#This is how we'll soon become adults

[storiesfromgaza]

"Mom, does it hurt when we get bombarded? Do we feel the pain, or do we just die at once?"

These are the questions that Reporter Youmna El Sayed began with in her interview conducted by the AJ+ network to document her struggles with her children and the suffering of all the people of Gaza

When my kids ask me, 'Mom, does it hurt when we get bombarded? Do we feel the pain, or do we just die at once?' and I have to tell them, 'No, don't worry. It's not going to hurt.' Their father reassures them, saying, 'Don't worry. It just happens once, and that's it.' In the past, we would comfort our children, saying, 'Don't worry. It's going to be okay. It's going to end soon. You'll be fine. We'll be fine.' Everything is shaking—constantly. But now, every night, we tell them, 'Don't worry. We're together, sticking together. If we die, we die together.' Death has become a looming reality since the Israeli army encircled Gaza city. The bombardments have been relentless—from the land, air, and sea. Our building is in a perpetual state of tremor. Three days ago, we awoke to the smoke of nearby fires filling our homes. We sought refuge in the basement, the best option with the least smoke, but it was still overwhelming. The kids were coughing, suffocating, and their eyes were itching. But when it comes to my children, it just hits me so hard, Dina, and I just feel that I can't control it anymore. I can't be that strong, brave woman who's able to control things or get things under control because they're my weak part. I feel a loss of control, unable to maintain the facade of strength and bravery. Judy, usually full of life, now appears quiet and terrified

She doesn't eat much. She doesn't feel like doing anything. I tried to speak to her about things, you know, bring back some happy memories, and I said, as usual, 'What would you like to do the first thing after this war ends?' She told me, 'Mommy, I don't want to do anything except for this war to end. I just want these bombardments to end, everything—the destruction, the despair, the loss.'

I think they tell you that now—we're just hearing news of people dying every now and then—people that we know, friends, colleagues, everyone around us. And it just, you know, really, like, 'May he rest in peace,' and that's it. I just—we just go on because we were just waiting for our turn. You mentioned to me that food is scarce and supplies are low. What is the water situation? We can starve, right? We can go on without food, even as adults. But without water, I'd rather die from bombardments than die from thirst. I don't want my kids at the end to die from thirst. Are you still thinking to move south, and what would that look like? The last attempt was a couple of days ago, and we found out that to move south, we need to walk for at least 6 to 7 km on foot and not carry anything at all with us—none of our belongings. Basically, walk this distance while we raise our hands to show that we surrender, just holding our IDs in one hand and raising the other. And I think that's just extremely humiliating. And it's not just that, you know?

You remember the massacre that everyone saw on TV screens for the civilians that were bombarded on the road? They're still lying there. Until this day, lying there in the streets, their bodies. The crows and the birds are eating from them, and no one has been able to pick them up. The Israeli army has not allowed anyone or ambulances or any medical teams to come to pick these people up and to bury them. How can I let my kids go through a street while they see other children and other people killed and thrown just like that, lying in the street like that, while birds are eating from them? I think that this is just inhumane and more cruel than anything. This is not to worry about fighting Hamas or Palestinian fighters. This war began by eliminating and wiping out the Palestinian people in Gaza. This isn't a war against Palestinian fighters nor Hamas; it's a genocide against Gaza.

[jae-bummer]

Un-Breaking Up

Request: i’m not sure if your request are still open honestly it’s my first time requesting ever. do you think you could do one of 10, and 13 with changbin, they were exes and something happened either one could say 10 and then they get stuck together, idk this was a big brain fart

Prompt:

10) “Was it worth it?”

13) Oh no! There's only one bed!

Pairing: Stray Kids Changbin x Reader

Genre: Angst (with a happy ending)

Song rec as you read: Top or Cliff - KIM SEJEONG

.

"What do you mean there's only one room left?" you hissed into your cell phone.

"They overbooked for the weekend," Chan sighed on the other end of the line. "We reserved the rooms when you and Bin were still together."

"And I told you I would pay the extra to get my own room," you groaned. This could not be happening.

When you had agreed to go on this friend-cation, you had been blissfully wrapped in the throes of love.

Now, you were stranded at the airport with a headache and an ex-boyfriend hailing a cab.

"It would have been nice for you to tell me he was on the same flight by the way," you scoffed.

"You literally booked the flights together-"

"You said he was going to change them to come in earlier! With you!"

"I thought he was!" Chan gasped. "Look, if you can't suck it up and be an adult for five minutes-"

"It's a twenty-minute drive," you pouted.

"And rooms are already sorted, so you guys are just going to have to figure it out," he sighed. You could almost hear him, miles away, shaking his head in disappointment.

"Can't he like...stay on your pull-out couch?" you hedged. "I'm sure your partner won't-"

"Oh, they will very much mind," Chan chuckled. "Plus, Changbin paid his portion just like everyone else. He's not getting downgraded to my loveseat."

"He's small enough to fit damn near anywhere," you muttered.

"Y/N," Chan said slowly, careful to keep his annoyance reigned in. "We'll see you soon, okay?"

"Just say you hate me," you complained. You knew you were being dramatic, but you were in too deep to turn back now. It really wasn't your intention to be a brat, but you and Changbin hadn't seen each other in weeks. Your friends had inadvertently become children of divorce, so you knew Chan didn't deserve the grief you were giving him.

"If by hate you mean love," he said cheerfully. "Now get your butt here. I'll see you in the morning."

Rolling your eyes, you hung up the call and shoved your phone in your pocket. Turning on your heel, you marched over to where Changbin was shoving suitcases into the back of a taxi.

"Everything okay?" he huffed, pushing the very last of the luggage into the trunk. "What did Chan say?"

"That you've been invited to sleep on his pullout couch," you smiled brightly.

"Y/N."

"They couldn't get us separate rooms," you muttered, crossing your arms. "And we have to make do."

Changbin's eyebrows shot up. "I'll pay the difference."

"Tried that," you sighed. "They literally have no more room."

"They always have more room," Changbin grumbled, yanking his phone out of his pocket. "Even if it's an executive suite."

"By all means," you hummed, sliding into the back of the waiting car. "If you think you can do something literally no one else could, go ahead."

Choosing not to acknowledge your comment, Changbin joined you in the backseat. Careful to keep a sufficient space barrier between the two of you, he informed the driver of your destination before getting on the phone with what you assumed to be the hotel concierge.

No matter how charming he could be, the fifteen minutes he spent on the phone yielded no results. As he hung up, you could see how ruffled he was. Leaning his head against the window of the taxi, he slowly exhaled.

"Let me guess?" you remarked. "No matter how much money you threw at the problem, it didn't work?"

Taking a deep breath, he swiveled toward you. "I was just trying to help-"

"No one asked," you said sharply. "I tried to fix the problem and couldn't. So did Chan. I don't know why you thought you could come in and save the day-"

"You used to like it when I saved the day," he bristled.

You knew you weren't being fair and simply picking at him just for the sake of picking. "I used to like you in general, but here we are."

Changbin closed his eyes and leaned back into the seat. Luckily, the hotel was already coming into sight. Unluckily, you would still be stuck together for the next few days.

.

"Shit," Changbin said, stepping into the hotel room.

Yanking your suitcase over the lip of the door, you made your way into the room, stopping just behind him. "What-"

The words were erased from your tongue as you took in your surroundings. The room was gorgeous, and admittedly, pretty romantic. You were greeted by a small seating area and a low table decorated with rose petals and snacks. Looking further into the room, you could see you had your own private pool outside, intimate and moody with low lighting. The thing you had avoided recognizing though was perhaps the most obvious.

There was only one bed.

"Perfect," you croaked, completely exhausted by this whole situation. "Absolutely perfect."

"I could try to-"

"My guess is," you said slowly. "That they are so fully booked, that they won't be able to move us to a room with two queens."

"But you don't know that for sure," he said with a small nod, trying to convince himself. "I'll go to the front desk."

"Knock yourself out," you sighed, leaning against the wall to begin sliding slowly down it. It was time to accept defeat. "Better yet actually knock yourself out."

Changbin shot you a dirty look as he yanked the door open and disappeared from sight.

Too bad he was back within ten minutes.

"Let me guess," you smirked. "They are fully booked and won't be able to move us to a room with two queens?"

"You don't have to gloat," he pouted, plopping on the edge of the bed. Looking helplessly around the room, his focus landed on the two armchairs in the seating area (very much not a normal, pull-out couch.) "I can just make a pallet on the floor."

You felt a small pang in your chest. As much as you didn't want to admit you had any threads of care left for the man in front of you, you did. And unfortunately, you didn't want to condemn him to sleeping on the floor. "That wouldn't be fair to you."

"It is what it is," he sighed. "And I'm not going to subject you to laying in a bed with me when you don't even want us to be in the same room."

"Stop being dramatic," you scoffed, totally projecting. "We can make a pillow barrier. Plus, I really don't want to hear you complain and make me into the bad guy."

"Y/N," he groaned. "It's not like that."

You chewed on your lip, knowing it wasn't. Changbin had honestly been much more charitable than you had even tried being since the two of you had broken up. You had pinned most of the reasons for separating on him, so maybe he had taken it to heart.

Choosing to ignore his protests, you began to unpack instead. Leaving the top two drawers in the dresser open for him (a habit from when you were dating) you silently moved your clothing and essentials to various parts of the room.

"Do you mind if I shower first?" he asked. His tone was careful, as if he was waiting for you to explode.

You hated it.

"Go for it," you answered.

He moved quietly toward the bathroom, leaving you with only your thoughts as you heard the click of the lock.

Moving toward the bed, you shoved your face into a pillow to let loose a mix between a groan and scream. Sometimes it just helped to make nonsensical sounds when you were feeling frustrated.

It was difficult being around Changbin again. Even though the two of you had broken up, there were feelings there. You had been so desperately in love with him at one point, you just assumed you would be a little bit in love forever. You thought the two of you had been bulletproof, but in one evening of anger, you managed to break both your heart and his (and still clung to the rationalization that it was all his fault).

You knew who he was when you had started dating. Seo Changbin, member of Stray Kids, producer in 3racha, gym rat, and lastly, boyfriend. All of those things came first, and you were so, so tired of being the last checkbox on the list. After being cancelled on for maybe the hundredth time because there was some sort of work emergency, you had had enough. His things were waiting in boxes when he had eventually shown up, and you had endless reasons for why you didn't want to continue forward.

When he begged, you had shut him down. Looking back now, you knew it was because you were afraid. It was easier to have a hard break than admit that you were both flawed people who weren't trying hard enough. It was easier than actually making the effort and being uncomfortable. You werent't ready for that advanced level of vulnerability.

Changbin was one of the softest and squishiest individuals you had ever met, which made it even harder. Any form of neglect he had stumbled into subjecting you to had never came with a hard edge. When he apologized, he was genuinely sorry. He was too good and pure to have to deal with you being upset over something he loved. He dreamt of being an idol before he even knew you existed. It would be the best for both of you if you just stopped interfering in his success.

Maybe the thing that hurt you the most though was seeing how it seemingly didn't affect him. He continued forward like nothing had happened, even treating you as a friend whenever you happened to run in the same circles. That was when you decided you couldn't like him, even if you loved him. It was easier to be annoyed than show how hurt it made you.

It was sick to say that you had wanted him to be just as miserable and lost as you were.

As you heard the water cut off, you pushed your face away from the pillow and took a deep breath. It was just a quick trip. You could be cordial for the sake of your friends.

You heard him before you saw him. With the phone glued to his ear, he was chuckling at someone on the other line. It was difficult not to ogle at the water droplets still decorating his shoulders and collar bone, even though he was technically fully dressed in a tank top and shorts.

"We need to redo the guide," he instructed. "I might be able to break away for a little bit and record something.

Yes, I know I'm on vacation, but we're already behind."

After a few more minutes of arguing, he hung up, and tossed his phone onto the bed.

You couldn't help yourself. "Was it worth it?"

"Hm?" he asked. You knew he had to pull himself out of his own thoughts before he could address yours.

"Was it worth it?" you repeated, crossing your arms.

"The shower?" he asked, lifting his brows and smiling his patented one-sided smirk. "Absolutely."

"No," you croaked. "Working. On vacations, in what's supposed to be your free time. Was it all worth it?"

He plopped on the edge of the bed, keeping his back to you. "We're talking past - past tense here...aren't we? Not the call I was just on."

Your silence was answer enough.

"I like to think it was," he said quietly, tilting his head to the side as he made a hissing noise to reprimand himself. "But as days go by, the more and more I wonder if I was wrong."

You chewed on your lip, not at all knowing what answer you had expected, but that wasn't it.

Looking over his shoulder, he slowly pivoted his body to face yours. His expression softened as he said quietly, "Is that why you hate me?"

Your jaw dropped open as you floundered for one of your knee-jerk, cutting responses. His face conveyed such helplessness.

"...I don't hate you, Changbin," you said quietly. Surely, he had to know that.

"I don't think I would blame you if you did," he chuckled sadly. "I put just about everything before you, didn't I?"

"It wasn't a matter of putting things before me," you said slowly. "It was a matter of putting things before us. We were supposed to be a team."

The old adage that time heals all wounds was at least proving itself to be slightly true. It was definitely easier to speak on how you were feeling now that you had put some space between yourself and the initial confrontation.

Changbin nodded slowly. "I wanted to be better."

You tried to take the ice out of your tone. "I did too."

"Then why didn't we try?" he asked, looking toward you with watery eyes.

You tried to focus on your breathing. If Changbin cried, you were absolutely going to cry.

"I thought...I thought that I had done so badly as a boyfriend," he continued. "And that's why you treated me like I was an inconvenience once we broke up."

"You were an inconvenience," you grumbled. "Only because I was still so upset...and you were acting like everything was okay between us."

"I don't know how to act otherwise!" he contended. "We broke up and I still loved you. Treating you any other way would have hurt my heart, and I'm too selfish to do that on top of what was already done."

"Huh," you hiccupped, feeling the tears come despite your best efforts. "I really goofed, didn't I?"

"What do you mean?" he asked, furrowing his brows.

"I was the one who did the breaking up, Bin," you said quietly. "I tried to tell myself I shouldn't feel bad because it was your fault. You were the one who was always gone, but I didn't try to talk to you about it. I let it become this completely...other thing inside of me. It was like every time you cancelled, I added it to this stack until it finally tumbled over."

"But I should have realized on my own," he asserted, standing up to move closer to you. Dropping to his knees in front of you, he gathered your hands in his. Looking up through his lashes, you could see the toll the last few months had taken on him.

You were foolish to think he wasn't suffering in the same way you were.

"We can blame ourselves all day," you sniffed, finally letting the tears run over your cheeks. "But it doesn't change the fact that we broke up...and now we're here."

"So we un-break up," he mused, saying it as if it was the simplest thing in the world.

"Un-break up?" you muttered.

"Mhm," he hummed, easing up from his knees to sit beside you. Wrapping an arm around your shoulders, he tucked you into his side.

"It's not that easy," you hiccupped, shaking your head but making no attempt to untangle your body from his.

"Who says it can't be?"

"We're different people now, Bin," you maintained. "Do we even know if we can be that safe space for each other? It ended so poorly last time, and-"

"Because we let it!" he argued. "But we know now-"

"Do we?" you interrupted. "We don't actually know how to fix what happened. We walked away."

"And here we are, walking back," he chuckled, shaking his head. "We can try, really try...if you think it's worth it."

You chewed on your lip, looking toward him. His eyes were still a little puffy from his brief crying episode, but it was definitely the same Bin you had fallen in love with months ago. His dark hair was beginning to dry in its signature messy curls, and his even darker eyes watched you carefully. There was a fire there that had been extinguished for so long, seeing it again caused your heart to skip a beat. Now that you had opened the door, he would push as hard as possible to make his way back in.

"Y/N?"

"I may not be worth it," you laughed grimly. "But I know you are."

"I didn't know we were throwing a pity party," he teased. "I should have bought streamers."

"I take it back," you grumbled. "You aren't worth it."

Changbin's grin was wide as he wrapped his other arm around you and squeezed you tightly. "Of course, you're worth it, silly."

"So we're doing this," you whispered into his bare shoulder. The smell of his shower gel was still heavy on his skin, encouraging you to inhale deeply. For the first time in weeks, you felt at home.

"Hell yeah we are," he chimed. "We're going to do the shit out of this."

You laughed as you pulled away from him. You wanted to look into his eyes. He needed to understand.

"Starting now, we both promise to do better," you nodded slowly. He nodded along, eyes wide. "Which means, do you really have to work while you're here?"

He smirked, letting out a small chuckle. "Starting now, I am going to be so present in this relationship, you're going to get sick of me. You'll be begging for me to go to the studio."

"Somehow I doubt that," you sighed, lifting a hand to cradle his jaw. He tilted his face, nuzzling your palm before dropping a soft kiss there. "But I'm excited to see you try."

[butterscotchpiesandguys]

Student Becomes the Teacher

It was a familiar experience to me, getting in my car, going to class early, doing homework. Felt nice. Of course what was also familiar was the bullying. You see I had recently gotten fired and had a wake up call. I needed to do something better with my life. So what did I do? i, as someone so smart would do, joined a technical institute. I went into a more financial side though. This did not make me popular with my classmates who had been there longer, were usually older, and most of which were more hands on.

They would call me a nerd, a loser, and a geek. Of course I didn't care all too much about this. Harassment was just that, and quite frankly it was some annoying dumb ass adults who couldn't even think straight enough to get a job that was actually needed. This attitude also made me very unpopular. So unpopular a teacher complained. Why? Cause he had heard some of the stuff me and my field would say about the welders.

It was just stuff like how they're stupid, all have at least one DUI, won't amount to anything. Stuff like that. He went so far to complain to the head administrator of the school. Now he used to be an electrician so he knew how it was to be hands on. He loved hearing about all of this and hatched a plan. The workload for the welders had been pretty overwhelming for just one instructor...

It was only a few days before I heard murmurs of a new instructor coming on campus, of course it was some welder... not like my section could get anything. But that same week I was called into an office at campus. I expected nothing much, maybe an odd thing I lost, although what it was I could not imagine... what I didn't expect was the head administrator.

"Hello [Y/N], we just wanted to talk to you today." Oh god what was it about, he could see how nervous I was. It was humiliating but also I needed to try and keep cool. "We had received some complaints about your attitude towards the welders and electricians, I just wanted to go through a few questions with you, that ok?"

Without knowing what to do I nodded, "Y-yes sir." I gulped a bit.

"Good, so first... is it true you had said to Taylor that he was a... no good stoner with no future? Is that true?" I tried to shake my head no but it went the opposite way. "Ah, glad you were honest with me. Well... you know here we like to give second chances to anyone right?" I shook my head in agreement. "In that case, any felonies you have?"

What felonies? What kind of- "Yeah, actually I've had a dui or two, got arrested for a fight or two... or more." What was I saying?! What the hell?!

"I appreciate your honesty... Tom was it?" What kind of name was that? It wasn't my name at all? Wait why did I nod?! "Yeah, well that's gonna be tough but your students generally would relate. The head administrator smiled at me. "We can wave those away since your track record for your work is pretty good."

"Glad to hear that." I said again in that weird voice. What the hell was happening... why did I suddenly remember welding and shit... What the hell...

"Yeah... I think you'll fit right in, Tom." Why was he being so devilish right now?!

"Thanks man, really need this." I chuckled as I stood up and walked out of the room. "Startin next thursday right?"

"Yup! Just wear somethin like that when you come in! We'll get a shirt in your size soon!" He laughed as I walked out, the window in the door showing a new reflection.

My face was more dashing, a bit older as well. My hair was messy but in an almost purposeful way. My body had grown quite a bit of muscle now... hair as well. Tattoos had been put on my body frivolously! I looked like some typical douche bag!

I walked through the halls, trying to see on my phone what had happened. My background was a picture of a motorcycle. Jessie... what? Who the hell was Jessie? My contacts had some girls in there and some guys I had no clue who they were. Going through the messages they were my drinking buddies and some hookups.

I continued until the electrician teacher stopped to talk. "Hey are you..." I wanted to say my actual name but that didn't pop out.

"Yeah, name's Thomas Wylder. You can just call me Tom though." I smiled at her... it was like my body moved on it's own. "New teacher here, welding." Wait...

We started to talk in the hall for a bit, just about staff in the school and how the welders were. She described them as younger than me and rowdy. I would make douchey comments or state shit about my life. Where I now lived, how many years I had been a welder and in the union. It was like I wasn't even me anymore. Eventually I cut it short, needing to go do some "tasks" at my home.

I went outside to find it... the same motorcycle from the picture. Jessie. I put on a leather jacket and no helmet... I could ride it with no issue though. I was still wondering how or why this happened. It was as if I was... no... the head administrator wouldn't do that would he?

I eventually got back to wherever my home was. Beaten up shithole kinda... not in a good neighborhood either. I waved to a neighbor and went in. Smelt like shit, I reached in my pocket and took out a cig and started smoking... no... I was the worst kind of person. The kind I hated. Dumb, arrogant, douchey, and toxic! It was awful!

2 MONTHS HAD GONE BY

I was now regularly teaching the class, about two weeks into this hellish experience I had started to regain full control of my life. While I tried to actually stop these worse traits, I couldn't. By that point they were ingrained into me. Now I acted like a douchey teacher, the kinds you hate. The ones that will just tease or make fun of nerdy kids. Of course I was well loved by the staff and my students.

I worked as a welder and taught the trade now. I hated it... but it gave me money to pay the lifestyle I never wanted. I don't think I deserved this but... I'm slowly coming around to it. I feel more confident and hey, I even hang out with some of the douchebags I had teach me when I went here... god I sound so old now... I hope someday I can reverse this before it's way too late.

[speedycoffeedelight]

An Animalistic Disaster

Summery:You find yourself in a bit of a tight spot...

Masterlist

CH-13: A small problem arises

Charlie's scream brought Vaggie and Pentious in the room as they stood there agape as well.

'What's with all the ruckus around here?' Alastor said as he stepped inside the cabin again for the second time. 'Niffty's human again!' Pentious answered from your door looking back at Alastor.

Alastor quickly peeked into the room over Vaggie's shoulder.

Indeed there was Niffty, who now had much more humane appearance being held by you. She had short light brown hair with red hues which were all damp and wet. On top of her milkish white skin was a pair of light yellow eyes blinking at you, not knowing what just happened while holding onto your shoulder.

She also had her old maid uniform on. But there was a tiny hole behind her dress where a small dog tail was poking out and she had a pair of dog ears as well. Despite her small frame, she was still an adult. But you kept holding her up like she weighted nothing.

After your eyes adjusted finally you slowly opened your eyes. "Niffty..?" You choked out. You were surprised to find yourself holding onto a human, well almost a human girl instead of the cute puppy of a few seconds ago.

"Oh my god Niffty you became human too!" Charlie sequeled as she ran over to you both. As she was talking about Niffty's new look to her you felt water droplets fall on your chest. Looking down you realised you may have been holding Niffty for quite a while and water from her hair was falling on you. You decided to put her down as others came to examine Niffty's new form.

"Niffty you have dog ears! How cute!" Charlie squealed as she leaned down to her level. Alastor came close to Niffty, taking in her new form.

'Niffty, dear, tell me exactly what you were doing before you turned into this. Spare no details' Alastor quickly inquired as soon as he stepped inside the room.

"Let the girl breathe Alastor. She just turned human, let her get used to her form first" Vaggie stepped in front of her.

"Niffty you feel any different?" You asked crouching down to her height.

"No I don't think so? But I can clean properly now! There are some spots I couldn't reach as a dog. I'm coming for those now!" She ended with a creepy laugh as she sprinted to finally clean with proper stuffs.

You nervously laughed looking at her. "At least she's making the best of her form" you stood up.

'Sooo, Charlie ...' Angel began to speak .

'As of so far about turning into human, the timing is from when you come here right?'

"Seems like it for now yeah! Why?" Charlie asked turning to face the spider. Meanwhile you grabbed a new loose t-shirt and shorts and went to take a quick shower in the bathroom.

'That means I'm next right? Haha,fuck yeah! Can't wait to finally get out of this shitty spider body!' Angel said celebrating by himself.

'Hold on that means I'm last! Fucking great..' Cherri looked the exact opposite of Angel dust.

'Heh don't worry toots, I'll personally carry you around when I become human again.'

'oh fuck off'

When you came out of the shower, you were faced with Niffty literally zooming from place to place with a duster and big ass needle, that gods knows where she found from, cleaning your place up. You could appreciate her enthusiasm. At least you don't have to worry about cleaning your cabin any longer.

"Hey (Y/n), could we borrow some of your clothes?" Vaggie asked standing beside you. "Me and Charlie wanted to take a shower if you don't mind but we don't really have other cloths..."

"Oh yes please go ahead!" You quickly reassured her. "Choose whichever you'd like, please. Most of my clothes are kinda oversized since they're most comfortable to wear. But I have some tight fitted ones of my own size too. You should be able to find the ones that fit you "

"Thank you, we'll go pick some out then" Vaggie smiled at you as she went to fetch Charlie and get the cloths. You went outside at your balcony as you sipped on

some coffee and scrolled through twitter.

"They're gonna sell trading cards now?" You were wide eyed looking at the video that the Hazbin hotel twitter account just posted. "There's keychains and literal key too!! Ahhh I want it! I want it so bad!"

But your wallet was practically crying. If you were to buy those right now, it might be hard to even last the week. Especially since there are three new people in the house. Your next paycheck should come after this week was over.

There was another thing to consider, if all of the cast turned human, you might not have enough money to feed all of them. Something needs to be done so at least you all don't starve. So it was a bit of a problem.

You headed back inside so you could call for a meeting. You found Charlie and Vaggie drying their hair in your room. Vaggie wore a oversized hoodie of yours with shorts and Charlie wore one of your dresses. Your heart practically swooned at the sight of them wearing your cloths. Was this the reason people in relationship steal each others cloths so much?

You explained the situation to Vaggie who quickly gathered the other animals and Niffty. You sat on your bed and explained your concerns. Vaggie volunteered to translate for the animals.

"We really need to find a way to make more money. My salary might be enough to somehow feed three to four people at best. But not about eight of you"

'What if we attacked drunks and perverts in the streets and took their money? We would be keeping the streets clean AND get the money we need' Alastor suggested.

"Are you fucking nuts? No way we're doing that!" Vaggie screamed.

"Wait what did he say?" You asked confused looking at both of them.

"Oh he said if we could kill people and take their money" Niffty answered for you while swinging her feet from the bed.

"What the- noo!" This time you screamed looking at Alastor. "Can you not about think anything except hurting others?"

'You are the one who asked us for our suggestion'

'What if you guys become stripper's instead? It pays good money~'

"I don't think I'd be comfortable with that Angel..." Charlie nervously laughed.

After a lot more talking and presenting ideas and erasing them, Pentious finally spoke up.

'What if Charlie and Vaggie gets a job here?'

Vaggie translated it for you. "Job huh..that might be the best but where could you guys work around here without any papers.." you mumbled by yourself. "Not to mention Charlie's horns and Vaggie's antenna's on the head."

"Oh oh I could make something at home with my sewing if you'd like! Then we can go sell it!" Niffty chipped in.

'And I could create new gadgetsss when I become human! No doubt people will go crazy with the inventionss made by the great Sir Pentiousss!'

You smiled after you heard Niffty and Vaggie translated Pentious's words. "Yes that could work as well. Nice thinking both of you"

"As for the rest of you, we'll decide once you become human. For now we'll focus on getting Charlie or Vaggie to work so the load lessens a bit.  Though it'll be hard finding a place that doesn't require any paperworks or something.."

You scratched your chin, deep in thought. Suddenly you remembered about a certain someone.

"I think I know just who to call for a little help to get through. But I really would rather not call her without an emergency." You sighed.

"Oh who is it (Y/n)?" Charlie asked with curiosity.

"My cousin, Melody." You said looking at the phone. "It's been some time since I last talked with her." You said sadly.

'Do you have an issue going on that girl or something?' Husk asked from the chair he was sitting and Niffty translated it for you.

"No no, not at all. It's the opposite in fact. I see her as my little sister and we basically grew up together "

"Then what's the matter?" Vaggie was confused with you answer. "Why didn't you call her all this time?"

"Her parents hate me. So I try not to call her as much so she doesn't get in any trouble. But I think a call is long overdue by now" you dialed up the number and exhaled trying to prepare yourself. "I'll be right back after the call" You said while moving out to the balcony and calling her.

'Why would anyone hate someone so sssweet as her?' Pentious said as he looked at all of them.

"I know right? She has been taking care of us all these time and she's practically an angel!" Charlie exclaimed.

'Now now Charlie, don't go jumping to conclusions just yet. We haven't seen all of her. Who knows what she's hiding in her past.' Alastor said with a grin. 'There must be some reason for this'

'Even though I hate to admit it, this fucker might be right. Don't get all high horse about her now. We barely know her properly.' Husk looked away and lied down on the chair and curled up facing away from everyone.

"Let's not all get hasty. We should wait for her to come back and hear from her what happened" Vaggie tried to stay neutral about all these as she looked in the direction of the balcony.

Melody didn't pick up the first call. But she picked the second. With your heart pounding you asked softly first like you always do.

"Hey is this a good time?"

This was to ensure your aunt, uncle or her dreaded brother weren't nearby to stir up trouble for Melody. You smiled when she said yes in a overjoyed tone.

"Yes it is! Skylar got in trouble for drinking last night and mom and dad's letting him have it. They won't be here for some time. And why haven't you called all this time?? I missed you!"

You smiled gently hearing she still misses you. And it looked like her brother was being a pain in the ass as usual.

"Isn't that guy like 15 or something? Anyway, I'm sorry for not calling you Mel, I was afraid of getting you in trouble.. "

"Girl stop worrying about me! I'll handle them one way or another. But I suppose you had a reason for calling me now hm?"

You felt guilt travelling through your entire body to reconsider your decision to ask her for help.

"Yes I actually did..but let me hear about how your life's been so far! Tell me all the gossips!"

"Hm,sure then. There was this guy...."

Melody talked about a guy she has a crush on, how her parents are overpressuring her with their expectations to a new shitty series she just started watching. You both laughed and joked just like old times. It was almost enough to make you forget about the whole deal.

"And the story's so fucking boring too like god you won't believe! Bitch at least have interesting characters! Oh and anyways what was the thing you wanted to talk to me about?"

"I was hoping you could lend me some money... I'm kinda in a tight spot recently after I bought the new cabin. I'll repay you don't worry -" you got cut off from her answering.

"Shut up, not a another word from you! Take as much as you need and don't worry about paying!"

"But-"

"No buts!" Melody's voice became a bit softer. "You never really ask me for anything. You're always the one helping me out since we were little. Let me have this at least (Y/n)"

"Alright...and who says you don't do anything?" You said with small smile creeping on your face.

After a bit more talking you told her a decent amount of money that you needed in case of emergency. You made sure to not ask more then you might need. After a few seconds of cutting the call, you got a notification saying the money has been transferred.

You went back inside with a smile on your face. "I got the money guys! We don't need to worry about starving for now." You happily announced at the lot.

"That's great to hear! Also (Y/n) some of us was a little curious about what you said before, of your aunt's and uncle not liking you.." Charlie said looking at Alastor and Husk especially.

"Oh yeah about that......" You sighed. You were unsure on how to present the story to them.

"So when I was six.."

A.N: This was a rather mild chap but it needed to be done to get rid of some questions people might have in future.

Also I'm making their human apparences based on their ethnicity and fanart I find online and add my own little twist there. So everything might not be entirely accurate.

Which show you guys think Melody was watching? 🤔🤔

Tagging: @legostars @glowinthedarkbones1150

[hiwelcometothemonstersancturary]

You stare at your old nokia phone as the ambulance ride goes. You hear the nurses wrapping proper bandages around Kissy's scratched arm, the big toy trying to be as calm as possible. Poppy encouraged her, clapping her tiny hands to signal that Kissy did an excellent job. You smiled and nodded, trying to ignore the police chief sitting right next to you.

He was quietly reading the documentation you brought from the deeper parts of Playtime Co. You thought about thanking the Prototype for coming up with the idea, then went back to staring at your phone.

Finally, you dialed your mother's number, each beep making you more anxious than the last. Then, finally...

"MY SWEET ANGEL!", she screamed in portuguese in the other side of the line. "Where have you been?! You dissapeared for a whole week, what happened?"

Poppy stared at you, hearing your mother's screams.

"Well, mom...", you muttered, also in portuguese. "It's, uh... Complicated".

"Oh, I bet it is! Where have you been?"

You made a funny face, nervous. "Remember when I worked at Playtime Co...? I received a letter and, uh, decided to visit the factory. Got trapped inside".

"For a week?"

"For a week", you confirm. "... You said you wanted grandchildren, right?"

"What does that have to do with this? Are you hurt? Where are you?"

"Mom, answer the question".

You could feel her rolling her eyes in the other line: "You know well I do, but your brother already gave us two".

"Well, I have good news regarding that", Poppy's eyes went wide and she blinked. You simply stared at her and tried to give her the best of your smiles: "I adopted some kids".

"What?"

"What do you think about 80 grandkids? Is that enough?"

"Stop making jokes, boy! I'm your mother! W-where are you?"

"Why don't you go to the hospital? I'm heading there. I'm in an ambulance right at the moment, some of the kids are really hurt and need urgent care, and I'm the only adult they have. Guess I'll also need some patching up as well...".

"There were children inside the factory?"

"A fucking lot", you agree. "They're mine now".

Poppy's eyes started to become teary. The chief right next to you gave you a strange look before re-reading the document in his hands, baffled. Maybe he was going to vomit again? Or maybe he thought you were going mad. It didn't matter much now.

"... Angel", your mother called. "What were they doing there?"

"They were abandoned. Left to die. I think most of them were starving before I arrived", you continued. "They're pretty hurt. I know one is going to have urgent surgery. I don't know how much I can tell you, the cops are also here and I, uhm, don't know what needs to be kept a secret or not. Can you and dad just please come over the hospital and help me a bit?"

Your voice was weak, and you stopped looking at Poppy as reality sank around you. God, they were all just children. Your kids now, you guessed, but you would rather have never met them if it meant they would have never become toys in the first place.

"We're already heading over there", your mother firmly told you. "You hang in there, I'm calling your brother and aunt".

"Let me call him", you asked. "You call aunt before she kills me for dissapearing".

"Okay".

You waited. Your mom did as well.

"Are you alright?", she finally asked, again. You stare at your dirty and bloody hands.

"I didn't lose any body parts, if that's what you want to know", you reassure her. "I'm just tired, hungry and dirty. Could have been worse".

"I'm glad it's not", you could hear someone else in the line. Your mother sighed. "We'll talk more later, okay? I love you. Please don't die while we're on our way there".

"Can't promise that".

"Angel".

"Fine, mom. An ugly vase is hard to break, remember? See you soon. Bye".

You put your phone aside. Poppy's gaze had never left you, and now Kissy was waiting for what you were going to say as well. The two nurses were still working on patching her up as you gently put Poppy on your lap.

"Angel", she called. "Did you just refer to us as your children?"

"I wasn't lying", you quickly answer. "And didn't you just call me dad a few moments ago?"

"I-I... I did".

The doll gives you a hug, and you give one back before gently swiping off the tears forming in the corners of her too-realistic eyes. "Look, Pop, I'm never going to be a good parent for either one of you. I'm all grumpy and hopeless, and you need better than that. But I did promise I would do my best, and that's what I'll try to do. You don't have to pretend to be my daughter, anyways. I'll just be your legal guardian".

"...", was her response, before she readjusted herself to be more comfy on your lap. "I think I prefer having you as my parent rather than just a guardian, Angel. But it's not fair. I already took too many of your choices away from you, I-I don't want this to just be another one of them".

"Shoosh, Pop", you pat her head. "I made that choice long before you tried to stop me from talking to the Prototype. I'll be here to bother you and the others for as long as possible".

Poppy giggled, closing her still teary eyes.

"I'm glad, then", she mutters, ignoring the confused cop sitting next to you. "That you chose to be our... Parent".

You smile, and she understands you're glad as well.

"Now, go to back to sleep. I'll wake you up when we arrive at the hospital", you eye Kissy. "Or if your sister needs some encouragement".

The bigger toy's smile seems to be genuine.

[sophieinwonderland]

do you think plurality will become widely accepted any time soon? i fear that my plurality will have to be hidden from most people my whole life. i wish i could tell our parents but i feel like they would immediately take me to a mental hospital..

i wish plural education could move faster lol

Widely accepted? I wouldn't count on it anytime soon. Sorry.

As Ghandi never said: "first they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win”

While the quote isn't from Ghandi, it is still a pretty accurate one for how movements tend to go. And the problem is, we're still in the ignoring stage with a side of mockery.

Before we can get widespread acceptance, we need widespread awareness. And when we get widespread awareness, the biggest roadblock we'll encounter is direct opposition. Because then we'll be a threat. We'll be trying to change things. We'll be demanding our headmates be acknowledged as individuals and called by their names, and that's going to make certain people, especially on the Right, extremely uncomfortable. I'm sorry to say that they will lash out.

When Tulpamancers are being smeared not by randos on Tumblr or r/systemscringe, but by Sean Hannity, that's when you can know that the real fight for plural acceptance has started. And everything we've gone through before that has just been a prelude.

And then it will probably drag out for years after that.

But while that prospect is scary, I think it will be necessary for getting to where we need to be.

...

But just because society isn't there yet and won't be for a while, that doesn't mean your parents won't be. Plenty of people have come out to their parents successfully. Others came out unsuccessfully, and then their parents warmed up to the idea later.

I would advise waiting until you're an adult if you aren't already, because parents have a lot of power over minors in their care, and things could go very badly. Best not come out, if you think they would react badly, while they have power over you. Additionally, I don't know if your system is traumagenic or not, but if it is, coming out to parents who may have been involved in that is probably a bad idea. Caution is advised.

...

One more thing, while that quote wasn't from Gandhi, I really love the speech it's believed to have originated from.

Plural acceptance may not come quick! It may not come easy! But it will come, and we are all a part of it just by being here and being ourselves!

The future is plural!

No matter how far off that future may seem!

[frayazicat]

what if Triplets Dan, Danny, and Ellie?

like, people like to make at least Dan and Danny twins, but why not all three?? i never see that happen.

here's what i'm thinking. Reveal Gone Good, but Danny now has to tell his parents about the OTHER TWO biggest secrets he's kept from them; Dan and Ellie. he's a little hesitant cause this is not Phantom Planet compliant so they don't know about Vlad.

Dan's still in his thermos timeout thinking about what he's done and Ellie is...somewhere.

so, he tells them about his clone and his future self. this includes what Vlad has done to him. does it include who did this? maybe, i don't know. dealer's choice. anyways, the Fenton parents want to meet their new kids.

Team Phantom gets in touch with Ellie to get to FentonWorks as soon as possible while Danny introduces them to Dan.

it..might not go as planned, might end up fine, that's also dealer's choice. but! in the end, they somehow redeem Dan. Ellie arrives and the duo are welcomed into the family!

but, there are two problems now.

1) how do they explain away their new children?

and 2) Dan is full ghost (and adult-sized, i'm not sure the parents are old enough for a kid his age) and Ellie is an unstable clone - both half Vlad, and really not wanting to be half Vlad.

their solution to the second problem? make new bodies for them! they made two fully stable Halfa clone bodies from Danny, had Ellie and Dan fuse their cores inside these clones near the end of making them, and waited for them to pop out of the tubes at the same age as Danny! this might take some help from Clockwork and Danny to pull off without more melting clones..

anyways! now, they have three Halfa children. all they have to do at this point is find a way to explain the sudden appearance of TWO MORE KIDS!

their solution for THAT problem? hack into the database and change the medical files so it showed that THREE kids were birthed instead of one; Danail Jack, Daniel Jackson, and Dannielle Jacklyn Fenton. Dan, Danny, and Ellie.

but the parents take it SO MUCH FURTHER. they bribe the local schools and hospitals, they make fake receipts of things bought for them and fake records of government child support, and they even photoshop younger versions of Ellie and Dan into the family photos to make it legit. heck, they might have even gone back in time via Clockwork to add the birth certificates! they're THAT committed!

so, we got a new family of six gaslighting, gatekeeping, and girlbossing their way into legitimacy.

"What do you mean we only had two kids this entire time? Look at these records! Look at how similar they are to their triplet brother! The evidence says otherwise!"

"Listen, if you just play along and say nothing contrary to anybody who asks, we'll stop ghost hunting or driving for one month every time you do so. Sound good? We'll even put in some money to sweeten the deal."

"If we never had these children before, then why do we have memories of Dan viciously beating up Danny and Ellie's bullies at school?"

that sort of thing.

they're COMMITTED. it's INSANE. the town is going CRAZY.

where did these kids come from?? did we seriously forget about two teen kids for sixteen years??

(things go off the rails when Sam and Tucker get in on the action.)

now, i'm putting this under DCxDP, cause of just ONE little detail. Ellie's obsession involves moving, right?

well, what if the Fenton family becomes a wandering family of crime-fighters/mad scientists with an interest in the occult?

what if they get on the JL's radar because of one too many supernatural cases being solved by the Fentons in the JL's local cities?

they're at Gotham? suddenly, it feels as if the air is lighter and that it's not as drenched in evil and insanity as before. what did they do? fought the curses in the local Lazurus Pit like someone wrestling a pig in their mudpen.

they're in Metropolis? Lex woke up one day to find his entire stash of Kryptonite was missing with no trace. what did they do? the triplets broke in after sensing the gems and ate them like candy, their natural ghostliness shorting out the security feed as they do so.

they're in D.C.? all of the ghost relics in the local museums have been stolen with only a note saying, "Sorry for the disturbance! These were too dangerous for the living, so we put them somewhere safe! Don't worry! :)" left behind. what did they do? they took them and chucked them into the ghost portal where some allies on that side put them in safe places.

and that's all i got.

TL,DR; Fenton family goes full mad scientist in order to welcome Dan and Ellie into the family before packing up and wandering the states, effectively gaining the JL's attention with their suspicious and crazy appearances.

(i hope i didn't accidentally steal this idea from another. if i did, i'm sorry. feel free to smack me or something if that's the case.)

[themessedupsonata]

You will be my world.

James Potter x Fem!Reader

Summary: James Potter never liked how the Autumn made everything seems so unsightly and boresome. That was until you steal his heart and make him change his mind about the autumn.

Word Count: 1.8k

Warnings: none, just tooth-rotting fluff. A slight mention of the first wizarding war, maybe?

A/N: Actually, my favourite season is spring, but I love the song ''we fell in love in october'' and I just couldn't stop myself from writing this.

James Potter hated autumn.

He loved summer because he could feel the sun kissing his skin and making him feel alive. Spring was the perfect time for him to gift his mom flowers and watch nature's beautiful cycle where animals found their mates. Winter was synonymous with Christmas (James' favourite holiday) and it was when he could play with his parents in the snow.

Autumn was just three months of sheer boredom. Nothing special happened in the Autumn. Everything was so… unsightly.

That was until he met you.

It was the middle of October and James' least favourite season was in full swing. Most of his neighbours were adults without children, leaving him with no one to play with for nine years, but that all changed that year when a moving truck pulled up in front of the house next to his with a car right behind. A couple got out of the car with a… Child.

A child his age.

James immediately turned away from the window and was already pulling on his coat to leave the house to greet you when Fleamont Potter stopped him.

''We live in a Muggle neighbourhood, Jamie, and you still don't know how to control your magic very well. I'll invite them to afternoon tea and we'll find out if they're wizards.''

Thank Merlin they were.

The L/Ns were a Muggle-born couple who met through their work at the Ministry of Magic. Their only child, Y/n, had inherited her parents' magic.

They were a very likeable couple and Fleamont and Euphemia quickly made friends with them.

''It's not dark yet, you could go out and play.'' Mrs L/n suggested.

Of course, James was over the moon to finally have someone to play with, but he felt uncomfortable being alone with you because so far you both only exchanged a ''Hi''.

The square that was a few meters from James' house was pretty empty at this time of day. You noticed that, so you suggested the two of you go over there. James happily agreed, but as soon as you turned your back to go down to the square, James scowled. He never went to the square in autumn precisely because everything was ugly. But he agreed because he wanted to please you so that you would like him and become friends with him.

Apparently, you didn't mind the dead look of the leaves on the trees. On the contrary, you seemed to be… Delighted with them.

''There are so many leaves on the ground! We can make piles of leaves to jump on!'' You suggested excitedly.

The idea didn't seem too unpleasant, so James nodded.

He never knew jumping in piles of autumn leaves could be so much fun.

The feeling of jumping on top of the leaves to feel their slightly hard texture, but not to the point of being uncomfortable, was strangely cool. For some reason, you two couldn't stop laughing and the banter went on for hours but you both could have sworn you were only playing for a few minutes.

When the two of you finally collapsed from exhaustion onto the floor, still giggling like the kids you were, you started moving your arms and legs. James watched you in confusion until he realized you were making an angel out of autumn leaves. He had never seen anything like that, but it looked fun and he decided to imitate you.

''Your angel looks great, Jamie!'' You smiled at him as you two finished your autumn leaves angels.

Tiredness had made your face redder and despite the slightly chilly temperature, there was a little sweat on your skin. your eyes were bright with teasing and your smile was so beautiful that James smiled back without even realizing it.

He hadn't realized what a pretty girl you were until that moment, and he felt like an idiot for feeling his cheeks and the tips of his ears heat up.

The moment was interrupted by James' mother, who said that it was time for you both to go home and that there would be plenty of time to play tomorrow.

James couldn't wait.

***

He had been looking for you all afternoon.

Until he finally remembered about your favourite tree and James felt stupid for not thinking of it sooner.

There you were, exactly where he'd assumed you would be, sitting against the big oak tree at the back of Hogwarts grounds reading a book.

''This one is new, isn't it?'' James asked, moving closer to you.

At age 13, you were both in the growing-up phase. This meant that James was a lot shorter than you and you never stopped teasing him about it.

''Yes Jamie, I started this one today because I finally finished Animal Farm yesterday.'' You replied, patting the space beside you on the floor for James to sit down.

''What is your new book about?'' He questioned as he rested his head on your shoulder.

He let you talk animatedly about your book while he was lost in thought without you noticing. He admired the orange and red tones of the leaves of the trees that made a strange but beautiful combination. He closed his eyes for a few seconds to feel the wind ruffling his hair even more and letting the slight chill envelop his soul. All this while he enjoyed the sound of his favourite person's voice.

You've been inseparable since that day in 1969. You played together daily. Your families travelled together and you studied at Hogwarts together. You were his best friend and he could never thank you enough for coming into his life and making everything more colourful.

But last week, he overheard a conversation between Dorcas and Marlene (He knew it was wrong to listen to other people's conversations, but the topic really caught his attention).

Dorcas spoke passionately about soulmates. How two people were born to meet and complete each other. How a soulmate could make you see the world more beautiful and make your heart feel at peace just being close to your soulmate. Soulmates could live a thousand lives without forgetting the comfort and love that the other made them feel.

It was then that James Potter knew.

You were his soulmate.

But he was too embarrassed to tell you. He wanted you to think he was cool, just like Peter, Sirius and Remus did.

Maybe you would think he was silly for being so sensitive when it came to you.

But one day he would tell you. You were his safe haven and damn him if he never told you that.

***

A war was approaching.

Very soon, a threat would come to terrorize the wizarding world and James feared for everything he loved daily.

His life, because James had dreams and plans and he wanted to try harder every day to be a better person.

His parents, who always had only given the best for James and provided him with a wonderful childhood that he would always be grateful for.

His friends, who stood by him in the good times and made him come to his senses when he was acting like an idiot. Who made him smile and taught him a lot about life.

You.

He didn't want to think about it too much.

Due to the thousands of thoughts plaguing him, James had been having trouble sleeping properly. Usually, he admired the stars in the astronomy tower, but today he decided to take a different route.

Just to end up finding you.

He knew how the threat to the Muggle-borns lives was being very difficult for you. And despite knowing how strong you were, he desperately wanted to take you in his arms and protect you from the cruel world that didn't understand that you were an extraordinary person who was so much more than a ridiculous blood status.

''Couldn't sleep either, Y/n/n?'' He asked quietly so as not to startle you.

You took a deep breath before answering.

''No, Jamie. I wasn't able to.''

You were sitting on a small hill, which was covered with orange leaves. You repeated your habit of patting the vacant space beside you and James sat down next to you.

''You know I'm going to die before I let anything happen to you or your parents, right?'' He stared at you, his face as serious as ever.

''Don't say that. Please… Don't say that.'' You started to cry.

James pulled you closer and you immediately buried your face in your best friend's chest and wrapped your arms around him.

He rested his chin on your head and stroked your back, letting you get it all out.

When you finally calmed down and pulled back a little (Just enough to look him in the eyes. You weren't quite ready to leave James' arms) before muttering.

''Thank you for always being there for me, Jamie. You're the best.''

Suddenly, the handsome boy with glasses grinned devilishly before attacking you with tickles.

That was a terrible habit he always had. From childhood, he would start tickling you whenever you were feeling down. He had learned to control himself over the years, but that bizarre nature of James was still there.

You immediately broke free of his grasp and started running while laughing at the ridiculousness of the situation. James was laughing like crazy as he chased you and unfortunately you didn't stand a chance against him. Now you were both adults and James was much taller and stronger than you.

James threw himself at you, but you tripped and that's how you both ended up on the floor. Your chests pressed against each other and his lips were just inches from yours.

''Y/n/n… Can I kiss you?'' He asked with something glinting in his eyes.

You were completely frozen by the wonderful and at the same time torturous closeness because it still wasn't enough. His hazel eyes has always been your weakness and you could spend eternity admiring James Potter. But a few seconds later, you finally processed the words of his question and responded by pulling him by the back of his neck so that his lips finely met his.

***

If James had told his version of 10 years ago that his favourite season was autumn, little James would have laughed in his face.

But that was an undeniable truth.

He met you in an autumn, fell in love with you in an autumn, finally got to love you in an autumn, and now he was making you his wife.

In an autumn.

Despite all the devastation the war was causing, he found peace and genuine joy today. Watching you walk down the aisle in a beautiful white dress, looking like an angel, while promising to spend the rest of your life with him.

James Potter loved autumn.

And he could never thank you enough for that.

[wilcze-kudly]

I really want to see your post about how Katara is forcefully matured by the fandom, please!

Ok, while I wasn't ready to make that post in earnest, and frankly never might be, here's some of my cursory thoughts on the topic. I'd gladly talk about it in detail more but also ✨️fear✨️

So, let's get the obvious out of the way. Katara is a 14 year old. A child, barely a teen. In fact, the entirety of the gaang is made up of children.

Now, I haven't been fully active in the atla fandom in quite some time, mostly lurking on the peripheries, because the fandom is a shitshow. One of the reasons being the fact that most fans cannot, for the life of them handle the Gaang's inherent childishness.

This isn't just a Katara problem. Other than her, Aang suffers the most for the egregious crime of being a 12 year old survivor of a genocide. Suki is, of course, mainly ignored. The interpretations of Toph can vary wildly, from her being horrifically matured to being dissmissed as a chaotic, rude child. Zuko and Sokka's immature moments are looked at more permissively, being an angsty boi™️ and a goofy goober respectively.

I do find it odd that Aang doesn't get the "boys will be boys" pass, but ok, we'll blame it on him being... bald? a nice boy? not concerned with his own masculinity?

As for Katara, her maturity is treated like... a given. She's the mom of the group, the proverbial love interest, the feminist icon, the badass fighter, the trailblazer filled with feminine rage. The trophy wife to Aang, the (Lore Olympus style) Persephone to Zuko's Hades.

And true, she is, or at least can be, a lot of these things.

However she is, first and foremost, a child. This fact is presented to us on a silver platter in the first episode, when her and Aang are penguin sledding.

Katara : I haven't done this since I was a kid!

Aang: You still are a kid!

Katara is a child forced to mature. Her circumstances forced her to try to fill her mother's place and to fight for those who couldn't do so themselves. The fandom brands her as a mom friend. Sees her purely as an icon of empowerment. Or worse, degrades her character to being a love interest.

(im talking about both sides of the kataang/zutara debate. I have my biases, but I'm sure there are kataangers who treat her like this as well. I simply have encountered very few of them.)

Her story, while yes, has many themes of female empowerment is in huge part, a tragedy. The tragedy of a young girl forced to grow up much too soon.

Sadly, this is rarely spoken about. It's not spoken about directly and therefore a lot of the fandom doesn't see this. (Or simply doesn't want to see it)

This is not to say that Katara's more mature aspects should be dismissed or buried. She displays a lot of maturity for her age, to the point of being able to go toe to toe both intellectually and physically with the (admittedly usually incompetent) adults of the show. Additionally, she evolves as a character through the durtation of the show.

But a huge chunk of her maturity being forced and therefore unhealthy is a key aspect of her character.

I think what upsets me the most is that while the critiquing the idea of Katara being treated as the mom of the group in fanon is becoming more and more common, the treatment of her as something akin to a YA protagonist is on the rise.

Both these interpretations are so insulting to the character of Katara, what is wrong with you people?

I'm currently rewatching atla with a focus on Katara as a character (while also trying to give zutara a chance I am doing my best guys) and her childishness is an integral part of her. It's sad to see her treated as an adult by the fandom. And honestly unsettling, especially with how much of like a child she acts.

I wanna finish my rewatch before I give my full ramble on the topic. I also wanna look more into the many different opinions people in the atla fandom have on Katara's treatment by the show. Though even trying to skim the surfce was like injecting lemon juice directly into my tear ducts. Also I really, really don't wanna get sent death threats again.

I want to give the topic of Katara my full attention. However I don't think I'll ever make this post, actually. The atla fandom is a rabid horrid pack of creatures and I'm not sure if I wanna engage with all that.The post would probably bash a lot of things considered key arguments for Zutara, since, looking at Zutara through a child's doesn't exactly scream 'romance' and do I really want that on my blog?

Katara's role as a child isn't valued as much as her role as a woman and I just don't want to deal with people calling me mean names for talking about a little girl being traumatised.

I'd be glad to have a discussion but I made this blog mainly to have fun and enjoy a piece of media I like. I met some truly amazing people whom I can have really great discussions with, even if we don't agree. I don't want to jeopardise that by being a pretentious dick on a soapbox.

Call this and the last few posts I made on Katara me testing the waters.

[sparrowrye]

Demi Demon || Alastor x Reader, A2 part 1

Synopsis: It’s been over a year since we were brought under Alastor’s watchful eye. We’ve unlocked our Demonic powers, discovered our own talents, and began building the Safe Haven with Charlie and co. Alastor seems increasingly interested in the power we hold as one and intends to use it properly.

Previous part

Act 2, Part 1: a teacher

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Safe Haven was only known through word of mouth. The group had managed to convince some Demons already in Hell to return to the surface where they would be safe. They seemed to regret their decision upon realizing Alastor was involved.

The children were becoming increasingly difficult to handle. They were getting bored and started fighting with each other at random because they had nothing else to do and that was all they knew how to do. So I paired them up with an adult and instructed them to make sure they didn't get hurt and to help in any way. I turned it into a game and told them they had to report back to me every finite detail about the day.

The teenagers seemed obsessed with me. Whenever they weren't doing something they were out looking for me. At first they gave each other space when one of them was talking with me, but now they often sat around each other as if they weren't there. They were starting to be okay with one another.

The Safe Haven was well underway with construction. The grand hall had been built first with lots of upper windows and a large kitchen in the back. The roads were being flattened and paved with smooth stone. It was a rough start but at least it was one.

Alastor had recently gotten into the habit of staring at me again. Though this time he was being a little more obvious about it. It made the teenagers unsettled so I often tried to use illusion magic to hide us from him when they wanted to talk to me. The rest of the time he was within hearing distance when I was interacting with the younger children.

I had figured out my tolerance for meat fairly quickly. I could go three days before I started to get pains. Alastor always had a snide remark when I asked him for it. He would put a hand on my shoulder and soak in our combined magic until I had eaten it. It was a trade off.

"You know..." He had both claws on my shoulder as he leaned down so his head was level with mine again. I hated when he stood behind me but it seemed like his favorite spot. "We'll need to begin your training again soon. It's been far too long since our last session." He pressed through my shields but I kept myself in reality.

"I'm busy," was all I could manage.

"I don't intend to pull you away from your precious little devils for long." He pushed his cheek against mine as his presence reached all the way to my toes.

"They're getting worse with every day." I swallowed the last of the meat and stepped away from him to cut the connection. "I'm essentially raising twenty-eight children." I hadn't realized how much I would need to look after the children once we saved them from the ring fights. It made sense how overrun orphanages could lose sight of a few.

"They seem to be doing just fine," he rested his arms behind his back.

"I'm breaking up fights left and right. The adults aren't helping, either." I left the kitchen to stand on the porch. Alastor followed and stood a hair beside me.

"Perhaps they need someone else to look after them," he said.

"I won't pull any of them away from each other." I watched as Angel practically wrapped himself around Husker. He growled at the white and pink Demon as if he hated it, but I could tell from his lack of shoving that he didn't mind it. He hadn't noticed that I had been avoiding him for awhile, now. Alastor looked at me sideways, his mind ticking away.

"I find it hard to believe," he started, "that there isn't a Persecuted teacher in need of somewhere safe to stay. It would take some time off your hands." His eyes followed my gaze and landed on a trio of teenagers talking and casting glances up at us. "And...give you more time to spend with those unruly teenagers."

I huffed a chuckle. "They're only unruly if you piss them off. Which is easy to do."

"You seem to do that the least."

"No, I'm sure I piss them off. But I'm the only one who understands the shi---the things they went through." I casted a glance up at him but he didn't make a remark on my curse. For once we were having a calm, normal conversation and I didn't want to ruin it.

"Fair enough. Regardless, providing the little devils with a teacher to keep them busy during the day would aid everyone, not just you."

A thought came to mind as he looked out at the construction. "Why are you okay with them building the Safe Haven here?"

"Hmm?" He looked at me sideways.

"Surely you wouldn't want anyone to hold anything against you. Wouldn't having a Safe Haven to protect do just that?"

"Hardly. Not many people cross me to begin with so I'm always hunting for my--our--next meal. Having a target on this town will bring the food right to us."

I looked down at my hands. I hated what I had become so I constantly wore my Human form, especially in front of the children. It made me more approachable and relatable.

"It also negates having to teleport from here to the town. I have more accessibility to you."

"You hardly have that as is." I brushed past him, careful not to actually touch him, and walked across the grass to the trio of teenagers.

****

The woman burst through her apartment door and slammed it shut. She dove for the partly packed suitcase under her bed and threw it open. She ran for her drawers grabbing anything and everything that was important to her.

She grabbed snacks from her kitchen and shoved them into her purse. She past the entryway and stopped dead in her tracks. Her head slowly turned to the shadow standing at her door. Their eyes were a bright red and their claws were long and sharp, glinting in the moonlight from the window.

"Hello Ms. Vivian," the shadow spoke.

"What do you want?" Vivian still hadn't moved from her frozen state. She worried any slight movement would trigger the shadow to attack.

"I have a proposition for you." The shadow cast a sphere of light into the center of the room. It was just enough to light both their faces without giving away that anyone was home. "My name—"

"Snake Demon. You're the Snake Demon."

I held out my hands to the side and gave a slight bow of my head. I had come in my Demon form, hoping to show her that I was just like her.

"You don't seem too happy to see me." I looked the woman up and down. She had a short stature, pale skin, and curly dark hair. I had seen her Demon form earlier with long, lamb ears and hooves. Her small horns jutted out the top of her head, practically camouflaged with her dark hair.

"I've heard plenty of you," she growled, showing off a set of sharp fangs, "and all the children you've been stealing."

"Stealing?" I walked closer to my sphere of light so I could see her face easier. She looked between me and her suitcase. "Go ahead. You'll need it regardless of how our conversation goes."

"What do you want?" she demanded, refusing to move.

"I want to offer you something. A job. And a Safe Haven."

"I'm not making any deals. I learned my lesson." She finally moved from the kitchen to her bed. She finished stuffing everything in the suitcase and used her weight to clip it closed. "And I'm not going anywhere with a kidnapper."

"What do you think I do with those children?" I asked, my tone genuine. This was the first I had heard of my reputation being painted in a bad light.

"I don't know and I really don't want to." Vivian closed the suitcase and hoisted it up on its side. "If you don't mind, I have somewhere to be."

"Someone to avoid." I nodded in agreement. "Right now they're being occupied. Until we're done talking, that is."

"You still haven't told me why."

"Well first, I'd like to set my name straight. The children I took from the rings are safe and sound in my Sanc--Safe Haven. All twenty-eight of them have two meals a day, free roam, a soft bed, and great protection."

"I really don't-"

"And I want you..." I stepped close so we were an arm's length away. Her Demon side had come out fully and I could see the dangerous shift in her eyes of an animal ready to fight. "I want you to help me take care of them."

"Why?"

I let out a short sigh. Always with the why. "Because I have other matters to take care of and I can't keep track of twenty-eight rowdy children every waking hour. I need help."

Her demeanor calmed. Her shoulders relaxed but she was still tense all over, ready to explode if danger poked her with a stick. "Out of everyone, why me? How did you even find me?"

"You're a teacher, aren't you?" I shifted into my Human form so we only had a few inches of height difference. "I need someone who knows how to live in both worlds, someone who knows how Humans and Demons work. Someone to guide children of both species. Is that something you could do?"

The sphere turned a shade of blue and I pretended it was a signal that something was outside. Alastor's presence left my mind for a brief moment. When it returned I heard yelling in the distance.

"How did you know about me, though? Have you been watching me?" she questioned.

"In a way, I suppose." I turned back to face her. "I've been looking for a teacher for some time and you were one of the top choices."

"What exactly is this Safe Haven?"

I heard the yelling growing louder. She obviously couldn't hear them yet. "It's a place for Demons and Humans to find safety and shelter. Ever since the Demons broadcasted about themselves, things haven't been the smoothest for both species."

"Why did you take the children though?" Her ear twitched and I forced myself not to smile. Now she could hear them.

"Starting with new, young minds is the best way to ensure both species can live peacefully side by side. There are adults there but getting past their hatred can be...challenging."

Now her head turned to the noise. She grabbed the handle of her suitcase. "Maybe you can reach me another time. I need time to think."

"You either leave tonight and I won't bother you again, or you come with me and make a difference for these children's lives. I can't give them what you can." I snuffed the light and went to the window, peeking out through the shade. Alastor's illusion of Vivian was running down the street with three people behind her. "I'm trying to keep these children from a life like this. A life of constant running and fear."

Vivian was torn. She needed more time to think. She knew of the Snake Demon's history of illegal ring fights. Vivian, herself, had lost some students to those horrible things. Through this Safe Haven she could keep children from falling into those murderous hands and actually give them a life. She could be the foundation of something good in this period of change. She could be safe to be her true Demon self. No hiding or secrets.

"What's your decision?" I asked. The illusion ran into the building and whisked out of sight. The group chased after it, slamming their bodies into the building door.

"Is this Safe Haven even real?"

"I wouldn't be asking you for help if it wasn't. Though I suppose you'll have to trust me until I bring you there." The building door flew open. They stormed up the stairs, an invisible force causing them to trip and fall on each other. They yelled her name. "What is your decision?"

"Okay. Okay! I'll do it. I'll help."

"Beautiful," I smiled. Alastor manifested from the shadows and the woman's eyes widened. I let him put an arm around my back as I held out a hand to Vivian.

"What? What is this?" She backed away, eyes jumping between us.

"A generous protector of the Safe Haven," I answered. "You said yes."

"But...I...I'm...you didn't say anything about the Radio Demon!"

"He's necessary for the Haven to function. Now let's go." The group ran up the remainder of the stairs and tried opening her door. They started kicking near the door handle to burst it open. "Or we can leave you here to handle them."

With nowhere left to go, Vivian grabbed her suitcase and ran across the room. Our hands wrapped tightly together a second before Alastor teleported us back. She closed her eyes and held on tight to my arm, refusing to open them until we arrived.

One eye opened at a time. She looked around at the basic huts and construction. The adults didn't pay her much mind but Charlie was instantly at her side with her big eyes and wide smile. I let her explain everything to Vivian and watched the woman's reactions.

We settled on introducing her to the children tomorrow since most of them were already well asleep or settled in their huts for the night. Charlie showed her to her own bed while Alastor and I walked up to the house.

"That was awfully close," Alastor half growled. His cane tapped the grass while he held his other arm behind his back.

"Like you couldn't have handled them."

"You should've pressed her more."

"I did it just right. If you're so upset about the way I did it, teach me how to teleport during our next session." I turned around and held my arms out wide as I sidestepped the porch stairs.

He rolled his eyes and followed me into the house. "I have something else in mind."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Author’s Note:

Act Two time baby! Vivian is our first OC and I was super excited to write her. I can’t wait to use all these other amazing OCs! Y’all are so creative and talented 😍

If you have ideas on how Alastor might act or want to see anything in particular, you can request, message, or comment it. I love taking ideas and running with them. For now, our boi needs to develop a sense of respect for us, eh?

[eslypyiris]

Hazbin Gods AU (Chapter 1)

Four hours.

Four hours in a rented gym that "still smells like shocks and chilhood trauma" as Vaggie said, and what did we get?

Nothing but boredom.

I could see from the corner of my eye how Dazzle fell asleep on Fazzle's back while Fazzle looked like he wanted to cry.

"Ok! Thank you, we'll call you!" Vaggie said to the last person we were auditioning.

Everthing went silence as the man left the gym.

"Charlie?" Vaggie called me.

"Yes?"

"Are you ok?" she asked.

"Yes! Why are you asking?" I said, trying to sound as happy as always.

She didn't believe my act, but didn't insist either.

Instead, she changed the topic.

"I'm taking this two on a walk, Ok?"

Vaggie whistle, calling Dazzle and Fazzle's attention.

Both of them ran towards her and looked at her as if they were asking for a treat.

Vaggie peted their heads and then put the leashes on their collars.

"Oh, sure! This two have been here for hours, poor things..."

Vaggie stopped me.

"No, you are staying here."

"What?! Why?" I asked her.

"Because you haven't slept since yesterday and I'm worried about you."

I sighed and rubed my eyes. Only then I realized how true Vaggie's words were.

"You are right... I should rest a little bit."

She kissed one of my cheeks.

"It won't take us long." Vaggie added before heading to the front door.

"Try to not get them too dirty when they play with other dogs." I joked, knowing how dirty Dazzle and Fazzle always get.

"Don't worry, I will bring them back as clean as heaven." She laughted.

When she left, I looked back at the stage.

A single light was lighting up the microphone. Insecurity was rising up my chest, making me feel like every decision I had made so far were the wrong ones.

Since I was a child, music has always been my passion. One of my fondest memories was when mom and I used to go to the roof and sang our worries to the wind.

Sometimes people looked at us as if we were weirdos, but they couldn't take our smiles from us.

Now I'm an adult, and my passion for music never disappeared. That's why I'm here now, trying to make a band.

Usually, people play safe. I could have become an hotel manager or a psychologist, but that wasn't what I wanted. I choosed to follow my dreams, to do what I love... and that wasn't safe.

I'm afraid to fail and end up homeless with all my dreams shattered.

"Like a boat lost at sea/with no sails not a breeze/ I am drifting cold waters/ no star to be seen..." I started singing.

Soon my entire voice began to fill the gym as I was completely immersed in my own song.

"You sound conflicted." A familiar voice said out of nowhere.

I couldn't belive it.

"Mom! What are you doing here? When did you arrive?" I yelled out of suprise.

"I had some business to attend and decided to pass by to say hi. Now, could you tell me what's wrong?"

I hesitated.

"It's nothing important, I'm just... "

"Scared of the future?" She spoke like she just read my mind.

Silence.

Mom walked to the stage and she stood in front of the microphone.

"I know this isn't much, but I hope that at least it makes you feel a little bit better." She said before she stared singing.

Lilith: With a fire furious, I have burned my tongue/Grief from all the promises, too many dreams unsung/All the steps I didn't take, and paths proved untrue/Is there any path through?

I was never able to figure out how Mom was able to made music start playing out of nowhere. At some point, I just stopped asking her and decided to just live with it.

Without even realizing it, I joined mom's song.

Charlie: Like a boat, lost at sea.

Lilith: Though I'm about to wreck

Charlie: with no sails, not a breeze

Lilith:  you still have your life ahead of you

Charlie: I'm drifting, cold waters/No star to be seen...

Lilith: All things that lose their way can find it again/There is no inertia in the ocean...

She went silence, allowing me to do a solo.

Charlie: Maybe if I lean upon my friends/Raise the alarm, I'll call for them/Do I have the heart to trust they'll keep me safe from harm?

And with that, the music stopped and our song ended.

She gave me a warm smile before leaving the stage.

"I once was in a similar situation like yours. Although, the circumstances were different." Mom spoke after a while.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

She shook her head, as if she wanted to erase some memories from her mind.

"Maybe one day I will tell you about it... But not now." That's what she answered.

Mom have always been strange, but that moment she was acting particularly strange.

Before I could ask anything, Vaggie came back from walking Dazzle and Fazzle.

Vaggie's eyes widened when she saw my mother.

"Hi, Mrs Morningstar" she greeted

"Hello, Vaggie. It's been a while." Mom greeted back.

"7 years. Good to see you are doing great." Vaggie said.

There was tension in the air.

"Yes, remind me to thank your parents for taking good care of my Charlotte" Mom told her.

There was a time where Vaggie and mom used to get along really well, in fact, Vaggie used to idolize mom. But now they can't stand eachother.

"I should go." mom spoke.

"Wait! Are we going to have dinner togheter? Like old times?" I didn't wanted her to go yet.

"I will see what I can do. I'm a busy woman after all." she joked.

Vaggie didn't liked the joke at all.

"Ok! Sure! Have a nice day!" I said goodbye trying to not sound heartbroken.

She left the gym without looking back.

After that, the day flew by and before I knew it, I was back at home with my whole body facing the couch. I could see a beautiful starry night from my window.

Dazzle and Fazzle were sleeping in my room and they didn't wanted to give me back my bed.

Vaggie went to MCDONALD'S to get us some dinner.

So, I was basically alone. Enjoying the silence and the stars.

Until someone knoked the door.

"Did you lose your Keys again, Vaggie?" I asked as I approached the door to open it.

A heavy body collided with mine and disoriented me for a moment.

After a few seconds I recognized a blonde woman that I had known all my life.

"WHAT?! MOM?!" She had a deep wound on the side of his stomach and was losing a lot of blood.

"Charlie... I'm sorry... I didn't wanted to do this to you..."

I was afraid and without any idea of what to do.

"Mom! What happened?! Who did this to you?!"

"Charlie... I don't have... a lot of time left..." She seemed to be making a great effort to speak.

It hurted me to see her so weak and helpless. I had never seen her like that before.

"Hold on, I'll call an ambulance!"

I tried to reach my phone, but It wasn't in my jacket. I panicked. This was the worst time in the world to lose a phone.

"Charlie... "

Mom putted one of his hands on my cheek.

"Mom..."

I was a crying at that point.

"I'm very proud of you... My beautiful little girl... I love you..." She said before losing all her strengths.

The hand she placed on my cheek hited the floor and her eyes gradually began to lose their spark.

"MOM!! NO NO NO NO!! MOM, WAKE UP! PLEASE, WAKE UP!" I yelled desperately as I held her body close to mine.

Then, something weird happened.

A sphere of golden light emerged from my mother's chest. It floated for a moment in the air before entering my body.

"What the...? What was that...?" I murmured confused and still unable to get out of the state of shock produced by my mother's sudden death.

Little did I know that that wasn't the only strange thing that would happen to me that night.

My life was about to change forever.

[mybworlds]

Your wish is my command

pairing: Tim Rockford x f!reader (no use of Y/N) | w.c. 4.2k

Summary: You and Tim Rockford have been friends since college days and partners since you both worked for the NYPD. A mission brings you very close and more intimate than you should.

Warnings: no use of Y/N, use of you, reader has no physical descriptions, Tim and reader are friends. Smut, use of pet names, dirty talk, masturbation, unprotected PiV, creampies, comeplay, oral sex, size kink. Let me know if I missed anything!

A/N Hello, new one shot. This time it's Tim Rockford the main character and you, this is a mature one-shot, so minors don't interact.

follow @mybworlds and turn on notifications to get notified when I post new fics

Thx @saradika-graphics for the dividers.

You and Tim have been friends for a long time now. You met on an ordinary day at the college: he was the classic perfect person, you the usual latecomer. He usually sat in the front row, you always in the last row. He took notes, you fiddled with the pen or pretended to take notes.

In short, two people who have nothing in common.

One day it was pouring and you were late as usual, the lesson had already started when you entered with a lot of noise into the classroom which was half deserted that day due to the bad weather. Your arrival made the few dozen people turn around, including him. Tim.

At the time he was a beardless student with crew cut hair, pronounced features and a proud look. You remember how he looked at you that day, he seemed pissed off at your interruption, but at the same time interested. It was the first day that your eyes met, but that day you gave each other nothing but that look. The next few days you and him kept crossing paths to courses and then one day he was the one who arrived unexpectedly late and that day you arrived early and sat in the front row. When he arrived he gave you a small crooked smile and then he started taking notes. From time to time each glanced at the other or at the other's notebook. Soon at the end of the lesson you found yourself in the canteen exchanging notes and finally you introduced yourselves.

Tim has always been a model student, excellent grades, good presence, even if he always tended to stay aloof and keep everyone away.

Except you. He always made an exception for you.

He's always been a huge asshole to others, he never helped others either for a theoretical or practical exam, he always tended - and still continues - to answer badly to everyone, many times he deserved to be told to fuck off, but you never had a reason, you always felt a deep tenderness for him.

You can say that you grew up together, you developed over time a relationship of esteem, trust and affection which then slowly led you to study together, rarely to go out together and from time to time to squeeze your hands affectionately each other, to touch your fingers and to smile at each other with a complicit air.

Furthermore, Tim has always had his own way to tease you, that is, he always tells you "Your wish is my command", at first you rolled your eyes a little annoyed then you got used to it and you started laughing about it and smiling at him when he says this sentence.

Time flies.

And college days end, however you and Tim don't get out of your each other sight. The two of you continue your journey together. You both want to become detectives, you prepared together for the exam and together you passed it. When they announced your results, you both turned in each other's direction, hugged each other tightly, and whispered in each other's ears, "We'll still be together."

It was your hope, you certainly never thought of actually going to work together at the NYPD and even becoming partners.

Now you are two grown adults and Tim is no longer the youngster of the college, even his face has changed. Now he's a man. His features are now well defined, the slight roundness of youth has given way to the harder features typical of age.

As time changes people, your feelings for him have also changed. You are friends, it's true, but deep down you can't help but feel an ever-increasing feeling towards him. Even if it is a feeling never expressed for fear of losing him. You went out many times with other men, but it was just a one-night stand, the next day they didn't even see you anymore.

Now, since the two of you are good detectives, you and Tim have been assigned a kidnapping case and your investigations have led you to believe that the kidnapped boy could be found in a hotel not far from New York. In order to avoid compromising everything, you booked a hotel room by pretending to be a couple on your honeymoon

The two of you search the floor from time to time so you can be sure of your information, but you find nothing. Nothing that can help you. It's almost one o'clock now and after searching some more, you retreat to your room.

The bed is double so you can't do anything but share it. You trust Tim, you love him. You feel perfectly safe and comfortable with him.

You are both lying on your sides looking into each other's eyes. You are wearing a thin night gown, he is wearing a dark t-shirt and shorts. You've done it dozens of times, so you're not embarrassed being like this in his presence.

“Tim,” you tell him, “why did you never get married?”

He places a hand under his cheek and shrugs, "I dunno, maybe 'cause I have a bad temper!" he exclaims with a smile making you smile too.

"Well, a little!" you exclaim, squeezing his hand resting there on the mattress.

"If I had to marry someone I would marry myself or you," he tells you calmly because you two are friends and there has never been anything between you beyond friendship. Even if you always hoped for something more.

"I know," you tell him without stopping looking him in the eyes "Tim, can I ask you something? Please don't laugh."

"Sure."

"What's it like to make love?" he frowns "No, no sorry forget it." you add immediately regretting the question asked.

For a long moment there is a dull silence, then he cups your cheek “Don’t worry, you can ask. It's nice, if you are in love with that person. Otherwise it's just sex and it's equally good, but it's different."

"From the way you're talking about it, you've felt both." you say, he nods "So far I've only had sex, never made love. It's so bad to be seen only as an object to satisfy people's needs and the next day to pretend that you don't even exist." this time he is the one who holds your hand tightly.

"I'm sorry, darlin'." you nods silently “Really,” he adds, caressing your same cheek as before and just barely threading his thick fingers into your hair.

“Can you hug me?” you ask him, barely looking him in the eyes.

"Sure, c'mere." he says, turning to a supine position and opening his arms to welcome you and immediately envelop you, holding you tightly against his chest.

Oh, it feels so good.

He smells good, he has a strong scent that envelops your nostrils, he smells like home.

Tim smells like this. Home, love, a safe haven. You wouldn't want to be anywhere else but here. In his arms.

You don't even know how long you stay like this, entwined. Your nose against his neck, his nose in your hair.

"You've always been my favorite, you know?" you move your head just to look him in the eyes and smile at him.

"How much did you drink earlier down at the bar?"

"Just a few shots of bourbon."

You caress his scratchy cheek "It shows, you know? When did you ever say these words to me, Tim?" you ask him, looking him in the eyes.

"I'm sorry I never told you, baby." he states, cupping your cheek and stroking it with a finger in a slow gesture. Your faces are so close. You can even see the number of his eyelashes.

Before you can fully think about what you're doing, you bring your lips to his and kiss him closing your eyes. You would have apologized if he hadn't kissed you back by sticking his hand in even deeper in your hair thus deepening your kiss.

When you interrupt your kiss, you reopen your eyes suddenly feeling a strong embarrassment making its way inside you. You ruined everything, your friendship with him, your complicity, now he will think who knows about you. You lost him.

"What's wrong?" he asks you caressing your cheek gently, frowning, almost understanding your sense of guilt make its way inside you.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I . . ." you say, starting to get up and move away from him, but he places a hand on your forearm.

"'bout what?" he asks perplexed, "Honey, there's nothing to be sorry about."

"I don't wanna lose you because of. . . this, please."

He frowns, “Lil one, there's nothing to be sorry for and you have no reason to think about losing me."

You visibly relax, he puts his hand in your hair again and brings your face closer to his kissing you, partly out of surprise and partly because of the gesture itself, you find yourself moaning softly into his mouth.

It's his next gesture that then leads you to understand that you are not just a friend to him.

He places his hands on your forearms pulling you onto him without stopping kissing you. Your kiss is no longer as sweet as before, it's demanding, almost desperate as if you were afraid that this strange spell can break and bring you back to reality.

You find yourself on top of him, your hands together and fingers intertwined. You feel small on him almost as if he could engulf you.

"Oh, baby . . ." he murmurs.

"What are we doing, Tim?" you ask him softly, slightly tightening your grip on his hands.

He doesn't respond, he just rubs his nose against yours, then he says what you never thought you'd hear him say, "Rub on my cock," you almost gasp, but you can't stop. You do what he wants.

You open your legs so that your still covered private parts come into contact and you start moving back and forth on him. You feel his thick and long intimacy still soft for the first time against your covered womanhood.

You shudder. He moans.

The grip on your hands increases as you move on him, you slowly feel him growing under you, you feel him get hard and his breath hitches.

Your arousal is starting to build up in your thong, fuck. You start moaning without even realizing it. It's so beautiful.

"Fuck me," he almost complains.

You take a step further, you release your grip from his hands for a moment and you lift the night gown you are wearing, remaining completely naked on him except for the thong you're still wearing.

He stares at your almost completely naked body, his gaze is concentrated, absorbed as if he were contemplating a breathtaking masterpiece.

"Oh, you are so beautiful." he whispers.

You lie on top of him, "Tim," you moan, threading a hand into his hair, scratching his scalp softly.

"Sweetheart." he murmurs kissing you softly, as his hands gently caress your back.

"Are we sure 'bout. . .?" you ask unsure, searching his eyes and finding them darker for the strong desire.

“It's the only thing I've always been sure 'bout,” you look at him confused, “I've always felt something for you." you blink several times even more confused than before, unable to reply with words suitable for the moment "Now, stop talkin', lemme show you the pleasure of making love." he adds, making you reverse your positions so that now it's you on the mattress.

You feel almost disoriented when he kisses you again and then moves on to your jaw and your neck, you almost gasp when he starts kissing your breast and wraps his lips around your nipple which immediately hardens, while with his other hand he palpates your other breast.

"Tim..." you sob.

"Shh, 's okay." it reassures you a few inches from your breast looking for your eyes "Lemme worship your wonderful body, baby,” he adds, giving the same attention to the other breast as well.

His sweet methodical attention is slowly taking you towards your climax, you close your eyes and without even realizing it you start to moan under his sweet and precise caresses.

His lips trail further down between your legs, “Will you let me take this off?" you look down with half-closed eyes. Seeing Tim, your lifetime friend, between your legs with that serious and concentrated look, his messy hair, his darker eyes causes you other strong shivers that shake you inside reverberating there.

You open your legs and lift your pelvis thus giving him your silent permission to take off your underwear too, feel his fingers on your hips undressing you completely makes you tremble.

Fuck.

"Your skin is so soft. . . what idiots those who used you and threw you away. . . What an idiot I was for never having had the courage to get even closer to you." he admits throwing your thong somewhere and then looking into your eyes.

Your heart races, you never thought he would think of you this way.

“Tim, what are you trying to tell me?” You ask him, nibbling on your bottom lip.

He climbs on top of you, surrounding you in his arms and caging you beneath him, "I love you, I always have. I guess. Since that day you burst into the classroom during that flood." he admits and his admission makes you miss a beat, you can't believe it, so that's why he's always been there for you, that's why he's never treated you badly, he loves you.

Oh, Gosh.

You lift towards his face and kiss him, threading your hands through his hair, while he kisses you back.

His lips are so soft, his kisses the sweetest you've ever received. You could come even like this without him touching you, but you need to get some air and so after a while you move your faces away from each other.

You look into each other's eyes, then he begins his sweet torture again by kissing your neck, your breasts, your belly with renewed attention and then goes down there. He searches your eyes before probing your hot, tender flesh, when you nod, almost holding your breath, he grazes your sex with two fingers and you let out a strangled moan, "You're so ready, my love." he moans.

"How did you call me?" you ask him in a hoarse voice.

"My love."

"Repeat it, please, say it again." you say, feeling your eyes stinging from the emotion of his words.

"Oh my pleasure," he tells you in a hoarse voice "my love." he adds before slowly moving up and down his fingers at the entrance to your dripping cunt.

He then moves to the side so as to have better access to your intimacy, then very slowly inserts two fingers inside you making your skin crawl and your eyes close with a small moan.

His fingers dig into you softly and slowly, he stays still like that for a while to let you get used to his intrusion, then he starts moving them in and out at an ever increasing pace making you arch and moan loudly.

The contractions of your peak get stronger and stronger, "Come, my love, I feel how your pussy is squeezing my fingers," you don't have to be begged because in no time your back arches violently moaning his name.

It was so so good. And breathtaking.

He slowly removes his fingers from your pussy and you leave a little moan slowly catching your breath, when you reopen your eyes you see him licking his fingers still full of your release, “Oh, fuck.” you moan, opening your mouth in an almost shocked expression.

“You're delicious, baby,” he says, slowly licking his fingers without leaving your eyes.

His words destabilize you, his moans of approval shake you to the core, amplifying your ever-increasing desire for him even more.

"Tim. . ." the shivers still ripple your skin, but you can't get enough "I want you," you confess to him, swallowing.

“Oh, me too, love, me too,” he whispers, smiling at you and you return his smile with a knowing look "You have to come one more time first so you can be even wider for me," your still pulsating and soaked arousal seems to become even more wetter.

"I knew your cock was big," you tell him using a dirty language, it's not like you, but everything is different now.

“I want to taste you,” your eyes widen, “'s that okay with you?”

“Yes, please,” you say almost pleadingly.

"Your every wish is an order," he teases you and then lowers himself between your legs pulling them onto his shoulders.

You almost gasp at that scene then your breath breaks when his lips kiss your mound, "Fuck," you whisper feeling more excitement building up inside you, you arch completely when you feel his lips open and lick all along your entrance, you moan as you feel his hands exposing you completely to his mouth and his sweet tongue tasting you with slow oscillating movements that make you tremble under him, the climax is building inside you again, your vision gets blurry and then what makes you explode is his thumb that caresses your little bundle of nerves with concentric movements.

Your climax explodes violently, you tremble, you grit your teeth, moaning shamelessly and placing a hand in his hair, you saw stars behind your eyelids.

"'m here," he says, gently caressing your thigh, your eyes are still closed, but you smile at him, passing a hand through his hair.

"You're beautiful, sweetheart." he tells you, lying on top of you again and kissing you softly on your lips "Forgive me if I never had the courage to tell you how I felt about you." he adds, slipping a hand into your hair, massaging your scalp in a tender gesture.

As your orgasm fades away, you open again your eyes "There is nothing to forgive." you smile at him "I don't know exactly how long, but I know that you are not just a friend, even if in order not to lose you I have always tried not to think of you in certain ways." you tell him looking into his eyes, he looks back smiling at you "I love you, I'm sorry I denied myself all this for years."

He caresses and sweetly kisses your face, while saying "You don't know how much it hurt me to see you hanging out with those little men who made you suffer so much." he pauses then adds "I would have treated you as you deserved, with me you would have been treated like the queen you are."

"You have always been a great egomaniac." you tease him "But I also fell in love with you for this reason." you admit with a small smile "And now take this off," you order, referring to his t-shirt.

"As I already told you, your every wish is an order." he retorts with a crooked smile and then stands up to take off the t-shirt and reveal his powerful chest, his broad shoulders, his barely visible belly, "We talked too much, didn't we?" you nod with a knowing smile.

"Yeah, but it was necessary." you say, kissing him repeatedly on his soft lips, savoring the contrast with the roughness of his uneven beard.

You reverse your positions with a flick of your hips, now you're on top of him again and the effect you have on him is now clearly visible, "You're beautiful," you tell him, letting your gaze wander for a moment from his face to his broad chest to his still covered shaft. You sit astride him again and start rubbing yourself on his cock, your excitement hasn't died down yet so now it's different. You place your hands on his chest and move on him back and forth moaning softly, his hands rest on your hips helping you with the movements and, although you want to see the effect that you have on him, you can't help but close your eyes completely overwhelmed by those emotions.

"Oh, you're a sight to behold..." he comments, "I can't wait to be buried inside you," he adds in a low hoarse tone "Now stop provoking me and start getting serious, hun," he adds almost desperately.

Okay, now no more teasing.

You lean down to kiss him quickly on the lips, then you let your mouth wander along his jaw and neck, you feel him hold his breath and swallow as you make these movements, then go further down his collarbones, you follow his strip of hair that disappears into the elastic of his shorts. You search his eyes before grabbing the waistband of his shorts and pulling them down. His manhood is there leaning against his soft stomach.

Fuck, it's so big. You wrap it delicately in your hand, struggling to wrap it completely as it is so large. It's hot, hard, but soft. It looks like iron covered in velvet.

“Do you just want to watch it?” he provokes you with a hoarse voice, you go back to look at it, his shaft is long crossed by a very evident vein, the tip is red, his balls swollen and heavy. It's a breathtaking sight. You slide your hand slowly along his shaft, lowering and raising the foreskin a few times observing his reaction. Reaction that doesn't take long to arrive; in fact, he lets out a long sigh, leaning his head back on the pillow. "You're so good, my darlin'," he tells you in a strangled voice, while you caress his balls with the other hand.

You want to enjoy every moment, his tense expression, his hisses, his dirty language with which he encourages you, your touches that are bringing him towards the climax and which excite you again too.

Feeling him twitch in your hand is so much more exciting than you've ever felt before. A pearl of pre cum shines in the semi-darkness of the room and you can't stop yourself from bringing your lips to his red tip and licking his pearl. This action of yours makes him squirm beneath you “Oh, baby, suck my cock” he encourages you slipping a hand into your hair, you, already excited and wanting to bring him to his peak, open your mouth even more so as to welcome him even deeper. His flavor is strong, salty, it invades all your senses and it's wonderful "Oh, fuck, my love, how far can you take it?" You open your mouth a little more and relax your throat so you can welcome him even deeper, he's so big that you struggle not to choke, "Shit, shit, shit" he moans, gripping a few strands of hair tighter between his fingers, he moans your name more and more often as you pump him, making your head rise and lower along his shaft, "Love, please stop or I'll end up between your lips" he moans writhing under you, you move away from him leaving strings of saliva on his cock "You're so good," he tells you in a hoarse voice and with shining eyes.

You climb on him again, while he probes your intimacy with his fingers again, you moan as you feel how easily he fills you, "Tim," you moan, closing your eyes tilting your head back for a moment. Then you gently take his erection and bring it to your entrance, his cock slides easily into you making you moan loudly in unison. He takes your hands, intertwining his fingers with yours and then you start to move on him.

Your arousal if possible grows more and more, "You take me so well, my love, go like this, slowly and gently," he tells you in a low voice as if it were a profane prayer, your breasts jiggle as your thrusts become closer and closer and as your orgasm approaches.

"Tim, you fill me up so much, you make me feel so good, oh fuck, fuck, fuck," you start moaning more and more when you're close to orgasm and he too meets your thrusts. Your hands clench even tighter as you reach your climax with a soft cry and he sits up, wrapping you in his arms while hot spurts paint your inner walls.

You lay embraced with each other for some time. You with your nose in his neck and he with his nose in your hair, but this time you did it because you were aware of what truly unites you.

"We would have to work." you remind with a soft smile.

"I know, but I needed to talk to the woman I love," he replies smiling you back "We'd work later, okay?"

You nod silently then you add after a while “I'm hungry,”

"What would you like to eat?" he asks smiling.

"Chinese food."

“Mhm, good choice.” he says giving you a kiss on the head "Room service or there?" he asks.

You look at him with a knowing look. "Room service, I want a second round later," you reply, kissing him and ready to enjoy what life has to offer you with Tim by your side.

[peachymilkandcream]

My Husband, My Monster|Part 2|William Afton x Wife!Reader

(A/N: Part 2 is here! I've honestly had such a good time writing this so far, part of me is kind of happy to not have a technical storyline to stick to so strongly like Break Me Slowly. I'm trying my best to keep these to once a week but we'll see how well we do with Christmas coming up. Also I'm not sure how long this fic will be, apparently more movies are coming out so once it's finished I might just make some oneshots inspired off of them but we'll see. Enjoy and don't hesitate to hope in my inbox for requests!)

WARNINGS: noncon, dubcon, power imbalance, age difference, manipulation, mind breaking, yandere themes, yandere behaviours, domestic violence, misogyny, violence, William’s a warning himself, etc.

=============================================

A person's first job was always a memorable part of their life, truly learning how to become an adult and gain valuable experience. And one hell of a experience it was.

The first shift had been great, William had taken her under his wing, showing her the ropes and ensuring that she understood her position. The atmosphere of work was lovely, friendly and playful and she got to interact with children which she loved. Each section of the diner was a wonder of mechanical feats, animatronics who came to life all because her boss was an ingenious man. Ketchup stains and the occasional milkshake spill were well worth the experience of it all.

"Well done for your first day, I hope everything didn't scare you off just yet."

She smiles, taking a moment to rest her feet after the long day. "Yeah, I knew going in there would be some level of chaos, it'll be fine."

"So in that case I'll see you tomorrow at eight sharp?"

There's a pause. "In the morning?"

"Of course, although it's common to be here a few minutes early."

"Well- sir- I have class that morning-"

"And I need you here. There's the most to do in the morning."

"I understand I just think I can't make it-"

William frowns. "I thought you could be flexible."

"Well I can but-"

"No it's alright, I see how it is. I'm counting on you and yet you're not here to back it up."

She chews her lip, she never could stand letting people down. "But class-"

"At the end of the day schooling won't get you everywhere you need, job experience is what's important."

There's a long moment of pause, considering her options. "Well- I suppose I can skip one class, one of my friends can take notes for me."

Now William brightens. "There we go, I knew I could count on you." His hand lands on her shoulder, keeping it there for a touch longer than usual to let it sink in.

Her smile is tight and forced, clearly a bit annoyed at having to miss one of her classes, but that she would come to grips with soon enough. =============================================

The next day ends similar to the first, hard work and exhaustion, stains and slight discomfort. Moments of rest spoiled when her boss slid her the paper copy of her indefinite schedule.

"These are all mornings-"

"Of course, it seems like that's where you're the best suited and it's where I need you the most. Why, is that a problem?"

"Did I forget to give you my class schedule? All my classes are mornings."

William shrugs. "I'm not sure what to say, I'm sure you can get by on notes."

"I'll get in trouble-"

"Oh you've never been to higher schooling, I have, don't worry it will be fine. All that really matters is that you know the material for tests and quizzes. That's all."

She shifts uncomfortably, as if deciding whether or not to argue the point further or if she should believe him.

Finally she nods, accepting. "I suppose you're right, it'll work out in the end."

============================================

Weeks went on like this, William working her to near collapse, giving her little time for friends and family and no time for school. The exhaustion was affecting her grades surely, since she always complained about not finishing an assignment on time.

It was inevitable when she came to him and told him of dropping out.

"You had to drop out? Why?" He asked innocently.

"My grades went down too far, and I just couldn't seem to focus or find interest in the course anymore. It was for the best to just quit before I spent too much money."

"That's such a shame."

She shrugs and gives a sad smile. "It's probably for the best, if I couldn't handle the schooling I wouldn't have handled the field."

He can't help but press further. "What do your parents think about this? They paid your tuition yes?"

"They're not happy at all, which is why I have to give in my two week notice."

This gave him pause, annoyance and confusion causing him to frown. "Two week notice? I would think you'd need a job more than ever now."

She shakes her head. "My parents are moving me away, they're convinced the reason I fail is because of my friends so they believe if I'm separated from them then I'll get my career."

All of his hard work was being threatened now, he had to think fast. "You're really going to give up your entire friend group because your parents are trying to order their grown daughter around?" He shakes his head. "I wouldn't allow that if I were you."

"But what can I do? I have no where to go, I can't afford my own place even at full time pay."

William pauses for a few moments for effect. "Well, I hate to see young futures go to waste, and since my heart goes out to those in need, I would be willing to help you afford an apartment. I'll get you to make it up to me in other ways, have you work some more or something, nothing to worry about."

"You'd really do that for me?" Her eyes shine with admiration.

"Of course, I care for all of my employees, and bright young minds need independence to thrive."

"Oh thank you thank you thank you!" Her smile is so big and bright, completely oblivious to the looming clouds threatening her happiness.

[pandorasword]

Chaeri as the 8th and youngest member of BTS.

CHAERI'S MASTERLIST

Hiii 💌 sorry it took so mad long! I had busy weeks and even lack of inspirations. Hope that you still enjoy it and thank you so much for the request!

The night market

❒ words: 2.5k+

❒ summary: In which Chaeri and Jungkook sneak out of the dorms during the trainee period

❒ genre: Fluff; Slice of life

❒ warnings: mentions of poker

April 2013

Chaeri had been in a sour mood all day. 

She had sulked from the time she woke up for breakfast, to the hours spent practicing choreography for their debut concept, and even when she came back to the dorms. 

That's why Namjoon was surprised when he leaned in to kiss her temple goodbye and noticed her smirk instead of a scowl.

The bad temper seemed to have slipped away from her, which would usually make him suspicious that she was up to something; a troublemaker without equal.

But when Chaeri met his gaze, her eyes were so gentle and pure, he told himself she likely just grasped the situation and wasn't angry anymore

The day before, the older members of the group received an unexpected invitation from some staff members to join them for a friendly game of poker. Excitement filled the air as they discussed the invitation among themselves, looking forward to a night of camaraderie and friendly competition.

However, as they considered the nature of the game, they collectively decided that it wouldn't be suitable for Jungkook and Chaeri to participate. Poker involves betting and gambling, and they felt it would be more appropriate for the two youngest members, who were still in their mid-teens, to abstain from such activities, who had not been very cooperative with their decision. Jungkook had quickly given up on the idea; Chaeri had given everyone a hard time until just before.

The living room's chandelier flickered and dimmed, reminding Namjoon he needed to get a new bulb soon.

"You know I'm sorry," he said, gazing into her eyes "But it's an evening for..."

"Adults!" Taehyung, ever the bratty he was, came up behind them on his way out of the dorms. 

"Aged or nearly so", Namjoon added with an apologetic smile.

Chaeri rolled her eyes at Taehyung's comment but didn't say anything.

"It's okay, enjoy yourselves"

"We will" Namjoon said, eyeing Chaeri with a look of worry "Chaeri," he spoke in an authoritative yet caring voice, "I know you’re mature, but please remember to take care of yourselves while we're away. Lock all the doors and windows. There are snacks in the kitchen—help yourself but be mindful about how much junk food you eat."

Namjoon's gaze grew more serious. "If anyone comes to the door, don't open it unless you recognize them. Your safety is the most important thing; if anything feels wrong or if you need help, call one of us right away - me or any of the oppas. Don't hesitate to reach out, okay?"

He smiled and patted her on the head. "You'll be fine, Chaeri. Jungkook is here with you, and I trust both of you to look out for each other. Have a good evening, and we'll be back before you know it."

With a nod, Chaeri watched as the older members of BTS filed out of the dorm, leaving her - and Jungkook who was in the other room - alone.

Chaeri was not about to stay in, especially when the others had treated her and Jungkook like kids. If they were old enough to debut in the entertainment industry, they were old enough to play poker. 

Once the sounds of the boys straying in the alleyway had become faint, she made her way to the room, where all of them slept on bunk beds every night.

Jungkook was perched atop one of the beds, his head almost brushing against the ceiling. He had a comic book in his hands and was studying its black-and-white images.

Chaeri watched him for a moment, debating whether to tell him what she was planning. Jungkook always followed what the older members told him to do, perhaps with a little convincing she would be able to persuade him to join her.

She tiptoed up onto the creaky lower mattress to get a better look at Jungkook, who was sprawled across the top bunk. He snapped out of his comic book when he noticed her looking at him "You're bored" he said.

"Utterly and completely bored—can you tell?" She sighed

"Since the hyungs are gone, we have access to the TV. Want to watch a movie?"

"Actually...I had something else in mind"

Jungkook looked at her curiously, his eyebrows furrowing in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"They left to play poker and did not allow us to go with them. They said we're not allowed to play because we're too young. It's not fair"

""I still don't understand what you're trying to say. What's on your mind?"

"I was thinking...we could sneak out and find our own way to have fun," Chaeri suggested, a mischievous glint in her eye.

Jungkook's eyes widened in surprise at her suggestion. He glanced nervously around the small dorm, as if the others could appear at any second to catch them in the act. "But what if they find out? They told us not to leave the dorms"

Chaeri shrugged, a devilish grin spreading across her face. "Isn't that all the more reason to do it? They treat us like children all the time. We deserve to have some fun on our own"

An eagerness was slowly growing within him and he nodded in agreement."Okay, let's do it. But...where are we going to go?"

"To play poker!"

Excitement pulsed through Chaeri as she and Jungkook slipped out of the dorms and into the cool night air. They walked briskly, eager to find a club or bar where they could play poker.

However, their excitement was short-lived as they quickly discovered that every club they tried to enter turned them away, citing their age as the reason. They had no luck at the first club, or the second, or even the third.

As they walked down the dimly lit street, Chaeri's mood started to sour once more. She had been so sure that they would be able to find a place to play poker, but now it seemed like all their efforts were in vain.

"This is stupid," she grumbled, kicking a pebble down the pavement.

Jungkook glanced at Chaeri, seeing her frustration and disappointment. He understood her desire to prove themselves as capable and independent, but it seemed that their age was indeed a barrier they couldn't overcome.

"I know it's frustrating, Chaeri" Jungkook said, his voice sympathetic. "But maybe they were right. Maybe we are too young for this kind of thing."

Chaeri halted in her steps, turning to look at Jungkook with narrowed eyes. "Don't tell me you're giving up too?"

Jungkook shook his head quickly, holding up his hands in surrender. "No, not at all. I just think that we should maybe consider doing something else. Something that won't get us into trouble"

Chaeri let out a huff of frustration, but she knew deep down that he was right. They couldn't keep searching for a club that would let them play poker; they needed to find a different way to pass the time.

"Fine," she grumbled, crossing her arms over her chest. "What do you suggest, then?"

Jungkook's lips parted in a smile, his eyes twinkling as he spoke. "Let's go to the night market!"

Chaeri tilted her head and raised an eyebrow. "Night market? What kind of place is that?" She asked, intrigued by the unfamiliar term.

Jungkook let out a laugh and replied “It’s a huge marketplace at night! There are vendors selling all sorts of food and drinks, there are carnival-style games and rides, and some shops sell really unique goods. It’s one of my favorite places to go” He said as he hopped onto the nearest subway station platform.

Chaeri followed him curiously as she felt a spark of excitement light up inside her chest. She had grown up all her life in France, so any opportunity to immerse herself into Korean culture was highly welcomed. Jungkook began talking animatedly about all the interesting foods they could try at the night market, and she couldn't help but feel impressed by his knowledge of their native culture.

Deprived by her mother of her native culture and language, she had instead come to learn all about European culture; yet despite being Korean, by her teenage years she understood surprisingly little about her homeland.

As they rode the subway, he pointed out the city sights that caught his eye, ranging from ancient monuments to modern-day skyscrapers. Chaeri listened with rapt attention, feeling a sense of pride swell in her heart at seeing the city through an experienced local’s eyes.

Finally, the subway doors slid open, and they stepped out into the lively atmosphere of the night market. 

Chaeri's senses were immediately overwhelmed by the kaleidoscope of sights and sounds surrounding her. Above, strings of multicolored neon lights formed a mesmerizing constellation, casting an ethereal glow over the bustling crowd below. The air was alive with the infectious beats of K-pop music, their rhythmic melodies intertwining with the joyful laughter and chatter of the visitors.

Chaeri walked beside Jungkook, her eyes darting from one intriguing stall to another. The tantalizing aroma of street food wafted through the air, mingling with the scents of exotic spices and sizzling grills. Her mouth watered at the sight of vendors skillfully flipping skewers of succulent meat and frying golden dumplings.

Although Chaeri couldn't read most of the Korean characters on the signs, she attempted to decipher them, occasionally stumbling over unfamiliar words. She wished she had a better grasp of her mother tongue; speaking for her was easier, though occasionally she stumbled over words or mispronounced them. She felt a little ashamed for not knowing more about her Korean heritage.

Throughout the evening, Chaeri kept tugging at Jungkook's sleeve to ask questions about certain dishes, inscriptions, and trinkets that drew her interest.

"Kook!" she exclaimed, grabbing his arm to halt their steps.

Jungkook turned towards her, following her gaze to a nearby stall adorned with an array of handmade jewelry. The owner, a skilled artisan, meticulously threaded delicate beads of various colors and designs, creating stunning pieces that sparkled under the glow of the market lights. Chaeri's eyes widened with fascination.

"Let's go check it out," he suggested, and Chaeri eagerly followed him to the stand.

As they approached the jewelry stall, Chaeri's eyes widened with wonder as she took in the intricate designs and shimmering pieces showcased. The array of jewelry sparkled under the warm glow of the stall's lights, casting enchanting reflections on Chaeri's face.

Jungkook could not help but think that at that moment, she looked more beautiful than usual and even blushed at his thoughts.

Among the captivating collection, Chaeri's gaze was caught by a small hairpin adorned with a delicate arrangement of tiny pearls and jewels intricately intertwined with strands of glistening gold wire. Mesmerized, she reached out and delicately picked up the hairpin, holding it up to the light to observe its craftsmanship. Every delicate detail seemed to tell a story, a testament to the artisan's skill and the beauty of the materials used.

"It's so beautiful," Chaeri breathed, her voice filled with awe. The combination of pearls, jewels, and gold created a stunning harmony that seemed to dance with the light. "I've never seen anything like it before."

When she lived with her mother in France, beautiful jewelry and accessories were never lacking, but she had never owned something so lovely

Jungkook couldn't help but smile, his heart warmed by Chaeri's enchantment. He knew he wanted to see her happiness bloom even further. "Do you want it?" he asked, his voice laced with a gentle eagerness.

Chaeri's eyes darted back to the hairpin, conflicted by her desire and the presumed cost that accompanied such intricate craftsmanship. She hesitated, her fingertips gently tracing the contours of the design. "I don't know... it's probably too expensive" she admitted

Jungkook, determined to make her dreams come true, reached into his pocket and retrieved a handful of coins and bills. His fingers swiftly counted the money. "I think we have enough" he said confidently, a hint of mischief playing on his lips.

Chaeri's curiosity piqued, and she couldn't help but inquire, "Where did you get all this money from?"

Jungkook's grin widened as he revealed his secret. "I collected it from the swear jar" he confessed, his voice filled with playful pride. 

Chaeri's eyes widened in surprise, remembering the times when their friends would playfully scold each other and contribute money to the jar as a lighthearted way to discourage swearing.

She couldn't help but burst out in laughter at Jungkook's brattiness, feeling proud for him for not following the rules for once. 

Jungkook's smile only grew wider at the sound of her laughter. He gave her a playful nudge with his elbow. "So, do you want it?" he asked again, gesturing to the hairpin. 

She knew it was silly to spend so much money on a hairpin, but she couldn't resist the temptation. "Yes, I want it" she said, her eyes sparkling with joy.

Jungkook slid a stack of coins across the wooden countertop to the stall owner, who bowed his head in gratitude and carefully nestled the hairpin in a small velvet bag. 

As she opened the delicate envelope and revealed the treasure within, Jungkook's eyes never left her. He watched in awe as her face lit up with pure delight, her eyes widening as she beheld the intricate craftsmanship of the hairpin. With a graceful movement, she secured it into her dark, silky hair, effortlessly blending tradition with modern beauty.

Using a small hand mirror, Chaeri admired herself, turning this way and that to catch the light of a nearby lantern. The soft glow illuminated her radiant skin, creating an ethereal aura around her. The hairpin, now nestled amidst her locks, sparkled brilliantly, accentuating her features and enhancing her innate beauty. It was as if the accessory had been tailor-made for her.

Jungkook found himself captivated by her, unable to tear his gaze away. 

In that moment, as their eyes met in the flickering light, time seemed to stand still. The bustling market faded into the background, and for an instant, it was just the two of them.

"Chaeri-ya, that hairpin you're wearing is beautiful. When did you get it?" 

Jin's compliment caught Chaeri off guard, causing her to falter in her movements. She momentarily forgot the lie she had prepared. "Um, I got it a while ago," she replied, her voice betraying a hint of nervousness.

Jin raised an eyebrow, a look of curiosity on his face. "Really? I don't remember seeing it before."

"I don't wear it often. Why are you so interested? It's just a hairpin. Do you want one too oppa?" she teased, returning to look in the mirror in front of her as she rehearsed for the umpteenth time the most difficult movements of the debut choreography.

"I was asking out of curiosity - You know.. the money from the swear jar was gone this morning"

Chaeri had to suppress a giggle, looking only for a moment into the eyes of the older member "Who knows, try asking Taehyung. I heard him say he wanted to borrow it." She had set out to make her best friend pay for the way he enjoyed the fact that he could play poker and she could not

"Aish, that little brat.. TAEHYUNG-AH!"

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[strangelock221b]

S3E4 (spoilers abound)

Portia, Prudence, and Philippa listening at the open door while Debling calls on Pen. The three of them are anything but subtle.

Aww, he gave her a potted plant so she can have nature indoors with her. I hope somebody in this house has a green thumb. He is sweet but he'd better be honest with whoever he ends up marrying about his actual reason for finding a wife.

Has Pen truly given up on Colin? It's sad if that's true.

"I will surely eat all of the biscuits" You mean we FINALLY have an appearance by Colin's bottomless pit of a stomach? It only took what, TWO AND A HALF SEASONS?!

Violet knows when something is up but she also knows a dismissal when she hears one.

Benedict and Lady Tilley. Yeah, she's this season's Siena, though I will say I like her a lot more than I liked Siena (which isn't hard). She won't last but at least they'll be fun to watch while she's around.

Agatha and Marcus. Their dynamic is interesting -- "Do whatever, I'm too busy to get involved." I doubt he'll last beyond S3, but you never know.

"to become the new Marquess Samadani" OH MY FUCKING GOD, SHONDA, YOU DID NOT!!! The wife of a marquess (or a female marquess in her own right) is not called a marquess, but a MARCHIONESS! I know marquess isn't a common title in the British peerage but Shonda, you have access to Wikipedia, FUCKING USE IT!!!

"You read me too well." God, I love Charlotte and Brimsley.

Violet, El, Fran, and the kids are expecting Lord Samadani but Maybe-John has dropped in instead. We'd better learn his name soon, this is driving me nuts.

"John Stirling, Earl of Kilmartin." FUCKING FINALLY!!!! I don't care that his accent is wrong, I love this guy already! Is your cousin Michael in town too, John? Or is he earning his title of the Merry Rake elsewhere?

John and Fran are simply enjoying the silence and the rest of the family is completely baffled, I love it. And here comes Samadani, lovely. John, your timing is awful.

Samadani seems like a nice enough guy, he's just wrong for Francesca.

Love the library, hate Portia's internalized misogyny. I really feel for Cressida now. Can Debling marry her once Colin finally gets his head out of his ass and marries Pen?

I take "revelry" to mean Colin's friends are going whoring and want him to come with, lovely.

Debling is finally being honest? Well, not directly, but still, I'll take it for now. Oh, he's being subtle but he is being direct, got it. Poor Pen, she's torn between the life she wants and a good life that's being offered to her.

Colin with his two ladies again but this time, he's not into it. If you've already paid, Colin, you could've just bid them goodnight and left, you didn't have to stay.

Francesca running into John on the street. These two are a little too quiet for their own good, but I'm sure they'll be fine, maybe with a little help from Violet.

The Cowpers' sitting room has to be the most depressing room on the planet. Lord Cowper's forbidding Cressida from being friends with Eloise? Is it because of Colin? Or Pen? Or maybe he thinks she's putting too much effort into the friendship and not enough into finding a husband. Cressida, I'm guessing you're the same age as Daphne, so I believe that makes you 23 now. You're a legal adult and have been for two years. It would be highly irregular but you could move out of your parents' house. I'm sure the Bridgertons would take you in if Eloise explained everything.

Uh oh, the Mondriches' pub needs saving (again). We'll have another last-minute save by a Bridgerton by the time S3 is over, I'm sure. Frankly, most of the ton can fuck themselves, and that includes Colin's "friends," especially Fife. Pig.

Colin wanting more out of sex is a great sign of both his maturity and him falling in love.

So Debling's serious about proposing to Pen. Poor Pen and poor Cressida.

BTW, I love how the subtitles keep calling the music this season "pensive," it feels like an unintended pun.

For a woman who can't come up with a decent metaphor to save her life, Violet is very wise when it comes to her kids. Oh, she is playing Colin like a fiddle! Go, Violet!

I really like her and Marcus together, he seems like a great guy, though apparently somewhat estranged from Agatha.

Cressida came to Eloise. El really brings out the best in her, something her parents really try to keep hidden. I swear to God, Shonda, if you don't give Cressida a happy ending, I will.

Be careful, Fran, especially with the Queen watching.

Colin has finally outgrown his "friends," halleluiah!

Well, at least Debling bowed out gracefully. And Cressida still has a chance, as slim as it is.

Oh, is this THE carriage scene? Not quite how the book one went but hey, if we get the same outcome, I'm all for it.

Aww, Colin looks like he's about to cry.

"Are you going to marry me or not?" Colin, I could kiss you but I'll leave that to Pen. WE GOT OUR BOOK PROPOSAL!!!

And we don't even get an answer before the episode ends.

Nice cliffhanger, Shonda.