still managing to catch his words. “But what were we even talking about? Study tips? Yeah, so—”

“Dude!” Jay suddenly exclaimed, making you jump slightly.

“Fuck, don’t yell. What is it?” Sugar replied with a hint of irritation.

“They’re giving out free milkshakes and t-shirts at the quad.”

Sugar sighed, because just like you they were college students, and who in their right mind could pass up free stuff on that type of budget. You certainly hadn’t when you had heard about it yesterday, when the duo seemed to have recorded this week’s episode. “Right in front of my fucking podcast, really?”

“Sorry, no post-coital cuddling this week. Gotta run, and I’m sure by the time all of you hear this you’ll have gotten your milkshakes and shirts too, so no hard feelings?”

“Yup, so until next time I’m Sugar.”

“And I’m Jay. Don’t run the on-campus store out of flashcards while we’re gone, you filthy animals. Or totally do because that would be hilarious.”

“Christ, milkshakes are running out. Let’s go.”

The podcast ended with that, Sugar abruptly demanding to quicken the pace in the name of free milkshakes. You don’t know why but the pure relatability of it made you smile, even if just the tiniest bit. You reached up, pulling the headphones out of your ears before lying flat against your bed.

Today had been a rather stressful one with studying for your upcoming anatomy test. It was more information than you could ever hope to cram into your head with the small frame of time until the actual exam. But even with that looming thought eating at the back of your mind, you still felt a lightness in your chest, and you knew what it was because of.

You weren’t sure what it was about them specifically. Their personalities most certainly, their dynamic as friends, the side-tangents they would go off into about The Social Network and Gossip Girl, or the fact that they would stop mid-podcast to high-tail it to the quad for free shit. But it helped to distract you, even if it was only for a little while, away from the stresses that your own life faced. It was strange, that two random guys that went to your college and did a weekly podcast, were able to make your day just the tiniest bit less suffocating. You didn’t know what they looked like or even what their real names were, but somehow it just felt like you could take a breather for the amount of time that you listened to them banter.

But most certainly the strangest thing was the fact that you had developed a weird… Crush? Yeah, that was probably the only word for it. You had developed some strange… feelings towards the guy who used the alias Sugar. It was odd, that over the months of listening to him speak, his characteristics coming through more and more, you just found something about him so alluring. His voice, personality, ideals, sense of humor, just everything pulled you in, only for you to sadly realize that you had no idea who he even was. You didn’t even know his damn name. That was honestly what you wanted to know the most. Of course, you would love to know what he looked like so you could put a face to the voice, but having his name, there was just something more personal about that.

You could feel yourself drifting with that thought. Names scattered around inside of your head. None of them feeling right as you tried to tie it to the voice you had become so attached to over the past several months. Your eyes closed, the deep grip of sleep pulling you farther from consciousness.

You wish you could say that you had gotten to stay like that for a while, peacefully napping, thinking about the mysterious podcast personality, but you got maybe an hour in before your phone started ringing violently from where you had dropped it on the bed after finishing the podcast.

“Fuck,” You mumbled to yourself, voice scratchy as you blindly reached for the device, only vaguely looking at who the caller was before swiping to answer it. “Yes?”

“Someone sounds tired,” Jimin said, sounding slightly amused with your groggy state.

“Yeah, I was napping, you ass.”

“Well I have an important question,” He replied, ignoring the insult. But Jimin had been your best friend for years, so you were both used to the banter by now.

“Better be a million-dollar question.”

He let out a tiny laugh before replying. “Oh, I know you’ll be interested. Did you listen to the new mixtape episode yet?”

You felt yourself wake-up slightly, just at the mention of it. “Yes, I have.”

“Good,” Jimin said plainly, as if he had already known your answer. Which of course he had because he knows you always stop everything and listen the second a mixtape episode drops.

“Why?” You asked, but this was Jimin, your best friend, and so you weren’t at all that surprised by his response.

“Let’s go get some flashcards.”

﹍﹎ ﹍﹎ ﹍﹎

It had been four days since the episode that had caused, what a good portion of your college-campus deemed as ‘flashcard frenzy,’ had dropped. The bookstore, nearby Wal-Marts and office supply chains were suddenly selling flashcards at an alarming rate, so much so that they moved displays of them to the front just for easy access. It was quite honestly the most hilarious phenomenon you had ever witnessed. Too bad you had yet to try the study tip.

Your test was already so close, and you didn’t have time to play around with the idea. You needed to pass, you needed an A, you needed to set the goddamn curve, you apparently needed fucking Sugar between your legs. Christ, what was wrong with you? You didn’t even know the guy. Not his name, face, anything.

But beside that fact, your mind was coursing with stress and possibly every shred of knowledge you could have about anatomy without knowing the important details, and it was beginning to take its toll on you. You could barely keep your eyes open in your other classes today and not even Jimin coming by to cheer you up with food helped. But regardless of that you needed to at least try and study some more, which is why you were currently wandering the library in search of an open table. However, it somehow seemed that every person enrolled in your school had a test coming up because all of the tables were packed, not a spare seat in sight.

“Why, why, why?” You mumbled to yourself as you continued to pass table after table that held zero vacancies.

It was loud on the first floor of the library, as it was mostly used for group studying, or just people who disliked pure silence. You were the latter, unable to concentrate in the cold atmosphere where a sudden cough, or someone rummaging through their backpack could send your focus off the rails. You much preferred a constant stream of noise.

You made your way through the entirety of the first floor with no luck in finding a table to study at, and you were close to giving up and going to the on-campus Starbucks because it never failed to be noisy in there, but then in the corner of your eye you caught sight of a table with a free chair. You breathed a sigh of relief too soon however, because you quickly realized that there was someone sitting on the opposite side of the relatively tiny table compared to the rest in the library.

Normally you would’ve tried to search around a bit more, because you didn’t like feeling as if you were invading someone’s personal space, but knowing how packed out the building was, you knew this was as good as it was going to get. So you tentatively began your strides forward until you were approaching the table, the stranger’s hair hanging down over his eyes as he stared at a textbook.

You internally raised your pitch into a politer tone. “Uhm, hi. Is anyone sitting here?”

In hindsight, you probably should’ve known the second his beanie-clad head lifted, sending a sudden swirl of something hot to the pit of your stomach, that it was a pretty obvious sign that you were beyond fucked. His feline eyes met yours, seemingly cold at first glance, barely covered by his fringe from beneath his hat. You felt yourself gulp slightly, breath stalling just by a fraction as the question you had asked him approximately three seconds prior started to fade. So much so, that when he answered with a kind and polite, “no there isn’t, you can take it,” you kept standing and staring at him like an idiot before you registered the words moments later, and with ample amounts of clumsiness finally took the seat across from him.

“Thank you,” You mumbled, slightly embarrassed of your less than stealth gawking. You thought you even managed to catch an amused smile tracing the stranger’s lips as you snuck another glance, only causing another wave of heat to streamline its way to your face.

You tried to keep your head down as much as possible as you pulled your laptop, papers, and… flashcards, from you backpack, in order to cut down on the chances of accidently staring at your tablemate again. However, this proved more difficult than expected. Your eyes almost forcibly prying themselves from the mess of your studies to catch a glance at the way he was leaning his temple against the capped end of his pen. You found the gesture cute for some reason, especially as he began to tap it against his skin, presumably as he thought through whatever he was working on. Curiosity seized you further as you slid your sights downwards to the textbook sitting before the stranger. Even upside down you could tell that the cover read ‘Calculus’ in bold letters, with several equations that you had forgotten long ago in high school, branching out as a decoration of sorts.

Math, definitely not your strong suit. But really you weren’t sure if you even had what you could call a strong suit in any subject… Especially as you finally returned your eyes to your own belongings, the power points glaring off of your computer screen and a high stack of flash cards sitting so dauntingly before you.

You sighed deeply as you tried to further arrange your side of things on the small table, the reluctance to get started pitted its way deep into the recesses of your procrastination-geared brain. It was in this flurry of trying to figure out where you should even start, that you noticed the low-battery of your laptop. You quickly pulled out the charger from your backpack, already moving to lean underneath the table when you realized that the outlet was in fact right next to the boy in front of you. You paused, realizing that there was no way to get to it without asking him to plug it in for you. You had barely been able to ask for a seat without stuttering and staring like an idiot, so it looked to be time for round-two of making yourself look like a fool in front of unreasonably cute guys.

You inhaled, preparing your pitch to be a bit higher, “Hi, sorry to bother you again,” You began, voice drenched with that robotic politeness that people tended to reserve for strangers. He immediately looked up, one headphone hanging haphazardly out of his ear, and again you felt a slight stutter oncoming. Goddammit, why were his lips so pouty? His eyes so… smoldering? “But, uhm, do you think you could plug this in for me?” You managed to finish, motioning towards the charger in your hand.

His blank expression shifted into something softer. “Yeah, no problem,” He answered simply as he reached across the table to take the cord from your hand.

“Thank you,” You replied as he leaned down to plug the charger into the wall.

You were expecting a return to silence after the short exchange, already pulling your headphones out of the middle pocket of your hoodie in fact, but it was the sudden resurgence of his voice that had you pausing.

“What’re you stressing over?” He asked, his voice a bit louder, a bit clearer, and for some very odd reason a bit… familiar? You weren’t quite sure of why this was, but his tone felt almost nostalgic for some reason. It sent a flooded rush through your chest as he somehow managed to illicit a strange sense of comfort around you. “Only been here for like five minutes and you already seem sort of done with it, y’know?” He was smiling as he finished his question, and wow did that only make your throat run dryer.

You watched the way his lips curved to one side in a sly sort of smile. It was the type of smile that seemed implicative even when it was totally innocent, the sideways grin of confident curiosity pulling on the nerves hiding deep within your belly.

“Anatomy,” You finally answered after staring a bit too long again. “Yeah… I’m sort of fucked.” You decided to answer bluntly, because really there was no point in fronting when the overwhelming anxiety could be seen clearly on your face.

“Definitely been there.” His smile reached his eyes at this, the gums of his teeth peeking through, which almost instantly transformed his grin into something less innately cocky and more so candy sweet. “And I mean like actually been there. I was a biomed major before I switched to engineering.” He raised his textbook to show off the cover filled with various math equations.

“Oh my god, did you pass? —Fuck, sorry you don’t have to answer that.” The question passed your lips before you could process that it might be a bit rude. But he simply laughed in response to your sudden exclamation.

“No, you’re good. But yeah, I passed. With an ‘A’ actually — not to brag.”

Your mouth dropped. “Seriously? How the hell? It’s so much information.”

“Just… Proper study motivation,” He chuckled, and you weren’t sure of what he meant until you saw his eyes dart towards your flashcards. He had only looked at them for maybe half a second at most, and yet the action suddenly had a rush of heat climbing up the back of your neck. You could tell from the slight smirk marking his lips that he knew exactly what he had done, and it only made your face grow warmer. However, thankfully it didn’t seem as if he was expecting you to answer because he immediately changed the subject. “But really it’s not as hard as it seems. You just have to know how to compartmentalize everything, so it’s not so overwhelming.”

How the hell was he going to go from insinuating that you just needed some oral motivation to compartmentalization is key? But not that you were complaining… Especially if he was insulating himself.

However, you were still a bit flustered, so your response came out a bit stuttered. “Uhm y-yeah, easier said than done.”

He seemed to enjoy this reaction from you though. He bit at his lip slightly as he smiled, clearly in amusement form your response.

“My name’s Yoongi by the way,” He said suddenly, allowing you to turn your attention from his mouth and onto something that was appropriate.

“I’m Y/N.”

“Well, Y/N, I’ll let you get back to studying.” After that the boy you now knew as Yoongi leaned slightly over the tiny table to get a better look at the page you were on. “Looks like you’re on the skull. Just a tip, focus on the foramen and the openings. She’s obsessed with questions about contents. I know it’s a lot easier to start studying when you have something to focus on.”

“Yeah that does actually help. Thank you.” You flashed him a quick smile before turning your eyes down to your textbook. You found yourself taking Yoongi’s advice, focusing first on the contents of the openings in the skull — too bad there were about ten million fucking openings in the goddamn skull. And it was after about thirty minutes of just trying to memorize them straight from the textbook that you realized it just wasn’t working. It looked like those flashcards were going to come in handy after all.

You felt yourself about to reach for them on the edge of the table, but then you remembered something, causing you to hesitate. It was the way Yoongi’s eyes had locked onto the flashcards with insinuation earlier that made a chill run down your spine. You wanted to reach for them, but for some reason you felt self-conscious… But maybe you were being silly? Maybe it had just been coincidence? And besides that, you honestly didn’t have time to waste with wondering. Your test was in two days, you needed to focus on anatomy and not the possible things that this boy you had spoken less than ten sentences to could do with his mouth.

After a few moments to collect yourself and continuing to revel in your dramatics, you finally reached for the pack of flashcards. You couldn’t help but let your eyes wander to Yoongi’s face as you did so in order to gauge his reaction. But to your surprise there wasn’t one. His eyes kept themselves trained onto the pages of his textbook. Because of this you felt rather silly. See it wasn’t a big deal, you had just made it one. You felt yourself relax into the chair once more as you began to pick at the plastic surrounding the cards until it finally opened. You pulled out a couple from the stack and then readied yourself to start writing out all of the contents that you needed to know.

However, it was the second glance you spared him as your pen hit the paper (because his attractiveness was an obvious distraction for you) that you saw his crooked grin once more. His eyes met yours, but this time he didn’t pull away, instead he kept you locked in. You felt your breath catch in your throat for a second, until you finally just lost it at how completely insane this entire situation was, since clearly it was no longer a secret that both of you knew what was running through the other’s mind. You released the tiniest of laughs and a playful roll of your eyes as you began to tap the end of your pen against the flashcard, still not breaking eye contact.

“Need help with something?” Yoongi asked with a flirty smile, not even trying to hide his motivations now.

You couldn’t help but scoff at the blatancy, even though you knew that it was affecting you in the exact way that he was intending it to. “Do you offer help to everyone that sits across from you at the library?” You felt yourself lean over the table as you said the words, and Yoongi seemed to follow your lead, leaving the smallest of spaces between the two of you.

“Not at all,” He replied, confidence dripping past his lips. “Just you, honestly. You’re someone that looks like they need help focusing, who happens to have an unopened pack of flashcards that they seemed to have purchased for a certain reason. But please tell me if I’m wrong or if you’re just not interested. If that’s the case, then I’ll be happy to help you study in whatever… mundane way that you want. I’ll even spot you a coffee.”

Your face must have distorted into something of absolute disbelief, because Yoongi suddenly couldn’t control his laughter, putting his cute, gummy-smile back on display. But eventually you reined your expression back in as you let the madness of what was being offered to you settle in.

“Hmm, free coffee or oral… Tough choice, honestly,” You whispered across the table so that anyone close by wouldn’t hear.

At this Yoongi propped his arm onto the table and rested his head against his palm. “Well, since I know that anatomy struggle, I could also spot you some coffee regardless.”

“Wow, you must really wanna go down on me?” You asked, amused, and he simply shrugged as if to say, you’re not wrong. “Why the interest?”

“Do I have to have a big reason?” He asked, letting his hand fall back onto the table. “You’re cute, you need help on a test for a class I’ve taken… I’m just offering a friendly service.” He never stopped grinning at you in that crooked sort of way that made you feel like you were in the corner of some house party instead of the library.

“That’s it? With those standards you should give head to half the girls on campus then.”

“Well, half the girls on campus didn’t sit in front of me with a pack of flashcards meant for something a little less than academic, now did they? Plus, you’ve just looked really cute sighing at your textbook for the past thirty minutes.”

“Thanks, dickhead,” You scoffed playfully. “Glad my suffering is cute to you.”

“It’s very cute,” He mused. “But how about this? You don’t actually have any flashcards done, but lucky for you I remember the contents of the skull, so I can quiz you anyways. Wanna do a practice round.”

Your brows furrowed in confusion, but admittedly it piqued your interest. “Practice round? Don’t exactly think you’re brave enough to lay me out on this table and just go for it in the middle of the library.”

“Wanna see if that’s true?” He asked, a certain fire flaring across his eyes. It sent a swirl of arousal through your lower stomach, but you quickly pulled it back in.  

“Maybe another time. So what’s this practice round all about?”

Your question had him moving his chair closer to the table, in fact it had him moving as close as he possibly could, with his stomach now pressed completely against the wooden edge.

“I’m gonna ask you a question, and please feel free to say no, okay?” He whispered, once again leaning over the table.

“Okay,” You nodded with a bit of excitement.

You watched as Yoongi looked from side to side to make sure that there was no one close by. Everyone around you was a good enough distance away that they couldn’t hear what you were saying, and those that were walking past your table seemed to be doing so quickly enough that they wouldn’t be able to catch anything either.

“Can I touch you?” He finally asked, his whisper turning huskier.

Your eyes widened, lust building. “H-here?”

“No one will be able to see, promise. But if you don’t want to, that’s totally okay too.”

The thud of your heart was beating with a dangerous mix of nerves and exhilaration as the words settled between the two of you. “Like… Touch how?” You finally asked after a couple of seconds of mulling it over.

“Just over your pants. If you move your chair closer our knees will be touching. No way anyone will see anything.”

You sighed, smiling because you know that you really shouldn’t do this, but the answer has already been decided by the wetness between your thighs.

“Why’re you tempting me like this? I just met you. I don’t even know your last name, and I’m about to let you basically finger me in a goddamn library.”

“Would knowing my last name make you feel less guilty?” He chuckled.

“Maybe?”

“It’s Min. My major is audio engineering. I’m a senior, graduating in spring. Let’s see… I love rap music. I have a dog named Holly… Any other random facts you’d like to know?”

Somewhere in that rambling sentence of just listening to him speak about himself, your chair was already pushing itself closer to the edge of the table until your knees were clashing with Yoongi’s beneath it. “How about how fast you can make me cum?” You asked boldly, your hesitance turning to dust the second his hand found its way on top of your thigh.

“Wow, someone’s not as shy as they let on.” Yoongi tongued along the top of his teeth as he broke out into a grin. “Well, if we were talking normal circumstances I’d say quicker than you’d probably want, but since this is a game about what you know, then I can’t really say.”

“I literally met you an hour ago…” You trailed off, throwing your hands into your face to hide the embarrassment. “Gahh, I can’t believe I’m about to do this!”

“You know this is only making you cuter, right?” You heard him say, your face still covered. “But really, if you’re uncomfortable then we don’t have to.” You felt your hands suddenly being pulled from your face, and Yoongi appeared with a look of sincerity.

“No, that’s the thing. I really want to, even though I know I shouldn’t.” You sighed, dropping your head onto your textbook. “Why do you have to be so hot? It’s not fair.”

“Oh, so you’re just using me for my good looks then?”

“Don’t forget about your brain,” You said. After all you were only considering this because he had taken anatomy… Yeah, totally no other reason.

“Ah, glad my intellect hasn’t been overshadowed by the things you’re picturing my mouth and hands doing to you right now.” You bit at your lip to try and stifle the grin that threatened to split across your face, and Yoongi seemed highly amused with your failed attempt.

After that you let a few moments of silence settle between the two of you. You tapped your fingers across the wooden part of the table, heavy sighs of contemplation coming one after another. But Yoongi didn’t seem to be impatient at all. He simply continued to sit across from you, the slightest upward quirk laying at the corner of his mouth as he waited for your permission to start this game.

So finally, with one final sigh that rivaled all of those that came before it, you decided it was time to begin.

“Fine. First question.”

Yoongi’s grin splintered further at this. “You sure?”

“Yes. First question, please?”

“Okay,” He started, and then suddenly you felt the hand that had been resting on your knee for the better part of ten minutes began to move along the inside of your bare thigh. You thanked yourself heavily for wearing the loosest of jogging shorts today. “I’ll start off with an easy one.”

You simply nodded, too afraid that your voice would break if you tried to speak.

“Contents of the hypoglossal canal?” He asked the question as he leaned closer into the table, his eyes turning darker, more carnal.

“Hypoglossal nerve.” You answered quickly, breath stalling in your throat as his fingers pressed further into your skin.

“Good,” He whispered, something sweet in his voice. “But just relax, okay?”

His hand didn’t move, and you could tell it was because he was waiting for your limbs to lose some of their tension. You nodded, taking in a deep breath as you let yourself sink more freely into the chair, before reaching beneath the table to place your hand on top of Yoongi’s.

“My first reward, please?” You said, finally pushing any source of hesitance from your voice.

Yoongi’s grip tightened suddenly, his expression shifting. “Yes, ma’am,” He said, allowing his hand to finally roam.

Your resulted gasp was as silent as you could possibly manage. So deliberate, confident and precise, Yoongi felt his way slowly along the thinness of your shorts. He watched your expression carefully as he searched for the place that would make your blood run hot. He didn’t seem to be in a rush, however, just exploring at his leisure, taking in every twitch that he could illicit from you. But in the end, it was the timely flinch of your knee against his own beneath the table that tipped him off.

“Here?” He asked, smirking now that he had his thumb pressed against something that could cause you to scream out if he applied the proper stimulation. You nodded, bringing your hand up to rest your head against it, but also to have a quick way to muffle any noises that you couldn’t manage to subdue at any time during this… study session. “Okay, what number cranial nerve is that?” He asked, after finally pausing his movements, leaving his hand to rest against your hip with him thumb still snuggly pressed in place.

“Uh… t-twelve.”

“Correct.”

You watched as Yoongi let his other hand slip beneath the table until you felt it rest along the top of one of your knees. Thankfully he seemed to do this with purpose, because the second his thumb caressed along your center one more, your leg twitched, almost slamming itself into the top of the table if not for him applying pressure to keep it anchored to the ground.

“Sorry,” You breathed out in a rushed apology.

“You’re good,” He said as he continued to rub against your shorts. You could already feel the wetness beginning to cling to them, and there’s no doubt that Yoongi could feel it as well. “I’ve got you. Just focus on the answers, okay?”

“Okay.” You didn’t manage a response until he finally stilled, giving you a second to inhale the breath that you hadn’t realized was lodged statically in your throat.  

“Next question: contents of foramen rotundum?”

You actually knew this one as well, but it seemed that Yoongi was intentionally giving you the easy ones since it was highly apparent that you had only been half-studying this entire time, while the other had been completely focused on him.

“Maxillary nerve.”

His expression was stoic as he began his movements once more. You supposed that one of you needed to look that way. After all, you most certainly weren’t exactly doing a great job of being discreet. Your nails dug into the table, your bottom lip indented with the harsh tug of your teeth, your feet pawing at the carpet with each motion of Yoongi’s fingers.

However, even with all of this happening… It didn’t feel like enough. It already felt so nice through your shorts, so you couldn’t help but imagine what it would be like without anything holding him back. Picturing each swipe of his finger over your bare clit was enough to have you biting at the palm of your hand.

“Next question?” He asked, relaxing his hand against you in order to relieve the pressure.

“Yes, but…” You trailed off, not entirely sure of how to ask for what you wanted.

“But? Do you want me to stop?” He sounded concerned, and you could already feel him starting to pull his hand away. But you quickly reached beneath the table, wrapping your hand around his wrist, keeping him in place.

“No, please don’t stop.” This sounded a bit whinier than you had intended, but Yoongi seemed to appreciate it greatly. His expression was smug, and for some reason you found that it made the entire experience more thrilling.

“Tell me what you want then.” His voice was deeper as he said this. And once you again you were consumed with this strange sense of familiarity it. But just as you had decided before, you couldn’t pinpoint it, and you were a bit too busy at the moment to dwell on it.

“Uhm, can I just show you?” You asked, in the tiniest of whispers, but with the way Yoongi’s eyes lit up with intrigue, you knew that he had heard you perfectly clear.

“I have a feeling I already know what it is, but just to save myself from being presumptuous…” He trailed off, and you felt his hand fall limp against your hip. “Show the way.” And so, with your hand still wrapped firmly around Yoongi’s wrist, you urged him further until his touch was guided inside the leg of your shorts, and well, he didn’t need much more direction after that, and your reaction perfectly showed that.

“Yoon—" You quickly slapped your hand over your mouth as Yoongi wasted no name pushing the barrier of your panties to the side, his touch spreading your abundant slickness around with ease. “I-I didn’t even answer the question yet.”

“It’s a freebie,” He grinned, letting his hand fall away slightly. “And seeing how wet you are I don’t think you exactly mind.”

You breathed a sigh of relief. “You’d be correct.”

“Then let’s keep going. What cranial nerve is the maxillary nerve a branch of?”

“Uhm… what was that mnemonic again?” You asked, sliding further into your chair and by consequence (or reward) further into Yoongi’s grasp. “Oh, Oh, Oh, To Touch And Feel Velvet… or something… Olfactory, Optic, Oculomotor, Trochlear — Trigeminal! …Right?”

“It’s To Touch And Feel Very Good Velvet Ah Heaven. But yeah, that’s right,” He chuckled. “But I’ve always found that the one about To Touch And Feel A Girl’s Vagina Ah Heaven, is a lot easier to remember.”

You had never rolled your eyes so fiercely yet amusedly at the same time. “Jesus Christ, are you really making that joke when—” Suddenly the pad of his thumb was pressing down along your heat, the words dissipating on your tongue.

“You were saying?”

“P-prick.”

He shrugged. “Been called worse.”

“Oh, you’re saying someone who offers sexual services to random people they meet at the library has a bit of an edgy side? Shocking.”

“Quite edgy, actually.” You both managed a laugh at this, as his motions against your center had ceased. “Next question?”

“Yup.”

“Let’s see…” Yoongi trailed off, squinting his eyes as he pondered another question. It was in this moment of hesitation that you finally got another moment to just look at him. The way his feline eyes remained so calm as he searched for something to ask you. The fringe of his hair settling outside of his beanie. He looked so casual, as if he wasn’t sitting across from you with his hand down your pants.

“What, hotshot, out of questions already?”

“Looks like someone’s just eager for me to touch them again. See how productive this game can make you?” Yes, you most certainly could see it. In fact, your legs were already starting to twitch in anticipation for the question, which thankfully came soon after. “Contents of the foramen lacerum? Go.”

Shit. “Uhm…”

“Oh, that’s too bad.” Yoongi’s expression turned smug, his hand suddenly pulling itself from your shorts, making the most embarrassing of whines leave your throat.

“Next question?” You said, eagerness taking its grip around you.

“Contents of foramen ovale?” He asked this question with a smile, probably because he knew you had no idea.

“Would it be safe to say that, that’s as far as you got in your studies? Mind was too busy thinking about… other things the entire time you’ve been here?”

“C’mon, you can’t just leave me like this.” Your voice was high-pitched and more on the pleading side, which normally would’ve stricken you with embarrassment, but thinking about his fingers on you again had your pride taking a temporary backseat.

“If I touched you even when you didn’t know the answer, then the game wouldn’t work, now would it?”

You pouted, brows furrowing, because of course you knew that he was right… but it didn’t mean you were happy about it. You let your head fall to land in your textbook, hoping that maybe you would just gain the information through osmosis instead. You heard Yoongi’s laughter ringing from above, and you simply grunted in annoyance as you turned to look at him.

“You’re mean.”

“Helping you study and fingering you is mean?”

“Okay, you’re like… a quarter mean.”

“Wow, I’d say three-fourths nice is a pretty good achievement.”

“Wouldn’t you rather be completely nice?” You asked, a bit of hope.

“That’s no fun,” He smirked. You groaned at this, burying your face further into the textbook. What the hell were you supposed to do now? Thankfully you weren’t spiraling in this self-pity for long, however, before Yoongi proposed something. “C’mon, let’s go.”

“What?” You asked, clearly confused as you lifted your head to face him. “Where are you trying to go?”

“I offered coffee, remember?” He was already standing up, shoving his things into his backpack. “And I’m going to help you actually study. No distractions… Well, not until you’re ready to be quizzed again at least.”

“Really? You’ll help me?”

His brows furrowed as he managed a laugh. “What do you think I’ve been doing this entire time?”

“I meant in a way that wasn’t… sexual,” You whispered up at him.

“Yes, I promise. The tables at the coffee shop aren’t nearly as spaced out as these. But if you’d like to try, I’m—”

“I’m good,” You giggled, standing up to playfully bat him across the chest. “Seriously though, thanks for doing this… All of this, I guess.” You could feel your face heating up, which you then thought was rather silly considering everything that just happened between the two of you in such a short span of time.

“Don’t thank me until you’ve passed.” Yoongi rounded the table to join you on the other side. His smile was warm as he pressed his hand into your lower back, ushering you to follow in his stride. “But c’mon, time for you to learn what’s in that pretty head of yours.”

﹍﹎ ﹍﹎ ﹍﹎

“Why are there so many goddamn openings in our heads with so much shit running through all of them?”

“Makes us the high-functioning organisms that we are, so we can in fact question why we have so many goddamn openings in our heads with so much shit running through them.”

You sighed. “Do you have to be so… Level-headed? Can’t you mope with me?”

“Moping is for people who don’t know the contents of the foramen lacerum. Which I do, and you don’t, so my side of the table is unfortunately a no moping zone.” Yoongi simply smiled at your annoyed squint and the pout of your lip. “C’mon, keep studying.”

“Fine,” You sighed, exasperated, as you returned to making your flashcards.

Yoongi ended up taking you to a café located across the street from your campus. It was one that you had never actually been to before, but it was nice, nonetheless. The wooden interior gave it a quaint and homey vibe that allowed you to feel a bit more at ease. Paintings and tapestries hung along the walls, all while the smell of coffee and freshly baked pastries wafted through the air.

The two of you had been here for only twenty minutes or so, but Yoongi was already pestering you to focus. Normally these pressures from friends or others wouldn’t do anything to help tighten your attention span, but a certain promise from Yoongi involving another round of ‘quizzing’ you tomorrow at his apartment helped to fuel your desire to absorb all of this information as quickly as possible. However, even with this newfound motivation, you couldn’t help yourself from taking little breaks here or there. Every couple of minutes or so after searing a new fact into your mind, you would allow yourself a moment to glance at Yoongi, who had also returned to studying.  

You watched the way he bit his bottom lip in concentration as he studied the pages. His fingers skimmed down the textbook as he followed along in order to work through the problem that he had started in his notebook. It was quite amusing actually, seeing him so serious after he had been so playful and teasing earlier. You weren’t sure how long you went on like this, just studying his face as a means of distraction. But it seemed that Yoongi was more perceptive of your actions than you realized because he was suddenly locking eyes with you, a knowing look shining off of them.

“Like something you see?”

“Let’s not pretend like you don’t already know that.”

“How could I not?” He asked, an amused smile playing on his lips. “You’ve been staring at me for the past ten minutes instead of studying. You know the game isn’t gonna go much better than last time if you still don’t know anything.”

You groaned at this, only because you knew he was right of course. “I know, I know—” You started to say, but fell off when your waitress suddenly appeared next to your table, coffees in hand.

“So sorry for the wait,” She said, placing the steaming cups down in front of you.

“No, you’re fine,” You assured her. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome. Please let me know if you guys need anything else.”

You nodded, and then watched as she went to tend to her other tables.

“Think you’ll be able to focus now?” Yoongi asked once you turned your attention back to him.

“Yeah, I’m sorry that I’m being like this,” You said, bringing your coffee up to your lips to blow cooling breaths over it. “I’m usually a lot better focused.”

“No, you’re fine. Sometimes when you know you have a ton of shit to learn, your brain just shuts off before it even has to start.”

“Exactly,” You said before taking a sip of your coffee. “—Gah, bitter.” Your face scrunched up at the unexpected taste, and Yoongi simply laughed at your misery.

“Bitter’s best,” He said, following your lead and taking a sip but seeming to enjoy it a great deal more.

“You’re crazy,” You said as you reached for the packets of sugar sitting on your table. “Sugar?” You asked, offering a packet to him. It was a simple enough gesture, but you watched as his eyes widened suddenly, and he choked on his drink, causing coffee to spill down the sides of his mouth “Oh my god, are you okay?” You reached across the table to pat him on the shoulder, waiting for his coughing to calm.

“Yeah, I’m good,” He said, but he was still coughing a bit.

“Geez, don’t die on me now,” You joked as you grabbed a few napkins to give to him. “You’re my motivator. Can’t have you choking to death.”

After wiping at the coffee that had spilled, he seemed to return to normal. A cheeky smile plastered across his face as he returned his sights to you, eyes shining playfully. “Glad that my body is so… motivating for you.”

“Very,” You said, deciding to indulge him. “But if you’ll excuse me, I have to get back to studying now.”

“Oh, now you wanna study?”

“Gotta be ready for round two of my study session with you tomorrow, right? And who knows, maybe I’ll even help you out.” You shot Yoongi a playful wink before returning your attentions back down to your textbook, but not before seeing the intrigue flash across his eyes. “If you’re interested that is,” You said as you began to thumb along the pages.

“Quite interested,” You heard him whisper, a smile clearly heard in his voice.

﹍﹎ ﹍﹎ ﹍﹎

“Fuck okay, what else…” Yoongi trailed off as he kissed his way down the inside of your thigh, sweat dripping down his temple, anticipation for his return to your swollen heat keeping you perfectly paralyzed against his bed sheets. “Contents of the foramen spinosum?”

“Middle meningeal artery and vein, and uhm… the middle meningeal branch of the mandibular nerve.”

You sighed in relief, thankful that you weren’t going to be denied as you had a few times already since this session had begun. You had spent the entirety of yesterday studying and preparing and cramming as much information as you possibly could into your head, so that when you woke the next day and drove to the address that Yoongi had texted you once the two of you had parted ways at the coffee shop, you would be ready for anything that he threw your way. However, still you had already encountered a few inquiries from your stack of flashcards placed carefully next to the two of you, that had slipped your mind. But even with that being said, you were still much more knowledgeable than yesterday, meaning you were being rewarded much, much more.

“Ngh!” Yoongi gave you no warning as he pressed forward, his lips wrapping around and finding their way to your clit with ease. This had already been going on for some time, the slow and steady build of your orgasm rising and rising with each question, only for its fire to be extinguished every time Yoongi pulled away. And this time was certainly no exception as your fingers tugged through his hair as he receded from your center, arousal dripping from his slyly poised lips.

“Mad?” He teased, one hand gliding down your calf as the other grabbed for a flashcard.

“Not mad,” You huffed. “Just frustrated. I could’ve came like twenty minutes ago if you would just keep going.”

“I’m aware,” He chuckled as he leaned over to kiss you. “But if I just let you cum then you wouldn’t have much of an incentive to get the answer right. For example, I bet you’re not gonna forget the contents of the foramen lacerum now that you didn’t get what you want for not knowing it?”

He tilted his head at you in a way that told you to show him that he was right. You rolled your eyes, pouting, but with the correct answer already bubbling to the surface. “Internal carotid artery and internal carotid nerve plexus. Happy?”

“Yeah, and you should be too,” He whispered, nipping at the side of you neck, consequently pulling a sharp inhale towards your lungs. “You got it right. And what happens in this game when you get things right?” You watched his eyes turn dark as he made his way back down your body, head resting between your legs.

“Oh, g-god,” You stuttered, head collapsing back against the bed as Yoongi’s tongue began to caress against your wetness once more. “Just a little bit longer than the other ones, please?” You sounded high-pitched and wrecked, and it was for this reason that he seemed to oblige you. The usual couple of seconds that he had been giving you this entire time for a correct answer turned longer, more deliberate and concentrated as you began to ride your hips against his face. The breath rattled from your throat as you urged him forward by his hair, his satisfied groans making the building pressure in your stomach flare wildly. “I — Yoongi, I’m—” Your words sounded strangled as the pleasure made it difficult for you to string together a coherent sentence. But much to your dismay, that ability was returned to you all too quickly as Yoongi broke away.

“Better?”

You shook your head from side to side. “You don’t understand how close I am.”

“Trust me, I know.” He felt his way down your thighs as if to comfort you a bit, but you didn’t miss the look of pure amusement on his face as he did so.

“Just ask me another damn question.”

He simply grinned to himself as he grabbed for another flashcard. “Contents of the internal acoustic meatus?”

“Internal acoustic meatus? Okay that’s cranial nerve… seven?” You looked up at Yoongi for confirmation who gave you a small nod, but gave a motion to let you know that there was more. “Fuck, what is it? Cranial nerve seven…” You trailed off, bringing your hands up to your temples to try and knead the information out of the recesses of your brain.

“Ah, too bad. Looks like that one’s a bust.”

“Wait!” You exclaimed, grabbing Yoongi’s wrist before he could place the card in the pile of ones that you had gotten wrong. Which to your credit, honestly wasn’t many. But it still pained you seeing a tangible version of all that you could’ve had. “Just give me a second. Internal acoustic meatus: cranial nerve seven… and eight?” You paused, looking to Yoongi for confirmation, which he gave.

“Still one more.”

“One more?” You huffed in defeat because you were perfectly aware that you didn’t know it. “Fuck, whatever, just tell me.”

“Labrynthine artery.”

“What a stupid fucking name for an artery.”

Yoongi snorted in amusement at your clearly escalating frustrations. “Could be said for a lot of medical terminologies,” He said, setting the card down onto the bed. “Probably why I couldn’t keep with it.”

“Yeah, who knows, maybe I’ll be an audio engineer with you next semester.”

“I certainly wouldn’t mind that. Then I’d be studying even when I’m the one doing the giving.”

You smiled. “Yeah, wouldn’t that work out perfectly.”

“Too bad we didn’t take this class together. I’m sure you’d have so much fun edging me.”

“What do you mean?” You asked, brows furrowing. “I’m still going to have fun edging you. You have a test coming up too, right?”

“Shit, maybe I should be nicer to you then.” You both laughed as he leaned over to place soft pecks against the center of your chest as if to smooth over everything. “Ready for the last one?”

“One condition,” You said, running your fingers through the locks of his hair.

“What’s that?” He whispered as he nosed along the side of your face.

“If I get it right then you can’t stop until I cum.”

His motions paused as he brought his head back to look at you. “Rules are you have to get them all. We still have to go through the stack of ones that you got wrong.” He said this, yet you could see the tiniest break in his resolve as he bit contemplatively at his lip.

“Fine, decide after the question — which I will be getting right.”

“Ah, love the confidence.” He leaned back, picking up the final card. “Well I’d hope that you’d get this one right. Contents of the posterior ethmoidal foramen?”

“Thank fuck,” You sighed, already shifting on the bed in anticipation. “Ethmoidal artery, vein and nerve.”

“Correct.” You watched the way Yoongi’s lips tilted mischievously as he readied himself to position himself back between your legs, but before he could you cupped the side of his face, momentarily keeping him in place.

“Please?” You voice was barely that of a whisper, soft as you gave him one final, pleading glance. You could practically see his resolution fade into oblivion. His mouth parted slightly, pupils quaking as he stared back at you. You watched the way his throat bobbed as he swallowed his tenacity down, leaving room for your needs to settle in its place.

Yoongi’s eyes tore down your face, carving a certain animalistic aura into the air. Suddenly his lips were on yours, fiercer than any encounter that you had shared thus far. It made the fading ache in your belly return with full force. His hands pressed hot into your sides as you scratched your nails down his back, desire brimming from both of you until it spilled over in an almost primal craving for one another. Suddenly you felt yourself being flipped over, now straddling his thighs. The change in position was surprising but certainly welcomed. You could now see the way Yoongi’s bare chest flared with each and every breath, his eyes glimmering with lust that rivaled your own.

“C’mere,” He breathed, reaching up to cup your face, urging you back to him. Your tongue parted his lips, encouraging him to take more as the two of you seemingly couldn’t get close enough to each other. He gently teethed down the side of your jaw as your hips began to grind into his hardened cock that was pressing firmly through his pants.

“Fuck, I—” You tried to say.

“—Ride my face.”

Your eyes widened as Yoongi whispered the words against your mouth, the sudden thrill sending a new wave of yearning through your blood. “Really?” You finally responded, almost in disbelief.

“You did good today,” He said, bringing you in for a brief kiss. “Wanna let you cum.”

You felt your skin shiver as the words fanned across your lips.

“Fuck, yes,” Was all you could manage before you were sitting up and placing your knees on either side of Yoongi’s face.

You watched the way he stared up at your dripping heat, hunger lining his eyes as a shaky breath left his chest. “C’mere, baby,” He sighed as his hands found their way to your hips and wasted no time pulling them down to connect his mouth to your wetness.

“Ngh — Yoongi!” You yelled out before you could stop yourself, hands clamoring for balance against the headboard as Yoongi already had his tongue circling your clit. His hands kept you steady, however, his fingers dug into your hips as he urged you to rock against his face. “You’re so g-good.”

The praise had Yoongi groaning and loosening his hold on you. When you tilted your head to the side, you found that he was pushing his pants and boxers down his thighs. His cock was swollen and red as it slapped back against his stomach, and your breath was ragged as you watched him wrap his hand around himself, thumb sliding against the tip.

Seeing him pleasure himself as he relentlessly attended to your aching center made a burning hotness clamor inside of you. Suddenly you were reaching back, curling your fingers around his member so you could take over for him. You felt his breathy sigh against your heat as you began to pump his length. His hand fell on top of yours, tightening your grip to show you the pressure and motion that he liked. “F-fuck, yeah, just like that,” He stuttered once you got it, his hands returning to your hips, guiding you as he rode you along the flat of his tongue.

And you both just kept going like this, basking in the pleasure as your highs were brought closer and closer to their end. Though for you, since you had been on the brink of your orgasm for some time now, it started building much quicker than you had anticipated, now that Yoongi wasn’t holding back.

You felt your stomach start to tighten as the pressure readied itself to snap. Your breath seemingly caught in your throat as the hand not occupied with Yoongi’s cock, reached down to thread itself into his hair.

“Gonna c-cum,” You whispered, voice breaking to pieces as he painted slow but perfect strokes of his tongue against your center.

The sudden release of your high splintered throughout your body, sending shivers down your thighs. You released your grip on Yoongi’s cock as you fell forward, taking hold of the headboard once more to steady your shaking limbs. He didn’t seem to mind, however. He simply picked up where you left off, stroking himself along, all while he continued to lap victoriously at his accomplishments as it ran down your thighs, not stopping until you were pushing him away with overstimulation.

You peered down between your legs, meeting his gaze. It sent another crash of lust through you, staring at his swollen lips and his pupils blown out so wide. You watched as he hissed in pleasure beneath you, and you turned slightly to see that he was still stroking himself along. You were going to offer to finish him, but before you could find the energy to even say the words he was already offering his own resolution.

“Can I cum on your back?” He asked, voice raspy. “Feel free to say no—”

“—Yes.”

You were already moving down, straddling his stomach as you tilted your head to see him start to thrust into his fist. Your brows furrowed, mouth falling slack as you watched him milk himself towards his orgasm much more vigorously now that he had your permission. But the lowly grunts that you could hear beginning to build in his throat made you turn to face him once again. Your breath stuttered in your lungs as you took in the way his neck was bared back, messy bed-head fanning out across the pillow.

“Yeah, keep looking at me,” He hissed out between clenched teeth, his grip finding its way onto your thigh for something to hold onto. Your hand found his way on top of his, squeezing as you felt his stomach start to tense up beneath you as he got closer to reaching his end. “Fuck, Y/N.”

He didn’t last much longer after that, and you marveled as his face contorted in pleasure upon finding his release. It was in that same moment that you gasped at the feeling of his cum suddenly hitting the center of your back. You shivered at the feeling, glancing down to see the heavy rise and fall of Yoongi’s chest as the warmth of his release began to dribble down your skin.

“Here,” Yoongi huffed, guiding you to lay on your stomach next to him. “I’ll get a towel.”

You simply nodded at him before collapsing your head against the bed, mind hazy and exhausted. You honestly could’ve fallen asleep right there, shrouded in the scent of yours and Yoongi’s time together. It was nice for some reason, peaceful even. And this strange feeling only grew further as you felt Yoongi wipe the towel against your back, erasing the path of his seed.

“Thanks,” You mumbled.

“No problem,” He replied after setting the towel down and running his palm down your newly cleaned skin. “Got a bit ahead of ourselves, didn’t we?”

“Happy we did. I needed that.” You smiled, rolling over to cuddle into his side.

“Glad I could be of some assistance,” He chuckled.

You both just laid like that for a while, not saying anything specific, just pointless rambling. But again, it just felt nice. You watched the way his gums appeared anytime he found something particularly endearing, and the way his lips would droop at the corners anytime it wasn’t his turn to speak. You found that there were a lot of things to notice about Min Yoongi in those moments of just laying next to him, allowing your mind not to be shadowed by the stresses of—

“My test,” You groaned as you sat up, because the shadow returned almost as quickly as you had pushed it away, and now it was clouding your mind with guilt of wasting such precious study time. “I gotta go.”

You watched the corners of his mouth transform into a pout as you got off of the bed to pull on your clothes that were scattered across the floor. Once you were finally dressed, he joined your side, trusty flashcards in hand.

“You know all of these. You’re gonna do great.” He said, pressing them into your hand.

You smiled, the gesture making something kick wildly in your chest. “Thanks, Yoongi.”

“Let me know how the test goes tomorrow, okay?” He said as he led you to the doorway.

“If it goes well I’ll let you know. If you don’t hear from me it’s because I’m contemplating becoming an audio engineer.”

Yoongi split into a grin as he backed you up against the wall next to the door. “Well, I’d certainly be okay with helping you study for those classes as well.” And then he was kissing you, the gentlest kiss that the two of you had shared, in fact. It was brief, nothing extra, just the soft press of his lips against yours before he was pulling away.

“Are you secretly hoping I fail now?” You asked jokingly as you reached up to toy with a strand of his hair that was sticking up.

“I would never,” He chuckled as he softly thumbed along your jaw.

The motion felt oddly… right. As if he had done that to you a thousand times. Those types of thoughts were dangerous of course, so you pushed it into a dusty corner of your mind as soon as you registered it. Plus, you had the feeling that if you dwelled in his apartment any longer things would escalate once again, and you still had a ton of things to study for.

“Well, I gotta get outta here,” You said after a few moments.

He seemed to sigh in what you could only describe as disappointment, which admittedly made you feel a bit giddy.

“Okay,” He said, reaching to open the door for you. “Really though, let me know how it goes, yeah?”

“I will,” You smiled, leaning over to give him a quick peck on the lips before stepping over the threshold. “Bye, Yoongi.”

﹍﹎ ﹍﹎ ﹍﹎

“Finally,” You huffed to yourself as you made your way into your room, wasting no time in throwing your things to the side and laying out face first on your bed. With relief and comfort now wrapped around you, you pulled your phone from your pocket, allowing yourself to just enjoy some leisure time now that you didn’t have any tests looming over your head.

It had been two days since your study session with Yoongi and one day since your test. Yesterday after you got home from anatomy, you sent a very brief text to Yoongi, telling him that you thought the test had gone okay, before immediately knocking out and not waking up until you had to leave for class this morning. Since then you guys had been texting casually, nothing too serious, just some heavy flirtation as you tried to distract yourself from checking to see if your grade had been posted every five minutes.

However, it was as if fate knew that needed something more to keep you occupied, because as you were continuing to casually scroll through your phone, a certain notification appeared across the screen: mixtape episode 9 has just been released

“Yes!” You said aloud as you quickly reached for your backpack to retrieve your headphones. Wasting no time, you shoved them into your ears as you pressed down on the notification to take you straight to the episode. The familiar opening danced through your headphones almost immediately.  

“Hello, welcome back to mixtape!” Jay began as enthusiastic as always. “We have a very exciting topic today. Sugar, would you like to remind everyone what it is?”

You heard a heavy sigh filter through the mic. And in hindsight, you should have realized right in that first heady breath why it was so exhilarating, but you decided to let the strangeness linger in the recesses of your head.  

“Today’s topic is…” He trailed off, letting a moment of silence fall between them. “Oh, you’re not gonna interrupt today?” Sugar asked, surprised.

“What can I say? I’ve changed my ways.”

“Uhuh, whatever you say, champ.” Clearly, he was skeptical. “But anyways, today’s topic is—”

“—Sex!”

“Jesus,” You heard him whisper to himself, but you could somehow tell that it was in amusement rather than annoyance. “Why’re you like this?”

“What you get for not believing me,” Jay replied. “But anyways, since no one wants to hear us argue, let’s start with… I don’t know, where do you want to start?”

“Probably the protection part,” Sugar offered.

“Oh yeah. Well, I’m sure you all know this but there’s condoms all over campus. They’re literally free, so there’s like no excuse.”

“They’re at the health center, the gym. Take advantage of all that shit your tuition’s going to, people.”

“Yeah, trust me, you don’t wanna be in that rapid STD testing line at the end of the semester. It’s the most nerve-wracking, suffocating room that you’ll ever be in.”

“Well, you should still get tested every once in a while anyways. But yeah, if you don’t wanna feel like you’re gonna vomit on the floor while you wait, then yeah.”

“You would know,” Jay giggled across the mic.

“This is true,” Sugar admitted. “Freshman mistakes, my friends. But guess who always has a condom on them now?”

“Good to know.”

“But anyways, now that we’ve got that PSA out of the way.”

“Yup, protection, protection, protection,” Jay rattled off the mantra. “Okay, I have something to ask, because I’m genuinely curious since I don’t think we’ve ever talked about this.”

“Oh god, now I’m nervous,” Sugar chuckled, and once you again you felt this strange wave of something wash over you.

You weren’t even sure what the actual feeling itself was. Unease? No, that wasn’t right. Maybe nerves? Maybe you were just projecting your anxiety about your test onto everything. Yeah, maybe that was it.

“Where’s the weirdest place you’ve had sex?” Jay asked, which most certainly caused your attention to be turned back to the podcast.

“Hm,” Sugar hummed as he seemed to ponder the question. “Honestly, I don’t think I have one. Maybe it makes me boring, but I much prefer not being in positions where someone can get a snapshot of my bare ass out in public… Or get arrested for that matter — you know all about that, right, Jay?”

“Really?” Jay scoffed. “You’re gonna bring that up? And for the record, me and that girl were not arrested. We were almost arrested.”

“Because that makes it so much better?”

“I mean in the eyes of the future employers that I’ll be filling job applications out for, yeah.”

“True, but I guess we should explain what the hell we’re even talking about,” Sugar proposed, before continuing. “Basically, Jay here, met a girl at some party that his frat was throwing, and they decided that it would be fun to have sex outside near the bushes and trees, where literally anyone could pass by, which ended up including the cops.”

“Okay first of all,” Jay started, and you could hear him shifting in his seat. “She was the one who said she wanted to have sex in nature or some shit, and obviously I was like what the fuck at first, so I tried telling her how my bedframe was made of wood and wasn’t that nature-y enough, and she said no that wasn’t good enough, and so I just…”

“You just what?” Sugar asked, clearly trying to control his laughter.

“Fine, I’m weak as hell so I agreed, and then we got caught by the cops and ran for our fucking lives, half naked across campus.”

“Riveting.”

“Fuck off.”

“Hey, you expose me on here all the time, had to get a little payback.”

“I guess,” Jay sighed, accepting Sugar’s reasoning.

After that the two men delved into numerous topics involving college sex life. From flippant things such as unrealistic movie portrayals, to all important topics like consent. If was always fascinating to just listen to them speak about things so openly. It let you just forget about stresses for the thirty odd minutes that they spoke for every week. But eventually the conversation did start to wind down, eventually breaking off into tangents here and there. But as you had said before, you didn’t mind this. It was actually really nice to hear how well they riffed off of one another.

And it was at this point, where their talk turned more natural… that the underlying feeling of that certain something returned. It was just something about the way Sugar’s breath hit the mic or the way his laughter bounced through your earbuds. It had always affected you to some degree since you had developed somewhat of an infatuation towards this man with an alias so sweet. But there was something different about this time, something more intense drawing you in.

“Okay, we’re getting to that point where we’re completely off topic, so I guess we should stop here,” Sugar said after he and Jay finished a mini-debate on what the best X-Men superpower was.

“You’re just saying that because you know I’m right, and that Mystique has the best superpower, but whatever.”

“It’s definitely being a telepath, but I’ll let you continue on in this wrong way of life that you’ve chosen to follow.”

“Whatever,” Jay sighed. “But yeah, any closing comments, Sugar?”

“Uhm, not really…” He trailed off, and there was a momentary pause that caused the podcast to have a beat of silence that wasn’t often heard. It made your brows furrow as you waited for him to continue, his slow and steady breath suddenly returning to the microphone, leading a chill down your spine in its wake before he continued. “Just… Just good luck to everyone on their tests and stuff this week,” He paused once more. “…Anatomy or whatever.”

That was when it clicked for you of course, when he had to so obviously spell it out.

“I — are you fucking kidding me!?” You yelled as you ripped your headphones out. Your heart was thundering violently against your chest as everything started to replay itself inside of your head. The breaths, the laughter, the words, the voice. That strange familiarity that you had written off as nothing at the library when you had first heard him speak. The weird vibe that you just couldn’t shake when the podcast started and his breathy sigh sounded so much more lively than it ever had before.

Suddenly that something emotion that you hadn’t been able to pinpoint as it pressed against your chest dissolved. That airy warmth that had been bubbling in the pit of your stomach every time that he had laughed this episode, it was all replaced by you feeling like a complete idiot for not realizing something so obvious that had been right in front of your face and literally playing through your ears.  

Before you knew it, you were out of bed, car keys already being grabbed off of your dresser. “This kid,” You whispered, a grin plastered across your face.

Your fist came down on the door, some sort of adrenaline running through you as you waited for him to answer. How could you not have seen it? —Or perhaps heard was a more accurate term. But you weren’t mad that he hadn’t told you even though he clearly knew that you were a fan of mixtape. You were simply stunned that you hadn’t realized who he was sooner. You had heard his voice, laughter… everything, filter through your headphones a million times and yet you didn’t even notice when he was right in front of you.

And then suddenly he was again. The door opened, and there he was, not seeming surprised in the slightest to see you.

“Y/N,” Yoongi started, smiling as he pulled you inside his apartment. “You… heard I’m assuming?”

“Hm, I don’t know, should I call you Yoongi or Sugar from now on?” You asked, bringing your hand up to your chin to convey some playful uncertainty.

He chuckled, leaning down to press his forehead to yours. “You can call me whatever you want.” And then he was kissing you, pressing you into the wall just as he had done a few days prior, his smile pressing firmly into your lips. You giggled, making the interaction a jumbled, laughter-infused mess before you finally broke away.

“Wow, this is so weird,” You said as you circled your arms around Yoongi’s neck while he did the same to your waist. “I listen to you every week. How the hell couldn’t I tell that it was you?”

“Sometimes it’s hard to match a voice to a face when you’re only used to just being able to hear it.” He shrugged as if it were the most casual thing in the world. But really, it wasn’t the biggest deal. It was just… wild, for lack of a better word.

“Yeah, clearly.”

“You’re not mad, right?” He asked. “That I knew you listened to mixtape but still didn’t tell you who I was?”

“No, not at all,” You said, shaking your head. “You just met me. I wouldn’t expect you to just go and reveal one of your biggest secrets like that.”

He seemed relieved at that. “Good, I just thought you might be mad at me or something.”

“Promise I’m not mad at all,” You said, giving him a quick peck for good measure. “But really, you did only just meet me, so why’d you let me know that it was you?”

After all, Yoongi could have just kept this information to himself, and you never would have known. Sure, you felt that Sugar had sounded a bit more familiar while listening to the new episode earlier, but if not for him sliding that comment about your anatomy test into it, you probably never would’ve figured it out that he was Yoongi.

“I don’t know, to be honest,” He said, looking genuinely unsure of his reasoning. “I just had a really good time with you the past few days. And you know, even if it’s just as friends, I’d still like to hang out with you a lot after this. Everyone close to me knows that I’m Sugar from mixtape, so it just… felt right to tell you, even though we haven’t known each other that long. Is that weird?” He laughed, and you could see the slight flush of color that was congregating on his cheeks as he said it.

“No, it’s not weird at all. I liked hanging out with you a lot, even when we weren’t… You know…” You trailed off, hiding your face in his shoulder.

“Same,” He said simply, making you both laugh.

“For someone who’s on a podcast you’re not very good at expressing yourself.”

“Well, why do you think I’m the sarcastic asshole of the show?” He shrugged. “I’m not good at expressing myself.”

“I don’t know, you were pretty good just now. What was that bit you said about even if we’re just friends?” You asked, gaining a mischievous grin as his face flushed redder.

“You’re terrible,” He joked, scratching awkwardly at his jaw. “But I mean I guess I would like to hang out with you and not have to quiz you on the contents of the skull… On like a date, maybe?”

Again, you felt that flare of something warm and inviting vibrate throughout your chest.

“I… I would really like that, Yoongi.”

He smiled, sighing in relief at your answer. You had no idea why he thought even for a second that you would say no, but it was cute to see nonetheless. You were about to ask what sort of places he liked to go on dates, but before you could, the ping of your cell-phone interrupted. You pulled it from your pocket and when you saw the notification, your heart dropped about ten levels.

“What’s wrong?” Yoongi asked, hands settling their way onto your shoulders as he clearly could see the shift in your expression.

“It says my anatomy test was graded.” You tried to swallow the dryness from your throat as you unlocked your phone and clicked on the notification, but you made sure to look away before it loaded, not sure if you were ready to see. “I feel like I’m gonna vomit.”

“Hey, hey,” Yoongi whispered. “Whatever you got, it’s gonna be all right. We’ll just study harder for the next test.”

“We?” You laughed, amused by his insinuation.

“Doesn’t have to be that kind of studying… But if you want.” He shrugged, grinning down at you as he did so. “Really though, it’ll be alright. Just see what you got, and we’ll go from there, yeah?”

You nodded, thankful for his encouragement as you breathed out a heavy sigh, trying to expel any negativity that was sitting stagnant inside of you. You were nervous, gripping your phone tightly for a few seconds before finally gaining the courage to look. You tilted your phone away from your chest, and right there on the screen, the percentage flashed back at you, causing you to nearly drop your phone to the ground in shock.

“Oh my god,” You whispered in disbelief as you continued to stare at it, as if to make sure that it wouldn’t disappear.

“What is it? What’s wrong?” Yoongi asked, eyes wide and nervous.

“N-nothing. I…” You paused for a second, the phrase catching in your throat a few times before you could finally get it out. “I set the curve.”

“What!?” Yoongi exclaimed, smile beaming.

“I set the fucking curve! I got a hundred!” You screamed jumping up and down, your excitement impossible to contain as you began yanking Yoongi’s shirt along with you. “I can’t believe this!”

“I was literally sweating, and it wasn’t even my test,” He sighed, almost in more relief than you had.

“Well, you did put a lot of effort into it.”

“Much effort, but nothing I didn’t thoroughly enjoy.” Yoongi grinned as he pulled you closer and began peppering his way down the side of your neck, prompting a flash of heat throughout your limbs.

“How about a celebration round then?” You whispered as your hands wandered down his shirt and all the way to the top of his jeans. You could hear the lowly growl building in his throat as he pressed further into your hand.

“Fuck, yes—”

But suddenly there was a loud knock that boomed against Yoongi’s door making you almost jump out of your skin.

“Yoongi!” The person on the other side yelled, voice loud and bombastic as it cut through the air.

“You’ve gotta be fucking kidding me,” Yoongi mumbled to himself.

“Who’s that—” You tried to ask, but before you could finish the stranger on the other side was already starting up again.

“Open up! I have an idea for next week’s episode!”

Your brow’s furrowed at this. “Episode?” You questioned aloud.

“Meet Hoseok,” Yoongi said with an almost tired sigh, motioning towards the door. “Or Jay as you probably know him better as.”

“Oh my god, that’s Jay?” You asked, clearly amused as he continued to bang on the door relentlessly. “Wow, thought that whole interrupting thing was just a played-up bit for the show,” You admitted.

“I wish it was played-up. Hoseok, interrupts every aspect of my life, not just podcast related things.”

“Interesting duo, you two.”

“Guess that’s why people like to hear us talk about nonsense,” Yoongi shrugged. “But I know how to get rid of him. Would you mind helping me?”

“Depends what it is,” You replied, interested to see what it was that he needed your assistance for.

“Well, it involves something… semi-sexual.” Your brows raised at this, intrigue growing higher. “Do you mind… hair pulling?”

Just the question itself had you fighting off the need to strip off your clothes. “N-not at all,” You managed to stutter.

Yoongi looked satisfied with this as he placed his hand along the back of your neck, palm flat as he threaded his fingers through your strands. You then watched as he brought his other hand down the front of your leggings, instantly having his fingers pressed ever so lightly against your slick heat. You weren’t really sure what the point of this was, or how it had anything to do with Hoseok, but it wasn’t as if you minded either. But then Hoseok was speaking again, as Yoongi knew that he would, you presumed.

“Your car’s out front. I know you’re in there, probably sleeping—”

You watched as Yoongi turned to face you, giving you the slightest of indications before you felt his hand tighten around your hair as he slid the warmth of his tongue along your neck in a way that had you keening. His palm that was still pressed to your center began to move, leaving your knees-weak. With all of this together you couldn’t help the moan that slipped past your lips, bouncing along the walls and most certainly through the door.

“Oh shit, my bad, dude,” Hoseok said, and suddenly his knocking stopped. “Catch you later.”

And it was that simple.

You felt Yoongi start to loosen his grip on your hair and pull his hand from your pants once Hoseok signaled his departure, but you quickly halted his motions, placing your hands on top of his before he could get too far. His eyes glimmered with something as you did so, a certain thrill seeming to electrify the air between the two of you.

“So about that condom that you always have on you?”

[fluffyjoeck]

Can you write about a wedding??

He passes a beer to Joe, who’s currently laying down on thefloor like a starfish, and sits down beside him, his back against the bed. Hetakes a sip of his drink, as he allows himself to take a breather and unwindafter such a hectic day.

“I can’t believe our friends are getting married already,”Joe moans, and Jack just nods, having heard this several times throughout theday. Poor Joe’s not had it easy, with friends and relatives of friends asking why wasn’t he married yet. “Meanwhilewe’re stuck on our own, me and you Jack. Alone.”

“Thanks,” he says sarcastically, but it’s painfully true. Hecan’t remember the last time he had been intimate with anyone, let anyone lethimself think of being in a serious relationship.

“Even Josh has got a girlfriend,” Joe continues, and hethinks that Joe might have had one too many drinks tonight. Not that he’s soberhimself, but he likes to think that he’s the responsible one out of the two ofthem in this situation. He attempts to take the bottle away from Joe, but Joe’sgrip tightens. “Jack why are we so unlovable?”

“Speak for yourself mate,” he says, as he grabs his phoneout of his pocket. He decides to take a picture of Joe in all of hisself-hating and lonely glory, sending it to Caspar who’s still downstairs onthe dancefloor with his new wife.

“We’re going to die alone,” Joe continues on, and it’senough for Jack to throw a pillow at him. He doesn’t like being included inthis one-man pity parade. “Jack stop!”

“I won’t die alone,” Jack tells him, confidently. “I’m justwaiting for the right person.”

“You know who says that?” Joe asks, and he shakes his head.“People who die alone! I said it at Zoe’s wedding, and look at me. You’re nobetter.”

“Well what do you suggest then? We get married orsomething?” he watches as Joe sits up at this, and Jack can see that Joe’sactually interested in the idea. “No, I didn’t mean that.”

“We should totally get married!” Joe grins. “Could youimagine the wedding? We could do it in a castle.”

“Modest,” Jack snorts.

“And – and we could invite everyone! We’d pick a giantcastle somewhere in the countryside, so it’d have to be a warm summers day.Maybe get some farm animals involved, that would be amazing. You could walkdown the aisle beside a pig! And I’m not talking about your brother,” he jokes,making Jack chuckle. “We’d have our reception outside with a giant ball pin forthe kids, and a huge bar for the rest of us. And a pizza bar. We’d cover theplace in fairy lights and balloons. Make it a real Pinterest wedding.”

“Kids? You want me to father your children too?” he asks,playing with the bottle in his hand.

“No! Zoe’s expecting her first child,” Joe tells him, forthe first time, and he starts to laugh. “That wasn’t something I was allowed totell anyone. Pinky promise you won’t let anyone know?”

Jack rolls his eyes, but intertwines their two baby fingers.“You’re an actual child.”

“But we could have kids too,” Joe says. “How many childrendo you want?”

“A few,” he answers. “I liked having siblings. Don’t thinkI’d go for just the one.”

“Same,” Joe says with a nod of his head. “I think I’d be agreat dad, I’d spoil them rotten.”

“What’s our first dance going to be then?” Jack asks.

“We need to be cheesy,” Joe replies. “We should dance to anabsolute classic. What about Can’t HelpFalling in Love with You? We’d definitely get a few tears from our guestswith that.”

“Dude we’ve just planned the perfect wedding,” he sayswistfully. If this was a cartoon, Jack would suddenly have a glowing lightbulbabove his head. But it’s not, and all he has above his head is an empty bottleof brandy that was discarded on the bed as soon as they made it to theirSingles Only afterparty in Jack’s room. “Let’s do it.”

“Are you serious?” Joe asks, tilting his head.

“Not right now – in the future. When you turn thirty-five?”he says, slowly. “If neither of us are in a relationship, we could marry eachother!”

“So if no one loves us?” Joe asks, and Jack throws anotherpillow at him.

“We love eachother,” he tells him, and Joe pulls a face. One that Jack’s drunk enough topull back, not caring about what they look like. “It’s a backup plan Joseph.You’ve been moaning the whole day about how you don’t want to die alone. So whynot just marry someone you already deem tolerable, you know? We get on prettywell already, we spend so much time together that we know how to live in eachother’s pockets. I think it’s a great idea. One of the best ideas I’ve ever hadin fact.”

There’s a moment of silence hanging in the air, and Jackshuts his eyes as he leans his head back. Since he isn’t able to hold his drinkas well as he used to, the alcohol starts to catch up on him a lot quicker thanbefore. “When I’m thirty-five?”

“When you’re thirty-five,” Jack repeats. His eyelids areslowly drooping closed, fingers going slack around the beer he’s clutching.

“Wake up asshole,” Joe says, throwing his empty bottle inJack’s direction.

It misses him by an inch, and lands with a soft thud on thebed next to him. “Aw,” he says, grabbing at the bottle and clutching it to hischest. “Our first fight as a couple.”

“I’m already regretting this,” Joe says, but Jack can see asmile just waiting to come out.

“We’ve done stupider things,” he points out. “We need tomake it official, so we do this properly.”

“You gonna get down on one knee or something?” Joe asks, andJack just shakes his head. Instead, he lifts himself up from his position andwaddles over to Joe, who looks bewildered at the sudden lack of personal space.“Slow down there Jack, you need to buy me dinner first.”

“Shut up and stop ruining the moment. When our kids askabout our proposal, it’s got to be perfect,” he says, before he clears his throat.“Joseph Sugg, my bestest friend in the entire world. Will you do me the honourof making sure I don’t spend the rest of my life alone and miserable, and also helpco-host YouTube’s best ever viral wedding?” he asks, grinning from cheek tocheek.

“Yes,” Joe says, and Jack leans in to kiss him right on thelips.

It’s more like they’re smiling against each other’s lips,teeth in the absolute wrong places and Joe lets out a loud snort halfwaythrough that sets Jack off, and he pulls away from laughing too much. It’s adisaster, but there’s nothing about this day that hasn’t screamed tragedy forthe two of them.

Conor walks in on them, grinning like idiots at the other a little later, when they’re sitting beside each other. “What’s he doing here?” Joe asks, barely acknowledging the fact that Conor’s actually in the room with them.

“I thought I’d lose my key card so I gave Conor my spareone,” he says, which Joe takes as an answer. 

“We’ve been looking for you two,” Conor tells them, eyeing the mess they’ve made up. “What the hell have you been doing up here?”

“We were tired of being the only single people, so we wentand had our own party,” Joe tells him. “Oh! And we decided that we’ll get married in the future if we continue to be lonely and miserable.”

Bless Conor, because he really tries to take in that lastpiece of information. “You’re just going to settle for him if no one will marryyou?”

“I’m right here,” Jack mumbles, glaring up at his brother.

“I’d say I’m punching above my weight more than anything,”Joe says, and Jack actually smiles at that. Suck it, Conor.

“Potentially getting married to me is an honour,” he says,and the smile he gets back from Joe feels a little more personal then it should be at the moment.

“I’m way too drunk to deal with this right now,” Conor says, before he makes his way out of the room.

“Punching above your weight?” he repeats, and he watches as Joe blushes ever so slightly.

“Shut up,” Joe says, nudging his elbow as he leans his head against Jack’s shoulder.

They eventually make it onto the bed, and they spend therest of the night coming up with more ideas for their wedding and ways toconvince Mikey to become their flower girl. It isn’t the most romantic story,but when Joe starts to throw up from all the alcohol he’s consumed, Jack’sthere with a glass of water and his phone to take lots of photographicevidence, so he thinks he’s shared worse nights with people.

[techcrunchappcom]

New Post has been published on https://techcrunchapp.com/the-latest-study-suggests-london-infection-rates-down-national-world-news/

The Latest: Study suggests London infection rates down | National/World News

LONDON — A major study suggests coronavirus infection rates in London have plunged by 80% in the past month as lockdown measures curb the spread of the virus.

Imperial College London researchers tested 85,000 people across England between Feb 4 and Feb 13 as part of the monthly study. It found that about 1 in 200 people were infected, a fall of two thirds from the month before.

The decline varied across the country and was steepest in London, where a new and more contagious strain of the virus was identified late last year. In January an estimated 1 in 30 people in London had the virus. That has now fallen to about 1 in 185.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock said the decline in cases was “encouraging … but we must not drop our guard.”

Britain has experienced Europe’s worst coronavirus outbreak, with more than 118,000 deaths, and is in lockdown as a mass vaccination program pushes ahead at the continent’s fastest rate. So far some 16 million people have had a first dose, about a quarter of the population.

———

THE VIRUS OUTBREAK:

— U.S. life expectancy drops by a year in pandemic, the most since World War II

— Crippling winter weather in U.S. hampers vaccine deliveries, distribution

— New York’s governor faces mounting pressure over COVID deaths at nursing homes

— One Good Thing: When coronavirus lockdowns shut down classes in a youth prison, a Greek math teacher created a DIY TV channel that broadcasts lessons 24 hours a day

— Follow all of AP’s pandemic coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-pandemic, https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-vaccine and https://apnews.com/UnderstandingtheOutbreak

———

HERE’S WHAT ELSE IS HAPPENING:

ROME — The Vatican is taking Pope Francis’ pro-vaccine stance very seriously: Any Vatican employee who refuses to get a coronavirus shot without valid medical reason risks being fired.

A Feb. 8 decree signed by the governor of the Vatican City State sparked heated debate Thursday, since its provisions go well beyond the generally voluntary nature of COVID-19 vaccinations in Italy and much of the rest of the world.

The decree cited the need to protect Vatican employees in the workplace, as well as guidelines issued by Francis’ own COVID-19 commission of advisers who said there was a moral responsibility to vaccinate yourself “given that refusing a vaccine can constitute a risk for others.”

The decree says that Vatican employees who opt out without a proven medical need risk sanctions up to and including “the interruption of the relationship of employment.” The Vatican is an absolute monarchy in the heart of Rome that operates independently of Italian law and Italian labor protections.

The Vatican, which has around 5,000 employees, is on its way to becoming perhaps the first country to complete its adult vaccination campaign, after the Holy See’s health service began inoculating staff and their families in early January with Pfizer shots. Francis himself has received his second dose.

———

WASHINGTON — The number of Americans applying for unemployment aid rose last week to 861,000, evidence that layoffs remain painfully high despite a steady drop in the number of confirmed viral infections.

Applications from laid-off workers rose 13,000 from the previous week, which was revised sharply higher, the Labor Department said Thursday. Before the virus erupted in the United States last March, weekly applications for unemployment benefits had never topped 700,000, even during the Great Recession of 2008-2009.

The job market has stalled, with employers having added a mere 49,000 jobs in January after cutting workers in December. Nearly 10 million jobs remain lost to the pandemic. Though the unemployment rate fell last month from 6.7%, to 6.3%, it did so in part because some people stopped looking for jobs. People who aren’t actively seeking work aren’t counted as unemployed.

———

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — The Albuquerque Public Schools Board of Education has rejected a proposal aimed at partially returning students to the classroom during the coronavirus pandemic as part of a hybrid learning model.

The board voted 4-3 against hybrid learning, keeping the district virtual through the end of the year with limited in-person groups. The board also approved a measure to allow some groups in-person instruction, including students at risk of failing or seniors who need additional help.

The proposed hybrid plan would’ve brought back kindergarten through second grade on March 1, followed by all elementary students.

Middle school and high school students would’ve been allowed to return once Bernalillo County’s coronavirus numbers improved.

The vote on Wednesday also means student-athletes will not be able to participate in fall sports, including football, soccer, volleyball and cross-country. Fall sports were delayed because of the pandemic.

———

BOSTON — Massachusetts’ coronavirus vaccine appointment portal crashed Thursday morning as more than one million additional state residents became eligible to schedule a shot.

Many residents who went to vaxfinder.mass.gov received the message “This application crashed” with a drawing of an octopus, and were urged to try again later. The site appeared to be working again by about 10 a.m.

Gov. Charlie Baker said Wednesday that more than 70,000 appointments would be made available at 8 a.m. Thursday, including for those age 65 and older, for people with two or more certain medical conditions, and for residents and staff of low income and affordable senior housing. But it came with a warning that it could take up to a month to book an appointment.

“Due to extremely high traffic and volume, the VaxFinder tool and vaccine location websites are experiencing delays and other technical difficulties,” the state’s COVID-19 Command Center said in a statement. “We are working as quickly as possible to resolve these issues.”:

———

GENEVA — The head of WHO’s international team to China said the idea that coronavirus might have been imported to China via frozen food that ultimately sparked the pandemic is “not something that we are looking at.”

After the conclusion of the WHO-led team’s mission in Wuhan earlier this month, WHO’s Peter Ben Embarek said the team had identified frozen animal products in the market where dozens of early coronavirus cases were identified last January, saying there was “potential to continue to follow this lead.”

But at a Thursday press briefing, Ben Embarek said that because there were no large coronavirus outbreaks at any food factories worldwide before the virus was detected in Wuhan, “the hypothesis or idea of importing the virus to China through that route is not something we are looking at.”

WHO has previously said the chances of spreading COVID-19 via surfaces including frozen food packaging is extremely unlikely; the respiratory virus is spread mostly through droplets and through the air. But China has repeatedly pushed theories, without providing evidence, that outbreaks of COVID-19 were triggered by contaminated frozen seafood.

Ben Embarek described that as “a very, very rare event” and said even China’s extensive search for contaminated food products have only found a few instances of products carrying virus. Other scientists say it’s unclear whether those traces of virus might be enough to actually infect anyone and that it’s more likely people spread the disease rather than the packaging.

———

SEATTLE — The governor of Washington state says residents living in Point Roberts will not be required to take a COVID-19 test before traveling through Canada for any essential services.

Travel between Washington state and Point Roberts, the waterfront U.S. enclave connected to British Columbia, requires a 25-mile trip through Canada.

The Seattle Times reported that Democratic Gov. Jay Inslee announced his office was informed on Wednesday by the Consulate General of Canada of the decision. It will allow about 1,300 residents to forgo having to get a test on either side of the U.S.-Canada border.

The announcement came after Canada implemented a policy on Monday requiring a recent negative COVID-19 test for visitors arriving by land.

———

GENEVA — The Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago called on the World Health Organization to convene an “international convention of the world’s people’s representatives” to commit to the fair sharing of coronavirus vaccines.

At a press briefing on Thursday, Prime Minister Keith Rowley said small states in the Caribbean and elsewhere have made “huge sacrifices in an endeavour to protect our populations from the worst ravages of the virus” and said global leaders should agree to make vaccines available to people everywhere, “not just the privileged, well-heeled few.”

To date, 75% of COVID-19 vaccines have been administered in just 10 countries and nearly 130 countries haven’t received a single dose.

———

HONOLULU — A Hawaii Senate bill would require the state Department of Education to publish the number of new coronavirus cases detected at each public school.

Current regulations require the education department to list weekly COVID-19 case totals by areas.

KITV reports that the bill also would require the department to post exact dates of positive COVID-19 tests and the most recent dates of attendance by those who were infected.

Democratic Sen. Michelle Kidani says parents have a right to know which schools have been impacted.

Department of Education Deputy Superintendent Phyllis Unebasami says the bill could result in student and parent alienation.

If passed into law, the updated reporting requirement would go into effect July 1.

———

BERLIN — Germany’s top security official says that about a fifth of the people checked at the Czech and Austrian borders since strict controls were introduced on Sunday have been turned back.

Germany implemented checks on its borders with the Czech Republic and Austria’s Tyrol province in a bid to reduce the spread of more contagious coronavirus variants that have taken hold there.

It is restricting entry to German citizens and residents, truck drivers, transport and health service workers and a few others including cross-border commuters working in “systemically relevant sectors.” All have to show a negative coronavirus test.

Interior Minister Horst Seehofer said during a visit to the Czech border Thursday that 50,000 checks have been conducted so far and 10,000 of them resulted in people being turned back.

He indicated that Germany is likely to extend border restrictions beyond the initial 10-day period, but said it’s too early to say for sure.

———

CONCORD, N.H. — Dartmouth College has begun planning for a “normal fall term,” as long as COVID-19 cases remain low and much of the community gets vaccinated by the end of the summer.

Provost Joseph Helbe says there are a lot of caveats, and it may turn out that not all students will be able to be on campus in the fall. For now, about half of the undergraduates are on campus.

The college has gone five days with no new COVID-19 cases among students and eight days for employees. But Helbe says the risks posed by new virus mutations require caution.

———

PARIS — French President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday unveiled a plan to better arm public facilities and private companies against cybercriminals following ransomware attacks at two hospitals this month and an upsurge of similar cyber assaults in France.

The attacks at the hospitals in Dax and Villefranche-sur-Saone prompted the transfer of some patients to other facilities as the French health care system is under pressure from the coronavirus pandemic.

Macron discussed the attacks with officials and workers from both hospitals, saying the incident “shows how the threat is very serious, sometimes vital.”

Macron referred to a massive hack of U.S. federal agencies last year and to the stealing of vaccine documents from the European Medicine Agency in November.

———

NAIROBI, Kenya — The Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says the first 1 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine for COVID-19 are expected to arrive next week for distribution in some 20 countries on the continent.

The doses are the first of some 7 million coming from the Serum Institute in India.

Africa CDC Director John Nkengasong and colleagues did not immediately say which countries on the 54-nation continent will receive the first shipment, but Nkengasong said Thursday that health workers will get the shots.

“We are very excited,” he said.

Africa is waiting for vaccines from the global COVAX initiative, which has said it would supply 25% of those needed for the continent’s 1.3 billion people. As deliveries fall behind schedule, African nations are scrambling to secure vaccines from various sources.

Speed is key, as eight African nations have confirmed cases of the coronavirus variant first identified in Britain and at least 10 have cases of the variant first identified in South Africa. The African continent is on the brink of recording 100,000 confirmed deaths from COVID-19.

———

LONDON — The British government is backing four new studies to investigate why some people continue to have symptoms months after becoming sick with COVID-19.

The Department of Health on Thursday announced 18.5 million pounds ($26 million) in funding for research into the causes, symptoms and effects of the phenomenon known as “long COVID.”

While most people recover from the coronavirus in a few weeks, about one in 10 still have symptoms 12 weeks later. Researchers around the world are trying to understand the causes and dozens of symptoms that include breathlessness, headaches, fatigue and “brain fog.”

Britain’s All-Party Parliamentary Group on Coronavirus says the research is welcome but is not enough. The lawmakers are calling for long COVID-19 to be classed as an occupational disease of front-line workers so patients can receive compensation if they can’t work because of the illness.

———

HONG KONG — Hong Kong has approved the Chinese-developed Sinovac Biotech COVID-19 vaccine as health authorities in the semi-autonomous Chinese city prepare to begin large scale inoculations.

Hong Kong’s Secretary for Food and Health said “the benefits of authorizing the use of the COVID-19 vaccine by Sinovac for protecting against COVID-19 outweigh the risks,” in a news release Thursday.

The first batch around 1 million doses of the Sinovac vaccine will be delivered to Hong Kong “shortly,” with vaccinations across the territory of almost 7.5 million people to begin “as soon as possible.”

Even after vaccinations begin, the company will need to maintain a risk management program and provide the latest clinical data laboratory analysis certificates for each batch of vaccines, the statement said.

———

THE HAGUE — Dutch lawmakers are holding a debate Thursday on hastily drawn up legislation underpinning the country’s coronavirus curfew after a judge ordered the measure scrapped earlier this week.

The lower house of parliament is expected to support the legislation, which would then go to the senate on Friday — the same day that government lawyers go to court to appeal the order banning the 9 p.m.-to-4:30 a.m. curfew.

The curfew, which sparked rioting last month but is very broadly supported and followed, remains in force pending the outcome of that appeal.

A judge in The Hague banned the curfew, saying the law the government used when it introduced the measure last month can only be used in pressing emergencies such as a massive dike breach.

The government argues that the curfew became an urgent necessity because of the swift rise of new, more transmissible variants of the virus.

———

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka — Sri Lanka’s Health Ministry has limited the number of guests at weddings and funerals as it seeks to slow the spread of the coronavirus in the capital and it’s suburbs.

The move comes as the health officials are calling for tougher action including imposing lockdowns after the local detection of a new variant that first emerged in the United Kingdom.

In January, Sri Lanka allowed 150 people to attend weddings. But on Thursday, it lowered that to 50 guests. Funerals are limited to 25 people.

Sri Lanka has banned all other public gatherings and imposed restrictions on public transport.

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[pagesoflauren]

Grecian Nights with Jack (Jack Lowden x reader)

Anon Request: Please can you do a really cute imagine with jack where he proposes! Really fluffy 😍

A/N: Got the request a couple weeks ago, figured this would fit quite well into the series :)

Previous Installment Masterlist

After Jack’s premiere, you were free to do what you wanted with the few months he had off. Most days were reserved for traveling back home and seeing his family, other days were for going to your family gatherings and laughing as your cousins gushed over Jack and asked him some questions in poor taste.

“Can you give me Harry Styles’ number? Please!!!” “The next time you hang out with Fionn could you tell him I love him?” “Is Tom Hardy still married? You sure? Is he happy? Because I’m available.”

He took everything in stride, eyes drifting to you to give you a look that said I adore your family but please, help me.

And that’s how you decided to take a vacation.

It was Jack’s idea, actually. A romantic, coastal getaway to the Greek island of Skopelos. There wasn’t a lot to do on the island except lounge in the sun and eat, but that’s exactly what you needed.

You arrive on the Greek mainland at the beginning of your week-long vacation before taking a boat to the island. You insist on taking pictures with Jack on the way there with the clear blue water as your background. Once at the island, you squealed with excitement. It was a gorgeous, quaint little town that looked like it didn’t get much action. It was perfect.

Greece was known for its hilly topography, and it certainly delivered on Skopelos. You’re greeted at the dock by the AirBnB host, who insists you and Jack ride on donkeys up the hill while he and his sons carry your suitcases up themselves.

“No, we couldn’t ask you to do that,” you and Jack deny initially, thinking yourselves perfectly capable of doing it yourselves, when the men laugh at you.

“No, no,” the father says, “Big hill. We are conditioned for it. You are Englishman—“ “Scotsman,” Jack quickly corrects, ever proud of his heritage. “You are not. From flat land,” he says, making a sweeping motions with his hands to resemble the “flat land” that England has. “Jack, maybe we should. They’re locals, they probably know what they’re talking about.” “You ride the donkey, then, love. I’m carrying my suitcase up.”

Jack holds your waist and lifts you onto the saddle. You get yourself settled before the youngest son takes the reins, leading the donkey up the stairs. Jack follows, carrying his bags and a backpack as the father carries your suitcase and the other son brings the other donkey up. You’re not even halfway up the hill when Jack calls out.

“AGH, alright, I need a break,” he says, dropping his luggage and doubling over to catch his breath. “You alright, Jack?” you ask. “Yeah, yeah, love. What about you, you alright?” “Mhmm. It’s actually quite comfortable. You get a nice view.” “Right, shall we carry on?” Jack says, suddenly composing himself and picking up his bag. “Sir, ride donkey,” the father says, “I will take bag.” “No, no, I’m fine. Let’s go, we’re almost there, right?” “House is almost at top of hill,” the son leading your donkey says. “Right, well we better get a move on.”

He picks up his suitcase and motions for the son to continue. You laugh, looking around at the beautiful architecture, spying a restaurant you want to try later for dinner. Some of the locals wave excitedly at you, and a little girl who appears to be just learning English walking next to you for a few steps and making conversation with you before her mom called her back.

When you reach the house, the son grabs your hands to help you dismount before unlocking the gate to the patio and the front door. You eagerly roam around the house, listening to the father explain the different features and accommodations. He leaves two keys, one for each of you, and explains how to properly lock and unlock the doors. Once they leave, you hear Jack sigh and collapse onto the couch, letting out a huge, long groan and covering his eyes.

“Goodness, Jack, why didn’t you just ride the donkey?” “I wasn’t gonna let him slander the name of Scottish people! I have to represent!” “And look where you are now: sweaty, sore and tired,” you laugh. “Would you like some water?” “Yes, please,” he practically whimpers.

You laugh again, bending down to kiss his forehead. You go into the kitchen to fulfill his request.

“Rest up, champ,” you say as he practically tugs the glass from you and downs the liquid in three gulps, “the whole week’s gonna be filled with hiking and walking.

Your statement from Monday was true. It’s Thursday now, and you leave tomorrow night. You had spent the week hiking to different places on the island: hidden beaches, historical sites and the hilltop church from the Mamma Mia! film where Meryl Streep and Pierce Brosnan sang “The Winner Takes It All.”

“I picked this island for its romantic views and quiet nature, not because you could run up the stairs and sing ABBA songs before collapsing on a bench,” Jack laughs, handing you a bottle of water. “Hmm, one partner handing water to the other because they’re tired from coming up the stairs. Oh, how the tables have tur—HEY!”

His exclamation is a result of you splashing some of the water on him as you smirk. He pulls up the hem of his shirt to wipe away the stray droplets, though it does feel good after being in the heat for so long.

“Tike,” he mutters, pinching your cheek.

“Stop it, you’re mean,” you say, batting his hands away, appearing to regress to the name he had teasingly called you. He kisses the spot his pinched as you drink the bottle empty and lean against him. “Come on, love, it’s only a little more to the top,” he says, “and I’ve got a surprise for you up there.” “I don’t think there’s much you could surprise me with, Lowden,” you say, forehead against his shoulder, “We’ve seen the entire island already.” You feel his lips spread in a smile on the crown of your head before he speaks. “Trust me, I’ve got a few tricks up my sleeve.”

He gets up and stands over you before holding his hands out to help you up. You look up, shielding your eyes from the sunlight that surrounds him like a halo. You smile, feeling cliche butterflies in your tummy as you grab both his hands and stand up next to him.

You trek the rest of the way to the top, sighing at the view of the town before ducking into the church. It’s a lot smaller in person and there isn’t much to see compared to the churches in Rome: no saintly relics or Michelangelo paintings. Just wooden chairs, candles and a small altar. You sit for a bit, pointing out small details in the architecture and recovering from the heat of the sun and strain of the walk up. When you’re ready, you decide to go back to the house and shower before going to dinner.

“Hang on a minute, lass,” he says, pulling you around the back way to a small courtyard behind the church. It’s nicely shaded with flowers in full bloom, brightly colored petals on display as a fountain trickles water against the back wall. You figure this is where the clergy spend their downtime some days. There’s a small opening that gives a view of the blue ocean water, and it stretches miles and miles. You stand at the edge, hands on the ledge and breathe in the crisp ocean air that you know you’ll miss when you come home.

“Are you looking at this?” you ask, “it’s such a gorgeous view.” “Should try and imagine what I’m looking at, it’s an even better view.” You laugh loudly. “Gross, what are you, 14?” you say, turning to look at him. “No, but you make me feel like a teenager in love,” he says when your eyes meet his.

He gets down on one knee and you back into the wall in shock. In a way, it’s the moment you’ve been waiting for since the Monday night you first found the ring. You’re already tearing up.

“You can’t cry yet! I haven’t even said anything!” he laughs. “Oh, sorry I didn’t know you planned this out right down to the very tears that would come out of my eyes,” you say, fanning your face with your hands in an attempt to get the tears to not fall prematurely.

You two share a laugh at the moment and Jack looks at you with nothing but adoration in his eyes.

“I had this whole spiel planned out where I’d tell you all these things, but right now I look at you smiling and I just want that. I want to make you smile for the rest of my life. I want to wipe away your tears when you’re sad and take care of you when you’re sick or hurt. I want to lie in with you even though I like waking up early and I always want to come home to you when I’m on a break or done filming.”

He’s fiddling with one of the pockets in his shorts, unbuttoning it and flipping the flap up before taking out the velvet box you found in his drawer. He opens it, showing you the same ring with your birthstone on it. It’s just as beautiful as you remember. The box rests in his palm as he rests his elbow on his knee, wiping away his own tears with his free hand.

“Will you let me do that?” he asks, “Will you marry me?”

You had imagined the day you’d get proposed to since you’d first watched a viral proposal video on Facebook in high school. You imagined a candlelit dinner, you in a beautiful dress with perfect hair and makeup. Instead you were barefaced, in sweaty hiking clothes and tangled hair from the wind. It was the middle of a hot day, not sunset. Jack wasn’t wearing a tux, he was wearing his favorite navy shirt and cargo shorts with too many pockets. But it couldn’t have been more perfect. Your emotions dissolve your words and you can’t even say anything, so you nod, closing your eyes and letting the tears fall freely. His arms are around you and you’re gathered into his chest as he holds you. You feel his chest rise and fall unsteadily as he cries as well before he cups your face to press his lips to yours.

He slides the ring onto your shaking finger and you jump into his arms, making him stumble back before he regains his balance and holds you close.

That night, you get your candlelit dinner by the sunset, wearing a dress and having done your hair and makeup. Jack is dressed as equally nice, looking like your prince, your superhero and your knight in shining armor. But more importantly, he looks like your fiancé. You take a picture as you clink your champagne flute against his, your ring glimmering in the candlelight. The photo is posted on your social media, captioned: “Does this photo make us look engaged?”

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IT FINALLY HAPPENED.

There’s a wedding in the near future :3

tagging: @albionscastle