#anyway i DID get someone into it recently. we shall see

[000yul]

talking about orv to friends who don’t know it is hard because they’re like Oh i heard that was a BL/yaoi and im like yes? but no? but like only on a technicality? like yea these two guys are insane for each other but also [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED]

[noosayog]

003 an unexpectedly sweet valentine

❥ warnings/content: kuroo tetsuro x reader, sfw, slight angst if you squint, mostly fluff, jealousy

❥ wc: 3.4k

❥ valentine's masterlist, regular masterlist

“Good morning, senpai!” 

Your senior of one year turns around as he changes from his outside shoes to his inside shoes. “Huh? Oh, morning.” 

“It’s raining hard today, huh?” 

“Oh, yeah. Sure is.” 

“Did you bring an umbrella?” 

“Nah, forgot it.” 

“Aw, too bad! I remembered mine today!” 

“Good for you.” 

The conversation comes to a lull. Senpai stands there looking at you, as if to ask, anything else?

Somewhat awkward, you wave to him. “Have a good day, then!” 

He nods, turning away to make his way to his first class of the day. 

“Wowwww,” a voice from above you drawls. “That was a painful watch.” 

You swivel around to face Kuroo, your classmate. 

“Shut up, Kuroo,” you growl at him. 

“‘Morning Senpai! Have a good day Senpai!’” He mocks you in a high pitched voice. 

You give him a swift kick in the shins, satisfied when he bends over to cradle the spot. 

Kenma appears from behind him, shaking off the stray droplets clinging to his hair. “You deserved that.” 

“Morning, Kenma,” you snicker.

Kenma returns your greeting, heading off to his own class in the year below yours and Kuroo’s. 

A tap on your shoulder gets your attention. “Sorry about him. He’s just in a bad mood because of the rain.” 

“Kai-kun!” you greet. “It’s okay. You don’t have to apologize for this idiot.” 

“Hey!” the idiot in question protests. 

Another head pops out from behind Kai. “What’s going on? Talking rooster head trash? That’s a conversation I can contribute to.”  

“Morning, Yakkun.” 

“Can we not talk about me like I’m not here?” Kuroo complains. 

“Shall we head to class?” Kai asks, easily ignoring him. 

“Yep!” 

“Hello? We’re all in the same class here!” Kuroo wails as he runs after the three of you.

In your homeroom, Kuroo, Yaku, and Kai all head to their seats as you take yours by the window. You greet your friends who sit by you, excited to ramble about your encounter with the cool Senpai from the basketball team whom you’ve recently developed a crush on.

“What do you like about that guy anyway?” your friend asks. 

“What do you mean? There’s so much to like!” 

She gives you a dubious look. “For example…?”

You start counting on your fingers. “Well, he’s captain of the basketball team, so he’s tall-”

“You like him because he’s tall?”

“He’s older, so he’s more mature-”

“Right,” she nods sarcastically. “Being a year older makes him so mature.” 

With two fingers up, you’ve run out of reasons. Your friend rolls her eyes at you. 

“Personally, I prefer the volleyball guys in our class.” 

“Kai-kun?” you nod empathetically. “I can totally see that. He’s kind and smart. Yakkun, too. He’s energetic and outgoing.” 

“Kuroo’s included in that group too, you know.” 

You wrinkle your nose. 

“What’s your beef with him? He’s tall, smart. Lots of people in our grade would say he’s funny too. He’s actually pretty popular.” 

You shake your head, “the most that guy has going for him is his friendship to Kenma. I can totally see someone getting close to him so that he’ll introduce them.” 

Your friend just shrugs patronizingly, like you’re beyond reasoning with. 

“Anyway,” you switch topics. “Senpai forgot his umbrella today, and it’s going to rain all day. I’m going to watch basketball practice afterschool and offer to share my umbrella with Senpai on the way home. Wanna come with?”

“Pass.” 

You shrug. “Suit yourself.” 

– 

“Did you hear that?” Yaku elbows Kuroo, whispering not very quietly.

Kuroo swipes at the elbow, rubbing his ribs and mumbling for Yaku to keep it down. 

“Damn, what’d you do? She thinks you’re such a loser.” 

“Gee, thanks,” Kuroo grits out. 

Yaku holds his hands up in surrender. “Just pointing out the facts.” 

“Hey, now. Let’s not be too hasty,” Kai cuts in. “It might just be a temporary infatuation with the basketball club guy. There’s still hope!” 

Kuroo groans and slumps forehead first onto his desk. Even when Kai is trying to be nice, it makes him feel so pathetic. 

–

When the final class of the day ends, Kuroo lingers in the classroom, still racking his brain for an excuse to keep you from going to the basketball club. He trails after you as you get up to leave the classroom. 

You’re taking a drink of water when Kuroo watches your friend shoulder into you a bit too hard, leaving you to stumble backwards, hands flailing to keep your balance. The uncapped water bottle in your hands goes flying into Kuroo, dumping its contents into the bag in his hands, containing the spare jerseys the volleyball team had planned on using for practice matches today. 

Kuroo drops the bag, arms coming up to support your back and keep you upright. 

When you’re stable on your feet, you quickly pick up your water bottle to staunch the flow of water, though it doesn’t matter much anymore given the jerseys are all soaked through. 

“Hey! What did you do that for?” you scold your friend. You turn to Kuroo, “thanks and sorry…” you trail off, not knowing how to remedy the situation. 

When Kuroo catches the wink your friend sends him, he catches on. “Aww man, now what’re we going to do for practice?” 

Yaku cuts in. “Oh, it’s fine. We can just use the spare-” 

Kai slaps a hand over Yaku’s big mouth, dragging him off towards the gym. “We’ll head to practice first. Why don’t you figure out the situation, Kuroo?” 

“Kuroo, I’m so sorry, but this was all her fault. Hey-” You turn to where your friend was standing, but she’s gone.

“We needed these for today’s practice. You’re just gonna have to help me out with the laundry to get these dried before the 3v3 drills then.” 

You pull a very displeased expression, mumbling something Kuroo can’t quite hear but is definitely a curse out of your friend. 

“Can’t I please make it up to you some other way? I have really important plans today.” 

Sure, as if trying to suck up to that basketball captain counts as really important plans. 

“All you have to do is toss these in the dryer and wait until they’re done. It’s the least you can do.” 

You offer a begrudging, “fine,” hauling the wet bag and following behind a triumphant Kuroo. 

As promised, it takes you less than an hour to dry the jerseys, passing the time by watching the volleyball club boys warm up and run drills. As you pull the jerseys out of the machine, Kuroo meets you by the locker room. 

“All done! Now can I-” 

“Man, it took too long to dry them. We had to restructure our drills since it’s too late to start practice matches now.”

You pinch the bridge of your nose. “Look, Kuroo. I’m sorry, but I have no say over how long a dryer cycle is.” 

“I know. It just really put us in a hard spot, especially given that Nationals are around the corner…” he sighs audibly. “But it’s fine, I know it’s not totally your fault.” He sighs again. 

“Ok, ok” you give in. “What can I do to make up for it?” 

It takes all of Kuroo’s willpower to suppress a victorious grin. “Hmmm,” he pretends to deliberate. “Aha!” he exclaims. “You could be our manager until Nationals are over. That’d help the team and Coach Nekomata out a lot.” 

You hesitate. “Manager? Why don’t you just find a permanent one? Everyone says you’re all popular-”

“Everyone?” he smirks. 

“Yeah. Personally, I don’t really get it, but,” you miss the slight dimming of his grin. “I’m sure there’s someone out there who’d be more willing… I mean, more helpful than I would be.” 

“Figures that you’d try to weasel your way out of this.” 

“Weasel my way- wait just a second-” 

“It’s fine,” Kuroo cuts you off, turning around to leave you there. “You’re right, we’ll just find someone who’s more responsible.” 

“Hold on, Kuroo!” you grab the back of his jacket, pulling him back. 

This time, the grin on Kuroo’s face spreads in full force. 

“I’ll do it. I am not irresponsible.” 

“Great, you can start tomorrow.” 

You cross your arms over your chest, huffing indignantly like you’re satisfied that you’ve restored your reputation, your plans to be alone with basketball-senpai completely forgotten. 

Hook, line, sinker. 

–

Your job as the volleyball club manager is actually enjoyable. Save for the extended time you now need to spend in Kuroo’s company, you make friends with the rest of the team, especially the enthusiastic younger class. 

During lunch time, Kuroo will often request that you join Kai, Yaku, and him on the roof. 

“Why? I deserve freedom from you outside of volleyball club hours.” 

“Interesting that your commitment to taking the position of manager only extends to certain hours.” 

“What? Slander! I’m committed-” 

“We were going to discuss and review our plays from previous games, but I guess we’ll manage without you. Just hand me the notebook and we’ll review without you-” 

You stand abruptly, slamming your palms on your desk. With the notebook in question in hand, you storm past him, making your way to the roof access stairs without another word. 

“Well?” you demand when Kuroo doesn’t follow. “Are we going or what?” 

Kuroo grins. “Coming.” 

In your indignation, you fail to ever catch the grins from Yaku, Kai, and your friends. 

Sometimes, those lunches end up being just you and Kuroo, Yaku and Kai often being called away halfway through. Once all volleyball business is complete, you and Kuroo finish eating in relative peace. Often, he lies down to spend the rest of break napping. You tell yourself it’s too awkward to leave him there without a word, so you sit quietly to keep him company. 

One time, you had awoken to a sound of a camera shutter, realizing belatedly that you had fallen asleep on Kuroo’s shoulder. When you crane your head to face the boy in question, eyes wide and swiping at your lip in case you were drooling, you’re met with the usual smug grin on his lips, but his eyes are warm. Instead of smacking him and throwing a scatching remark, your cheeks heat up and you avert your eyes like an embarrassed schoolgirl.

–

When February rolls around, the entire student body is buzzing with the excitement of Valentine’s Day. You haven’t had any more development with basketball senpai, with your time mostly preoccupied with volleyball, but you’ve long standing plans to make Senpai chocolate. You’ve done research by asking around to find out that Senpai likes dark chocolate. 

“Have you thought about making the volleyball boys chocolate?” Mari asks you. 

“Yep, I plan to.” 

“And Kuroo?”

You choke on your water. “Why would you single him out? Of course… because he’s a part of the volleyball boys…” you trail off. 

Your friend props her chin on her palm, expression bored but the corner of her lips twitch. “Uh huh,” she says in obvious disbelief. 

Your inner turmoil is exacerbated when Kenma says to you, the day before Valentines, “despite his looks, he likes sweeter chocolate.” 

“Who?” 

Kenma just gives you a look, waving as he makes his way home. 

The following day, you show up to school, hands full with all the chocolates you made the night before. Each bag is wrapped in an individual baggie with a white ribbon except for one that is wrapped special, in a small box with red ribbon.

For Senpai, obviously. 

Your first stop of the day is your friend. You hand her a bag and she smiles, quickly opening it and popping it in her mouth right in front of you. 

“What do you think?” you ask. 

“Mmmm,” she closes her eyes, savoring the sweet treat. “So sweet. Milk chocolate? Weren’t you going on about how Senpai likes dark chocolate?” 

“I… made different batches.” you lie. You brandish the box with the red ribbon. “Senpai’s was made special.” 

“Still sticking to giving that boring Senpai chocolate, huh?” 

“He is not boring!” 

“Sure, whatever.” She peeks into your bag to look at the array of all the baggies you plan on giving out today. She looks up at the red ribbon box in your hands then back into your bag. “Just that one box? And it’s for Senpai?” 

“... yup.” 

“What was that pause?” 

“What pause?” 

She just rolls her eyes and turns back to her textbook. 

– 

“Did you hear that? It’s for the basketball guy.” Yaku elbows Kuroo’s ribs. 

“Can you stop elbowing me?” 

“That’s not important right now! She’s still going to give that guy chocolate!” 

“I know, I heard,” Kuroo hisses. 

Kai gives Kuroo a pitiful look that ticks him off. “What are you going to do?” 

“What is there to do?” Kuroo replies, keeping his eyes focused on the homework he has on his desk. “I’m going to grab a drink from the vending machines. Be right back.” 

He gets up to walk to the furthest vending machine in the courtyard. Maybe the walk and the winter air from the garden will help him cool his head. 

When he gets back with a can of tea in his hands, Kuroo sees you standing at his desk, where Kai and Yaku are still loitering around before class starts. He watches you hand each of them a bag tied tastefully with white ribbon. He lingers in the shadow of the doorway, watching Yaku and Kai thank you, then you walking back to your desk without leaving a third bag for Kuroo. 

He feels like he could use another walk right then, but the teacher catches him in the doorway and pushes Kuroo into the classroom to start class for the day. 

He makes eye contact with Kai and Yaku, who shake their heads at him, answering his unasked question. 

–

At lunch, Kuroo disappears on his own. He thinks to himself that he just needs the time to cool down, in fear that he’d embarrass himself in front of you by asking where his portion of chocolate is. He would feel bad enough if you just handed him giri-chocolate that you have everyone else. He would die, though, if you said you didn’t prepare him any at all. 

As he sits alone in the rarely frequented stairwell of the west wing of campus, he sighs. 

What does that guy have that he doesn’t anyway? Every conversation Kuroo has overheard between you two has been terribly boring. He gives dry, one-worded answers. He’s not funny nor particularly smart. He’s tall but so is Kuroo? Maybe he’s good at his sport, but Kuroo is taking his team to Nationals. He’s obviously not into you, whereas Kuroo himself? You get the picture. 

Anyway, he doesn’t think it very presumptuous to think of himself as a better match for you. The two of you joke and laugh together. You get along with his closest friends. Despite your sharp tongue, you seem to be comfortable enough around him. He reminisces of the one time you fell asleep on his shoulder on the roof. He had been wide awake and frozen solid, scared that even breathing too loudly would shatter the moment. He would never tell anyone that the photo Yaku had snapped of you drooling against his shoulder was saved in a password-protected folder in his phone. 

He sighs again, all the tension leaving his body as he lets himself feel all the feelings he’s been holding back. A heavy arm rests over his eyes, squeezing them tightly when he feels the sting behind his irises threatening to surface. 

Unable to pull himself together enough to face you in class, he ends up at the infirmary for the rest of the day, citing a headache. The nurse offers one of the beds and Kuroo gladly takes it, napping the afternoon away, a temporary escape from thoughts of you. 

The break is short-lived as he wakes up just in time for the last class of the day. Not even the prospect of his favorite subject, science, can improve his mood as he drags his feet to the lab classroom. He makes his way to Yaku and Kai’s table, not meeting your eyes. His teammates give him questioning looks but say nothing when Kuroo shakes his head and immerses himself in the lesson for the day. 

Class goes by even more quickly than normal and before he knows it, the dreaded time of day has arrived. He packs slowly, hating himself for wanting to eavesdrop on your plans for the rest of the afternoon. 

“So, what’s the plan?” he hears your friend ask you. “Volleyball or basketball?” 

“Not sure,” you reply. “Gotta go, see you tomorrow!” 

Kuroo watches as you hastily grab your things and leave the classroom. He ignores your friend’s prying eyes on him as he walks out after you. 

In the hallway, he spots you speeding away towards the shoe lockers. As he contemplates chasing after you, he hears a call of your name. 

Kuroo watches in mild horror when he finds that the voice belonged to the captain of the basketball team. His eyes stay glued to the boy who approaches you, all charming smiles and grinning snake eyes. The two of you are too far for Kuroo to hear your conversation but he can see your expression morphing into one of bashfulness. 

All his emotions spill over as the scene unfolds right in front of him in slow motion. He watches your hands dig into your pocket, making the motions to pull something out and likely hand it to your senpai. It all happens so quickly, but before he knows it, Kuroo’s grabbing your hand and dragging you away. 

Something - wind? His boiling hot jealousy? - roars in his ears, any protests you let out going right over his head. It’s only when the two of you reach the garden behind the gymnasium that he lets go. 

He freezes, back still turned away from yours.

It hits him then. He drops your hand like a hot potato, almost giving into the overwhelming urge to bury his face in his hands, crouch down so low that he’s buried in the ground. 

“Kuroo?” he hears you call tentatively. 

How was he going to get himself out of this one? 

So he does what he does best with you. 

Cower. 

He turns around, putting two hands behind his head to feign nonchalance. He forces out a laugh and in the lightest voice he could possibly muster at a time like this, he sticks his foot in this mouth. 

“You were gonna give your chocolates to that senpai, huh? You better be glad I interrupted and saved you the embarrassment of getting rejected in front of the entire student body.” 

You blink at him. “Excuse me?” 

“I mean, I really saved that guy back there. Knowing your cooking skills, you might as well have poisoned him-” 

A box thrown at his face interrupts him. He catches it before the fall to the ground, staring at the offending hand that launched the item. He then looks to you, thoughtless as your eyes begin to water. 

“They’re for you, asshole. If you don’t want ‘em so badly, go throw them away for all I care.”

As you turn around and storm off, Kuroo sees one of your hands coming up to rub angrily at your face. 

He gives chase once more today. It’s easy to catch up as he gets in front of you, face craning to look at you, to validate that he’s not going crazy and you’re really crying over him. 

You turn away stubbornly until Kuroo grabs your arms, holding them up in the air to trap you. 

“Let go!” you thrash. 

But it’s easy for Kuroo to keep them still, unusually quiet as he looks and looks until he gets his fill and confirms that he’s not dreaming. 

“They’re for me?” he asks. 

“Yes, you idiot. Do you wanna add deaf to your list of defining characteristics? It can be right up there with moronic, insensitive, stupid-” 

He chuckles; he doesn't even know where it came from, really. 

Relaxing, he lowers your arms back down but keeps his hold. “And are they the ones you made for all your friends? Or are they…” he trails off, staring into your eyes to get his meaning across. 

You cringe, neck shrinking to retract your face into your scarf. Averting your eyes, you mutter, “the second one.” 

He suddenly engulfs you in his arms. The squeeze he gives you forces a little squeal from you. 

“Oh my god,” he rubs his cheek against the top of your head like an overgrown cat. “You’re so cute, I could die.” 

Your cheeks feel hot as you repress the urge to smile. 

Instead, you mumble, “die then.” 

[lbcreations-blog]

Request:

What about a mortal reader summoning him to strike a deal/ask for something and as payment he asks for their purity? (take that as you will btw. It doesn't have to be sexual)

I've just had this little idea for a while and can't find anything about it (though is someone has read anything similar please do tag me 🤲)

Making this one none sexual leading is going to be so difficult for me, so this is going to take forever, but it's going to be short😔

Reader is 22 here

Masterlist

For your brother you love so much

You wanted to make a deal, a deal for your brother's life. Your younger brother recently died of cancer he was only at the age of 6. So, being the older sibling you are, you decided to make a deal with the devil himself for your brother to have a second chance at life even if it costs yours.

So here you were doing the ritual in your room saying your chants when he appeared. "Who dares summons the great king of hell, Lucifer?" The man asked. In his all demon form glory. For some odd reason, your cheeks were heating up from seeing this, and you had no idea why.

"I summond you to struck a deal, your highness," you told Lucifer. "And what shall the deal be?" He asked. "Well, I want you to bring my brother back to life, and in return, you can have my soul, my body, whatever you want" you told him desperation in your voice for your brother to be happy, not to go through suffering again, and to have a chance at life once more.

There was now silence in the air, suddenly Lucifer hid away his horns, tail, wings, and any other demonic features from his 'big' form. He now looked just astonishing. He was so beautiful you were enthralled with him from laying your eyes upon this form. But you had to stay serious. So you stood there waiting for his answer.

"How did he die?" Lucifer asked a little bit of gloom in his voice. "Cancer, stage three," you told him in a sad voice, not feeling happy to mention such a sensitive topic. "Why do you want him to be back alive?" He asked.

"To well, experience life, he died at age six, and he deserves to last longer." You told the man. "Well then, I'll bring him back, but what I'll get in return is your purity," he told you. "M-my, what now? Like the sexual stuff?" You asked him rasing an eyebrow.

Lucifer blushed harshly "what ofcourse not, I'm not a monster. We only just met." Lucifer clears his throat and regains his poster. "I meant that you come live with me and study and stuff in my palace," he told you. "It should un pure you, make you 'dirty'." He told you "well anyways you want to make this deal or not?" He asked, putting his hand out. You clasped your hand with his.

"Deal"

Yeah I'm done ik Lucifer literally basically f*cked Lilith when they met but uh I ain't going that route so here

Taglist: @fatherlesschild2 @whitewingsh @iheartpieck @i-yuki

Taglist request section

-L.B Creations

[ohfuckthisisreal]

Okay so I don’t write fanfiction anymore but as a new years treat for fellow Angela simps I just had to put something out. Please excuse any mistakes this is going out at 7 am and I haven’t slept yet. Enjoy!

Hot for Teacher

It was a shooting day in the Smosh Office and you couldn’t believe how lucky you were to be actually here. Smosh has been one of your favorite Channels since they started adding new cast members. Shows like Let’s do this or Culinary Crimes became your comfort watch after a hard day. So to be standing here, about to be in an actual video felt surreal. You started attending an Improv Class, to hone your skills because my god were you awkward for an 21 year old. You didn’t think much of your Professor at first, he was a little crazy and awkward himself but then you recognized him. It was Patrick, he worked as a writer for Smosh sometimes. You were stoked! Learning from someone who put out scripts for your favorite shows? It couldn’t get any better. When one day he came into class and offered us all to be in a video. It’s not like no was ever an option. So here you were, standing with your classmates, waiting to be called onto set.

„Hey!“ a voice called out.

You all turned to see Kimmy approaching you with Patrick in tow.

„Hey it’s so nice to finally meet you!“ Kimmy greeted you cheerfully. „How are you all feeling? Nervous or more excited?“

We all looked at each other mumbling a few yeahs before Hilary stepped up and started chattering „Honestly both! This is way cooler than I expected!“

„It’s pretty sick right“ Patrick grinned before he turned serious „so let me tell you how things are gonna go. We will go onto set which will kinda look like a classroom. Three cast members will then stand before you. They will have to ”teach“ you on a subject they chose and you will have to rank them on how well they did, educational value etc… sounds easy enough right?“

„So we treat this like a normal class basically?“ you asked this time.

„Yeah basically but don’t expect to learn anything“ Patrick joked. You grinned. You would be impressed if they actually managed to teach you something.

„Okay if the rules are all clear shall we move to the set?“ Kimmy asked.

We nodded and followed the two to the honestly pretty impressive classroom set. You all get settled, yourself choosing a seat at the back. Mics were put on you and cameras were turned on. Nerves started to manifest in you.

„This is it“ you thought „I’m about to be in a Smosh video!!“ The doors to the set opened and the nerves you had turned even more intense.

„Oh no“ you realized with quite horror and excitement that Angela was about to be one of the Teachers. This was fine. It’s not like you had a giant crush on her or anything. Nope. Totally fine.

„Okay, don’t think gay thoughts“ you felt yourself starting to sweat but you took some deep breaths to calm down „just pretend you’re not gay for an hour. Shouldn’t be that hard considering it took you 16 years to come out“ Granted you were only 21 but it’s the thought that counts right?

Taking one last deep breath you faced the front of the class with the most neutral face you could muster. Mics were put on Angela, Shayne and Tommy with some last minute discussions happening. The three seemed very nervous themselves. And then it was time. Patrick ushered them onto set and the tapes began rolling.

„Hello everyone!“ Patrick started talking „todays video will be an exciting one, that I can promise you. Recently I became an actual Professor, don’t laugh Ang!“ he jokingly glared at Angela who had her hand over her mouth to quieten her giggles.

„ it’s not that hard to believe“ an eye roll in her direction „anyways I started teaching an Improv class and these here are my students“ he gestured to you, you all getting the cue to wave or smile at the camera directed at you. Accidentally your eyes started to drift torwards Angela only to find her already staring at you. Hastily you diverted your gaze, cheeks beginning to turn a light red.

„Focus“ you chided yourself, face pulling back into a neutral position. Patrick’s talking bringing your attention forwards again.

„We thought it would be funny if some of our cast members would get a shot at attempting to teach. So we brought in my actual students to judge you and beware you will be judged harshly.“ He grinned. Tommy looked unbothered but Shayne and Angela were fidgeting, clearly nervous about this.

„So Tommy why don’t you go first?“ Patrick asked

„Sure“ Tommy shrugged. Angela and Shayne shuffling to the back. Right behind you.

„Oh no“ a subtle scent of Vanilla drafted up your nose as Angela passed by you, arm accidentally grazing yours. „Fuck she smells good too. God help me overcome this day without making a fool of myself.“ Tommys turn began and you can honestly say you did not pay the attention you were supposed to. The thought of Angela standing right behind you making you more anxious than you thought it would. Briefly you wondered if you would get to talk to her after the video was done but clapping interrupted your thoughts on that quickly. You clapped too, attempting to look like you’ve been listening.

„Alright! Give it up for Tommy. Not a bad first attempt but I also have to say I really don’t know where you were going with this. But go on Diane, let Angela take your place“ Patrick gestured to Angela, wanting her to be the next Teacher. You were confused. Who the hell was Diane?? What did you miss? Angela shuffled by you again, grazing your arm for a second time that day. Did she do that on purpose? The classroom wasn’t that small. As soon as she reached the front, she whirled around and began her presentation.

„Alright listen up folks. The name is Angela and I will be your teacher today but first check under your desk“ muttering and scattering filled the room as students moved their desk to look under it. A plastic bag filled with Candy was stuck to the bottom of it. Energy began filling the room at once. Was this bribery? If so it fucking worked. You glanced up happily grinning only to catch Angela’s gaze again. Her brown eyes looking at you briefly before giving you a quick wink, turning back to the rest of the class.

„ I had a plan for this once “ she spoke melancholy „ but then on a fateful night where I went roller blading with Patrick“ a glance in his direction found him chuckling to himself, most likely knowing where this is going.

„I broke my arm and man let me tell you it’s hard to think with only one functioning arm“ she joked. Was it funny? No but did you laugh? Of course you did. You were a simp for everything this woman did. An appreciative glance in your direction again.

„So instead of doing anything useful, how about a little q&a session huh folks?“ she perched on the edge of the desk and you were hit once again with how gay you were for this woman. You let your eyes rover over her starting from the bottom, making your way up, letting it end at her eyes that you realized with shock have been staring at you. Watching you check her balantly out. Averting your eyes and slouching at your desk you hope this will be over soon. This was beginning to get embarrassing. But what could you do. She was truly the most stunning woman you have ever seen and you were very very gay. Resolutely staring at your desk for the remainder of her turn you let her voice wash over you.

„maybe one day I’ll get to hear her sing live“ you wistfully smiled. Clapping erupted around you again and you quickly joined.

„Alright uh I don’t think this was the point of this but good try Angela?“ clearly Patrick was not impressed but still giving her two thumbs up to lesson the blow.

„Hey it was your fault I couldn’t get anything better done in time“ she teased. Making space for Shayne she slowly walked past your desk, fingers moving like slow mo in your direction only to lightly graze your neck. Shivers erupted on your body. Goosebumps trailing up your arm. You sat up straight. What the hell was that? Did she really?? You sneakily glanced behind you to where she stood with Tommy but she wasn’t acknowledging you this time. Shayne’s turn began and ended and you could honestly say you did not retain an ounce of information. Your mind replaying that moment over and over again. Patrick and the three “teachers“ gathered at the front to end the video. Yourself and your classmates getting called to do your individual interviews as soon as the camera stopped filming. You stood up, getting ready to walk to your designated area when a hand catches your arm. Angela’s face appearing in front of you. You blushed seeing her so up close.

„Come I’ll show you where you need to go!“ without even waiting for an answer she dragged you towards where your classmates are getting situated. Only she took a left turn, beginning to walk a little faster before lightly shoving you into what you assume is a closet or storage room.

„Hey uh what ar-„ you get cut off. By the pair of softest lips you have ever kissed. You melt into it, sighing into her mouth when her fingers began to tangle into your hair. Angela broke the kiss for a moment.

„I saw you staring at me“ she husked into your ear „ and I can’t say I didn’t hate what I saw either. So here’s how this is gonna go. You call me, we meet up and you better be on your best behavior student“ the end of the sentence was growled, her voice low. You just nod. Your mouth refusing to form any words.

„Good“ she smirked „I’ll see you later then“ she winked, giving you one last kiss before vanishing from the room. You were left alone, a mess from just one kiss, looking down at the crumpled up note containing Angela’s phone number. „Holy shit“ this day did get in fact better.

[rebouks]

Let's be nosy and see what a few folks have been up to recently and/or since Somnium ended, shall we..? 👀

Kaden/Joey are still around, somewhere.. Joey would probably tell you by accident, but Kaden keeps him on a tight leash. I very much doubt either of them have changed their ways, you can't teach an old dog new tricks and all that... I dunno if we'll really see em again properly, though I never say never!

Brynn, Ace and Robert may have left Del Sol, but Randy and Genesis are still stuck in their old ways. Sissy likes the attention and money from her "job" too much to leave. I think part of her still hopes someone's gonna whisk her away to a life of luxury and she'll live happily ever after, just like Brynn did.. assumedly 😩 Randy won't leave without her ofc, and he doesn't really like change anyway. He's lazy, what else is he gonna do?! The motel barely makes any money either, but he manages with a few odd jobs from the less savoury folks around town. They're doing swell 👍

Luckily, no one ever ratted on Darien and he was far too careful to end up under the microscope without being exposed - especially since Wyatt left the scene - so he moved back to San My eventually. Ever the workaholic, he found himself a job at the same accounting/law firm as Wade (props to anyone who remembers him lmaoo) he doesn't need the money but he'd probably go insane without a job ngl 😆 He doesn't really find it easy to make friends either, and Wade recently found himself behind bars for a lil tiny bit of tax evasion so he's pretty lonely-.. although he did meet a fellow asexual lady friend he's been on a couple dates with recently. They have fun n' get on well, but she thinks he's this straight laced/awkward accountant and it makes him feel weird, like he's lying about himself.. so idk how long that'll last. I think he kinda misses being part of a "family", however fucked up it was.. but most of all, he just misses Wyatt 😔

Alma and Mack have been hanging out more often recently, just casually tho u kno?? She likes her freedom too much to give it all up, and although he's a great lover, he's a terrible boyfriend lmaoo.. I think she's accepted that Mack is Mack so they're not making it serious or official this time. They're not exactly getting any younger either, may as well have some fun whilst they're still here, right?! Kobe's considering moving out 'cause eugh 😆

Brivan n' co are just kinda living life right now, working, hanging out with Jacob/Suzie/Miya a fair bit and tryna get used to the news of Jude n' such u kno? Pixie's hitting her milestones like a champ ofc, but she's a picky eater just like her pappy 😅 Bruno insists he's fine but he's been a lil quiet and weird recently. Part of him still struggles with his old self and his guilt, though he ain't exactly a talker, so he retreats into himself now and then instead. He's been thinking of proposing to Ivan occasionally as well, but he doesn't want to do it whilst he's in a funk AND he's a lil worried (aka majorly overthinking) the fact that Ivan might not take too well to being proposed to?? But wait, nah.. he'd love it, right? Maybe-.. unless he hated it, maybe he'd rather be the one to ask-.. should he? Yes-.. no, wait-.. maybe?!!? Probably-.. AGHHHHHFJSDK <- said Bruno's brain 🙈

Jessie and Ivan have been taking it slow, mostly since she's so damn busy all the time, but also 'cause they hardly know each other n' all. Ivan's kinda bummed she's slow to trust him, but he can't exactly blame her so he's being patient n' meeting them whenever he can. Jude is so smitten with his new pappy tho, he even wanted to grow his hair just like him 😭 Oscar n' Robin have tagged along a few times as well since the kiddos are practically the same age, but idk if Robin is too sure abt Jude just yet! He's very talkative and he's a big hugger.. I wonder where he gets that from?? 🤣 I think Jessie's finally warming up to the idea of sharing Jude 'cause she agreed to leave him alone with Ivan for a sleepover soon! They're gonna get dressed up n' head to Oscar's for a spooky party! Oh, and Oscar thinks Jessie has a nice rack....... boi plz 🙄

Not pictured/spied upon..

Tilda - she's just existing rn tbh! She hangs out with Brivan/Pixie now n' then which she enjoys more than she'll let on! She's tryna stay away from dating and focus on herself too.. but she's not all that keen on herself so that's hard work 😩 a few dates here n' there but nothing interesting! She's also still ignoring her family.

Noah n' co - Aspen started teaching a few mommy/toddler yoga classes in the upstairs portion of Noah's gallery since he barely uses it, Juni loves it! Juni started ballet recently too 🩰 Noah's still salty with Oscar for not hanging out more but the man's busy dammit! I think Oscar's glad he's on semi-decent terms with everyone but he'd rather keep them at arms length so it stays that way skdjskjd

Salton - Alton's still Alton lmao.. though Sid gives him more shit nowadays since she's mostly retired she's realised he's even lazier than she thought and I'm sure she regrets letting him get a TV! She's a bit bored/lost tbh, which is why she hasn't fully retired yet.. introspection doesn't suit her (so says she) and she doesn't like all this extra time to think n' shit.. ough 🙈

Rhys & Tommy - both finished uni wooooooo! They're staying with Rhys' parents for now tho, Tommy's not rlly sure what to do with his psychology degree yet but he still thinks he'd like to be a psychologist so maybe he'll get a job/save up n' do his masters or smth?! Rhys has been taking on jobs as a wedding/event photographer for now, but he'd like to veer more towards photography as an art form-.. tho he's not sure how to go about that just yet either 🤔 they're figuring it out and they're happy so it doesn't rlly matter toooo much for now

Uhhhhh idk I've probably missed some folk out but feel free to ask abt anyone else in the comments! 🧡

[azukiel]

Nightfall Heir Chapter 6

🔞 MDNI 🔞 NSFW

Warnings (as a whole): Explicit sexual content, Graphic descriptions of violence, PTSD, Angst, Blood kink, Kidnapping, Pregnancy and Childbirth

Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5 | Chapter 6 | Chapter 7 | Chapter 8 | Chapter 9 | Chapter 10 | Chapter 11

⭐Here is the story on Archive of Our Own ⭐

Summary: Two years have passed since the events surrounding the destruction of the Absolute. Baldur's Gate is slowly rebuilding itself from the rubble, and you and your companions have established yourselves within the city to help in its restoration.

You and your vampiric lover, Astarion, had been nigh inseparable since coming back together. Yet a certain turn of events saw to your kidnapping and then... to your unexpected pregnancy.

🔥Comments and reblogs are much appreciated! 🔥

Regrettably, Astarion had important tasks to complete and couldn't join you on your journey back. Despite your offer to keep him company at the Halls of Justice, he knew he would just want to keep riding you to oblivion after what had just occurred. He assured and promised to do so upon his return home. That had brought a deep blush to your cheeks, which only caused him to smirk and laugh.

“How long do you think it will be before you’re done?” You asked, sending him a telling gaze.

“Well,” he grinned as he fiddled with the ring on his finger. “I intend to make quick work of my reports.”

You grinned deviously. “Hurry home as fast as you can. I’ll have dinner ready,” you offered.

“We don’t need dinner, my love.”

You shook your head, chuckling, “You may not need food, but I do!”

“Oh, I know, but I intend to devour you entirely. Make sure you're well fed before I return.”

“Is that an order?” You fluttered your eyelashes bashfully.

“Yes!” He gave you a quick, teasing slap on your backside. “So when you get home, make sure you rest. You're going to need your energy tonight.”

“So ravenous,” you purred.

“Only for you,” he smirked.

“So you’ve told me,” you grinned, and brought him in for a hug and a last deep kiss.

“See you later,” he murmured, his ruby gaze fixated on your eyes.

“Try to hurry home,” you reiterated, staring back intently.

“I shall see what I can do.”

As the two of you unlocked your loving hold on each other, you rose to the tip of your toes and gave him a peck on the cheek. “My heroic magistrate, off to do the law’s bidding.”

His smouldering gaze was all-knowing, but he chuckled anyway, rolling his eyes at your banter. “Off you go.”

And so you did, taking his advice and making the long walk back to your humble abode. Your mind lingered on the pleasant events that just transpired. Gods, there was something so pleasantly filthy - raunchy - in what you had both just done.

The memory made you nibble on your bottom lip and shiver from his promises. You needed to get home and rest, for he was going to utterly devour you. The events left you utterly depleted, and your mind continued to speculate on his recent insatiable appetite. The sudden occurrence happened even before menstruation, so there was no room for complaint. You resolved to discuss it with him at some later time. Perhaps he was just content to finally being free to control his own life; finally free to feel the true warmth of being loved and needed. Of being wanted. For many years, it was something you had desired. Astarion's fall for you introduced you to a love you had never known. The elusive feeling of a true love's kiss and the longing embrace of someone who truly desired you had always been out of reach. You had only ever known pain. You were grateful that the two of you could find such euphoric joy in one another. The partnership may not be seen as appropriate or respectable by everyone, but you felt no shame in his arms. With him by your side, you felt you could accomplish anything.

If the city was still in one piece, your walk would have not taken so long. Due to numerous collapsed buildings and broken roads awaiting repair, you had to take a longer route. With main roads still crowded with repair crews, merchants, and people going about their daily business, you chose the quieter back streets that had been cleared. With the many dilapidated structures, homeless people seeking shelter could find reprieve against the elements.

Your heart went out to those poor, innocent people. It agonized you to see the destruction that had been done by the Absolute.

Continuing on your way, you offered a couple of gold coins to the desperate people who approached you. Giving up a few coins for the greater good didn't bother you. Making Baldur's Gate a pleasant place to reside was necessary. Sighing, you continued on your way, reaching narrower and less populated alleys. You were heading into the bowels of the lower city now.

Your Drow senses quickly detected that you were being followed. The sensation of being spied on caused you to quickly look back, but there was nothing unusual in sight. Squinting your eyes, you sped up your pace.

You couldn’t hear the footsteps running up from behind you, for their movements were far too light for mortal ears to detect. But you felt them. The cold fury that surrounded your pursuer was like icy teeth latching onto your skin. Spinning on the spot, your magic arced up your fingertips in eager anticipation of a fight. You were not known to be cowardly, and neither did you like the idea of getting caught unawares.

You steeled yourself to counter any form of attack, whether physical or one of a magical nature. Yet, no matter how hard you scrutinised, there were no visible signs of any potential opponents. At first, you were confused and concerned. Were you just being paranoid? Had the many nights with Astarion clouded your senses?

Deciding it was just your nerves or your own imagination playing tricks upon you, you turned around, intent on continuing home. Only there was a subtle, melancholic humming in the air, as if singing a sad ballad. It sent your senses on a tingling wave, for the tone of it reminded you of the soothing murmur of the brooks and streams from home, deep within the Underdark. A home that, in truth, you did not miss.

Ignoring the musical notes dancing along the back of your neck, you continued on. Though you did so, your feet felt heavier with every step. A sinking feeling began in the pit of your stomach, a sensation that told you something was terribly wrong.

Glancing over your shoulder once more, you felt a chill breeze snake its way through the folds of your skirts. It made you shudder, and the melody seemed to hum louder, beckoning you into the unknown. Your senses were screaming at you.

Suddenly, your entire body stopped. Though it did not physically strain from the opposing force, the invisible chains of whatever spell that had been woven around you seemed to tighten their grip.

Despite the painful seizure of your body, you twisted your head around enough to see the figure a short distance behind you, cloaked in shadows. Through gritted teeth you muttered an incantation, and the twisting of the invincible chains vanished as the figure screamed, clutching the sides of their head. You knew it was wise not to linger and went to chant an invincibility spell, but no sooner did you open your mouth to mutter the words did you feel something being pulled over your head and tightened around your throat. The tingling of the weave which coursed through your veins vanished.

“No...” Items that could subdue your powers were virtually unheard of.

Your knees abruptly gave way, and you toppled to the ground. You felt every ounce of your breath being squeezed from your lungs. The cloaked figure, who previously tried to subdue you, approached while still holding their head.

“Mistress’ orders. She is not to be harmed.” Came the gruff male voice.

You heard a female scoff. “I know! You needn’t remind me! We need to bring her back immediately. She is fighting the collar. I do not know how long it will last.”

All you can remember is the blunt pain of a fist connecting with your skull.

[pesttherat]

For @archie-sunshine and that one sappy Dratchrod drawing.. dont laugh i dont.. i dont write smut... ever... (its not very serious, i enjoy using silly words)

♡Hi, anyone under 18 pls dont read- and if you do, pls dont interact with it- i cant control you, but I'd prefer if you didn't read it♡

Fic below

It had been a day like any other for Ratchet.. scolding idiotic knights, shooing off pesky preachers, even having someone try to explain how magic is better then non magical healing... so when Drift ran in, Rodimus in arms, panicking.. he was.. concerned... not for Rodimus really, more so Drift.

"Ratchet! Issues!" Drift called to the healer, biting his lip... Him and Rodimus had been out at a public function as normal, and before they knew it, some "kill the kings peasants shall rule" loser had come up and stabbed him!

"What it is now? Did he fall down the well again?" Ratchet gave a dry chuckle as joked about the many times Rodimus has fallen, but Drift hadn't laughed.. instead he just held Rodimus out to Ratchet. "He was bloody stabbed!" "Stabbed..? With what, let me see"

Ratchet could see the difference between how Rodimus typically looked when hurt and now... he was pale.. clamey... and his forehead was soaked in sweat, while his skin was colder then usual.. and Drift could only give a worried look..

"A serrated sword, the attacker has been arrested, but Rodimus is... worryingly still..." Drift shifted, while Ratchet pushed him out his work space, and began to prep his table.. getting out different herbs, cloths, medicines and liquids...

"Cursed? Poisoned?" He queried as he worked, seamlessly and gracefully... "not that i could tell... but that doesn't ease my worries... i failed to protect him!-" "eh, he was to cocky recently anyway."

Rodimus let out a small groan and whimper as his little armor, and shirt was removed... Ratchets eyes widened slightly, and he put a hand over the wound, as he grabbed a wet cloth, and forced himself to remember a good disinfectant spell.. no way this thing wasn't infected already.. so he'd be forced to use magic to clean it..

"What the frag.. Drift warm up a cloth by the fire, and soak this one in cold water... " he handed Drift two rags, and used a few small clumps of sheep wool like cotten balls, as he dipped them in various medical liquids, then applied them to the wound

"Ahhh.. mmhm..." Rodimus hissed and groaned.. while Ratchet gave him a soft "shhh"... "is it bad Ratchet..?" "It aint pretty.. he's gunna be on bed rest for a while.."

◇{~ Time skip bc IDK what to put between here and the next part ~}◇

Rodimus... lets just say this was a close call, and he now has a cool scar on his abdomen... he woke up with terrible aches and a groan.. his vision clearing he could see the dim light of a lantern lit up the room, and two familiar blobs were beside him, one gently rubbing his cheek, while the other had a firm hand on his side...

"Easy hot shot.. dont move to much.." the larger blob spoke, and he immediately recognized it as Ratchet.. and before long he heard the second blob pipe up as well... " stay down please.. we got you..." obviously that one was Drift.. he could see the familiar horns...

He must have been out for days.. his body was stiff.. and he felt.. he hated to admit it.. but stupidly pent up, and hot... which his lovers could quickly tell... "Rodimus.. are you... uhm.. just happy to see us..?" Rodimus looked at his lower abdomen, and his cheeks flushed.. as he realized Drift was looking at his pelvic area, where he had a massive fantasy boner-

"Kid, relax.. just try and sleep.." Ratchet sighed.. Rodimus nearly died.. he'd rather he wasn't getting horny and focusing on everything but recovering- "Ratchet.. i cant help it..! And you know I get pent up.." Rodimus voice trailed off to a low quiver as he got embarrassed.. but Drift was quick to pick it up..

"He.. did nearly... kick the bucket.. and we.. have been feeling a bit lost without him nagging us during our canodaling..." "Drift, no- dont encourage hi-" "*Big cough, big sad Victorian sick child cough*" Rodimus had a slight coughing fit, and Drift coulr only give Ratchet a look, before he moved himself gently over Rodimus, and began to puch his hair out his face...

Ratchet just groaned... they were like children.. but he did feel his heart strings get pulled when Rodimus practically nuzzled up to Drifts hand... and moved more to Rodimus' side.. gently rubbing his injury with a soft touch..

"Mmm..." Drift gently removed his lovers garments, and then his own.. still with a gentle touch, his fingers trailed Rodimus chest, and traced his tattoos and scars... whispering gentle words into his ears..

"Your doing so good.. you were so brave.." Ratchets hands began to move down Rodimus' body.. towards his thighs, he massaged the sore spots on his legs... hands moving up then.. gentle as they brushed Rodimus' soft lower lips... and he smiled softly as his lover quivered...

"Mm.. ahh.." "easy love.. let is treat you right.." Drifts turn.. he leaned down.. tail raised, and softly kissed Rodimus' top scars... kisses going up his chest as to his neck... and Rodimus was a softly moaning mess... his mind flooded with serotonin at the praise and gentle touches to his skin...

"Y'know Drift.. he's so pretty.. he's out handsome... strong boy... so masculine... and brave..." "R- Ratchet.. mmm~ y- you... your so nic-" Rodimus cut himself off with a moan as Ratchets fingers entered his sensitive clit.. and his hips moved slightly.. Ratchet taking gentle care to make sure Rodimus was leaking slightly before any sort of real sexual action happened..

"Your doing great... so good love... you ready to take me love..? I wont start till you give the ok... my manly man... si strong..." Rodimus smiled and nuzzled up to Drift... any sort of praise to his masculinity, and he was caught hook line and sinker...

"Please..? I- i need it.." Rodimus let out a nice, deep moan.. he didn't have to speak twice before Drift had carefully inserted himself into the smaller man.. and Ratchet was now up by his face.. relaxing his injured lover muscles and whispering sweet nothing in his ear..

"brave.. strong... taking us so well... such a man... so good to us.. our sweet king just let us take care of you... dont you lift a finger..." Drift was slowly moving in and out.. taking special notice when Rodimus was react in a pained or negative way.. and would be quick to fix himself accordingly..

Sadly, he could only last 20 minutes... his sigh libido being effected by his injury.. as he began to softly whine... "whats wrong love..? Does it still hurt?" Drift gently pulled out.. and was handed a damp towel by Ratchet. "Lets clean you up.. and we can lay for the rest of the day..."

And the trio did... after wiping eachother down... they layed together.. all naked, they cuddled in a big ol pile... Drift collected pillows and blankets.. while Ratchet kept Rodimus from getting sore... both kissing Rodimus all over, and rubbing his warm skin... staying like this till they all fell asleep...

♡————————————————————————————♡

Thank you for reading! As i said, I've never written smut- so- hope its decent!

-Pesty Pest

[jmdbjk]

Bangtan weekly report

Lordt, what a week, what a month, what a year? It's September, we're on the downhill slide.

I've been busy, y'all. You know, life happens and all that crap we say when we have to focus on stuff that's not as fun as staring at the latest naked Bangtan pics... anyway... there is A LOT to process, A LOT to even sit down and catch up on.

Let's break it down shall we?

It was JK's b-day and he first tried to TikTok live us and you know, I hope he can't figure it out to his satisfaction because there's no replay and no translations so fuck TikTok and I mean that in a nice way. Thank god for Armys who record and translate.

And he dropped this tiny but significant TMI:

We know he's building that big whatever it is. It will be a while before he leaves his current residence...or? What? Moving elsewhere until he enlists? He mentioned in one of his more recent past lives that he had to clean up some of his junk in his apartment... soooo.... hmmm....

Also, this:

Acting research? I'm loving the sound of whatever that is.

Thankfully he came to visit us on Weverse live as well, did a few card tricks and cut it short, one of the shortest lives he's done in years and years? Were the aces a hint? Or just part of his magic trick?

Adorable goofball. By the way, the subs are up on this live.

He was out and about before the live, taking pics on the street, he's said he doesn't mind at all, running into fans in public and saying hello.

It's the people who claim to be fans who stalk him and show up uninvited to places where he's trying to live his life in private. Whoever you all are, I'll speak for Kookie. Y'all suck.

In Busan, when he was with his idol friends, they were asked if they were who they were by the restaurant employee and they tried to deny it. That should be a big hint to leave them alone.

Kookie shared a video on his TikTok in solidarity and support of RM speaking out about the uncalled for hate that came RM's way after he posted that song on his Instagram story.

You know... there's been quite a lot of discourse lately about culturally sensitive topics. Tae's "gaffe" and this song that RM shared... I think if you felt offended or uncomfortable when you saw those things happen, those feelings are your own and 100% valid.

Being of Japanese descent, through my life, it has made me cringe when I hear people call stuff "Jap crap" or just yesterday, a canvasser for a political candidate asked me if I was from around here... like... if I was blonde and blue-eyed would they have asked me that? You know? I was speaking to them exactly like I speak here, fully fluent in (Southern U.S. redneck) English because that's my only language (sadly, no thanks to mom and dad because I did not learn Japanese or French). But I don't get obsessed or angry or want to threaten anyone's careers or life. I don't even think about it. And I don't really hold it against people who are not aware of how they come across like that.

People are insensitive all the time without knowing it: asking a woman when they are due but she's not pregnant and maybe can't even have children... mentioning other culturally derogatory terms without realizing it (see "Jap crap" above), saying something looks "gay" like... ok what does that even mean?... you know what I'm saying? I use the term "spirit animal" all the time and someone DM'd me saying it was offensive. So we're all guilty.

I get it, we're all different in how we react. BUT MY FEELINGS ARE VALID TOO, AND MY REACTION IS MY OWN AND DOESN'T HAVE TO BE THE SAME AS YOURS TO YOUR OWN EXPERIENCE.

As I said, feelings are valid, and the members aren't perfect and it's okay to call them out on it. But the extra implication that was piled on Namjoon for that song rec crossed the line and he addressed it in his own live.

Exasperated he explained that it was just a song and that he knows exactly what everyone is saying, that he's a 30 year old man and can express himself freely. He said even if there will still be those who will accuse him of lying, he can't and won't lie to us.

I love him: "For ten years I've held things in my heart but nowadays I can't do that, I have to speak my truth. Believe my own words."

Before he got into it though he offended the mathematicians and then tried to back track (omg I'M JOKING ok?... unless someone got offended... omg, can we just chill?)

His 2-day old stubble and fuzzy headed self.

The obsession people have with their weight and their looks is mind-blowing. The way he's drilled in the comments on his face, his hair, about admitting he's tanning, how much he weighs, what he eats, he looks tired... This man has an IQ of 160 or whatever and people are worried about a mosquito bite on his forehead. The vapidness and shallow level of interaction in the comments knows no limit. But we've known that. Please, before commenting can people please make a list of things to speak on other than how they look?

He closed by saying to trust him, he'll always show us what's inside of him whether its his music or him as a human... life is a journey with a lot of obstacles, he's good and focusing on his own things and not on the bad energy. He is in such a good head space nowadays... love to see it.

Next up, Taehyungie-hyung...dis my fave pic out of everything I've seen so far:

I am not a fan of Tae in blonde hair, I've said that before. But this particular shot is stunning to me, the lighting and angle.

As you know, I've not paid as close attention to Tae. Honestly I've been waiting for him to share things during this solo time so I can get to know him better just like I did with the other members.

Up until now, everything he does seems superficial EXCEPT the deliberate soft reveal of his relationship with Jennie, which I hope they are doing well and navigating the shitty waters of having to be idols in a relationship.

But so far, its photo spread after photo spread and I'm just not into it. Yes, Tae is very photogenic. I'm sure V biases are over the moon. I'm happy for them! If it was Jimin you would be sick of me posting every photo, so I get it! But I was looking for something a little deeper from him.

So it was this Dingo show that his personality opened up a little to me somewhat... interacting with this Army who's dream is to become a Military Officer. She is the cutest thing, her reactions so genuine and I could feel her excitement and how she was overwhelmed at the end of their day together when she broke down. Girl was holding it in and living the life that day!!! Sooo happy she got to experience that!

And these pics are the cutest:

This one right above with her hands on his shoulders... such a precious memory. I am looking forward to hearing the rest of Tae's album. I'm sure I'll have things to say about it at that time.

And that brings me to Jimin. The jikook selca not withstanding, we haven't seen or heard from him in ages so after 2 months, 15 days, 23 hours, 8 minutes and some odd seconds (but who was counting? not me)... we finally see him again in person at a Dior event in Seoul.

He looked so good, except that tan leather coat reminded me of something 50s vintage, car coat over a sheath dress women wore in the springtime. He's small. Let's put a giant white garbage bag on him. Don't know what goes through their minds.

Dior creates some extraordinarily crafted pieces, but so far, I sometimes wonder if they've even bothered to look at any of Jimin's previous photo concepts for other various things. It's almost like they don't know how to dress him. That's just my personal opinion.

Anyway..AND THEN HE COMES LIVE!!! FINALLY!!!

Is that a Red Dragon keyboard he has in front of his computer? I don't really know anything about gaming stuff. And goodness...

He gets comfy by tying up those pants that look like four of him (or him and Kookie) could fit in there at the same time...

His eye crinkles... I don't care what people say about his beakie... I'm all about the eye smile and those eye crinkles that are going to get deeper with time.

Y'all, this is my bias...

That mood light of the realistic solar system makes Jungkookie's mood light look like child's play. But I see why his moons down his back look like they do.

I know some of the first translations say he called Jungkook for his birthday and he talked about wanting to live his 30s just as full as his 20s, and he's learning through his solo work that he has things to learn and he will improve and I just don't have enough or the right words to express how much I love and admire his perseverance and dedication to being the best at what he does and the best human he can be. I will do a full blog post when the official subs are ready later this week.

I don't know how this guy from the other side of the world got so completely under my skin:

I know there was a lot of other content that dropped that I didn't touch on but there aren't enough hours in my day to type it all up. I will just continue to watch and absorb as much as I can just like everyone else.

Jin and Hobi are still plugging away at their respective bases, I always pray for their safety and health while they are doing their duty. In a few months, Jin may show us what it will be like to celebrate birthdays while they are enlisted.

And Yoongi. We wait as the days tick by. We know its coming very soon. Holding my Yoongi bias friend's hand very tightly. We'll get through this together.

[shiro-s2e2-erukinzu]

Anime only watchers and people who aren't caught up with the Manga, BEWARE... Cuz I'm about to discuss Spy X Family Mission 87... You have been warned...! 👌

[SPOILERS AHEAD FROM THIS POINT ON]

Man, it's been awhile... BUT WE'RE FINALLY BACK BABY!! 😆

And as I suspected, today's chapter turned out to be a pretty chill one...!! 😄 So let's talk about it, shall we? 😁

First off...:

WHAT KIND OF EXCUSE IS THAT FIONA (AND OR WISE!?!?) 😂 If I heard that someone fell from the fourth floor to the first floor, I WOULD'VE ASSUMED THAT THEY DIED!! 😵

(Also, Mr. Gorey from Mission 67 shows up, nice[?] to him again...! I guess... 😌)

Anyway, Mr. Gorey is there to drop off the medical files of the VIP patients, but then the "nurse" comes in to tell him to leave Fiona to rest, and I just as I suspected, the "nurse" was actually Handler!! 😆

It always nice to see Handler / Sylvia and it's also nice see how much she cares for her agents...!! 💗😊💗

We also get some confirmation that Fiona's training in woods might've actually saved her from being in even worse shape than she already is...!! 😆

I LOVE THIS CALLBACK!! 😆

After that, this happens...:

HAHAHAHAHA!! 🤣😂

This just confirms for me that Handler is the goat and can read her agents like a book!! 😖

After seeing what Fiona was up to, we cut back to the Forgers and...:

OH MY GOSH...!! THE PROGRESS!!! 💗😍💗

We're finally getting confirmation that Yor's cooking is GETTING BETTER...!! 🥹

I've been hoping since Mission 24 that we'd progressively hear about how Yor's cooking was getting better and better...!! But, that didn't really happen until JUST NOW...

...IN MISSION 87...!! 😤

Oh Endo, what am I gonna do with you...? 😌

Moving on, after breakfast Loid heads to his room to rest while Anya and Yor spend some time together...!! 💗🥹💗 Yor asks Anya if she had fun at the zoo, which of course she did, and shows her mama what she got at the zoo...!! And just like in Short Mission 3, Bond gets jealous...!! 😁

But instead of ripping up her new plush pal like he did with Agent Penguinman, he ruffles his fur to look like a lion to get Anya's attention!! 🤭

After seeing Bond look like a lion, Anya asks Bond to try to mimic other animals to varying degrees (Elephant Bond was not a success, while Giraffe Bond was... 🤭😂🤣 You get idea...!! 😁)

After that, Yor fixes Bond's hair brushing him and seeing how happy he looks, Anya wants to get her hair brushed as well...!! 💗

This just warms my heart to the highest degree...!! 💗🥹💗 (I am loving all this BONDing time between the three of them...!! 💗😭💗)

Then... The man, the myth, the legend; FRANKY RETURNS!! 😆

And Anya tries to have him get his hair did, but Yor declines because she thinks no one will recognize him...!! 🤣

Poor Franky...!! 😌

Finally, Loid hears the commotion and comes out of his room, only for him to immediately go back into his room...!! 🤣

And that was Mission 87, a fun return after a four week wait that honestly felt like forever!! Seriously, I don't know why, but the wait for this chapter really felt like we waited TWO WHOLE MONTHS instead of just one...!! 😵

Besides my horrible sense of time, this chapter was an absolute delight...!! 😊 From Sylvia and Fiona's interaction to Yor and Anya's mother daughter time (with Bond), I enjoyed it a ton...!! 💗😁💗

I'm excited to see what's next for our favorite manga / anime family, the Forgers and what Endo is gonna put them through!! 😁

But before I go, I'd like to do something that haven't really done before, recommend a series I've recently became a fan of...!! 😄 The series that I'm recommending is called Undead Unluck...!! I started reading it two Thursdays ago, and...

I ABSOLUTELY ADORE IT...!! 💗😍💗

It's about an undead guy who meets an unlucky girl that causes bad things to happen whenever someone touches her... The undead guy (Andy) wants the the unlucky girl (Fuuko) to give him THE GREATEST DEATH EVER, and then their journey begins...!!

I don't know if it'll be everyone's cup of tea (especially from just that short synopsis that I just gave 😅), but I think that if y'all just give it a shot and stick with it for a bit, you'll (hopefully) be enthralled by the amazing cast of characters, their development and the crazy world that they live in...!! 😁 (Or you could also just watch the anime for it that's coming out in October, but I still suggest reading as well...!! 😊👍)

Sorry to disrupt my usual flow of my reviews to promote another manga, but I honestly haven't had another manga that has grabbed my attention this much in recent years since Spy X Family and Chainsaw Man, and I just want more people to give a chance after I myself ignored it for years...!!

Anyway, that's all I'll gotta say because now I gotta go read Chapter 173 of Undead Unluck since I finally caught up to the series last night...!! 😁 So until the next mission, take care, be safe out there and be kind to one another...!! Later!! 👋😁

[hotcheetohatredwastaken]

Wild's Wolf (Modern AU): Febuwhump Day 15--Who did this to you?

When they escaped the compound in a sprint and piled into Time’s rusted old truck, peeling out of the dimly lit parking lot with a shriek of rubber against concrete, he did the first thing he always did when he got himself into trouble. 

He called Malon.

Time’s knuckles blanched white around the steering wheel as the phone rang all the way through on the first try, as well as the second and the third. On the fourth ring, she finally picked up.

“Link.” Her sleepy voice warbled through the phone’s old speaker. She sounded… pissed. “What’re you doing, calling at two in the morning? Why aren’t you in bed? When did you slip out? Where are you?”

“Sorry dear, a work thing came up—”

“—Who’s talking?” came the frightened bark from the backseat. “Where’s ‘at voice a’coming from? Mr. Time?”

“—do you have someone with you, honey?” Malon asked, sounding fractionally more alert now. There was a shifting on the other side of the line, likely Malon pushing back the covers and rising out of bed. “What’s going on? What in the world did they say?”

“Don’t worry about it, kid, it’s just my wife,” Time said lowly, then raised his voice to be heard over the speaker. “Yes, sweetheart, listen. I’d love to answer all of your questions when I see you. I’ll be home in about thirty minutes.”

Time glanced up into the rear-view mirror. The agency hadn’t given chase, not yet anyways, given the dark, empty highway road stretching out behind them. The wolf boy—Twilight, Time had gathered after their most recent conversations, not just Wolf —cradled Wild in his arms, braced awkwardly against the movements of the car and looking every bit a caged animal as he watched the world speed by outside the car’s dusty windows. Wild himself lay slack and quiet across the backseat, dried blood spilling over his pale face from the gash at his hairline. Time wasn’t sure if he was fully conscious or not—his torn hospital gown made it hard to tell if he was even alive, the way it washed him out. 

Malon said nothing to his dismissal, patiently waiting for some explanation in the crackling silence. “We’re, uh…” Time broke at last as he turned his eyes to the road.  “We’re going to be having some… guests this morning. Would you mind to prepare the guest bedroom? And get out that old med kit you’ve got in the top of the dresser, while you’re at it. And that bag of chocolates in my desk drawer.”

“The med kit? Are you hurt?” Malon’s next words were low, tense. “And just who are the guests you’re bringing home with you?” A heavy sigh. “What have you gotten yourself into now, Fairy Boy? ”

Time winced. “Nothing—nothing bad,” he lied through his teeth as he again checked the rear-view mirror. Still no cars tailing him, yet. Good. But they knew where he lived. His house would be the first place they checked, if they decided to come after him despite his threats to go to the news about their whole secret human experimentation project. “M-m-make sure that the boys stay in bed, Malon, we can explain things to them in the morning. And don’t forget those chocolates.”

“Alright, Link.” A heavy sigh rang out from the other end of the line. “You better know what you’re doing.”

Click!

Time resisted the urge to slam his own forehead against the steering wheel. “Oooooh, she’s gonna be so upset about this,” he said to the empty air. “I’m going to be out in the doghouse for a month.”

“You did not tell me that your wife is a fierce goddess, Mr. Time,” Twilight whispered, wide-eyed. Those long ears of his stood pricked up and alert, nearly completely upright as they swiveled as if to catch her voice again. “That she may use her powerful influence to project her holy presence to our lowly senses, whilst she is absent from this place of being herself? And yet you dare to incur her wrath upon yourself, so much so that she shall transform you into a lowly dog? What offering must we make to appease her fury?”

Aaaaaaand that was their jabber nuts reaching the time limit of their magic. “No, she’s not a goddess, and that’s just a figure of speech.” Time restrained himself from making a joking comment about her in regards to that—he’d just confuse the boy more. He dug into the sack of candies in his front shirt pocket and passed two jabber nuts back, careful to keep one eye on the road. “Take another one of these. See if Wild will eat one as well.” 

Twilight hummed suspiciously, muttering something to himself that Time could no longer parse out without the jabber nut’s magic, but took the chocolate candies from his palm. Time popped another one into his own mouth just as headlights appeared on the horizon behind them. He veered off the nearest exit and turned on the winding road that led through the woods and eventually, to the farm.

“D’you reckon he’ll be alright, sir?” Twilight asked a few quiet minutes later. “He’s lookin real hurt back here. Ain’t woken up once since we hightailed it out of that curs’ed place.”

Time smiled at the sudden difference in the sound of his voice. The jabber nuts were funny in that they not only translated the meaning of a person’s words, but they also conveyed how that person’s words would come across to a native speaker. Not only did that mean tone indicators such as sarcasm—underneath the jabber nut’s magic, Time did not hear that upwards lilt of an interrogative with Twilight’s question, perhaps their language had a specific word that signified such a thing—but it also imbued an accent, when applicable. For Wild, his voice was an unremarkable American English, which meant he likely spoke the most common iteration of their language. For Twilight, the jabber nut’s magic chose to give him a deep, drawling southern accent. Perhaps he had originally been a farmer, or he hailed from a stereotypically less educated corner of their home country, or maybe he was just from a rural area. Time could only guess what the magic had picked up on. The academic, professorly side of him noted it as something to look into more deeply later.

“I’m sure that he’ll be fine, he just needs to sleep off whatever they did to him,” Time said smoothly. But the vicious blow to the Wild’s head and the jerking of his thin body from the electricity's effects after those researchers had shocked him for daring to fight back—it might take a little bit more than a good night’s sleep to heal. “Malon—that’s my wife who you heard talking earlier—will fix him right up, I’m sure of it.”

“So, I reckon I did understand that right, earlier—that’s where you’re taking us? To your wife?” Twilight mumbled as he leaned his arm against the window, watching the world fly by. His hand carded absently through Wild’s bloodied hair. “You said that you’d help me get him back, an’ we’d be free to go. You ain’t never mentioned taking us nowhere other than back home.”

Time’s heart ached at the kid’s betrayed, defensive tone. “I did say that. And you will be home, soon, I promise,” he soothed. As if the forest they’d survived in before would be safe anymore, given that people knew about them now. Time shook his head. That was a bridge to cross and a conversation to have another day. “I’m just taking you to my home to make sure that Wild’s okay. You want him to be okay, don’t you?”

Time felt even worse, then, for turning such horribly manipulative phrasing upon the kid in order to gain his compliance. But it worked, and Twilight shrunk into himself with a meek nod.

“Good. We’ll be there in 15 minutes.” Time peered at the both of them in the backseat. Twilight was nearly standing now in order to withstand the jostling movement of the car on the winding country roads. His back was pressed against the car door and legs braced stiltedly against the floorboard, turning him all askew where he tried to keep Wild’s head in his lap despite such a position. Wild’s eyes remained closed. “Sit down and put your seatbelt on, Twilight. It’s dangerous to be unbuckled in a moving car.”

“Put on my what?” Twilight’s icy blue eyes snapped to Time, his ears pinning back in alarm. “Dangerous to be unbelted in a what?”

Ah. The jabber nuts, despite their magic, did not have the power to translate everything, especially when a concept was not shared between respective languages.

“Nevermind,” Time muttered, turning onto another street. “Just stay seated and hope that I don’t crash before we get there.”

Finally, they pulled into the gravel driveway. Battered fence posts ran along either side of the road, penning in the horses and cows that would all be asleep in the big red barns at the backside of the property. The vegetable gardens lay to one side; the white farmhouse loomed on the other side at the top of the hill; the kitchen light flicked on, and if Time squinted, he could spot Malon’s silhouette shadowing the window.

“Listen, boys, we’re here.” Time spoke up. Twilight, previously nodding off, jerked to attention in the backseat. Wild remained still, but Time thought he saw his eyes flicker open at his words. “When we go inside, I want you to go and sit in the living room. I’ll talk to Malon. She’s likely gonna want a pretty good explanation on all of this, and I’d rather it come from me.”

“An’ if she turn you inta dog?” Twilight asked tremulously. Wild made a little confused noise on his lap, and Twilight returned to petting his head, looking very, very stressed about the idea. “What’re we s’posed to do then?”

“She’s not going to turn me into a dog, Twilight,” Time answered tersely. She may kill me, though. He knew better than to voice that thought—the jabber nuts were clearly not doing a good enough job to translate the idea of irony to the poor kid. Time pulled up the car to the garage, parking in front of the closed doors. “Alright, everybody get out.”

Just as Time stepped around the vehicle to release a trapped Twilight from the backseat—he’d forgotten the boy wouldn’t know how to use the latch—the front door to the house opened. Light spilled onto the driveway.

“Link!” Malon’s scolding voice nearly made him cower in its intensity. “Just where have you been? Two in the morning, calling me telling me—”

“Shh, shh, shh, shh!” Time begged, waving his arms. He raised a finger to his lips. “One’s got a head injury, you’re gonna hurt his ears.”

Malon took in a deep, preparatory breath, but right on cue, Twilight unfolded himself out of the car—a mess of lanky limbs and unsteady after the long, unfamiliar ride—and her lecture petered out then and there. He clutched Wild, still so small and shivering, to his chest. “Uh… ‘Lo, Mrs. Malon.” Twilight seemed to attempt to dip into a respectful bow, but the precious cargo in his arms made it difficult to complete the gesture. He ended up bending his head over Wild, the tips of his ears downturned. Always with the ears. Time didn’t remember there being so much body language about them. But it had been decades since he’d last seen them, after all. “Nice t’meet you, ma’am.”

“Oh my god, where did you get two kids?” Malon whispered, her hands over her mouth. “Looks like you picked up a hobo and a psych ward escapee.”

“Like I said, work,” Time said briskly, retrieving and shouldering his professor’s satchel from the passenger’s seat. “Did you eat one of the chocolates already?”

“Of course I did, Link.”

“Then stop insulting the poor boys, because they can understand you, too, and they’ve been through a lot today.”

Malon huffed, crossing her arms as she looked over the two. Twilight stepped forwards, then, and his knees seemed to shake underneath him beneath her gaze, but he stood tall. “I’ve heard lots about you from Mr. Time, kind ma’am. Can… can you help my lil brother, please?”

“I’m afraid I can’t say the same. My husband likes to keep his secrets, it seems.” The look Malon sent Time was deadly. Then, as if on a dime, her voice changed to a soft, motherly coo as she turned her attention to Wild. “Oh, you poor boy, you." She placed a gentle hand over his forehead, brushing his bangs to the side; he gazed back, his eyes open but glassy and unseeing. "Who did this to you?” 

“C’mon inside, dearies, I’ll get you and your little brother all fixed up, and get you something to fill your stomachs too?” She took Wild from Twilight with ease—and Twilight let her, surprisingly enough—then headed for the front door. “And while we’re doing that, my husband and I will talk. That sound alright to you?”

“Yes ma’am!” Twilight followed her readily inside, a skip to his step that Time had never seen from him before. Time trailed far behind, a shadow staying out of Malon’s blazing sight. Oh, he was in so much trouble.

Read this on ao3! Wild’s Wolf - Chapter 4

Or check out the whole series here! HotCheetoHatred's Febuwhump

[idkwhatimdoinghere1655]

Australian GP 2024!

Mads' Race Recap!

Oh my jesus lord christ alive this was a goddamn good day. OK, I'll try to remain calm, but that is VERY difficult under the circumstances of my 3 best boys getting the podiums. But, I shall do this in order of constructors. Also, thanks to @lipringlrh for edging me through the entire bloody race cause she knew what happened, I swore I was going to be sick.

Red Bull - Nice qualis from Max, and I can't say I wasn't happy with Checo's three place penalty, just because I definitely think it helped the main race. Everything was all honky dory, then Carlos overtook and I was just like 'OK Carlitos, sure'. Then Max was slowing down... Then Lando and Charles passed, and the everyone else. The brakes were smoking, I was screaming out of pure joy. Now, don't take this the wrong way, I love Max. BUT, this provided my boys some very good opportunities. I reckon if Checo hadn't gotten the penalty, he could've tried to pip in front, but I won't dwell on what didn't happen.

Ferrari - WE GOT A FUCKING FERRARI 1-2 BABYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!!!!!! HOLY FUCKING SHIT WHEN I TELL YOU I LOST MY GODDAMN MIND IT IS UNPARALLELED! Anyway, I'll be constructive, for a moment, at least. Charles and Carlos had some mental quali pace, so how they didn't get pole is a little crazy to me. Alas, none of that matters now. The second I saw Max go, I was like 'oh fuck we've got it'. Carlos DOTD and race winner, barely 2 weeks after having his appendix out and he doesn't have a seat?! Absolutely diabolical. It was sweet how he went back to singing Smooth Operator, I was waiting for it. When I heard the commentators saying that they may swap the positions so that Charles could lead the WDC, I was shitting it. Yes, I wanted Charles to win, but I didn't want it to be because of something stupid like team orders. Charles can win without needing it handing to him, and it would've been so damn disrespectful to Carlos. Every year that a team has finished 1-2 in Melbourne, they've gone on to win both championships... It's our year, I'm telling you.

So happy to see them back at the top, both of them did incredibly, Charles was pulling pace out of God knows where for that fastest lap. And the strategy was good???? Like, bringing Charles in when he said he needed to? Listening??? Nice stuff. Hearing the Spanish and Italian anthems was absolutely amazing. Also, I feel like this really highlights how special Ferrari is. The team were screaming that Italian anthem like there was nothing more important to them, and they were all hugging and having a whale of a time. It was just so fucking nice to see Charlandos up there, so fucking good. So so so so so happy, Forza Ferrari. Everyone is a Ferrari fan.

McLaren - OK, so, quali wise, Lando kinda came out of nowhere. I feel like Oscar was just... There? We were racing, it was the 'rarri 1-2 with Oscar in P3 at his home race, it was lovely stuff. Then they swapped the positions. Can someone please tell me why they swapped the positions? Pretty sure it was something to do with either less pace or more recent pitting or something, but I'm not 100% sure. As much as I love Lando, I wanted him to stay down in P3 just for that Ferrari 1-2. I needed it. The last few laps, I was looking at the delta between Charles and Lando, and I was relieved to see that it wasn't changing. Super happy for Lando, Oscar did loads better at his home race, nice one for all.

Mercedes - What the hell is going on here? Like, Lewis' qualis weren't good, George's were fine, nothing bad but nothing spectacular. Now the race was something else. I can't really blame Lewis for his problem, since it was a mechanical issue obviously as opposed to driver error. From what I saw of George, he didn't even do anything that bad. One minute he was fine, the next he was turned on his side. I may not want Merc to get points, but I don't want a crash to be the reason why. He's OK, so that's all that really matters. But, as for the car in general, there's something wrong with it. It's not just a one week thing where it's a bit off, this has been consistent. Yes, George had a nice P3 in qualis the other week, but the pace just wasn't there at all in the race. I just don't know what's going on with them at the minute, and the fact that they're so behind the Ferraris and McLarens is concerning.

Aston Martin - Pretty mediocre all together, I've seen varied opinions on Fernando's 20 second pen. Some said he was kinda to blame for George's crash, from what I saw, he was just avoiding George after the fact. I don't really know, so I won't comment until I watch another replay. But yeah, nothing too special, but they do need to up their game.

VCARB/RB/REDBULLSHITTYEDITION - Yuki Tsunoda. Well bloody done babe. Got extra points thanks to the Fernando penalty, even if I didn't really see him during the race like... at all. But, he must've done a pretty damn good job to end up all the way in eighth before the end of the race. Now, Daniel. What is this man doing? 12th is not bad, but when your teammate with less experience in the same car is doing that much better than you in your home race, you know something's up. I love Danny Ric, but Carlos is more likely to get that Red Bull seat than he is at this rate. Slightly disappointed, I won't lie.

Haas - Both drivers getting points? OK, OK. I actually think Kevin could've gotten higher in qualis if Checo hadn't impeded, but I'm glad Checo was put down on the grid. Overall though, nice drive from both, nice to see them get points.

Williams - Right, realistically, what harm would it have done to let Logan drive? It wasn't his fault, Alex has fucked it at that circuit so many times at the same place, and Alex didn't even get points. It wasn't fair, and he took it like an absolute champ. #justiceforlogiebear #cancelwilliams

Kick Sauber - These guys need to fix their pitstops I swear to God. How many times are they going to get that wheel nut stuck on? They did 1 good one for Valtteri, but they screwed up all the others. Zhou's pitlane start was unfortunate after it looked like his front wing just... fell off. Someone said the car reminds them of a wheelie bin, I completely agree and can't see it any differently.

Alpine - Pierre 's fault for getting the 5 second penalty, but other than that, they were shit as usual. Pierre was running pretty high for a little while, then just kind of... fell back. I can't help but laugh at them, I know it's mean, I just find it so bloody comical. I think FC Versailles is just a distraction, but he has just invested in a Tier 3 league, unheard of French football team... Nice one, I guess.

[fanworldbuildingfun]

Recently I have landed on a lovely Auspex series by Lithuva on A03 and now, rent free, in my head a Desmond who runs an Assassin Bureau lives. Except he did not set out to create one. Or realizes he is running one

To spice things a bit, I’m sending Desmond to AC1 era

Let’s assume Desmond shall not, immediately, realize where he is, nor shall he go to search for any big city. And when he does, he is just… Too tired after everything that went on in the last few months to even actively want to. Instead, he just wanders. Tries to get a lay of the land. Indulges the desire to get up as high as he can to learn the map of the location

And then, when he is more or less satisfied that he knows the immediate area he is in (because I’m going to just go and assume that the “Syncronization makes you avare of points of interest” is a valid, Isu-derived offshoot of Isu Knowledge), Desmond heads for the nearest settlement where he sees flecks of gold

Now, apparently 1100s have been a bad time for the region when it came to earthquakes. As in, they were so bad there have been entire cities destroyed in landslides, and entire fortresses collapsed. We are talking 7+ on Magnitude scale ~ every decade from 1138 to 1170. How is it relevant? Rebuilding takes time, and bigger cities would obviously get more attention first

So when Desmond reaches that golden speck? It’s a small settlement that is partially abandoned, and the only remaining people are those who could not afford to move away. So… Desmond sticks around. Hunts for his food. Helps to clear everything up, relying on whatever memories he has from his ancestors that dealt with architecture. There isn’t much, and most of it is surface-level (none of them got involved in more than approval / supply review / labor review/ costs), but even that helps. He can eyball the damages and estimate how much it may cost to repair, and that alone is a good starting point of for the settlement

But till someone can be called in, he helps

Helps moving rubble. Helps taking apart the houses that look beyond saving. Helps do what fixes can be done without outside help. Desmond’s climbing skills and Eagle vision help here. Slowly, he becomes just one of the people of the settlement. When he’s not helping on fixes, he somehow ends up entertaining kids with stories. Then it shifts to teaching, because some stories require further explanations of concepts Desmond did not realize were common in 21st century, but not in 12th.

It’s not conventional by any means, but for this time? It works just fine. He pulls on Altaїr’s memories of lessons at Masyaf. He pulls on Ezio’s memories of being tutored as a child. And it’s all applicable so even if some of the adults grumbled at the start, they eventually stopped. Some even joined in on the lessons

At some point, Desmond gets a house of his own. It wasn’t really meant to be his. It was an old inn building that was one of the more damaged ones, and the owner left it almost a generation ago, now. So Desmond slowly worked on it till everyone just… Accepted it as his and there was that. They all are a tight knit bunch at this point

But then, the Crusades reignite. And suddenly the out-of-the way settlement is no longer out-of-the-way, because trading routes shift to avoid the fighting

The settlement becomes busy. Desmond’s barely finished inn becomes busy. And security becomes an issue

…It wasn’t an unknown that Desmond has been trained. But it has been a backburner knowledge that the settlement now had to face because suddenly, they had to pick up more self-defense skills - after the overall higher level of literacy came to bite them in the butt. When the traders discovered most of the settlers could read/write (and in several languages at that!), the settlement became a hub from which messages would be sent. And then some of the younger people that weren’t interested in tending to their parents’ land (and anyway, they had siblings to do that) became couriers or scribes

Somehow, that became Desmond’s problem

He had all of a year, less even, to enjoy being an inn owner before he had to delegate that – because he got dragged into coordinating the mail, arranging protection for the settlement, dealing with obstinate merchants… There was no time to actually, you know, run the inn

It all came to a peak when a harried young man arrived to the settlement, and Desmond pegged on him as one of the Brotherhood novices. One that had clearly run into some amount of trouble – the kind that was likely to follow him. So he just… Shoos him in with his messengers and makes sure that, when the trouble comes, finding the novice among them is night impossible. He does not acknowledge it. He does not present himself as an Assassin

That doesn’t mean his action aren’t noted. By the novice or the settlement.

[boysplanetrecaps]

Build Up Episode 1: Don’t Go

Hello and welcome back to my Build Up recaps! In the last one, we covered the first two “Pre-4” Mission performances -- If You and Every Moment of You. In this post, we’ll cover Don’t Go (Kajima) and wrap up episode 1, finally!

I found some decent links to watch the episodes. 

Episode 1

Episode 2

I’m deliberately hiding them behind a read more since I’m not sure if MNET knows about them and/or if they’ll be there forever, so watch while you can! 

Just a little note before we dive in -- I noticed after I had posted the previous one that Seunghun from CIX has braces! 

I’m just really surprised, because I would have guessed that his agency would have made him take them off for this show, or something. I’m glad he has them if he needs them, for sure -- it’s just a surprise. Knowing this helps explain why he smiles so strangely sometimes. 

Anyway! 

Don’t Go

The next performance is Kajima, Kajima (Don’t Go, Don’t Go). 

A little about the song before we get to the performance. It was originally performed by a singing duo called Brown Eyes, which, per Wikipedia, is “considered one of South Korea's most important R&B groups, given their immense commercial success.” The duo consists of Yoon Gun and Naul, both of whom have gone on to do other stuff. Naul recently did a duo with Sung Sikyung, the guy who first sang Every Moment of You (the previous song on this show). The song Kajima, Kajima won the Best Ballad/R&B Performance award at the 2008 MNET Asian Music awards.

Kajima, Kajima is the miserable wail of a deserted lover begging their partner to come back. Some of the lyrics, per a blog I found: “Stupidly / I still live for you / Where are you? / I need you so much / Oh baby, my only one / Please stop and come back now / Just tell me this is a joke / Simply return to me.” 

Mini Korean lesson: You might recognize the -jima ending from the GOT7 song Stop It, when they say “hajima, hajima” over and over (“hajima” means “don’t). And you heard the “ka” verb at the beginning of the Oneus song Lit, when they say, “Kaja!” (let’s go!) So ka is for go, and -jima is a negative command, so kajima is “don’t go”. Woot! 

Kajima, Kajima is known for a really high note -- a high G#5. I would have to warm up to hit that note at all -- and I’m not confident I could hit it with much resonance. And I’m a mezzo-soprano -- it would be insane to hit that note as a tenor!  Like the other ballads on this show, it’s known for being particularly emotional, but in this case it’s also tricky to sing. That’s why the other guys call it a “hell song.”

So, who would want to take this song on? Why, mister high notes himself, Park Jeup.

Park Jeup was second to choose and chose this song right off, but it took a while for anyone else to join him, to the point that he started to get nervous. But after a bit, 16th ranked Detective Donghun from A.C.E. chose it while there were still spots open in every song. It turns out that Donghun really wanted to sing Breath but chose this song so that he could work with Jeup. Aww! They were on I Can See Your Voice 4 together, so Donghun may have admired Jeup’s voice for a while. They’re “chingus” in the sense that they were born in the same year, 1993, and in Korean culture having someone around who is the same age as you is sort of meaningful, almost like when you meet someone from your home country when you’re abroad.

“Will I be able to sing this song well?” … “I’m sure you’ll do well.”

Also, Donghun proved he’s not scared to tackle tough material when he did an EXO song for his teaser performance. 

By the time Neon chose the song, Ditto, Tomboy, and Shall I Love You Again  were closed, but he seems to choose this song without hesitation. By the time 36th place Hyukjin choose it, the only songs open were this song, Every Moment Of You (the one we just saw), or Breath, but I think he might have really wanted this song anyway. Based on his teaser performance -- that wild metal performance -- he also likes to tackle tough material. (Hyukjin was also born in 1993, making him also a chingu to Jeup and Donghun. Neon is a little younger, about 28 years old.)

In my original assessment of Jeup, I noted that I loved his technique but wasn’t sure about his timbre, but that I’d give him a chance to grow on me. For Hyukjin, I recognized the ambition of what he tried to do and again decided to reserve judgment. About Neon, I said that he has nice, clean vocals, with good technique and a lot of power. And I said that Donghun has an appealing warm vocal color with good breath support, but strains his throat a bit. If I had to pick a favorite voice of the four based on their teaser song, I’d choose Neon, but Donghun wouldn’t be too far behind. This is a group of powerful vocalists, regardless of the category they chose, and I am hopeful that it will turn out well.

The group seems pretty happy to all be working together, and they view each other as talented colleagues, which might make it tricky to divvy up the parts. They’re all really good, so who should sing what? 

Look at how shiny Hyukjin’s suit is! Those gray lines are just lights reflecting off of creases in the material. 

They begin singing the song a bit to test out the waters, and Jeup’s strong clear tenor fills the studio. Over in team Beautiful, Lim Sang Hyun wonders out loud, “Is that the original song playing?” 

LTR: Lim Sanghyun, Taewoo, Jeong Yunseo, Kim Minseo 

They take turns singing a bit and they all sound fantastic. They’re not really sure what to do, because Jeup doesn’t want to take the verse, which he thinks is too low for him, and so he wants to do the chorus, which is a long part. Donghun also wants to do that long part, but decides that it suits Jeup more and decides to do a different part that is more emotional, even if it’s shorter. The rest of the part distribution goes well.

Then we go into a mini montage of Donghun’s struggles in his life. He’s always wanted to sing, and went on various shows to make that happen, but though he made top 10 of Superstar K5 that wasn’t quite good enough, and then he made the debut lineup of that shitshow that was MIXNINE but of course that group didn’t debut. He thought that debuting (in A.C.E.) would make it ok, but it didn’t. I beg to differ, sir! People really like A.C.E.! But I guess it’s not like A.C.E. have hit the highs of BTS and Seventeen, so I understand what he’s saying. “Actually the survival program itself was a bit of a trauma for me,” he adds, and I feel that. These shows seriously should gift each contestant at least 20 hours of a post-show mental health counseling. 

The guys are meeting in some sort of staff room, probably at one of their agencies. Looks like three of them were drinking something cool, but smart Jeup is drinking something hot. Cold stuff is bad for your throat, my friends. Jeup knows where it’s at.

Left to right: Hyukjin, Neon, Donghun, and Jeup

Also, I think Jeup looks so much nicer with his hair this way, sort of parted and brushed back, instead of down over his face like bangs.

Anyway, at this meeting, Donghun is saying, “I want us to decide what kind of thoughts we’ll have when we sing this song, so that we have a unified approach. The song title is Don’t Go, Don’t Go. We can make it about our dreams. I haven’t seen my dream lately, and I hope it comes to me now.”    

The editors play some sad piano music as Donghun’s words sink in. All four of them know what he’s talking about. Honestly, Hyukjin and Jeup know what he means even more than he does -- A.C.E. is about 100x more popular than Jeup’s group was, and about 100,000x more popular than Hyukjin’s current group. 

Hyukjin, partly quoting from the song, says, “Living like a fool is heartbreaking. But we keep living like fools.” Then he smiles incredulously, as if he almost can’t believe that he’s made that connection. Donghun has really hit a nerve here. 

Donghun agrees with Hyukjin, and says, “yes, we keep singing like fools.” He interviews that he wants to reclaim his dream and get it back. 

As the lights go down on performance day, Donghun voiceovers, I want to sing my heart out with no regrets. 

Here’s the full version, no reactions. 

My thoughts:

Damn, that was good. 

Let me nitpick for just a few seconds. Yes, Hyukjin’s voice is a little thin and he strained on the highest notes, and Jeup’s voice is a bit too high in timbre to be my favorite, and Donghun’s voice still sounds strained, like he must be hurting his throat. 

But it all ended up working. I don’t know, man, this was good. For one thing, all the voices are really good individually, and then they also are a great mix. You’ve got the slightly tart Jeup, like a strawberry. You’ve got the bright voice of Hyukjin, like a raspberry. You’ve got the slightly challenging voice of Donghun, a pineapple. And then the smoothest voice, Neon, as a slice of banana mixed in to smooth the whole thing down. It fucking works. I don’t even like this song and I liked listening to their performance. I mean, this is going on my playlist, you guys. This is good shit.

I particularly like Neon’s voice, even though I recognize that it’s not quite as powerful or well trained as the others’. To me, he sounds just a little like Do Kyungsoo and that’s just about the highest compliment I can give to a singer. 

Also, damn, I don’t normally talk about this kind of thing exactly but Park Jeup, in addition to being a real sweetheart, is a really good looking dude. I’m not made of steel, you guys. 

Those cheekbones! Those shoulders! Am I alone on this…? 

The MNET edit, like all the edits so far, is pretty restrained. I guess they told their editors to not do a whole bag of coke before they sat down to their editing control panel. There are a few instant replays of high notes, but they’re blended in to the background mix so it’s not so jarring to listen to. 

All the reaction shots are positive. We see the judges just loving all of them. Vocal Coach Guy even asks, “wait, is this live or playback?” The love seems slightly more focused on Jeup and Donghun, less so on Neon and even less so on Hyukjin, but all four of them get some love, which is nice. 

Solar likes it. I think. I guess? Not sure.

She’s excited Jeup hit that one high note! She tries to hit it too and kind of can’t! 

Backstage, the guys all kind of fall over hearing Jeup’s high note. They almost can’t believe it. Hwanhee kind of hits his own knees with his hands involuntarily. 

When they’re done, the judges give them a standing ovation!

They lavish praise on all of them, again focusing a little less on Hyukjin and a little more on Donghun. They think that the four of them could just debut as a group the way they are. Basically, the judges agree with me, so that’s good.

Vocal Coach Guy points out that Jeup doesn’t just hit high notes -- he sings with emotions. Then he adds that Jeup has nice shoulders, so that was funny. Wendy asks about Jeup’s range, and he says that he can sing any male song, that they’re all in his range. 

Dahee says that it was nothing but compliments, so the question is, who could win? Backstage, the boys aren’t sure either. No one floats Hyukjin’s name as top tier, but the other three get named, and the boys think that all four were excellent. 

So, who wins…?

Baekho, Solar, and Vocal Coach Guy all vote for Donghun from A.C.E. 

Eunkwang and Jaehwan vote for Neon, and Wendy votes for Park Jeup. 

So, Donghun wins! Vocal Coach Guy lavishes a bit more praise on him, saying that it was an easy choice to pick Donghun because his voice is so good. 

And then, oh guys, it’s so sad. Donghun starts to cry, saying it’s the first time he’s been recognized like this. 

The judges are a little uncomfortable because the “win” is kind of a minor one, and they’re surprised at his reaction. It’s like this is what Donghun has been waiting his whole life to hear. 

Donghun adds that he didn’t expect to win, that he was focusing on working well with his team.

Backstage, the guys are like, oof, wouldn’t want to have to follow that! 

So who is up next? Team Breath. The editors do that thing like they’re trying to trick you into thinking that the performance is starting, but the episode is almost over and this obviously just a teaser. Thanks, editors. Theditors. 

Since we’re at the end of the episode, I’ll end the post here. Woo! Finally to the end of the first episode! I'm only two full episodes behind... great! Anyway, I'll see you in the next one, and thanks as always for reading. <3

[superfluouskeys]

wip actually wednesday! ♥

I was certainly not tagged by non-tumblr-user @menzosarres in my personal favorite form of social media, being snapchatted a tumblr post, but anyway, I have chosen to bother you all with more original thing because it's been awhile and also I want to and it makes me happy :) I'm also sharing two snippets bc see above :) and also the sections are related but my transitional sections in this part are a bit of a mess rn LOL.

I really need a better sorting system this is starting to become egregious.

part 1 || part 2 || part 3 || part 4

I'm doing a cop-out and saying if you want to do the thing pls feel free to consider yourself tagged!

==

“Back already, Sister?”

Tamsin startles.  Althea turns with poise and grace.  The owner of the voice is not nearly so imposing in her stature as Althea, but no less regal in her countenance.  Her flaxen hair is arranged delicately around her shoulders, accentuating the delicate shape of her face.  She wears a dress of deep red that appears to Tamsin a bit more fashionable than what Althea prefers, fitted at the waist and flared out down to her ankles.

“Sister Maren,” Althea nods cordially.  “There was an unexpected development.”

Maren’s sharp eyes fall upon Tamsin.  “So I see.”

“May I introduce Tamsin of Godsplace?” says Althea.

Tamsin glances nervously between them.  “Uh.  Pleased to meet you.”

She attempts a surpassingly awkward curtsey.  Maren’s thin-lipped smile exudes haughty derision.

“Yes,” says Maren.  “A pleasure, I’m sure.”

“So, as you can see, I’ll need to take her to get settled in and find someone who’s available to initiate her.”

Maren hums, a short, affected sound.  “I can teach her,” she says, with a sharp-eyed glance toward Tamsin, “if you want it done properly.”

Althea laughs.  “I think I’d prefer that our newest student survive her first week.”

Maren’s brow twitches in subtle annoyance at the jab.  “Suit yourself,” she says primly.  “But don’t come crying to me when Sister Helie teaches her whatever it is she’s calling proper form these days.”

“Did you need something, Maren?” Althea asks her evenly.

Maren scoffs.  “And here I thought I was coming to greet an old friend,” she replies mildly.  “Yes, as it happens, but I didn’t know you’d have company.  Come and find me, when you can spare the time.”

She turns to leave without waiting for an answer, her red skirts twirling dramatically around her.  Before she gets very far, though, she stops abruptly and turns back toward Tamsin.  “Oh, and,” she begins, and then curtseys low, curling her hand into a fist somewhere near her heart.  “Well come and well met, little sister.”

Tamsin watches her go in stunned silence.

“Well,” says Althea, with muted amusement.  “What a welcome.  Let’s get you settled, shall we?”

She sets off with surety, and Tamsin is left to scramble after her.

“Is she really a teacher?” Tamsin wonders, for lack of a better way to begin.  Tamsin does not have much experience with teachers, but the small handful of schoolteachers in Godsplace are all kind, if somewhat harried women, all but one among them (who but recently began as a sort of apprentice) much older and married with children.

Tamsin supposes Maren could be much older than she appears, but she certainly doesn’t have the air of patience Tamsin would expect from a teacher.  Tamsin wonders if teachers are very different here at the Academy.

“You doubt her suitability?” Althea wonders, still with that lilt of amusement about her voice.

“Oh, no, I only—“

“It’s understandable, but I assure you Sister Maren is an excellent teacher, and has an excellent heart besides.  Her style, however, is…not for the faint of heart, shall we say.”

“That was sort of what I was wondering about,” says Tamsin.

“Oh, you’ll see soon enough,” says Althea. 

==

Whatever Tamsin is expecting, Teacher Helie is not it.  She is noticeably slight of frame, particularly set against Althea, not quite plump but with an air of softness about her, and the silvery blonde of her hair and eyelashes gives her the look of one lightly dusted with the morning dew.  She greets Tamsin in the same way Maren did, except that it is not the same at all.  The curtsey, the gesture, and the words all bear the conviction of deepest sincerity.

“Tamsin cannot see the Gift thus far,” Althea tells Helie, “and it’s my impression she still doubts me when I tell her she possesses it at all.”

Tamsin ducks her head, embarrassed, although the words are true.

“Oh, dear,” says Helie gently, reaching out for Tamsin’s hands, “we Forgotten must never bow our heads in shame!”  Her voice matches her countenance, soft and sweet, and with the lilt of an accent Tamsin does not recognize.  When Tamsin takes her hands and looks up, she notices that Helie’s eyes are unusually pale, as though painted with the same brush as her hair and lashes.

Helie smiles kindly and squeezes Tamsin’s hands.  “Every Gift, big or small, is precious,” she says, with the same heart-wrenching conviction as well come and well met.  “And I believe that no Gift is an accident.”  She leans in, almost conspiratorial.  “The Gift wants to be used, you see.  Even the tiniest sliver of magic, in the right hands, may one day take the world by storm.”

“See?  Just as I’ve been saying,” says Althea, pleased, but restrained as ever.  “And with that, I shall leave you in Sister Helie’s capable hands.”  To Tamsin’s surprise, Althea then mimics the greeting the others have bestowed upon her.  Althea’s version is not sarcastic, but neither is it effusive.  Althea makes the gesture seem somehow ordinary, as though it were the way one should always expect to be greeted.  “Well come and well met, little sister,” she says with a regal curtsey.  “If there’s anything you need, your teachers can likely provide it, but nevertheless, please do not hesitate to seek me out.”

“Ah,” Helie sighs musically when Althea closes the door behind her.  “Forgive me for saying so, Tamsin, but you must really have left an impression on Sister Althea.”  She chuckles lightly.  “Normally she doesn’t like to be sought out by anyone.”

Tamsin picks at her skirt self-consciously.  “She could have just been saying that to be polite.”

Helie laughs.  It is a bright, joyful sound.  “Believe me when I tell you, Sister Althea doesn’t 'just say' anything.  And certainly not for the sake of politeness!”

Helie leads her to the front of the classroom, and pushes some of the frontmost desks out of the way.  “Now,” she begins.  “I’m sure Althea’s told you, but just to reiterate, it’s not at all unusual to be unable to see the Gift at first, particularly if you were raised in an environment where magic was not commonplace.”  She taps her temple.  “Our eyes can play tricks on us, you see.  We see what we expect to see, and our very minds are wont to ignore what doesn’t make sense to us.”

Tamsin considers this.  The statement somehow sparks both comfort and anxiety.  She wonders how much of her life she has somehow misremembered.  She wonders if perhaps there were signs that she had the Gift and she simply didn’t have the eyes to see them.  She wonders, with a sudden and intense twinge of remorse, if she could have escaped sooner, or if she’d have even thought to try.

“For those who cannot see, I find it’s best to start with feeling,” Helie continues.  “Now, don’t be discouraged if this doesn’t work right away, either.  Many of us are inclined to ignore what our bodies tell us, too.”

Tamsin lets out a breath of something like laughter.  “You make it sound a bit bleak.”

Helie considers this with a subtle furrowing of her delicate brow.  “Bleak?” she echoes.  “Oh, not at all, dear.  Perhaps you’re thinking of the time you’ve lost?  Wishing you’d realized earlier?”

Tamsin averts her gaze.  “You’ve read my mind, I’m afraid.”

Helie shakes her head.  “Whatever happened in the past, Tamsin, you’ve made it all the way here.  That is no small feat.  Where you are now is already so very different from where you started.  We Forgotten sacrifice much, but what we gain is…immeasurable.”

She holds out her hands, palms upturned, but it feels somehow different than before.  Tamsin watches her for a moment, hesitant, until Helie nods her encouragement.

Tamsin takes her hands.

She looks up, trying and failing to hide her disappointment.  She had expected something to happen.

“Close your eyes,” says Helie.

Tamsin closes her eyes.

“Take a deep breath.”

Tamsin breathes.  Her chest is tight, and she realizes only now that she is trembling.

“Another,” Helie directs.  “Breath by breath, let go of your fear.”

Tamsin breathes again.  But another voice echoes in the back of her mind, the man from the Town Square back in Godsplace.  Do you know fear?  How will you find peace?  Burn her, burn her, burn her—

Tamsin staggers back from Helie, heart racing, gasping for air, and with tears in her eyes.  “I’m sorry,” she stammers.  “I’m sorry, I really tried, I—“

“Oh, dear,” Helie soothes, with hands gently patting her arms.  “I see now.  Your power frightens you.”

Tamsin scrubs at her face, but the tears will not stop flowing.  It’s like the whole journey has come crashing back into her all at once, the horror of the screaming girl in the Square, the sorrow at the loss of a dear friend to an archaic tradition, the muted fury at the way her mother treats her, the terror at what would befall her at the whim of Teddy Page, and then--!

And then, perhaps worst of all, the hope!  The horrible, heart-rending hope that someone had come to save her at last, that everything would be different from now on--and the shame, that a nothing and a nobody should dare to want such change for herself, let alone allow herself to have it.

Tamsin covers her face, unable to stop her crying.  Helie continues patting her arms, and she speaks in a soft, soothing tone.  “It’s all right now, Tamsin,” says Helie.  “It always hurts the most before it starts to heal.  And can I tell you something else?”

Again Tamsin attempts to dry her eyes.  She sniffles miserably.  Helie withdraws, and digs a handkerchief out of her pocket, which she offers to Tamsin.

“Some people think foreswearing home and family and all that came before is the hardest part about becoming Forgotten.  And for them, that may be true.  But it’s not just about dedicating yourself to your craft, or to your sisters.”

Helie pats her shoulder again, more firmly this time.  “It’s about letting go,” she says with a smile, “of what is holding you back.”

The gravity of her words stuns Tamsin into a state of calm, and she is able to dry her eyes at last.

“Shall we try again?” Helie asks her.

Tamsin nods.

Helie moves away, back to the center of the space, giving Tamsin room to follow her.  Tamsin watches the way she holds herself, the way she presents her hands to Tamsin, like there is some sort of strength flowing through her arms, even though Helie doesn’t look remotely like the sort of person one would consider physically strong.

Tamsin tries to imitate Helie’s posture, squaring her shoulders and taking a deep breath before she approaches to take Helie’s hands.

“I can see what you’re thinking,” says Helie with a wry smile.  “You don’t want that to happen again.  But it might.”

Tamsin falters.  She withdraws her hands, and so does Helie.

“You have a lot of pain,” says Helie kindly.  “I’d guess it’s pain you barely even knew was there.  It won’t just go away like that.”

“Then…” says Tamsin uncertainly, “what should I do?”

“Let it all in,” says Helie.  Again, she presents her hands.  “The pain, yes.  But also the joy.”

Tamsin nods.  She takes Helie’s hands, and closes her eyes like before.

“Breathe in,” says Helie.  “Feel your fear, your sorrow, your anger.  Then breathe out, and let it go.”

Tamsin breathes in.  It’s like being outside in the dead of winter.  Her chest aches, and she is still trembling.  Dozens of burnings flash before her eyes, each one the same, each one an injustice.  Her cheeks burn with the shame of her namelessness, her ingratitude toward the woman who didn’t have to raise her, even in spite of everything Mrs. Burkow did and said.  Whatever Tamsin imagined in the recesses of her mind, she had always expected to lead an unremarkable existence.

But Tamsin is no longer unremarkable.  And it no longer matters that she has no family and no name.  Tamsin is here because Keeper Althea saw something in her that no one else ever could.  Tamsin is here because she has the Gift, because Althea believes she has the Gift, and so she must have the Gift, because, because—

Tamsin gasps, and she almost withdraws her hands, almost opens her eyes.  She feels…something, like a tingle beneath her hands, like some sort of invisible energy is radiating from Helie’s palms, real enough to touch.  She holds on tighter, as though she could get more of the feeling just by pressing down, but the tingle remains subtle, distant, like the fleeting remnants of a wonderful dream.

“Do you feel it?” Helie whispers, but there is a smile in her voice.  She already knows the answer.

“Yes,” Tamsin breathes.  Again there are tears in her eyes, but she isn’t embarrassed.  These are tears of joy.

[demialwrites]

Broken Toy

I'm annoyed that I lost the previous Sephiroth non-con I wrote. I'm pleased that I came up with another idea. Turk!Reader gets toyed with under the cut.

You were assigned to be President Rufus's bodyguard for the evening at some banquet. The details of why it was being held were unimportant. The president seemed annoyed that he had to go. That made you briefly curious, especially after he seemed to enjoy his inauguration so much.

“No trouble is expected but I thought it was prudent to send someone because of the recent assassination attempt,” Tseng explained.

President Rufus seemed even more annoyed at needing a babysitter but added nothing. He wasn't the type to take it out on his subordinates, anyway.

You chose to wear a short, strappy dress in a light fabric and classy colour. The straps allowed your arms to move. The waist was tight and the skirt flared out, ending at mid-thigh, giving your legs freedom. You made sure to wear thin shorts hidden underneath, with a pocket for your phone. A nice balance of pretty and practical. You weren't going to embarrass the president with your choice and would fade into the background nicely behind him.

“I didn't want to bring you and I know you didn't want to come,” the president told you on the night in question. “Let's make this as painless as possible, shall we?”

He said that with a smile but you could tell there was an order hidden in there for you to loosen up.

“Yes, Sir.”

He seemed pleased with that answer. You arrived to the event on his arm but anyone in the know knew you weren't exactly a “date.” He didn't give any specific instructions because you were trusted to know how to behave. In other words, just stand there and be observant. Be a pretty deterrent.

Scarlet was overdressed in comparison, which was to be expected. She wore red, again, but this time with more ruffles and sequins. It wasn't an ugly dress but it looked like she was competing in a competition no one else entered. You blended right in, as long as you didn't stand beside her. Not that you were going to.

Everyone sat for the speeches. The speeches. You rolled your eyes when you thought no one was looking. You took your place, standing at Rufus’s side, while he waited his turn to give his own. He was speaking dead last so it was going to be ages. You scanned the room but everyone remained obediently in their seats. No threats. But rather than get too comfortable, you continued to scan the room every once in a while. It was a way to tune out the shallow Shinra circle-jerk on stage. As much as being out in the field was dirty, and the choices you had to make were hard, it was more comfortable than this.

You spotted what might be a welcome distraction. A field assignment might have wandered in and you felt like it showed up just for you. In the hall, after catering staff swung the door open and closed, something resembling a black robe’s bottom hem disappeared off to the left.

You placed a hand lightly on the president’s shoulder. He turned his head. You leaned in close.

“I see a black robe out in the hallway.”

He glanced across at the room full of people. He frowned. “Find out what it's doing here. Do it quietly. Take care of it before the night is over.”

“Yes, Sir.” You bowed.

“Take care of it” meant “eliminate the target if necessary.” Either way, you were relieved to leave that room full of self-important people. Rufus, you could handle. A whole room of people you had to be polite to, you could not. Not without being absolutely exhausted halfway through the night.

The black hem disappeared around the corner. It didn't quite resemble what you'd seen of the black robes. It did enough to warrant an investigation. You followed around the corner and the scene repeated itself. This time, the black hem disappeared around the corner into the women's washroom. You paused, then realized it was absurd to wonder if the black robe knew where they were going. Needing to get to the bottom of this, you went into the washroom.

It was as expensive as you expected. Every surface was clean, cream-white, and so shiny that you could see yourself in the floor’s reflection. Thankfully, the stalls went down until an inch off the floor. There was even tile cut into the shapes that make up the Shinra logo set in the walls, framing the mirror. The only thing you didn't like was that someone installed those impractical sinks you sometimes see in restaurants trying to put on a fancy façade.

The speeches were still going so the bathroom was empty of attendees. But it was too quiet. The distant, dull murmur of whoever was giving the current speech had faded away at one point. That made no sense, which should have been a warning sign. But your Turk pride didn't let that stop you from starting to open the stall doors one-by-one. Your low heels scuffing on the floor was still the only sound as you found each one empty. You got to the handicap stall, expecting a dramatic finish. You swung it too hard, the dull bong of its impact making you flinch. The creepy situation was starting to get to you.

“Behind you,” said a deep, male voice.

You whipped around, sneering defensively.

You've never met this man, however, you recognized the former SOLDIER, Sephiroth, immediately. You've seen still shots from camera feeds, posters, and illustrations, but you’ve never heard the man's real voice. You would like to think his voice would sound comforting if it wasn’t for the context. He was also as terrifyingly tall as they say. He's holding his signature sword and smiling, too nicely, at you. What he wanted with that smile and why he was here, it couldn't be good for you.

He glanced down at your dress with cat-like eyes and back up to your face. “Aren't you beautiful?”

“No,” you denied immediately. Panicking. No one calls someone beautiful while advancing on them with a giant sword.

He merely chuckled at your attitude. “You're too hard on yourself.”

“What do you want?” you demanded of him, eyes darting to the door behind him. “Back off.”

You're not sure what your plan was. You talked big but in reality, you were just a scared woman trapped in a bathroom with a big, strong murderer. You had speed but so did he, according to the legends. Legends that also said he was supposed to be dead. He was blocking your escape through the door so you did what you could only do. You dashed into the handicap stall and slammed the door–and lock–shut. After a second of thought, you flattened your back to the wall, expecting a long sword to stab through the door.

Undeterred in the slightest, he easily sliced through the lock and pushed the door open.

“That's cute. I like you,” he said, flashing you a smirk, as if commenting on a cute mouse trying its darndest to escape. Even if he meant his words to sound nice, it sounded like a hungry wolf talking down to a frightened rabbit instead.

He turned back to the door to use his sword to barricade it shut. Without enough of a gap under the stalls to slide under, you were trapped in here with him.

You eyed him as he slowly took the remaining steps towards you. He grabbed your shoulders and squeezed. Not too hard, just enough to show that you wouldn't be able to move an inch. And you did try. To your shock, he went in for a kiss. Now that he was here, this close, you froze up. He pulled back and thumbed your chin affectionately, as if to reassure you. Maybe he doesn't want much more, you desperately lied to yourself.

Of course that wasn't true. This time he went in for a bite to your neck. You squealed for the first bite, immediately clamping a hand over your mouth to muffle any subsequent sounds because he continued to bite. One of his thickly gloved hands travelled down your front, gently squeezing each breast they went. Each touch sent a pleasurable lightning strike to the core of you. You cursed your thin dress. The free hand left your breast to pull one of your straps down to bite in that very spot previously covered by the strap. He suddenly yanked on that strap, tearing the dress halfway down the front and back. His teeth left marks. So many marks. He left you resembling a cheetah on your upper half.

You thought he was going to tear your bra next. Instead, he pushed it up, creating overflowing soft flesh. He grinned and bit you there, too. He sucked and glanced up at you with a lazy predatory gaze. A cat holding a toy in his mouth. When he was satisfied, he let the bra fall back into place, leaving another mark behind. You blushed, grateful that at least this one would be easier to hide.

Your phone started vibrating in the small pocket in your shorts. Sephiroth found it immediately. He glanced at the caller ID and then held it up for you to see. ‘Rufus Shinra,’ it read.

“Think he's worried?” he asked in a mocking tone that was real this time.

“Maybe. Maybe you should let me go.” You tried to put venom into your voice but it was looking like you might as well give up at this point.

“So cute. I'm not done with you.”

Sephiroth let the phone drop to the floor. It bounced once and landed face-up. The screen splintered but remained lit.

“They're looking for you so we'll have to cut this short. Heh, speaking of…”

Being pleased with his little joke made his smirk break into a creepy smile. He temporarily slid his sword from the stall walls and carefully cut your shorts. You held your breath and tried so hard to stay still that you trembled. Never in a million years were you moving with that thing so close to your skin. Next, Sephiroth pinned one of your shoulders to the wall with a palm. He undid his belt. It landed buckle-first on the floor. Then he opened his black coat. He groaned in relief while unzipping his leather pants. A large, dark spot had formed in his black underwear over an obvious bulge. He pushed those down and his cock sprang out.

It looked like it had been waiting, full, mauve in colour, and smeared with precum all around the head. It was, unfortunately for you, proportionate to the rest of him.

You looked at it, then his face, the expression which had not changed much all night. “Just get it over with.”

He slowly leaned in, eyes boring into yours. You expected retaliation. He picked you up by your thighs like you weighed nothing and weaved your legs around his waist. You gripped his arms for balance and in a sort of misplaced panic. What you didn't expect next was for him to blur. His image split in two, then quickly reformed. The new image was President Rufus. It was still Sephiroth's expression, though. It didn't look quite right.

“Maybe you'd like this instead?”

Hearing your boss’s voice say that while Sephiroth pumped his–or Rufus’s–cock with his fist, made you dizzy. He didn't seem to be considering anything you wanted, just what he thought you wanted. Him thinking you wanted anything at all from him was out of left field in the first place. Or maybe he was still mocking you and had been all along. It was tiring and thinking about this psycho’s intentions was getting you nowhere. He was already pressing the tip of Rufus's length to your entrance. This was not something you wanted burned into your mind and could bear to see every time you saw the real Rufus. Not without your face heating up to dangerous temperatures, anyway.

You covered your eyes and firmly patted his shoulder. “No, stop. Change back.”

“What, you don't want to sleep your boss?”

You took your hand from your face because you heard his original voice. It was a trick. He split again, this time reforming as Director Reeve.

“I never had a problem with this one,” Sephiroth/Reeve said, eyes narrowed in a pleased manner.

You let Sephiroth's strange way of describing him slip past you. You only met Director Reeve once. He was nice. A little high-strung, but otherwise normal. You didn't want your impression of him ruined by Sephiroth's twisted game. You stiffened and beat his shoulders.

“Change back,” you insisted.

The phone started vibrating again. This time the screen read ‘Tseng.’

“Don't,” you said to Reeve's face.

Sephiroth split and reformed again. With his real face, he laughed at you. “I wasted too much time, didn't I?” Fear made your neck and arm hair stand up. He was having fun. You didn't have much time with that fear because he was pushing in.

“Ow,” you whined.

“You got this.”

“Shut up,” you said weakly.

“I can make this harder,” he said.

Despite that, he did not get any rougher. Nor did he get especially violent. He didn't need to. You couldn't go anywhere. The tiled wall was no longer cold and it was damp with your sweat.

He started to fuck up into you, getting painfully deeper with each thrust. You started to wonder why he needed to go this far. Why you hadn't just been killed.

“Why me?” you finally had the courage to ask.

“You? You remind me of someone.”

Thoughts of what exactly that meant and who it could have been swirled in your head until you got a little nauseous.

Sephiroth decided to take his time with a steady pace. He leaned close, treating you to groans and soft gasps right in your ear. You briefly considered covering his mouth. But this psycho would probably start sucking on your fingers for all you knew. A faint echo in the large bathroom made it harder to tune all the noises out.

The loudest groan yet finally signaled the end of this, or so you hoped. He panted as he cock filled you in long spurts. It filled you until his semen tickled as a couple of globs dripped from your skin to the floor. He must have been pleased with how things went because he kissed you behind the ear. Like a cherished lover. His next words renewed your panic.

“Why haven't you finished?” he asked, pushing your legs down and allowing you to stand again.

You landed shakily. His expression was expectant so words just came out of your mouth. “Well, umm-”

You couldn't believe it. You almost gave him some excuses about having trouble finishing and…as if your Turk pride wasn't hurt enough by being caught here and played with by the enemy.

He split in two again. You had reached your limit with his nonsense. You shut your eyes tightly. Silence. You waited for more teasing or another colleague's voice. Nothing came so you dared to open your eyes. Sephiroth, and his sword, were gone. He tricked you again.

In case it was part of some new game to return and play with you some more, you fled the bathroom. Because of the state of your clothes and body, you avoided the banquet room where you come from. There was a hallway behind it near what looked to be mop closets and a staff washroom. You leaned against the wall and pulled out your broken phone. The poor thing, you thought. You felt a kinship with it, both of you have been broken tonight. Most of the missed calls had been from President Rufus so you called him first.

“When you didn't report back, I had to evacuate everyone. What happened in there?”

He sounded unhappy. It threatened to break the thin façade of professionalism you were struggling to maintain.

“U-um.”

He didn't press the matter immediately and seemed to be considering your shaky reply. You heard Director Heidegger’s voice in the background. The president told him dismissively that everything was under control then continued your conversation. “Where are you?”

“...a back hallway. Behind the banquet hall.”

“Alright. Stay there,” he ordered.

The president found you crouched there in the hall, trying to wrap the remnants of your ripped dress around you and painfully fully aware that you're still covered in bite marks. You kept your thighs clamped shut, hoping no one would notice your nudity there. You felt his stare but also a gratitude for the distance borne from the professionalism of your work relationship. Even if he did dare to ask what happened, you wouldn't be answering tonight. He thankfully called Tseng instead.

“Send Rude to take her home. She's…”

“Had a scuffle with Sephiroth in the bathroom,” you filled in loudly, glossing over what happened with an acceptable lie.

There was a pause and you thought he might question what you said, but didn't. “...right. You heard that, I assume?” he said to Tseng.

President Rufus kept Tseng on the line, speaking in serious tones. At one point, he dropped his coat onto your shoulders, startling you. You hurriedly pushed the buttons through the holes to close the coat, your fingers stumbling a few times. A few stragglers were filing past. You turned to face the wall, head bent down to avoid any eye contact.

[batsplat]

A sentence in Casey’s book impressed me, even though he didn't name anyone explicitly

“Maybe someone who could put on the charm when they need it regardless of sincerity could have turned the situation around but I don’t have that skill.”

He totally gets that Valentino has endless charm, lol. I’m sure he felt it too when they hung out

yes!! this was about casey and his relationship to the fans wasn't it, and in a section of the book where he was talking about his rivalry with valentino, so hardly a stretch to say it was deliberately alluding to him. and of course casey talking about valentino's charm is not unrelated to how casey did seem to like valentino perfectly fine back in the day... how he said back in 2007 that he liked talking to valentino, that they generally talked about stuff other than racing, how valentino gets on with most guys in the paddock... though it's interesting (if not particularly surprising) how by the time the autobiography is written, casey portrays the early dynamic between the pair of them pretty dispassionately. just from the book you'd get the sense of someone who was coolly respectful of valentino until valentino started pissing him off, rather than someone who was... y'know, also a bit of a fan. somebody who got the valentino rossi appeal, shall we say. we all have our crosses to bear

which, I don't even think it was just about the racing. I doubt he ever wanted to emulate valentino in the same way jorge or marc might have wanted to do off the track, but stuff like calling him a "great competitor and a great sportsman"... that for years he'd been "dreaming to be like him"... that valentino and doohan were "the sort of people I wanted to become like"... I reckon that's a little more than simply respect for him as a rider, and I don't think casey back then would have said that stuff just because he knew it'll play well with the public. he found valentino exciting, like so many before and since have done - and still did so for the entirety of 2006 (he said more recently that he was even more impressed by valentino after that season, which is kinda noteworthy given that's the year valentino did, you know, lose the title). but then they became direct rivals, and. well

of course the "regardless of sincerity" in the quote is pretty pointed lol, like he does clearly see valentino as very two-faced and willing to spin a line regardless of whether it's true or not and also as someone happy to deceive others for his own gains. and his rhetoric has also changed just a wee bit since he published the autobiography on that count, where he more recently does stress how... well, he did learn from how valentino played the media! he learned how to get friendly with journalists! he learned how to play that game, of trying to win the public discourse! he might never have liked it, and he still probably would say like in the autobiography that this "charm" "regardless of sincerity" isn't something that he'll ever be as good at as valentino was. but he did dabble in the dark arts just a touch... I think one of the most interesting tensions of that rivalry is to what extent valentino forced casey out of his comfort zone both on- and off-track and ended up making casey adopt behaviours and attitudes he continued to find reprehensible. casey considers valentino 'selfish' both on- and off-track but to fight him both on- and off-track he became more selfish in turn... very dramatically compelling

anyway, here's casey chatting to fellow aussie jb when he's come to watch the podium celebrations after one of valentino's 2005 wins: