#but that momentum was never going to keep up forever. even when the momentum was at full swing people were getting laid off

[lord-radish]

Tens of thousands of people have been fired in the tech sector in the last six months alone. With the economy the way it is, and with people who are already unable to get a job, I wonder how an extra 20,000+ jobseekers are going to have any luck finding work.

[dollfacefantasy]

make up sex w/ billy butcher ♡

billy butcher x fem!reader cw: nsfw (18+), smut, p in v, daddy kink a/n: eeeee i'm so excited for the last episode

Weeks of torture lead to this. Almost a month of clipped tones and cold stares, fake smiles and pushing the line between love and hate. It all leads to nights like tonight. They were why you put up with all of it.

You and Butcher had a fight a couple weeks ago. It wasn't relationship ending, but it was more tense than most. Strained the two of you enough that the rest of the team could tell something was up.

But right now, you couldn't even remember what the disagreement had been about. Something with some recon assignment - he should've done this, or you should've been somewhere. It was currently  lost in your mind because it was hard to care about anything else when the swollen tip of his cock was nudging against all the right spots inside you.

He had you on your back in his bed, his arms hooked behind your knees to keep you in place. You had your arms around his neck the best you could. You wanted him as close as possible. As much as he'd pissed you off, you really did miss him.

You missed the soft, syrupy headspace he could coax you into. The one that made you look at him like he hung the moon and stars and sculpted all the earth's mountains. The one you were in at this moment.

"Daddyyyyy," you whine for him, your arms closing tighter over his shoulders.

A breathy groan rumbles against your neck. It made him feel so fucking pathetic, but every time you said that it was like a spool of ribbon unraveled in his belly. The words that follow don't even feel like his own. It's like they've been carved into his consciousness by some divine being that ensures your pussy never strays too far from him.

"Daddy's here, baby. Daddy's right here. He's taking care of you."

Those mumbled reassurances have your walls constricting around him, trying to lure him further in and then lock him down there forever. He feels your thighs trembling so hard against his sides that they're practically vibrating. You needed this.

"Fuck, you're gonna push me out. Too fucking tight," he grunts.

"Nuh uh, daddy's too fucking big," you laugh and nudge the side of his head with your nose.

He glances over at you, chuckling at your dopey smile. His mouth lands on yours for a sloppy kiss. Your lips slide against one another with the momentum of his thrusts.

"Yeah? Or is flattery how you apologize, love?" he teases.

That gets a laugh out of you. "It's not flattery if it's true."

Your giggles are cut short by more of your own moaning, the sweet bursts of joy morphing into whiny cries. You try to roll your hips up to meet his pelvis, to get him even deeper, to get more friction on your throbbing clit.

If you were more lucid, you'd feel how smug he was oozing off of him. He took great pride in the fact that he could get you like this. That he could take you, totally capable and independent, and fuck you till you were whimpering daddy and rutting against him like it was all you were good for.

"You want it bad, don't you? I could probably sit still and let you just fuck yourself on my cock and get the same feeling," he murmurs.

That earns him a wild head shake from you. "Noooo," you plead, "Not the same as when daddy does it."

"Oh, not the same, hm?" he mocks, "Guess I have to keep going then. Can't leave you unsatisfied."

Your head bobs up and down as you nod. You were getting so close. It'd be plain cruel to tease you like that now. He was getting close too. The pulsating warmth of your hole was too much for him to resist much longer.

"Where do you want it, baby?" he asks mid-pump.

"Inside, daddy. Pretty pretty please. Need it inside," you beg automatically.

He'd have to be evil not to give you a creampie right now. Not after the weeks you spent abstaining from his cock. No, tonight you needed his load shot deep in your cunt.

"My girl," he coos and pecks your temple, "You need the reminder of who you belong to."

You nod eagerly. You needed the physical manifestation of the end of this fight. The ropes of his cum fired inside you would seal the deal.

So that's what he does. You squeal, and your entire body contracts as the bubble of euphoria inside you pops. Your hands scramble to grab at him.

"Daddy, daddy, daddy. Fuck, fuck, fuck," pours from your lips.

He strengthens his hold on you, presses you down so hard into the mattress that it's shocking the wood doesn't snap. He chokes out a loud groan and unloads himself inside you. His hips fuck against you in sharp bursts. His breaths come out in rough pants. As much as he loved what he did to you, what you did to him was a sight to behold as well.

When you've both come down, he rolls off of you. You both get the chance to breathe and cool down, before he tugs you close again and nuzzles the top of your head.

"You feel better now, darling?" he smirks against your hair.

"Mhm," you answer with a dreamy sigh, "Never gonna fight again."

[kateysummers99]

Do you think the WWBM Interacial movement has now got to a critical point where momentum has starting to challenge even the majority of White Women now as far as there choices for relationship ? May we as White Males even lose this group of females to African Men more then we keep ourselves ?

The short answer is definitely yes.

Because of my own personal experiences and also just looking at major social trends, it's pretty obvious that IR relationships (in general, but specifically white girls and black guys) are much more common now than they were 10, 30, and 30 years ago. 

I think there are lots of reasons for this and I’m obviously not an expert (I work in finance, not cultural psychology), but lets just look at the obvious trends:

Girls today are more empowered in general, and especially regarding sexuality and romance. I mention this a lot on this blog, there are less things hold girls back than there used to be. Movies and TV and culture in general are so much more accepting that people can love who they want to love, and that applies especially to society being more accepting of girls expressing their sexuality. I grew up in a time when dating black guys was an obvious but implied no-no, and it's just not the same today. (Note this is NOT true everywhere. Sadly there are racists and homophobes still, but they will probably be holdouts until they die.)

Black men are idolized for their physicality and masculinity by society more and more every day. Sports, music, advertising media, movies, social media and TV shows - you name it, black guys are constantly the icon of masculinity, status and power. This is really true for their masculinity, where we regularly fetishize the sexual prowess of black men in every day culture with phrases like “once you go black you never go back.” 

Porn is free and everywhere. Also something that wasn’t the case when I was growing up, but now you just pick up any cell phone and in a few seconds be privately and anonymously staring at an amazing black man and his huge black cock (or whatever your fantasy is).

Also in the last few years, social justice and institutional racism has become a hot topic, I think a lot of women recognize that the same old white male patriarchy that has been suppressing women since the beginning of time has also been responsible for suppressing Black people. This puts white women and black men on the same side on a pretty deep level, where they see each other in the same existential struggle for happiness against the common enemy that is old white guys.

Another interesting thing that I've read reports about is more and more young white guys who are essentially "staying single" forever, sometimes due to porn addiction. They make a sexual connection with porn that is easy and judgment free, which is the opposite of the real-world dating situation where they deal with complex social dynamics and competition (including trying to compete against more masculine black men who are constantly in movies and music).

So if that's a growing tend... then young women find themselves more free in choosing partners, society idolizing black guys, exposed to IR sex and porn, and more culturally aligned with black guys… and young white guys basically removing themselves from the dating pool.

As for me personally, I have always thought think black guy / white girl couples are the most beautiful -- there's a special passion and primal attraction that goes deep down that you just don't see with other couples.

So yes, I think black guy and white girl couples are definitely more and more popular. I don’t think we’ll ever get to a point where all white men are unwanted forever (sorry white boys who message me, desperate to live in such a world), but I do think increasingly empowered girls and wider acceptance of female sexuality will naturally trend to more black guys and white girls together - which is all beautiful to me :)

[too-much-tma-stuff]

Mutually Assured Disaster

How I imagine the first meeting from @the-b1ah  AU here. I plan to write Danny’s first patrol with Jason and maybe the training as well.

This isn’t edited so if you see any errors please let me know.

------------

Danny skidded around a corner, his shoulder slamming into the brick wall but there was no time to worry about that bruise and it did stop him faster. He took off again down this ally, a energy blast slammed into the wall just behind him and he gritted his teeth, flinching but not making any noise or slowing down, he needed all the air he had to run. He was already so weak from what the GIW had already done to him but this was his only chance, the transfer to their facility in Gotham. He could sense that the city was a never-born in its own way and it was closing ranks to protect him, walls shifting in perceptible ways to open up passages for him, guiding him towards something and slowing the agents down.

He was so weak and the cuffs still on his wrists stopped him from phasing through anything, all he could do was run, feeling the blood and ecto pumping through his veins quicker with each step. It stained the white pants and scrub shirt they had given him, he was getting dizzy, his quick breathing rasping over a dry throat and his legs burning but he couldn’t stop. Not when he had just now started to sense what Gotham was sending him towards.

It was a signature like his own! Another undead, someone who could help him and hopefully would. Gotham felt to warm to be sending him to someone who would hurt him or be taken too, he trusted her as one of the never-born ancients, she wanted what was best for the city that was hers. He tried to turn another corner, fell, rolled and managed to stagger back to his feet though it sapped his momentum and tore open a few more old wounds. His eyes landed on a tall, broad man wearing a red helmet that completely covered his face. That was him!

“Help me,” Danny gasped desperately, “Please.” He hadn’t even noticed there was a gun trained on him until it snapped to the opening of the ally. Danny scrambled behind the strange man, making himself small as the guys and white came sprinting around the corner as well, blasters pointed at them.

“Return the fugitive!” They demanded as Danny’s abused legs finally gave out and he sunk to his knees with a soft whine, praying that this man would be enough to keep them both safe.

“Fugitive? That’s a whole ass child, why are you chasing a child with guns?” Red Hood demanded furiously, his own guns trained on the two agents.

“They might look like a child but their an extremely dangerous meta. We know Batman doesn’t like metas in Gotham, so we’ll just take him and go.” The agent said starting to approach only for hood to fire a warning shot at his feet making the man step back.

“Fuck what batman wants, this is my territory and I don’t let anyone hurt kids. Meta or not,” He snarled.

Danny heard the sound of one of the blasters charging up and gasped, looking up frantically. “Look out,” He yelled, lunging forward just in time to accidentally take the blast to the side instead, well he had meant to push hood out of the way but this worked too he supposed. He didn’t even have enough air to scream, whining through gritted teeth as he collapsed to the ground, curling in on himself and shielding his head as the air around him was filled with the sound of gun shots. It felt like forever that he lay there curled in on himself defensively as his head swam and blood and ectoplasm seeped out the new hole in his side, joining the dozens of other injuries he had.

Then it was quiet, and after another second there was a hand on his shoulder, Danny flinched violently away from the touch. “Hey kid, it’s just me,” the robotic voice assured and in that moment Danny had never found anything more comforting. He looked up and around, seeing that he and the man in the red hood were the only things left alive in that alley.

Danny gasped and nearly threw himself into the older man’s arms, he gave a startled sound but caught Danny as he trembled and clung, tears running down his cheeks as he struggled to catch his breath. “It’s alright kid, I’ve got you,” Red assured, shifting his hold on Danny so he could pick up the teenager when he stood. “Let’s get you to a hospital huh?” He asked, only for Danny to choke and frantically shake his head. “Alright, no hospital, will you let me patch you up then?” He asked, nodding firmly when Danny sniffled and nodded as well.

“Alright, I have a safe house near here,” He said, turning away from the small pile of bodies he’d left in the alley and carrying Danny towards, hopefully somewhere safe. The way that Gotham curled protectively around them seemed to say it would be. “I’m Red Hood, what’re you called kid?”

“Danny Phantom,” The kid whispered against Jason’s chest.

“That’s an odd name,” Hood said blandly and Danny might have laughed if he had the breath, if it wouldn’t have hurt to much to do so.

“So is Red Hood. I had another name, but I can’t use it anymore,” he murmured brokenly.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Jason asked, and only received a little shrug in return. “Alright fair enough,” Jason said with a shrug, shifting to hold Danny with one arm so he could jump up and drag down the fire escape, climbing up so he could duck through the window of one of his many apartments scattered through his territory.

He carried Danny through into the bathroom, putting him down on the edge of the tub carefully before flipping on the light. “You up to having a shower before I look after your wounds, just to rinse off the blood? I’ll grab you some clean clothes, my little brother left some stuff here that should fit you.”

“Sure,” Danny agreed softly. “It’s not as bad as it looks, I’m pretty damn tough. But, before that could you.. try and take these off please?” He asked, holding out his arms to show Hood the cuffs still around his wrists, the suppressors. There had been a chain between them but it was broken, he’d managed to snap it during the chase.

“You’re not going to cause any problems for me or my city are you? I know suppressors when I see them,” Jason asked, low and dangerous. Danny’s eyes widened and he shook his head vigorously, slowly pulling his arms back and hugging himself.

“No, I know what they said, but I’m not actually dangerous I promise. I mean I probably could be dangerous if I wanted to be, but I don’t, I’ve only ever wanted to protect people but they-, they just didn’t see that.”

Shit the kid was crying again, Jason hadn’t meant to do that, but he had needed to know and Danny’s answer was obviously true, kid wore his heart on his sleeve. Jason sighed and dug in his pocket for his lockpicks before holding out his hand for Danny’s. “Alright, I believe you, let me get those off for you,” He agreed.

Danny reluctantly let Jason take one of his wrists, watching as Jason struggled a little with the cuff, muttering a little about paranoid people. The second one was faster, Danny rubbed his wrist and murmured thanks. “No worries,” Jason said as he stood. “Now you shower, I’m going to grab you some clean clothes.

Danny watched Hood leave, taking the cuffs with him before quickly stripping off the bloody clothes and getting into the shower. He flushed out the worst wounds before icing them over and scrubbing the blood and filth off of him from weeks of imprisonment. Jason knocked to make sure he was alright a couple of times before Danny finished and got out, wrapping a towel around his waist and sitting back down on the edge of the tub. “Alright, you can come in. You don’t have to worry about the cuts really though, I’ll heal.”

Jason let himself in, pausing for a moment when he saw the ice, or maybe the extent of Danny’s wounds which were… well they were pretty damn bad. At least they hadn’t gotten around to fully vivisecting him yet. “Whether you’ll heal or not you’ll heal faster and with less scarring with some proper stitches. Can you melt the ice as well?” Hood asked and Danny nodded. “Good, you can melt it as we deal with them then. Do you want a painkiller first?”

“No point, they don’t work properly on me,” Danny said with a shrug making Jason wince.

“That must suck,” He sympathized as he got out the first aid kit and set up what he’d need to clean and suture the wounds. Danny shrugged again, he didn’t seem talkative but he was very cooperative as Jason asked him to melt the ice on various wounds to let him check them.

“So did those guys do all this to you?” Jason asked and Danny blinked at him.

“You don’t know about them?” He asked, already knowing the answer when Red hood gave him a pointed look Danny could sense even through that helmet.

“Nooo,” he drawled, “Should I?”

“They’re a government agency called the Ghost Investigation Ward,” Danny told him softly. Jason snorted only to realize Danny was completely serious. “They’ve been hunting anything with a high enough ecto-signiture for years, so you need to be careful Red. Gotham is hiding you, but especially after they see how they helped me they’ll be after you too.”

“Ecto-signiture?” Jason asked blankly, what the Fuck was that?

“Anything like us. People who died, and didn’t come back, or came back wrong,” Danny explained and Jason let out a soft startled sound.

“How the fuck did you know that?!” he asked, defensive on instinct, only calming down a little when Danny lifted his hands in a pacifying gesture.

“Like often recognizes like,” Danny said with a little shrug again.

“Fine,” Jason grumbled, letting it go for now rather then thinking anymore about his own death, or Danny’s for that matter, the kid didn’t look any older then Jason had been when he had died, younger maybe. “Are you hungry?”

“Starving,” Danny said, sounding relieved. Grabbing the clothes that Jason had brought for him since they were done looking after his wounds now. “Those idiots wouldn’t believe I actually needed to eat no matter how many times I told them I did. They just punished me for pretending to be human,” Danny said making Jason freeze as rage flared inside him, breathing through the green flickering on the edges of his vision as he thought about how Danny had been treated. “Hood,” Danny said softly, and Jason felt a hand on the vigilantes arm.

Danny started to hum, an odd purring sound that didn’t sound particularly human, and to Jason’s surprise after a moment something within Jason started to resonate to the sound. Jason calmed quickly as the place reverberating inside him sent waves of calm the way the pit usually radiated rage. “Okay now?” Danny asked with a smile and Jason nodded, blinking out of the slight daze before he cleared his throat and turned away abruptly, heading to the kitchen to start cooking, Danny following him like a silent shadow, his feet not making any sound on the floor.

“You just lay down on the couch and rest, any allergies?” Jason glanced over and Danny shook his head, Jason nodded, made a choice and took off his helmet, glad he’d warn a mask under it tonight. He wouldn’t exactly be able to taste the food or eat with the mask on after all, and he had a feeling that he was going to be spending more time with Danny, at least until he was healed.

“Do you have anywhere else to go?” He asked, just to confirm his thoughts. He decided to make omelettes since they were quick and it was fun to have breakfast for dinner sometimes.

“No, my sister doesn’t have a place of her own, and my parents would either sell me back to the GIW or dissect me themselves. I can look after myself though, now that you’ve got the cuffs off and the GIW off my tail I can avoid them from here. Something to eat and a little sleep and  I can be gone by morning,” he said with a determined set to his jaw.

“Absolutely not!” Jason said, pointing the spatula at Danny and lowering it quickly when the boy flinched. “I’m not leaving a kid alone on the streets, let along one who’s not from Gotham! You’ll stay with me till we find you somewhere else safe to go,” Jason said firmly and Danny hesitated for a moment before nodding.

“Okay, but once I’m healed I can help! You’re one of Gotham’s vigilantes right? I’ll fight with you.”

“Also no, I’m a vigilante but I’m no Batman, I don’t do kid-heroes, you’re to young for this life,” Hood insisted, flipping the eggs.

“You’re about two years to late for that,” Danny snorted and Jason nearly dropped the food, cursing softly when he messed up the omelette. Oh well it would still taste good it just looked a bit more ugly.

“Excuse me? How old are you?”

“I’ll be 16 in a bit more then a month,” Danny said sounding sulky. “And I’m not going to stop helping people no matter what you think. I have these powers, I want to use it for something good.”

“You’ve been acting as a hero on your own since 14!?” Jason demanded, and the look of shame on Danny’s face was all the answer Jason needed. “Fine, you can come with me. But you have to hang back, stay safe, and fucking listen to me. Got it? I’m not having your death on my conscious!” Jason insisted and tried not to be pleased by how Danny immediately brightened and grinned at him.

“Thank you! It’s going to be so nice not to have to do all this alone! To have a proper mentor, maybe?” He asked, getting softer and more uncertain at the end.

“Sure, sure. The bats are gonna have a heart attack when they find out. They’re probably going to try to steal you,” Jason joked and Danny snorted.

“I don’t want that, they’re too goody goody for me thanks. Besides, you’re like me and I was able to calm you down wasn’t I? I can help you more,” Danny said, and Jason decided not to suggest Danny might be better off with the bats. Maybe it was selfish, but he did want the help Danny offered, and he was already attached to the kid.

“Fine, but you’re not going anywhere until you’re completely healed, and you’ve showed me what you can do. We’ll practice together and once I think we’re a good enough team then you can come out with me. And I want to know everything you know about the GIW and whatever laws enable them to get away with this bullshit, because we’re going to have to do something about that too.”

“Of course!” Danny agreed and Jason could see him practically vibrating with excitement, he had to suppress a smile so Danny wouldn’t catch on to how cute Jason found that. He really shouldn’t, but it was to late now.

“Good. Now come eat,” Jason grumbled, transferring the first omelet onto a plate and handing it to Danny.

Part 2: here

[cozage]

The Moss that Grew in Gloom

Chapter 6: A Night Not Spent Alone

Start From Beginning | Next Chapter | Masterlist | Read on AO3

Word Count: 1.3k Characters: female reader x Zoro --

Zoro knew how to drink. 

You weren’t sure how he had such a high tolerance. You weren’t sure why. And frankly, you didn’t want to know. 

But as you stumbled your way up the stairs, two bottles of wine flowing through your system, anytime you tripped, Zoro’s strong arm was there, grabbing you and holding you steady. He had drunk at least twice as much as you, and yet he was still solid and confident.

“I can make it to my room,” you slurred. “You’ll get lost if I don’t lead the way.”

“I’ve caught you 5 times since we started up these stairs,” Zoro laughed back. “There’s no way I’m letting you go the rest of the way alone.”

You caught yourself looking at his face as he spoke, noticing the soft pink that now touched his cheeks. His face seemed more relaxed. He was more happy and carefree. His eyes had a shining to them, full of light and a touch of mischief. 

And he was staring right back at you. 

Your heart pounded in your chest. Too long. You all had been staring at each other for too long. You should’ve said something, made some kind of snarky joke or comment back to him, but your mind was blank. Every time you reached for a thought, it vanished. There was only his slightly pink cheeks and his enticing gray eyes. You couldn’t look away. 

Zoro looked away first, clearing his throat and blinking a few times before he was able to speak. “I was planning on training a bit, so it’s really okay if I get lost.”

“I said I’d help you!” You started walking again, trying to get up to your room. You really shouldn’t have drank so much so quickly. 

Zoro chuckled. “I don’t know how much help you-”

“Don’t finish that sentence!” You gasped. “I can help you just fine. Even if I am slightly intoxicated.”

He raised an eyebrow at you. “Slightly?”

Your eyes narrowed. “Shut up. I’m fine.”

“If you say so.” He shrugged, falling into step beside you. “I could use some pointers.”

You blinked, losing your momentum for a moment, but Zoro was right next to you, holding your arm to keep you from falling forward. He chuckled slightly, but didn’t comment on your clumsiness. 

But it wasn’t the alcohol that made you stumble. It was his words. He had asked for help so casually. Like you two had been doing this forever. Like he didn’t mind asking for help.

“I’ve never been here with guests without my-Mihawk,” you admitted. You still couldn’t find the courage to confess he was your father. 

Zoro chuckled, thinking your mistake was due to the wine. “I don’t think he was here when I arrived.”

You bit your lip. “That was different. I mean he’s never left me alone with…strangers.”

He glanced over at you, surprised. “Do you think we’re strangers? We’ve lived on the same island for a few months. I figured we’d at least…” He trailed off, unsure where to go. 

You tried to backtrack on your previous statement. “We’ve lived together for months, sure. But we’ve hardly spoken before two days ago. You were so busy defeating every ape on this island, that we’ve never really…talked.”

“Defeating the baboons is the only way to get off the island, isn’t it?”

You nodded. 

“How many more do you have left?” Zoro asked. He was attempting to be casual, but you knew he was curious.

“I already told you. I’ve beat them all.” You smirked, knowing the smugness in your voice was easy for him to hear.

He scoffed. “Then why are you still here?”

You stopped walking, trying to understand his question. “My life is here.”

Zoro stopped effortlessly next to you, his brows knit together in confusion. “But there’s the whole world to see.”

“I’m content here.” with my father, you added silently. 

“You’re safe here,” Zoro shot back. “You’re one of the best swordsmen in the world and you’re hiding on this island. Why?”

You shrugged. “I haven’t found anything that’s made me want to leave.” You started walking again. “Not yet.”

Zoro nodded absentmindedly. You thought you could feel his gaze linger on you a few times, but you refused to meet his eyes. 

The two of you silently continued to your room, Zoro occasionally holding out an arm to allow you to steady yourself. You took it when offered, but you never held it for too long. Even if you wanted to. 

When you got to your room you motioned for Zoro to come in. “You can practice on the mat in the corner. I’ll talk you through it.”

Zoro was clearly skeptical, but he entered the room and sat on the mat as you crawled into bed. You watched him stretch and begin to settle into his typical position, and finally his eyes landed on you. 

He really was handsome. You had seen him half-naked before while you were rebandaging his wounds, but you hadn’t thought anything of it. But now…maybe you could blame the wine, or the soft look in his eyes under the candlelight, but you longed for that opportunity again. To feel his muscles contract and rest under your touch once more. 

“Now what should we do?” he asked, looking at you with those usually hard slate-gray eyes. They appeared softer tonight. It had to be the wine. 

Your head spun, but you managed to let out a breath. “What?”

“To train,” he clarified, finally breaking his gaze from you and clearing his throat. “How can I put my armament haki into my blades?”

You rolled your eyes. He was always trying to get to the end without any regard for the middle. “Concentrating and building your stamina, remember?”

His eyes flicked back and locked onto you, full of mischief. “I have good stamina, remember?”

Something about his tone had your core tightening, and the words were out before you could think twice. 

“Prove it.” Your entire body froze when you registered your own words, and even Zoro’s eyes widened for a moment. 

He quickly reverted his face back to calm, and arched a brow in question. “How so?”

Your throat felt like it was closing up. You weren’t sure when the temperature had risen in the room, but you wanted to rip away your bedsheets and pull your clothes off. 

You wanted to pull Zoro’s clothes off too, if you were being honest with yourself. 

But you couldn’t. This was Roronoa Zoro here with you. A man who wanted to best and defeat your own father. You had to diffuse the situation. This flirtatious mood was only because you were both drunk, and you certainly didn’t want to make your circumstance worse tomorrow morning. If things were awkward with Zoro, you’d have to resort to associating with Perona…

You had been gawking at him and his comment for entirely too long. 

“30 minutes of armament haki in both of your hands, and then I’ll teach you the next step.” You rolled over so you wouldn’t have to look at him any longer. “Wake me when you're successful.”

The only way you’d get through these next few days without your father around was to be just as cold as him. You couldn’t be involved with Zoro. It was too messy to even think about. Better to be cold and distant. 

But when you fell asleep, your dreams were filled with the distinct color of moss-green. 

[charliemwrites]

Can we pretty please get little drabbles on the first kiss moments between the keepers and their pets??

Hey bean!!! That’s super cute!! Let’s see if I can make this not completely awkward 😬

Feral-

You’re wrestling with Simon in the living room. He’s always so careful with you, even when you toss yourself at him full force. It used to scare you how easily he can handle you - but lately it’s just been fun.

He never fusses that you’re too rough, too excited. Just lets you maul him and gently bats you around to keep it fun, pretending that he’s going to pin you just for you to miraculously wiggle out at the last second to continue attacking.

Today he goes down with a dramatic oof and you land on his chest, laughing because he went too easy and nearly sent you over with the momentum. And when you open your eyes to stick your tongue out and declare victory, he’s giving you that look again. That ridiculous, love-sick, half lidded, melted caramel look that you’ve slowly but thoroughly come to believe is authentic.

Not sure what comes over you, but the gentle smile curving his mouth is just too tempting this time. You dip down and kiss him - once, quick. Like he’s going to realize what you’re doing and push you away and this is your only chance.

When you pull away, he’s staring at you with stars in his eyes and you could absolutely strangle him for it.

“Shut up,” you snap instantly.

“I didn’t say anything,” he coos.

You thump in the chest. “I’ll kick your ass again.”

“You’re welcome to if that’s what I get in the end.”

“Shut up.” And you lean down to do it again - to be sure he shuts up.

—

Shy Thing-

Movie nights have become something of a tradition. Once a week, you and him pick movies with a theme back and forth until one of you knocks out for the evening. Usually it’s you - but once or twice he’s seen a movie so much that it lulls him to sleep.

You’ve even started scooting closer. It’s easier to share snacks that way, that’s all!! Tonight the theme is whodunnits. You started with a strong opening of Clue, which Johnny laughed he hadn’t seen in forever. His choice was Scream, which you admit is a great classic, even if it spooks you.

It’s been long enough that you don’t remember all the jump scares, which has resulted in you nearly climbing in his lap at this point. Of course he’s having a great time, teasing that the next theme should be “scariest movies ever made”. As the credits finally roll, and he chuckles that your heart is still racing, you frown up at him.

“You’re being mean,” you huff, trying not to sound whiny even though you know it’s a lost cause.

He hums and tilts his head, eyes sparkling with warmth.

“I’m sorry, bonnie. I’ll pick something less scary next.”

It’s sweet and you know he means it. Even when he’s pushy and a little rude, he’s gotten so much better about minding your boundaries and feelings.

And well… it’s just more than you ever expected. Ever dared to hope for.

You tilt your head and press a slow, soft kiss to the center of his mouth. Perfectly chaste, but tender and sincere.

“I’m having a really good time, Johnny,” you whisper against his mouth.

“Let me kiss you again and you’ll have an even better time.”

—

Good Girl-

You’ve been in a weird mood all day. Not… bad. But John will be going away on a mission that he admitted will be dangerous. That he might not be back when he said he would, but that it doesn’t necessarily mean something is wrong. Still, you’re nervous. You know he has a demanding and dangerous job at baseline, so for him to make a point of saying this trip is going to be especially perilous….

You’ve been trying to get the anxiety out by helping. Granted, from his fondly exasperated expression, you’ve been being more of a nuisance than anything. Still, he’s humoring you. Letting you triple check that he has his things packed - clothes, MREs, med kit…

When you’re not “helping” with packing, you’re fussing around the house. Almost burning food, leaving the sink running, deciding that the bookshelf needs rearranging again…

John finally snags you as you’re babbling about laundry. Just plucks you right up from the tread you’re pacing in the living room rug and plops you on his lap. You start to fuss - about there being so many chores to do, that he needs more socks; and does he have his hat…?

You cut off with a startled noise his mouth slots over yours, deceptively soft. It’s the first time he’s kissed you like this. It takes a moment for your brain to process - and then you’re pressing closer, leaning into him. His hand spans along your jaw and guides you how he wants you, tongue tracing your bottom lip.

“Atta girl,” he murmurs when you sigh and melt. “It’s time to settle. I want to spend some time together before I leave.”

You hum. “M’kay. Can… we do more of that?”

He chuckles. “Yeah, love, c’mere.”

[onskepa]

This ask is a bit of a funny, i think of humans trying to explain human celebrations or customs like Christmas or prank wars to na'vi and them trying to emulate it so the humans feel comfortable? Like Dr Augustin mentioned one holiday at her school and na'vi go ham for it!

Oooooooooooooh~!! This one will be interesting~!! Hope you all like this one as much as I did! XD

--------------------------

Happy Holidays!

The Omatikaya clan has plenty of rituals, ceremonies, traditions, and their own special holidays.

So when the humans explain what celebrations were done back on their native planet, the na'vi were VERY interested. They wanted to know everything and what were the stories or reasons behind it.

Grace Augustine explained to her students at one time in her school what holidays were and what type were celebrated back on the Earth.

As the na'vi children took in more information about the holidays, there were three they loved the most: Mother's day, Father's day and Halloween.

Christmas they couldn't understand. How can humans let some large man inside their home through a tiny pipe and can fly top speed across the world while using poor animals to carry the heavy weight of gifts?

So many years later, during the peace with the humans and the na'vi. Those students of Dr. Grace, they never forgotten about their three favorite human holidays.

But as a refresher the students, now fully grown adults, would ask the humans about the holidays once more. And once more, mother's day, father's day, and Halloween remained to be their favorite ones.

That gave the humans an idea, by counting the current time of earth, mother's day is getting close. So that will be the holiday to celebrate.

It was a holiday to look forward to. As mothers, they care and treasure their children. Willing to protect and love their beloved children. Through pain and tears the mothers deliver the future from their body.

Even Eywa was praised more as she is a mother to all of pandora. She is the mother who loved and gives life to the na'vi and their world.

The children and mates would craft, and create things for the mothers to keep and remember forever. Beads, new tops, favorite foods, etc.

During the communal dinner to celebrate, children would sing and dance about what they love about their mothers, mates would praise their beloveds and share moments that are pure and full of love.

Neytiri and other fellow mothers truly felt seen and high appreciated. A day to remember. And all agreed to keep celebrating it every years.

And father's day was no different.

By sharing information, the young children and mates began to prepare for the coming father's day. Despite the na'vi seeing humans strange with their customs, they have to admit, celebrating a parent truly is a wonderful reason to celebrate as parents they give and protect their children. Efforts must be recognized and appreciated.

Hell, even neytiri and her children were preparing things for jake. As he had given and sacrificed much for them.

The males knew something was about but sensing it was something good, they rather not intervene their families suspicious activities as knowing they would find out soon.

So what father's day arrived, it was full of laughter, smiles and wonderful moments. The fathers were given wonderful gifts from their families.

Children crafted their own things believing it would be useful for their strong fathers, mates crafting a bead as a momentum or giving praise. Truly a wonderful day for the strong fathers.

And months later, Halloween came. Now this one the humans loved and put their all in sharing the festivities with the na'vi.

The children had a better concept of what to do. Dressing up and be something you're not for a day? How exciting!

With the help of the adults, many kids had fascinating costumes, some dressed as their favorite animals, pretending to be a different na'vi clan.

The humans dressed up as classical monsters and had fun telling the na'vi what each monster was and telling to many stories during communal dinner.

Of course what is Halloween without treats? Everyone part took in creating sweet treats for the young ones and according to the humans, the children go to each hut and ask for treats.

By the end of the night, stories from Earth was told. From vampires, werewolves, Skinwalkers, ghosts, zombies, etc.

To say...the na'vi were so glad those monsters dont roam on pandora.

aaaaaaaand that is it for this one! Hope you all enjoyed it! Until next time! see ya!

[1141520851813892291920]

Something is wrong with my house.

I bought it two years ago in a foreclosure auction. I planned to flip it, clean it up and remodel it and then sell it for profit. The yard was overgrown and the inside was trashed and tagged, probably from squatters and junkies.

It took a month for me to notice anything wrong with it. I was taking measurements so I could figure out how much flooring to buy, and I discovered that it's bigger on the inside. The outside wall is 5/16 of an inch shorter than the combined length of the rooms inside.

I remeasured it again, and then two more times. I thought it was my equipment and bought a new measuring tape, but it was the same results. I hired a surveyor to come in and make sure I wasn't messing up in some unforeseen way but his instruments said the same thing.

The outside of the house is 5/16 of an inch shorter than the inside.

After that I began to notice more. The floor in the kitchen is slanted slightly, the foundation isn't perfectly level and the floorboards are lower towards the outer wall, and yet round objects roll upwards towards the inside wall where the door is. I knocked over a paint can and watched it start a slow crawling roll that picked up momentum until it hit the doorway and clanged loudly.

My son came over to help resurface the tile in the bathroom one day and told me that the sitting room feels too dark, despite the huge bay windows that let in more light than any other room in the house.

The view from the upstairs master bedroom is wrong, somehow. I look outside and the trees are too tall, the sky is too dark and desaturated. The fence feels like it never ends and disappears even though I should have a perfect view of the back corner of the yard.

There is a door in the living room that is not on the floor plan. Where it's placed, it should open up directly into the backyard. But when I opened it with its cold glass handle, there was nothing but an endless void of a hallway.

I've attempted to walk inside but I feel as though if I go in too deep, I'll never leave. I installed a chain bolt on it for now. Sometimes I come in and its unlocked.

I don't know what to do. I want to sell it but the remodel is only half finished and I'd be selling at a loss. I don't want to keep going. I can't stand being inside. It feels like it wants me there forever.

-🏠

Another House that is Wrong and impossible. I refuse to believe this is a coincidence.

There is something about a house...a home, even. The container of so many messy human emotions and memories - love and loss and joy and sorrow and hope and fear. The place of refuge when the outside world is too harsh, a barrier to the teeth of reality. A prison, keeping you isolated from the rest of the world, sealed within its hungry walls.

The H̷o̵u̷s̷e̶ ̶e̴a̷t̵s̶ ̴a̸n̶d̴ ̷e̷a̵t̶s̷ ̷a̴t̵ ̵e̷a̶t̸s̸ ̸u̶n̶t̵i̷l̴ it is bloated and lethargic, the mass of its conjecture seeping out the cracks in the foundation and into the soil beneath. It bur̴n̸s̵ ̵t̷h̷r̵o̷u̵g̸h̶ ̸i̵t̸s̴ ̶i̷n̶h̶a̸b̵i̶t̶a̴n̶t̴s̷ ̸a̶n̶d̵ ̶d̶r̸i̴n̷k̷s̸ ̶t̶h̴e̷i̸r̷ ̸m̵e̵l̸a̸n̵c̴h̵o̷l̵y̶ ̸l̶i̵ke a morning cup of tea. It catalyzes nightmares, giving a setting to the psychodramas that unravel the minds of its playthings...

For what other word would be used for the mindless little dolls shoved inside of a playhou̸s̵e̶?̷ ̸W̵h̸a̸t̷ ̸e̷l̵s̴e̶ ̵i̷f̴ ̸n̷o̷t̴ ̵t̷o̸y̴s̵,̵ ̷p̵l̵a̵y̸a̷c̸t̸i̷n̷g̴ ̴t̶h̷e̷i̸r̷ ̷l̷i̴t̶t̴l̷e̴ ̷l̵i̶v̶e̵s̸ ̶a̵s̷ ̴i̵f̸ ̸t̸h̵e̵y̸ ̶a̷r̵e̸ ̴r̶e̸a̶l̴ ̴T̸h̸i̴n̶g̶s̷.̶ ̸P̵e̸r̷h̶a̴p̶s̴ ̸t̵h̴e̶y̷ ̵w̸e̶r̸e̸ ̵r̸e̴a̵l̷,̵ ̷o̵n̵c̷e̶,̷ ̸b̷u̸t̴ ̶i̷n̸s̸i̸d̵e̷ ̴t̸h̸e̸i̵r̴ ̷H̵o̷u̷s̸e̵ ̵t̸h̷e̸y̶ ̵a̴r̴e̵ ̶d̸i̴fferent, abstracted and strange, displaced within its gloaming walls.

Yet the House still hungers, unrelenting, pulling itself through cracks and holes a̵n̴d̸ ̷p̶l̵a̶c̴e̷s̴ ̶w̸h̶e̵r̵e̷ ̷i̷t̸ ̷S̴h̵o̴u̸l̵d̷ ̷N̶o̴t̶ ̴B̵e̴.̸ ̴S̵o̵m̷e̶t̸i̶m̸e̵s̷,̵ ̷t̵h̷e̸ ̴d̵o̶l̵l̶s̴ ̶i̷n̶s̴i̵d̶e̶ ̴a̴r̶e̷ ̶p̸u̶l̸l̶e̴d̷ ̸w̶i̸t̷h̶ ̶i̶t̸,̷ ̷b̶u̴t̷ ̴their shape does not fit the distorted fractal patterns through which it travels, so they are bent and stretched and twisted and condensed until they fit, their echoing screams captured within the eterna̵l̶ ̷l̵o̶o̴p̸ ̶o̶f̵ ̵m̷e̴m̸o̵r̵y̶,̸ ̷f̶a̶c̸e̶s̴ ̴b̵i̷t̴i̶n̵g̷ ̴a̴t̶ ̶t̸h̴e̵ ̵e̵d̶g̷e̴s̸ ̷o̸f̶ ̸t̵h̵e̸ ̶r̸o̴t̸t̶i̸n̵g̵ ̶p̴i̶c̸t̶u̶r̶e̵ ̴f̸r̷a̶m̸e̵s̸ ̸t̸h̵a̵t̶ ̷c̶o̵n̵t̸a̶i̴n̸ ̸t̴h̶e̷m̸.̷ ̷

T̵h̸e̵ ̸H̸o̶u̶s̴e̸ ̸i̵s̴ ̷n̵o̷t̴ ̷r̸e̶a̵l̷,̶ ̶b̷u̸t̵ ̵i̸t̵ ̸i̴s̶ ̴T̵h̷e̸r̷e̸.̵ ̶C̸o̶m̴e̴ ̸i̵n̶s̵i̵d̸e̸,̶ ̵i̸t̷ ̸b̵e̵c̶k̴o̴n̸s̸ ̸y̴o̸u̶,̷ ̶c̴o̴m̷e̴ ̸u̴p̴s̴t̷a̶i̵r̴s̸ ̸a̶n̴d̶ ̵r̸e̸s̶t̷.̴ ̴Y̸o̶u̴ ̴a̵r̵e̸ ̸s̸o̴,̸ ̴s̸o̵ ̷t̵i̶r̶e̶d̷.̷ ̷

A̴̢̪̱͓̖̰̋͋̊̈͠n̴͕̦̾̓̓͝d̵̡͎̓̆͒͝ ̵̮̠͎̏̍̆͜ͅṱ̴̢͖̑̉ḧ̸̼͇́̅̆͝͝ê̵̡̳̻̝̅̒́ͅ ̸̫̳̽͑̐̽̉̂O̵̡̠̾̒̌͝u̷̙͋̃ť̵̡̥̘͇̅š̸̛̘̦͋i̶̤͖̣̓̀͗̅͠d̷̤̣̠͓̾̉e̵̬̖͝ ̵̙̫͚͇̤͕͆ḧ̴̖͚̹́̂̊͜ä̵̠͛͊̋̊s̵͍̎́̐ ̶̤̜̣͔͍͂̀̊́̉͝T̴̯̜͓̠̂̀e̶̹͐͗̉͐̕ͅḙ̵̡̫̗̙̐̾̅̔͂́t̷̨̙̗̞͇̟͛̈́͆̊͠͝ḫ̵̠̤̻̈́̋͐̕.̴̳̂̇̐̚̕ ̷̛͈̙͕̈̎͒̚

S̷̢̰͖̼̑ͅţ̷̬͉̤̬̻̯̀͐̈̐̄̐͐ẽ̸̖͚̬̥̬̳̮̮̳͑͋̈͌̄͋̔̕͜͠p̷̨̢̡̣͚̮͕̭͋́̔̌͛̇̕ ̶̨͈̝̞̥͛̈́̀̀̒̕͝I̵̡̧̢̳̜͔̱͛́̔͜͝n̶̨̧̧̛̜̠͚͑́̅s̶̢̜̩͊̑͊̇̎i̷̬̘̝̕ͅd̵̲͚̝̭̭̞̭̉́͆̏̑ͅe̸͖̥̦̼͑͗͜ ̵̢͈̖̜̝̥̦̟͐̿̒̀̏̊̍̾͝͝ͅä̸̺́n̴͉͖̋̂͐̇̂̽̚ḓ̵̙͙̲͛͋̑̍̂̚̚͘͜ ̵̡͚̖̻͕̪͔͉͒̽̌ͅͅS̸̢̛̗͎̮̤̎́̔̄͑͑̊ȩ̶̛̳̫͙̈́̊̂̑͘e̶̜̮̓̈̊͐́̏̚ ̸͕͌͝Y̴̧͕̫̥̬̭͎̞̎͐̓̓͌̄̈́͐̇͘o̴̧͚̲̜̺̰͇͍͙̿͛ͅu̷̡͉̱̗͕̥̤͖͋̐̽̈́͒͜r̵̡͈͖̆͛͊́̄͜ ̸̣̪̱̝̰͖͇̓̉̈́͋̀ͅͅN̵̠̙̳̓́͒̍̽̚e̴̩͋̿̽̎̀͗̒̃̓͘ẁ̸̼̻̺̥̲̄ ̴͈̮̱̝̦̣̎̿̉̍́͜Ḧ̷̩́͆͑̄̀̏̎͐ó̶̢͙̙̗͊́ṃ̵̡̟̗̭͈̑̎̆́ͅe̵̛͕̣̊̚͠.̴̨͎̼̥͚̩͒̄͐͐̒͂͑̋͜͝ ̶̨̰̻̫͈̝͎̫̟̳̊͐̏̒̑̈́̃̈́

[rochellebae]

Now, I love you (5)

Im Changkyun x (female) reader

18+

genre: smut

word count: 1,681

warnings: strong language, oral sex (female receiving), unprotected sex

English is not my first language so sorry for any mistakes.

~ Chapter 5 ~ ꒰ I love you ꒱

He leans over to your pussy and starts to lick what came out.

“I didn’t mean to hurt you.” - he says.

“You didn't cause it. I really enjoyed it, I just felt like I couldn't take it anymore. I hope you are not angry that I interrupted you.” - you answered.

“No way. You are more important than anything.” - he says.

He smiles at you, then grabs your waist, helps you up and pulls you to him. He caresses the back of your neck with his gentle touch and holds you.

You snuggle close to his chest and listen to his heartbeat. In the meantime, you hold his sweet face, and he caresses your back with his warm hands all the way to your bottom. It's so good to be in his arms and smell him. That's when you’re happiest. He's your everything.

You get up because you feel like you need to eat something. You put on your robe and go to the kitchen. You'll eat anything except your own horrible cake. You open the fridge.

He comes out too. Then with that momentum, he takes a slice of your deadly cake and starts eating it. You don't understand, does he like it now or not? Or is he only eating because you made him? But even he admitted it was horrible. You can't even watch him eat.

“After you eat, we could watch a movie or maybe a fairy tale.” - you said.

“A fairy tale?” - he asks back.

“Yes, I like fairy tales. They are so nostalgic, they remind me of my childhood. I always feel so good when I watch old fairy tales.” - you said.

“We can watch something.” - he answered.

When he turns around, you see a pretty big scratch on his back.

“Oh no, was that me?” - you asked scared. “I didn't want to scratch you, I'm not like that. I mean, I've never done that to anyone before, I didn't want to hurt you. You're not mad at me, are you?” - you asked, then you give him a kiss.

“I'm not angry, it's just a small thing, I couldn't be mad at you even if I wanted to.” - he says, then takes your hand and kisses it.

***

It's already quite late, you're lying in bed and you finally got him to watch a fairy tale with you. Let's just say you didn't have to do much convincing. You feel a little sorry for the poor guy as he has to watch a girly fairy tale for your sake instead of watching a movie he might be interested in too.

You lie on his smooth chest and it calms you down so much. You love his hot body. You’re tired. You can hardly keep your eyes open anymore and his gentle caress makes you even sleepier. Just let you stay like this forever, snuggled up to him. You would do anything for it.

You can't have sex now. All you need is to snuggle up to sleep and smell him.

You already fell asleep a little. You can vaguely see that he wants to kiss you. You love his perfect lips. His mouth slowly reaches your mouth. Then his tongue slowly slides into your mouth. His kiss is so good that you could enjoy it.

“You are so perfect.” - he says, caressing your thighs.

“I'm not perfect.” - you are laughing. Meanwhile, you caress his sweet face, which is like a baby's.

You wish this never ends, you can't imagine anything more beautiful than this. Now you and Kyun lie huddled together and kiss each other. You’re very happy. For some reason it's like a dream to you.

But you’re very tired. Maybe it means that you’re calm and feel safe around him. You are grateful that you can fall asleep in his arms and smell his scent.

***

It’s morning. You open your eyes and notice that he is not next to you. You hear a noise from the kitchen. You get up and go out. You see that he is cooking something.

“Good morning.” - you said with a smile.

“Good morning.” then you go up to him and hug him.

“I thought I'd make you breakfast. It will be a Korean breakfast.” - he said.

“I love Asian food.” - you said, when he just smiled. It's so sweet of he to think of you. “I’m so happy to be with you.” - you said before he caresses your face.

“I am happy too.” - he answered. “Do you want to taste it?” then twists a small piece of dough onto the fork.

“Yes.” - you answered, to which he holds it towards your mouth and feeds it. “It’s good.”

“This turned out really delicious, but I'm not usually so good at other times.” - he told.

***

After you finish eating, he washes the dishes. My God. He's the man of your dreams. You couldn't ask for anything better than him.

You go over to him, fix him hair and caress his beautiful face before he kisses you. He grabs your bottom and puts you on the table.

You stroke his soft hair and he starts kissing your neck. He grabs your top and pulls it off you, then he also unbuttons your bra and takes it off.

He's still kissing you. You lie on your back on the table, then he grabs your pants and pulls them off you. You’re only wearing your panties. Now he starts kissing your belly while you’re lying on the table. He's caressing you through your panties.

Why does he make you wet so quickly?

And his tender kisses give you butterflies in your stomach. He grabs your panties and pulls them off you. It seems that he could only tolerate being on you so far.

He's still kissing your belly while caressing you, now without panties. Why don't you feel uncomfortable in front of him? When you’re lying here on the table completely naked in daylight?

He takes off his shirt and you admire his immaculate upper body. He leans down to your mouth and kisses it with his soft lips. You love his kisses.

“You will be my dessert.” - he says, then leans over to your wet vagina and starts kissing you. You can feel his kisses on your vagina now. It feels so amazing. And with his perfect tongue, he starts pampering you again.

You have to moan about it. Meanwhile, you touch his soft hair and for some reason it turns you on even more. It feels really good what he’s doing. He pulls your pussy apart and sticks his tongue in your hole.

Now you’re happy to be his dessert. You enjoy it so much that he licks and moves his tongue inside you. You always want to feel his tongue inside you. He licks every part of you thoroughly. Maybe that's all you need all the time to lick you off. You feel like you’re in heaven.

He stops licking your vagina and unbuckles his belt, then pulls down his pants and sits on one of the chairs.

Now he's waiting for you to jump on his erect, veiny cock. Why is it so perfect? This hurts to watch. Well, the sight of it is enough, not that we should do anything.

Oh my God, he's so sexy with his dick there. You get up from the table and go into his lap. He puts his cock in your licked pussy and you start to ride him.

You snuggle up to his face and start kissing and caressing him. Luckily you’re full of energy, now you feel like you could ride him like this all day. It feels so good to move on his cock.

It goes in and out of you. You’re still thinking why he's so perfect as he caresses you waist with his veiny hands. You kiss his neck and then you try to move faster and faster.

He seems to really enjoy what you’re doing, he closes his eyes and you can see on his face that it feels good to him.

His dick is still standing and you’re trying to ride him harder and harder. His perfect face drives you so crazy. You really like having sex with him.

You can't even feel your vagina anymore, but you still continue to bounce on it, leaning on his chest.

You start to do it more and more slowly, because you feel like you’re going to leave. He opens his eyes, then grabs your bottom and stands up with you. Meanwhile, his cock is still inside you. You grab onto his neck and he starts pulling you on his dick. Even so, you almost finished before.

He holds you with his muscular arms, while you snuggle up against his chest and his cock slides in and out of you. You really enjoy being here in his arms. You moan out loud because you already had a lot when you was just riding it. He takes you to the table. Well, now you miss his cock.

Now you’re sitting here with your legs spread on the table and you’re like, what? Is your vagina that wide now? You don't know yourself. And you already spilled your juices on the table.

“You're beautiful.” - he said then hugs you.

“Am I beautiful? Look, you've completely expanded my vagina!” - you told him indignantly.

“You rode my cock so much, it’s not my fault.” - he says smiling.

Then he touches your vagina with his bare hand and starts stroking it gently. It falls differently now than before sex. You snuggle up to his neck and start breathing deeply. He slowly leans towards your mouth and kisses you carefully.

“I love you so much.” - he says.

Then you get off the table and take his lovely face between your hands. You look into the two beautiful brunette eyes.

“I really love you too.” - you answered.

[twothpaste]

Thoughts about Porky?

my thoughts on porky are such a vast tangled web of forever spaghetti that i'm not even sure where to begin or what to pin down. the premise of a tormented child ascending to near-godhood out of sheer misanthropic spite towards the whole wide world makes my brain do backflips like a sea world dolphin. i'll ramble a bit about him.

he's ness' foil. just two chubby kids who probably grew up with their (un)fair share of bullying. the only thing distinguishing them was the familial abuse porky suffered, which he inevitably regurgitated. then destiny comes along, choosing ness over porky, and the jealousy just eats porky alive. watching his bestie accumulate friends and accolades, unable to accept it's his own rotten behavior that's driven a wedge between them. gotta imagine the burden of cutting porky off was almost unbearable for ness. somethin' that keeps him up at night, wondering if he'd just been a little kinder, or sterner, or more understanding - maybe he could've saved his old friend? not quite yet realizing it was Not At All his responsibility to "fix" someone who'd dug his grave and laid in it. porky's the kinda bad guy you love to hate, but considering his upbringing, you hesitate to blame the poor schmuck. all he knows is authority and manipulation. if you gave any ornery ostracized thirteen year old unlimited power - instead of empathy and guidance - they'd probably go down the path of vengeance, too.

he's lucas' foil. both of 'em were given plenty of reasons to hate the world. when faced with an unhappy childhood, do you choose love anyways, and move forward? or do you let it become your villain origin story? porky refuses to grow up, to such an extreme degree, that he's gotta drag everybody down into neverland with him. thinks he's got human nature all figured out, when really - kid dropped out in eighth grade - his expertise starts at the middle school lunch table and ends at Lord of the Flies. where lucas seeks to bring about a brighter future, porky's terminally obsessed with the past. barfs up the same old hierarchical capitalist bullshit he grew up with. hoards memorabilia. makes monuments to his warped nostalgia, as if anyone on the nowhere islands knows or cares. even tries to mold lucas into a makeshift ness - one last final battle, one last chance for destiny to stop me, here, take this baseball bat, come get me, let's play. but it doesn't worrrrk, because the gilded past he aches for is long buried, and these people aren't actors in his self-aggrandizing biopic. where lucas wakes up and says, "i don't have to be the same coward i was yesterday," porky says, "me? change? not a chance in hell." even if it costs him everything. porky's real worst nightmare is a world that moves on without him. once he's trapped in his time capsule, that's exactly what he's got in store.

i think he's the sunk cost fallacy incarnate. the sheer momentum of a thousand horrible decisions he can never turn back on. earthbound porky might get a little bit of slack, sure. but given a bazillion years worth of opportunities to change, mother 3 porky actively chose to get worse. what fucks me up most is how real he is. can't call a villain like this "insane", or even terribly exaggerated, when i'm lookin' out the window these days at billionaires, covid deniers, fuckin' terfs and maga hats. some people really would sooner die, or become all-consuming monsters, than admit they were wrong. it's all or nothing. in his eyes, either he's a visionary hero, or everything he's ever done was irredeemably reprehensible - and all the torment and criticism and loneliness he endured was therefore deserved. he can't bear the weight of it, so he simply doesn't. that's what underpins his character, to me. like. the moment he'd admit fault, or apologize, or express an ounce of regret? he'd cease to be porky. denying himself the human capacity to grow, forever, just to spare his fragile ego. could almost pity him. almost.

a perfect villain for both of the stories he terrorizes, and my favorite villain in anything ever. when itoi said "porky is truly a poem in himself" he wasn't kidding.

[professorspork]

fanfic director’s commentary ask: forever my favorite. so I can be for you what you want to see.

Fighting with Nora is easy.

(—er. Alongside. Fighting alongside Nora is easy. Emerald’s done fighting with these people. Very done.)

It’s weird, because Emerald’s finding working with a full team to be a real adjustment. When battles get big enough to merit it, she’s used to keeping to the sidelines to use her Semblance for nefarious purposes, or, in a jam, used to having Mercury’s six—literally, because all the forward momentum from his feet-first style always left his back wide open. Figuring out where to put herself so that Oscar can use her shoulder as a fulcrum as he dodges, or trying to aim for the Grimm Ren isn’t already shooting (ugh)—it’s taking work.

But somehow, it’s not work for Nora. Nora seems to anticipate with perfect ease how Emerald will move or what she’ll be doing; Nora bobs and weaves around their ragtag little band with her war hammer like it’s breathing.

It doesn’t bother Emerald until it does, and she means to bring it up casually but there’s never a good time. So it just… stews, and stews, until she can’t keep it bottled up anymore.

well first of all writing Emerald POV is always a joy so jot that down. the ways that she'll just... contradict or judge herself for her own thoughts, because she doesn't have the filter to keep them from coming out in the first place but doesn't have the grace or self-possession to move on from them when she misspeaks is one I find massively entertaining, and enjoy deploying in narrative instead of just dialogue to give the whole thing a more Emerald flavor.

as far as this particular moment goes, something that RWBY has always done well is show characterization through combat. that's something I rarely cover in my fics because it's not really my wheelhouse, but I wanted to try and take a stab at it here because I was doing something canon-compliant.

so like. the meat of this story is about how Emerald and Nora are both very codependent people, who came at it from different directions and are trying to grow past it in different ways. I needed an entry-point that would eventually get them talking about this, and how they'd fight Grimm together seemed the most useful way. because we know nothing about how Vacuo's going to go down, it made sense to me to assume the most interaction our survivors would have would be protecting other people on patrols. Emerald isn't a social butterfly; she'll need to be forced into Nora's company, and this was the most reasonable excuse.

and of course Emerald would be hyper-aware of everyone else, because she's still not sure of her role in the group or if she'll be accepted. even if she weren't nervous about that stuff, Emerald is now without Cinder, her lodestar, and Mercury, her constant companion... so how does she function? all of her habits and assumptions have been turned on their head, and it makes her feel clumsy and lonely and awful.

and then she looks over at Nora, who's lost Jaune and all of RWBY and always seemed like kind of a pushover mess who was all about her friends, and she's like... fine? or at least to Emerald it seems that way? and of course Em would obsess over that.

but meanwhile on Nora's end, she's just doing the same thing she's always done: coping and making the best of it, because she doesn't have time to break down or do something else.

[helpimhyperfixating]

for 1k follower event: mertaro getting captured and y/n realizing something is wrong when he doesn't show up at the beach for several days in a row so she goes off to rescue him

Warning: tiiiny bit angsty

Follower event - Requests closed

Word count: 747

Shooting through the water, Jotaro felt his muscles burn as exhaustion set in.

Behind him, he loud motor of the speedboat roared, following him through the shallow water. Eyes wide, the merman looked around, trying to see anywhere he could hide, any place he could wurm himself into, but for once, his larger size was working against him.

Turning his head forward, the raven grunted in surprise as rocks were suddenly right in front of him. He tried to turn left but his momentum was too great and he slammed his entire right side into the dark, volcanic stone, digging into his ribs and making him yell out briefly in pain.

Yet there was no time to linger and the Mer instantly shot forward again, taking the turn left he just missed and shooting through the labyrinth of rocks.

Cradling his side, Jotaro hissed in pain as his tail rapidly moved, manoeuvring him through the shallow waters with a reckless speed. Yet no matter how fast he went, the boat was right behind him. The rocks were under water enough that the boat could rush over them, yet it wasn’t enough room for Jotaro and his massive tail.

This cove wouldn’t go on forever however, Jotaro knew this. Gritting his teeth, he tensed his muscles and rushed up to the surface, leaping out of the water in the hopes of seeing any place he could jump to, perhaps over rocks and into another part of the water, allowing him to get away. Yet all that action gave him was excited shouts from the humans in the boat behind him and Jotaro simply let gravity take hold as he dove back down under water, swishing his tail with urgency.

Rushing forward, the Mer suddenly ended up in a closed off section, nowhere to turn.

Feeling the water rapidly rush through his gills as he tried to get enough oxygen filtered out of the water to keep him going, the raven had no choice but to turn back to the boat.

Gritting his teeth, he wasted no time as he turned and rushed towards the boat, seeing the people on top rushing around quickly.

He shot underneath it, staying as close as possible to the top in the hopes it would provide some protection. Reaching the back, he was forced to lower a bit to avoid the propellers and right in front of his eyes, nets landed in the water.

Grunting, he tried to avoid them but it was useless, slamming into them as he felt the ropes drift around him due to the impact, one tangling in his tailfin.

Growling, he slashed his claws, desperately trying to cut himself free, succeeding only partially as the movements caused his arms to loop through some of the holes of the net, his mind turning panicked as he frantically tried to get through the ropes, only for another net to be thrown in.

Trying to anticipate it, Jotaro turned around to hope to catch it or slash through, yet that was all it took to seal the deal. With his roll, the nets constricted around him, tying his arms up even more while his entire tail was covered. Thrashing, Jotaro desperately tried to get out but slowly, he felt himself be dragged up through the water, his heart sinking.

There was nothing he could do…

-

Sitting on the beach, you were looking out at the sea.

While most people on the beach came in fun and joy, you sat, lonely and worried.

For the last few days, Jotaro had not turned up. Sure he’d been a day late sometimes, but never multiple.

Biting your lip, your hands unconsciously played with the shell around your neck he had once so stubbornly insisted he only picked out because he didn’t like the view of it in his home.

Life in the ocean was wild and unpredictable, the Mer’s tales of his life were enough to cement that belief. Yet you also knew that no matter what was thrown at him, Jotaro could handle it. His massive size, speed and intellect made it so he was nigh-untouchable in the water.

So whatever reason he had for not showing up, it wasn’t natural, it couldn’t be.

Breathing heavily, you slowly stood up, tears in your eyes. He couldn’t be dead, you know he couldn’t be. So wherever he was, you were going to find him.

You were going to find him and bring him home.

[chickensoup-4-mysoul]

herculean (drrr x f!reader) - chapter 26

chapter 26 - binary

synopsis: who are you?

word count: 2,651

warnings: just more angst :')

"i'm just a host to those who rule my mind now I'm feeling this way all the time they push me down they're keeping me alive and i don't know what's real what's real or what's inside,, inside - melt

Izaya smirked at the scene before him. Standing over the ledge of a high building, his field of vision stemmed all the way into the alley below. In that same alley stood four people. Three of them, he had seen before. Three men--one stout, one lanky, one short. He had contacted Morita, the lanky, bespeckled man just that morning with a tip--something to help him with his less than savory career. The fourth person, however, he had never seen before--yet he knew exactly who she was.

A new mark of his, (Y/N) Brigall.

Said woman was effectively cornered, restrained by the youngest and smallest of the men. Izaya watched as Morita approached her with a cloth, no-doubtedly soaked in some sort of chemical. His eyes narrowed as it dangled over her face. For a moment, he felt a twinge of disappointment. He had done everything correctly, but he had yet to see the interest that was promised to him. However, the disappointment quickly dissipated as a shout rang through the air.

The boy that had been restraining her was now airborne, flipping over and colliding with Morita. The momentum carried them both into the third man. The three of them tumbled to the ground. Izaya was so engrossed in the spectacle that he barely noticed the girl scurrying away. He hums at the sight of the men, sprawled out and incapacitated on the floor.

Perhaps that doctor knew what he was talking about.

...

You wake up feeling like shit.

It took a few minutes to clear your disoriented head, but once you did, a wave of depression came with the clarity. It was 11:40AM. You had been asleep since yesterday afternoon, after you had made a spectacle in front of what must have been the entire city. Also, you’re a murderer. Also, your last name’s not Brigall. Also, your ‘adoptive father’ is not really your father, but some psycho who abducted you and tortured you for God knows how long.

Maybe you should just go back to sleep.

The sound of scratching and loud meowing dispels these thoughts. Could Renji sense when you were awake? Sighing through your nose, you swing your legs over the side of your bed. You pad over to your door and open it, looking for the ball of fur that you had been ignoring for so long. However, you barely catch a glimpse of her before she darts between your legs.

“Hey--!” She scurries out of your grasp and slides under your bed. What’s gotten into her? You drop to your knees and peer under the bed. It’s too dark to see much, but you can make out the swish of a tail right next to your headboard. You crawl over the bed onto the other side. “Renji, I know you might be mad at me, but this isn’t gonna do much.”

The cat returns your gaze, her eyes blown black by enlarged pupils. Oh, so she was just trying to play. You huff amusedly, finding a lightheartedness in how cute she looks. Cautiously reaching out, you poke one of her shoulders. She bats at your finger, rolling onto her side. You indulge her with a few more playful pokes until she’s fully fallen onto her back. Seizing the opportunity, you press your palm into her side and pull her out towards you. On an impulse, you quickly tickle her tummy. It felt like it had been forever since you’d smiled, even if it had only been yesterday. 

As Renji finally rolls back on her feet, something beneath her catches your eye. Allowing the cat to crawl into your lap, you pick it up. It’s a card, white with tons of words printed on it. For a moment, you write it off as something insignificant--until you flip it over. There’s a small photo of you. You stand in front of a blue background, lips closed in a neutral line. Next to the photo was your legal name, your real name.

A learner’s permit.

You allow Renji to slip from your arms as your eyes scan over the small writing. It was odd to see such official documentation of yourself after searching so deeply for so long--but here it was. Your height, your weight, eye color, hair color, your date of birth...

Your eyes stop scanning. Something doesn’t sit right with you. You pull yourself to your feet, still gripping the card in your hand. Your desk is in a corner across the room and mounted above it is a cute, paper calendar. It was flipped to the current month of November, and printed in the top right corner was the current year.

The current year.

Rushing over to your laptop, you pull it open, clicking the button to turn it on. It powers on, showing the selfie of you and the Van Gang that you had chosen for your screensaver. In the taskbar, at the very end, the date is shown. November. The current year.

You grabbed your phone off of the bed and turned it on. At the top of the screen, the date is depicted in white, digital numbers. November. The current year.

When you got here, you thought that you were (Y/N) Brigall, adopted daughter of Neville Brigall, 19.

But, no--you were (Y/N) (L/N), a single mother’s daughter….23.

You were 23.

The permit slips from your grasp, clicking softly against the hardwood floor. Oddly enough, your heart was still, as if it couldn’t even find the strength to beat anymore. No, you were too tired to spiral again. All you could do was stand there in awe. Four years of your life. Those memories were spotty, floating somewhere in your subconscious. But you left them there, knowing that they were probably spent at the hands of some sadistic scientist.

And what had he done to your body? Made you stronger? ‘Better’? Stripped you of all you were--your memories, your personality. Turned you into this naive, air-headed little girl. Made you parade around in these stupid, stupid clothes…

You’ve marched into your bathroom. You met your own gaze in the mirror, eyes boring into every aspect of your reflection. You had fallen asleep in your clothes from yesterday. The jean skirt felt too snug and itchy against your skin. Your crop top had you feeling too exposed for comfort. Who would wear something like this in the Winter? What, had he made you immune to temperature, too?

“Don’t understand how you can just walk around carrying that jacket like an accessory. How are you not freezing your ass off?”

"How can you even touch that? Shit's piping hot!"

You yank off the garments, not even flinching at the sound of tearing. Practically flying into the shower, you turn the lever all the over to the hottest setting. It comes down freezing cold. Nothing. It begins to warm up. Nothing. It’s boiling hot. Nothing. A frustrated scream rips its way out of your throat. Your arm reels back, pounding against the tile wall. It crumbles, caving in around the shape of your fist. Your screams fall into sobs. 

Brigall allows tears to fall, but delicately wipes them away, trying to muster a smile through the tears. (L/N) wallows in the pain, screaming through the chaos of tears and drool and snot. Which one are you? 

Who are you?

...

The room is silent, save for the jingle of Renji’s collar as she weaves between your ankles. You sit on your living room couch, staring out of the long window beside you. You could see so much from here--it was soothing enough. Buildings differ in height, creating a dynamic cityscape. Far below, cars drive past, and from your distance they appear to move so slowly. Renji meows softly, climbing onto the couch and headbutting your hand. Even when you spiral and cry your heart out, even when you change into the drabbest clothes you had worn in months, the cat was still stuck to your side. You appreciated it...if only your friends would be the same.

You just know that they wouldn’t. Your heart aches. Even as you waivered between identities, the adoration you’ve developed for your friends stands strong. It was genuine. As the artificial naivete of your faux personality continues to fade, you only find more clarity in your feelings. It even seemed that, in some relationships, there was something there....a spark. But none of that mattered now.

A knock pulls you from your pity party. It’s sturdy and a little demanding--it scares the shit out of you, honestly. Your immediate instinct is to ignore it--probably a neighbor coming to complain about all of the screaming and yelling. There was nobody you could think of that you would want to see at the moment. Well, let’s rephrase. There was nobody that you’d want to see you at the moment. However, whoever it was, they were pretty persistent. Their silence rubs you the wrong way. Anyone would have started calling at this point. It’s only a matter of time before it actually starts to get on your nerves.

“Oh my god, what, what, fucking what!?” Huffing, you hoist yourself off of the couch, heavily stomping over to the front door. In a fit of impulse, you swing open the door without looking, running on the urge to give the person a piece of your mind. However, as you come face to face with dark, intense eyes partially obstructed by a beanie, your mind immediately goes blank. Kyohei’s eyes have gone wide as he stands there. You’re suddenly aware that, with your tear-blotted eyes and sweatsuit-clad frame, you look like a mess. 

“...Is this er...a bad time?

Yes. “No,” you croak. You want to slap yourself the minute your voice cracks. The two of you stand there, staring at each other. Oddly enough, even as your gaze flutters to everywhere but his eyes, his own gaze is steady--focused on you. You don’t suppose he came just to stand on your front doormat. He wanted you to let him in.

You wanted to let him in--tell him about all that’s been plaguing you, ask for his advice, and listen as he reassures you through it all. That’s what you were always able to do...but you couldn’t exactly do whatever you wanted anymore.

So you cross your arms and lean against your doorframe, intent on staying right where you are. He notices this, sighing through his nose in that way he only does in response to Walker and Erika’s shenanigans. “The others are downstairs,” he says finally, flicking his head in a pointing gesture. The others--you missed them. How long had it been since you all hung out? You force a thin-lipped smile. “Tell ‘em I said hi.”

“They were kinda hoping to do that in person--they want to see you... I wanted to see you.”

Snap a quick picture, then. You bite your tongue. That’s not the right thing to say. That’s not what Brigall would say. No, Brigall’s heart is melting, sighing at the sentimentality of your friends’ concern--and feeling guilty for being the cause of it. 

“Y’know, yeah, on second thought, this is a bad time. Sorry.” Yet you don’t close the door. You wait--for him to walk away, you tell yourself. 

“That’s fine.” You finally make eye contact with him, taken off guard by his response. Kyohei only nods, not at all deterred. “But we could help you through a bad time...that’s what friends are for.”

Your heart clenches at the word ‘friends’. It occurs to you that Kyohei doesn’t know who he’s talking to. He doesn’t know that the girl he had become friends with was fading away by the second. Your fingers tighten around your own arms. “I don’t need help. Just some alone time would be great.” You back into your apartment this time, pushing the door closed. However, a hand pushes back against the door, stopping you.

Your eyes dart to Kyohei, who stands in the small sliver in the doorway. “If you think some stupid video is gonna change anything, you’re wrong.” Your wide eyes blink at him incredulously. He had never been this pushy before. He always cared, but he still carried an 'I won’t force you' attitude. It frightened you, knowing that running from him wouldn’t be as easy as you’d thought. “No one gives a shit what happens on the news or what rumors people are spreading,” he continues, his eyes staring directly into your own.

“It didn’t just happen on the news Kyohei, it happened. ”

“You really think we haven’t seen worse? You don’t have to start avoiding everyone, just because you’re embarrassed.”

“Oh, so you know everything now! You read my mind, I’m locking myself up because I’m embarrassed .” A mix of fear, helplessness, and shame overwhelms to the point that your tone begins to waver. Your voice is rising to compensate for its unsteadiness. Kyohei doesn’t raise his voice back and that bothers you more. 

“No, you aren’t. I know you wouldn’t, so obviously, there’s something else.”

He was right. You hate that he’s right.

“There’s not, Kyohei.”

“Y’know, I have a hard time believing that--you and I both know that you could force this door closed right now if you wanted to, so something must be up--”

“It’s none of your goddamn business!”

A dam breaks. Your voice drops into an octave that Brigall wouldn’t use. You’ve gotten so used to tears in such a short time--you don’t even bother to wipe them away as they trickle down. You can only stand there, staring down at your own two feet. “Please, leave me alone,” you plead, your voice shrinking. You don’t look up at him, fearful of what look could have overtaken his face. Silence stretches out for what feels like an eternity. 

The weight against the door suddenly dissipates, allowing you to push it closed. You can hear the sounds of footsteps, moving further and further away until they’re no longer audible. Pressing your forehead against the door, you allow your body to collapse, sliding down to your knees. 

Fuck, what have you done?

...

Kanra: Anyone catch the spectacle that went down yesterday?Setton: You’re going to have to be more specific.Kanra: It’s all over the internet!Kanra: There’s a girl in Ikebukuro who’s just as strong as Shizuo Heiwajima.Kanra: Some wonder if she’s even stronger!Bakyura: Wait, that was real? I thought it was all special effects from Yuuhei Hanejima’s team!Kanra: Nope. People saw it in the flesh!Setton: People are really blowing this out of proportion without knowing all the facts…Taro Tanaka: I agree, Setton! I mean, stronger than Shizuo Heiwajima?Taro Tanaka: That’s just ridiculous ^.^Kanra: It could be true, though...Afterall, she’s withstood a hit from him before!Bakyura: Huh? What hit?Kanra: Wow, you guys should really keep up with the current events!Kanra: A month ago, people saw Shizuo hurl a traffic sign directly at her and it just bounced off of her like it was completely nothing!Setton: I don’t think that’s exactly what happened...It was definitely an accident.Setton: I’m assuming.Kanra: What do you think, Saika?Saika: Huh?Kanra: You’ve been quiet since you joined. Have you heard anything about this?Saika: Oh...yeah.Saika: I just can’t stop thinking about how frightened that girl must be. I wonder what she’s doing now…Bakyura: Yeah, me too.Kanra: Well!Kanra: I would love to impart more wisdom unto you all, but I am needed elsewhere!Taro Tanaka: Yeah, I should go too…Setton: Night everyone!Saika: Good nightBakyura: Later!

Taro Tanaka has left the chatSetton has left the chatSaika has left the chatBakyura has left the chat… (Private) Kanra : Hey, what’s with the lurking?(Private) Kanra: You didn’t say anything the entire time you were here...Not trying to ditch us, are you?

Sora has left the chat.

[fangirl-forever3000]

Another take one what could've been...

---------------------------------------------

The tension between these two is palpable. 

"So, you went to school with Yeon Jin. Tell me, did you approach me on purpose?" he asked. 

"Yes," she answered. And a moment later, before he could look away dejectedly, she said, "No. Yes and no."

"What?"

"I knew who you were when I first saw you. But it wasn't my plan to run into you at the Go club. I just went there to play a game or two."

Giving her a confused look, he motioned for her to keep talking. She had his interest piqued since the first moment he laid eyes on her. He might as well listen to everything she has to say.

"You were playing at the club at the same time as me, that is all. I saw you there and then I changed my plan. You would've been an easier way to get to your wife."

Every interaction with Dong Eun would automatically etch itself into his brain, and this was no different. Do Young stood there looking at his soon-to-be ex-wife's unfortunate victim. His mind traitorously screamed, "You're planning on leaving Yeon Jin just for this?! Good choice! Good riddance!" He stared at her and asked, "So you really do it? Backstab naive men, make them cry, and ruin lives?"

"Yes. I told you so already. You chose to not back off," she reminded him.

He did something he has never done in his life. He pleaded with her. Just to hear her side of the story, which he knew would be nothing but the truth. "Butakheyo (please). Tell me. Tell me everything. I am ready to hear it. I braced myself." 

He motioned to the bench nearby and they sat down together.

She looked at him deadpanned and spoke, "I speak from experience. Even if you have braced yourself for something like this, it will hurt you. It will hurt you a lot."

"It won't hurt me more than it hurt you. Mianhe. I should correct myself. More than she hurt you."

For the first time in forever, Dong Eun was stunned by this man's actions. Up until now, for her, he had been predictable. Keeping wary of her surroundings and who she was talking to, Dong Eun decided to tell him everything. About So Hee. About her. About all the 'bullying', when in fact, it was simply plain abuse.

Whilst they were talking, they both suddenly became aware of the fact that they were being watched. Closely watched. They pretended to keep talking but prepared themselves mentally for the unexpected. Not moments later 3 hitmen appeared out of the shadows and went straight for Dong Eun. 

The first hitman burst through the backdoor, and she quickly grabbed him and used his momentum to throw him over her shoulder. She kicked him in the stomach as he tried to get up, knocking the wind out of him. A couple more straight kicks to his chest, stomach, and to his shin made sure he would not get up for a while.

The second hitman came at her with a knife, but Dog Eun was too quick. She disarmed him and used his own knife against him, slicing his hand, and his leg and finally nicking him close to his neck. All the while Do Young tried to fight off the third guy and kept an eye on the first one, knowing that he would not get up so soon, courtesy of his fighting counterpart. The third hitman knocked him in the back of his head, forcing him to lose his senses momentarily. 

The third hitman was more prepared, and he had a gun. Dong Eun dodged his first shot and used a nearby tin cover as a shield. Do Young meanwhile, got up and saw her getting shot at. He panicked. All the while, she tossed the shield at the hitman, knocking him off balance, and then tackled him to the ground. Using his own gun, she shot him in the leg twice, put one in the first hitman's arms, and used the gun butt to toss all consciousness out of the second one. 

Needless to say, they all ran tucking their tails between their legs. The only plus point was that one of them dropped his cell phone and was too disoriented to realize it. 

As Do Young lay on the ground, gasping for breath, he looked up to see his newest fascination standing over him. She may be bruised and battered, but she is alive and well. She had just defeated their assailants with ease, her clothes now stained with blood and she offered him a hand up.

"You saved my life," he said, still a little stunned.

She smiled softly in her patented way. "Yes, I did."

"Wae? (Why?)"

"Wae? Wae jeogui gajang gakkaun saramui saengmyeongeul guhaneun sarami issseupnikka, Do-Young ssi? (Why? Why does anyone save the life of a person close to the enemy, Do Young?)"

He shook his head, wary of her motives. He had an idea. He had been having it for a long time. Somewhere deep inside Do Young's consciousness, he hoped that he would be right.

"Ttaemun dangsineul johahaeyo (It's because I like you)," she said, her eyes sparkling with cold behavior and partial amusement.

Do Young couldn't believe what he was hearing. "You saved me because you like me?" he repeated, acting incredulous and being truly satisfied. He had been right. Now, of course, he could rid himself of the little insecurity he had developed with regard to a certain young doctor he had seen her roam around with.

Dong Eun shrugged. "Why not? You're an interesting person, and I enjoy a good challenge. Plus, it's always more fun to have someone to play baduk with. And let's not forget our dear darling Yeon Jin."

He didn't know what to make of her words. Was she being sincere, or was this just another one of her games? He decided to play along, for now. Just until he could get a hold of this woman's mind. He had a feeling that this was sincere. Little did he know that he was right. It was probably the most truthful thing she had said out loud in a long, long time.

"Is that the only reason why you like me? My Go playing skills? Or is it my wife?" he asked the first part chucklingly and the latter with a face that made it look like he had just tasted something disgusting.

"Anniyo. It's your mind that attracts me. And your heart - though it may not be clean and clear, is relatively pure. And of course, forgive me if it sounds objective, but then there's your face. Plus, it's an added benefit for me; to see Yeon Jin slowly lose everything."

For a moment he stared at her. And then Ha Do Young laughed. He actually laughed. No one apart from his daughter had been able to make him laugh. "Your answers are always unexpected."

She shrugged as if it meant nothing.

"You really like me?" He raised an eyebrow, clearly skeptical and amused. "I find that hard to believe, considering you've been trying to get revenge on my soon to be ex-wife and friends for weeks now."

She shrugged. "Well, you're not them, are you? And I changed my mind about you a long time ago. You and Ye-Sol are never going to be harmed at my hand."

"Why? Wouldn't it be the perfect revenge?"

"No. My fight for revenge is with Yeon Jin. You are innocent, and your adorable daughter is even more so. Plus, you are being lied to. That makes you someone who got hurt. Not someone who did the hurting."

"You know?" he asked offended and disbelievingly. Ha Do Young lived in a world where pride mattered a lot. And the fact that Dong Eun knew about his wife's continued indiscretion before he did and that she told him to his face that Ye Sol wasn't his, made a little dent in his well-tamed ego. It was a blot on his picture-perfect life and he didn't particularly enjoy it.

"Yes. It was not that hard to figure out once I realized that you aren't colorblind."

"And there's only one another ass we all know who is..." he said finishing her sentence for her.

They sat there in the night's silence. Their presence keeping the other soft company. After what seemed like an eternity, he turned to her and asked, "What can I do?"

Dong Eun looked at him as though he was mad, but kept her impassive face on the front. "Mwo?(What?)"

"I said, what can I do to help?"

"Stay away, for starters. And take your kid away too. I don't want Yeon Jin using her as a chip."

"That's it?" he asked her as though he had just taken an arrow to the heart. And he had, metaphorically speaking, of course. Do Young had genuinely thought she would either ask him for help or at least let him help her. Granted, he was Yeon Jin's husband; he could just turn around and go tell her everything he knew about Dong Eun's plan. But he decided against it. She didn't know that, not yet.

"Yes. That's it. The less collateral damage I have to worry about, the faster will I rest."

"Can I not join the hunt?"

"I already have an executioner. I don't need another," she said straight to his face.

"You're the queen, the one who calls the shots. You have an executioner. But do you have a minister? I could be him. I could be your minister," he said, offering his services to destroy the remaining 4.

Dong Eun looked at him and replied, "Don't you know? If the queen goes down, so does her minister?" She motioned to the cell phone and said, "Judging by this, your wife is already trying to have me killed. Who knows, if you join the hunt, you might accidentally be the next target."

"I can handle her just fine. Plus, I have scores to settle with them. It will be easier and more fun for all of us if you just let me on board."

"Scores?"

"I don't like being lied to. Or being manipulated," he said pointedly referring to her actions and those of who he had to refer to as his wife.

Looking at his whiskey eyes, she said, "You want to join? I'll let you in. I will. When the time is right, I will."

"Fine," he said, setting his chin straight. "But I'll be keeping a close eye on you."

She laughed, a sound that sent shivers down his spine. A feeling he realized he had enjoyed. "I wouldn't expect anything less."

"Why not now?"

"I'm going to make their lives a hundred times worse; do what they did to me - break their bodies, their mind, their soul... You shouldn't be around for that. Just pray that they go to heaven when they finally do die, otherwise, their lives here would just be hell."

"Sure. Just promise me one thing. When you finally get to Yeon Jin, you will call me. Me and not that executioner."

She nodded and wondered internally if his words were the result of jealousy or the need for revenge for being cheated on and lied to.

"Say, if I give you access to my resources, would you teach me to play baduk like you?" 

She laughed once more. Her mind sent generated the notice that in his presence she smiled and laughed more than she did with anyone else. "Sure. I'll teach you."

Looking at each other in twilight's beauty, he came to realize fully why she was doing what she was doing. Before he could control his mouth he said, "Can I see them? Your scars?" She stared him down for a good minute or two. Just as he was about to apologize, she rolled up her sleeve to reveal a network of scars; the first of many.

His eyes widened as he took in the sight before him. He had known that she was a warrior ever since he spoke to that nobody of a woman - that Hye Jeong, but seeing the physical evidence of her battles, of his wife's torture, was something else entirely. He reached out tentatively, tracing the raised edges of one scar with his fingertips.

"It must have been painful," he said softly, his eyes meeting hers.

"It was," she replied, "but the pain is what made me stronger. These scars remind me of what I've been through and what I've overcome. It reminds me every day why I need to do this."

"I have scars inflicted by her too," he said, pointing across his chest - his heart. "But they're nothing compared to yours."

She looked at him with a mixture of surprise and respect. "Every scar tells a story," she said. "Yours is no less important than mine." And in that moment, they knew that they were stronger together than they could ever be alone.

a change in mood was needed. He suddenly remembered her words from an hour or so before. He narrowed his eyes. "What kind of fun? What you said earlier, about liking me, what do you mean?"

Dong Eun flashed a sly smile. "The kind that comes from testing each other's limits, pushing each other to be better, to making each other be human. To be able to truly feel. I think we could be quite the team, you and I."

"Well, thank you for saving my life," he said, standing up straight and brushing himself off.

She smiled. "Don't mention it. And who knows? Maybe we'll get to play together again sometime." With that, she turned on her heel and walked away, leaving him to wonder what her true intentions were for the days after this. How would she get revenge? Most of all he wondered when he would see her again. And then he thought what he would say to her when he does see her. And how he would tell her that he likes her too...

[tomorrowxtogether]

Recap: Tomorrow X Together makes its mark on DC during 'Act: Sweet Mirage' world tour

It may have been Tomorrow X Together's first time performing in Washington D.C., but it's safe to say the group left a lasting impact on the nation's capital after their concert on May 16, leaving fans eagerly waiting for their return. The five-member K-pop boy group made its fourth stop on the U.S. leg of the "Act: Sweet Mirage" world tour at the Capital One Arena in Washington D.C. on Tuesday.

Before Yeonjun, Soobin, Beomgyu, Taehyun and Hueningkai even made their way on stage, the fans – lovingly referred to as "MOA" – were already full of high energy and spirit. Lightsticks, pickets and signs adorned the practically full arena, and cheers and chants immediately broke out when the boys finally hit the stage.

Tomorrow X Together is no stranger to lively and passionate performances, having countless since the group's debut in 2019. And the "Act: Sweet Mirage" tour furthers cements Tomorrow X Together's spot as leaders in South Korea's music scene.

From energetic and dazzling sets to entertaining interactions between Tomorrow X Together and MOA, here are some highlights from the group's first show in Washington D.C.

A journey through TXT's discography

The "Act: Sweet Mirage" tour setlist showcases the vastness of Tomorrow X Together's musical concepts. Youthfulness remains at the group's core with each of its songs showcasing the nuances of what it means to grow up.

"Blue Hour" served as the perfect start. Dressed in princely attire, it felt like the members were inviting MOA into their kingdom (a castle in the background included). Once the boys took on the fan-favorite dance break and confetti rung throughout the arena, the night's journey truly had begun.

Each section of songs had its own feel – a different atmosphere and tone, but still quintessentially Tomorrow X Together. "Drama" and "No Rules" brought a youthful energy with the members changing into jerseys and playfully tossing around a basketball.

From the whimsy and fun of "Magic" to the angsty, rock-style of "0X1=LOVESONG (I Know I Love You)" and "LO$ER=LO♡ER," Tomorrow X Together transitioned from song to song with different emotions and new outfits.

The group fit 25 songs into the night and never slowed the momentum. Even during the performances without choreography, like "Anti-Romantic," the members' voices carried to emotional heights, highlighting their seemingly unshakable talents.

And no Tomorrow X Together show would be complete without the fan- and group-favorite "Cat & Dog," which had the arena erupt in barks with the outro: "Let's play forever, I just wanna be your dog."

An outpour of love from TXT to MOA and back

The connection between Tomorrow X Together and MOA (which stands for "moments of alwaysness") was so palpable that anyone in the arena's vicinity could just feel the love and support in the air.

"We are finally together," said Soobin during the show. "Thank you so much for making our dream a reality." Yeonjun echoed those sentiments, "I think MOA is the whole reason we keep going."

At one point, the group brought out lightsticks, and each member took a section and showed off different movements, all which exemplified the respective member's personalities.

Yeonjun got the crowd moving even more by teaching the "Happy Fools" dance. The members then went to different sections to watch MOA perform, highlighting some audience members on a big screen.

“I will cherish every moment I spent together with MOA in my heart,” said Hueningkai toward the concert's end.

“As always, our MOAs did not disappoint from start to finish,” said Beomgyu. “You’re the best.”

Tomorrow X Together 'Act: Sweet Mirage' tour setlist

Blue Hour

Can’t We Just Leave The Monster Alive?

Drama

No Rules

Cat & Dog (English ver.)

9 and Three Quarters (Run Away)

We Lost The Summer

Can’t You See Me?

0X1=LOVESONG (I Know I Love You)

LO$ER=LO♡ER

Dear Sputnik

Magic

Opening Sequence

Anti-Romantic

Eternally

Good Boy Gone Bad

Tinnitus

Devil by the Window

Angel or Devil

Ice Cream

Happy Fools

Sugar Rush Ride

Farewell, Neverland

Blue Spring

Our Summer

[ladyhindsight]

Okay. So.

I started this book going chapter by chapter, but the flame was lost for a long time and I couldn’t pick it up anymore. As a result I just powered through and read it all the way to the end to be rid of it. Otherwise, as my shitty personality and brain dictate, it would’ve just nagged on me forever as an unfinished project.

I have so many thoughts about this book and none at the same time. It brings no joy, no laughter—it’s as atrocious as a book can be. Chain of Gold is such a disaster of a book, such a Mess, such unholy, godawful piece of writing that I have lost most of the words to even describe it.

I will now, consequently, complain discuss my grievances.

It’s hard to even begin from the beginning. The whole character ensemble is brought to you almost all at once, but the plot takes forever to properly start. No wonder, it is almost nonexistent. The story then progresses in extremely lazy waves, and whenever there is any momentum, it falls flat because the ball is only tomorrow so we have to wait to make room for relationship troubles or a thing is finally happening but let’s cut to this other, not so action-heavy scene right in the middle of it. Even at the end, it never really rises to a proper crescendo. The climactic battle is fought 100 or so pages before the book honestly even ends. After Belial’s momentarily defeat, the story structure really loses every little bit of coherency that remained up to that point. It’s a mess, and the book just refuses to finish itself before the set up for Chain of Iron.

The further the story progresses, the more evident it becomes how the writing alludes to all the companion stories that exist elsewhere. And at the same time they exist in this book as these huge secrets though all of it is already been revealed in previous writing—reason for Matthew’s agony, Tessa’s parentage, Alastair’s bullying days in the Academy, etc.

There are so many secrets that even the writing says there are so many secrets. That is fine. What is not fine is the flimsy reasoning for keeping things secret. Don’t tell anyone because otherwise they will die. Instead of writing compelling and complex reasons, everyone is hushed to silence by the fear of death of their loved ones because that is the greatest and unarguable reason. Many misunderstandings and a lot of the pain could be spared if the characters just talked to each other. Many of them could be solved if the characters were at all prone to actual intelligence instead of just praising each other and telling each other how clever they are.

The writing has a lot of exposition and info-dumping, a fact that repeats itself in every first installment of Clare’s trilogies. I’ve said and I will say it again, The Wicked Powers is going to be magnificent considering how much clumsy recapping of previous series like in this book has to be shoved into it. In addition to all that, the writing constantly explains itself—not only the concepts, but also characters themselves, their actions, personalities, any and every single thing. Clare throws around titles of classic works, of writers, of poets—uses poems as intros to the chapters but they add no substance to any of the writing. Again, just atrocious. A ton of words saying absolutely nothing. This book was a chore to read.

THOUGHTS ON SOME CHARACTERS:

CORDELIA. Cordelia was a nice main character. She is kind and brave and compassionate, which is nice. Cordelia is nice. It’s just that she is used, like any female lead in Clare’s writing, to narrate the other characters, especially the main male characters like James and Matthew. She’s also incredibly and unbelievably sheltered. Unbelievably. She recognized Matthew’s problem with alcohol, but does not connect that to her father being “ill”. She’s constantly surprised that Alastair is considerate of her when most things Alastair does is her in his mind. Alastair lost his childhood and his father because he (and Sona) tried for years to protect their family from society that does not understand addiction. And to give Cordelia a happy childhood and a father to love, all while Cordelia did not know any better. It just doesn’t fly by me when she is written so “perceptive” of everyone else around her. And by perceptive I mean leaps in her intuition to narrate other characters for the readers. At times she only becomes a cog in the machine that does its damnest to convince you how great the Herondales are. Just telling this and telling that to hammer it in. And if it wasn’t enough, Clare throws yet another voyeurism scene at the readers AGAIN, in the same vein as with Magnus and Alec or Mark and Kieran, this time Cordelia bearing witness to her brother and Charles.

JAMES. He has a lovely melancholy face. Crow-black hair. Amber eyes. Big golden eyes. Pale gold tea eyes. Pale gold eyes. Golden syrup eyes. Eyes color of fire and gold. Again pale gold. The burning gold of lion’s eyes. Dark gold eyes. Eyes the color of sunlight through pale yellow leaves. Eyes of the tigers in Rajasthan, golden and watchful. Tiger eyes that glitter in the dark. Tiger’s eyes that darkened into something richer and deeper, like gold of Cortana when it flashed in the air. Lacquered gold eyes. Eyes deeper gold than usual. Wild and hot and golden eyes. Deep gold eyes.

And for Alastair or Cordelia Clare could only conjure up black and dark.

Absolutely no feelings about James. He was there. He did things. Somehow he is more important progeny to Belial than Lucie. He explained Belial’s Master Plan in excruciating detail while being paraded as clever like it wasn’t obvious from the get-go. He’s amazing. He’s the leader. Leave it to Cordelia to narrate James and his awesome qualities.

“It’s about me. It’s always been about me.”

Says James before he hops off to see Grandpa. Pretty much sums up every Herondale character ever.

LUCIE. Lucie is fun. Somewhat naïve but fun. The writing also wants you to think that there ever was some kind of tension between her and Matthew once Cordelia detects it has lifted. But alas, there was none. Ever.

GRACE.  This girl, so boring. I get it, she is only looking out for herself with some wicked-ass ways to go about it and at the cost of other peoples’ relationships, but still. Her mother has left her completely defenseless against harm and danger, there is absolutely no one (alive) in her corner, so girl’s got to do what a girl’s got to do to get that sense of safety.

I just really, really despise that bracelet and wish the story was already done with it. Cordelia notices it multiple times as a wink, wink, nudge, nudge to the readers but is totally incapable of drawing the line between it and James’ behavior.

ANNA. She is glamorous. She smiles like the sphinx. She can seduce multiple people in one evening. She is elegant, composed. Her bedchamber is infamous. She had the Herondale blue eyes. Her hair was the same black as James’s. Herondale black, the color of the wings of a crow. Her blue eyes were the exact color of Will’s (despite that Cecily is her mother and has the same eye color as her brother, violet-blue or not quite blue, not quite violet). She and James share the same crow-black hair, like Will’s and Cecily’s, and the same chiseled, angular faces. Her blue eyes sparkle. Her blue eyes narrow. Her blue eyes darken. She rolls her blue eyes. She has a considering look in her blue eyes.

Did you know Anna has dark hair and blue eyes? Of the Herondales?

She also doesn’t seem to remember her cousin Eugenia.

“Anna flipped through the book. There were many pages, and many names written in a bold, sprawling hand.

“Hmm, let me see. Katherine, Alicia, Virginia—a very promising writer, you should look out for her work, James —Mariane, Virna, Eugenia—”

“Not my sister Eugenia?” Thomas nearly upended his cake.

“Oh, probably not,” Anna said.”

What. The. Heck. Man.

TATIANA. She has just become a laughable villain. Though the writing offers her some empathy for her grief, the epilogue makes her even more cartoonish than the Enclave meeting after the mansion in Idris burnt down. Also, as the laws of wanking for Herondales dictate:

Herondales, Tatiana thought as she made her way to the Italian gardens. Tainted blood ran in their veins. In her opinion, their name dominated the history books more than it should. There should be far more instances of the name “Lightwood” and less of the name “Herondale.”

C’mon. Seriously. You thought you were sly, didn’t you?

ALASTAIR. The only emotionally charged scenes were between Alastair and Cordelia. I enjoyed Alastair and Cordelia’s scenes together, though I don’t think Clare understands a thing about siblings. Similarly how Isabelle never stands up for Alec, Cordelia never stands up for Alastair.

Grace has no one in her corner, Alastair only has Cordelia. And I so hate that Matthew, James, and Thomas are protecting her affection by not telling Cordelia what Alastair has done and said. There were beautiful moments between Cordelia and her brother that actually showed the depth and strength of their siblinghood, so imagining that Cordelia would completely turn against her brother if she knew is bewildering to me. Especially since, like Thomas knows little, Cordelia knows Alastair’s true nature, and it is not all angry and bitter. So this scene:

“There are some people who do not deserve one.” Matthew’s voice was fierce. “If I ever catch you considering befriending Alastair, James—”

“Then what?” James said, arching an eyebrow.

“Then I will have to tell you what Alastair said to me the day we left the Academy,” said Matthew. “And I would rather not. Cordelia should never know it, if nothing else. She loves him and she should be allowed that.”

Cordelia. There was something about the way Matthew said her name. James turned to him, puzzled. He wanted to say that if Alastair had truly said something so awful it would threaten Cordelia’s affection for him, Matthew should not suffer it in silence, but there was no chance. Christopher had burst out the front door, pulling on gloves.”

Really gives me no hope that Cordelia would remain loving her brother and knowing the truth despite everything because this is Clare. There is no gray, no in-between when someone in the Clique is slighted—you choose your side. Alastair is already singled out, just so a groups of rich boys can be the victims (though I recognize Matthew, for instance, has a big personal demon to tackle too). But it’s the singling out that always provokes my ire. Alastair who is already been subjected to racism, discrimination, and bullying. But guys, James has incredibly beautiful demon eyes and was bullied for them. And someone talked shit about Matthew and his family.

Once again, herein lies the problem I have with this setting with these kind of characters. As always, there are the characters that are central to the story, and they can do no wrong in ways that are actually wrong and recognized as that. James gets expelled from the Academy because of false accusations and, by extension, discrimination against the demon blood in him. It was really Alastair’s fault. All of it really is. None of them can do (though don’t I think Thomas or Christopher would because they are pretty much sweethearts) reprehensible things that would make them actually flawed (like characters like Alastair and Jessamine). Actually making mistakes and doing bad things, having misjudgments and misbehavior, and above all, overcoming all that and growing and trying to do better and be better.

MATTHEW. Matthew has green eyes. They also sparkle and glitter and shine a lot. Or something.

I don’t think there were many scenes where Matthew wasn’t drinking. Obviously his alcoholism is the central battle he faces in his journey through the book. But only handful of the scenes ever really had characters addressing it—or really at all. Lucie was the only one to speak frankly, but she brought it up from the perspective of James’ safety.

When Elias Carstairs was reveal to have been drunk (at least at this time, I don’t know if Chain of Iron somehow again will change the story as I know it) and that had cost many lives because of an error he made while drunk, it did mirror how Matthew hadn’t done the same yet but could very well be walking towards the same future where his drunkenness could cost other people their safety or lives in battle.

It is such a serious matter, but it was treated as an open secret the whole book, rather on the nose too which made it irritating seeing all the characters gloss over it most of the time. Teenagers can’t help teenagers, it’s understandable, but Will, for one, seemed acutely aware of Matthew before they got interrupted in that one scene. No one brings up their worries to the adults either—well, they tell the adults absolutely nothing and then try to trap a major demon in a Pyxis.

The problem of having all previous characters from TID be present in the story is also making them seem rather absent parents at times, unaware how their children fare in the world.

RANDOM THOUGHTS IN NO PARTICULAR ORDER:

i. Tessa is luminous. Tessa is wonderful. Can someone go take the keyboard away from Clare.

ii. “Your mother had brutal teachers. They held her against her will and forced her to Change. It must have been terrifying, and painful. James was silent. You know that your mother has not used her power since the end of the Clockwork War. Since then the act of shape-shifting has been… difficult for her. Painful. She has chosen not to do it.” Must have been? Wouldn’t Jem know that it was? The point: Tessa has suffered paaaaain, you see.

iii. “James had gone to Shadowhunter Academy for only a few months; he’d met Thomas, Matthew, and Christopher there, and they’d promptly blown up a wing of the school.” This is so strange to me that they only met when they were a lot older even though they are relatives and children of people that are incredibly close? Because when James is thinking about Barbara: “He had not been extremely close with his cousin—the difference in age between them meant she regarded him indulgently as a child, as she did Thomas— but she had been there all his life, kind and cheerful, without her sister’s sharp tongue, always expecting the ready best of everyone. He had never lived in a world without Barbara in it.” Which would suggest otherwise???

iv. Can the plot not always feature the Big Dumb Clave with their heads up in their own assess? Also, it is important for the book to remind that even though the Clave is being Big Dumb, Tessa and Will are doing all they can to make things better at least!

v. “The four of you are tightly knit,” said Cordelia. “Anyone could see that. And none of you is so simple. Thomas is more than just kind, and Christopher more than beakers and test tubes, Matthew more than wit and waistcoats. Each of you follows his own star—but you are the thread that binds all four together. You are the one who sees what everyone needs, if anyone requires extra care from their friends, or even to be left alone. Some groups of friends drift apart, but you would never let that happen.” Are you trying to tell me how to read these characters? No, they really are that simple.

vi. Charles, I don’t even know. Seems to really want to be a Consul, I guess.

vii. Note to self: Lucie cannot be trusted to keep watch.

viii. Merry Thieves is a dumb name.

ix. With James, Cordelia, and Matthew, it’s the same love triangle all over again.

x. Same immortal characters circle the series. This time also featuring Lily. Once they were all in England. Nowadays in America.

xi. I’m honestly not rooting for any romance. Just rooting for Cordelia and Alastair getting their shit together as siblings and family.

xii. Belial outright refuses to be an interesting villain.

xiii. Elias’ trial was wayyy easily solved. Pretty fucked up for their justice system that continues being fucked up anyway.

xiv. The Clave never evolves because the Clave needs to be the scapegoat for every minute thing that could go wrong and hinder the protagonists’ love lives/zero-to-hero journey.

xv. Only quote I really liked: “Sona smiled at her—a weary, worried smile, the smile of so many Shadowhunter parents down through the ages who had watched their children march into the night, carrying blades blessed by angels, knowing they might never return.” Highlights the Shadowhunter aspect of being a parent in their odd, odd world.

xvi. A lot of the characters in the different series are really interchangeable. Slap Jace somewhere here and I probably wouldn’t question him talking. These kids are once again another renditions of their parents.

xvii. Belial says he wanted James to be a bit older as his vessel, so why the hell he started implementing his plan before James got to grow up and mature more?? The whole plan was only to make them soft against the demons he sent. Surely even more time could do that.

xviii. This book was flat as hell. My brain is fried. This was a mess.