#huh... that's inchresting for real for real

[stabbyfoxandrew]

Aerie

This is crazy, I was watching a TV show yesterday, let’s reassume it with “some money was stuffed in a man's underwear in a bar” 😊

The same evening I dreamt you had added a new wip to your au entitled ALITS = “a light in the shadow" in which Jean just escaped from the Ravens, entered a (gay) night club where Kevin was performing as a beautiful handsome gorgeous sexy dancer.

Night after night, Jean lost his head for Kevin, swam wide in his new sexuality and right then Kevin offered him private sessions (as a stripper and well stripping Jean as well 🤭)

Unfortunately the dream came to an end, but you seemed the right person to share it.

(feel free to use the idea, if you like it?)

🤗

oh my godddd that sounds incredible anon! if i knew anything about strip clubs,,, i would totally write that! but alas, i don't TWT

[laughinglikespring]

if you see me listening to ttpd standard on loop, no you dont.

[716chr]

“WE ARE M・T・T・B” - Chapter 1

📍 HAMA House’s Terrace

Chihiro: Soooo, here’s the deal~!

Chihiro: To all the lovely Chiitizens watching the stream right now, Chii’s got a hot announcement for all of you~!

Chihiro: Remember that dance vid Chii did with Ten-cham? It, like, went totally mega-bombshell-viral thanks to all of you ♪ So, thanks a bunchies for all the love and views!

Chihiro: And that ain’t even all, ‘cuz here’s the real-real-real-reeeal kicker! That vid was so viral it landed Chii an invite to the “Street Dance Extravaganza” with all the top influencers around~!

Chihiro: Ahaha! Nice to see you guys just as hyped~!

Chihiro: Wuzzup wuzzup~? “Isn’t the ‘Street Dance Extravaganza’ the one with all the top dancers from around the world?”

Chihiro: “Our Chii-sama’s gonna become a global sensation!”?

Chihiro: Doesn’t matter where, Chii will always be right by your side ♪

Chihiro: Hmm? “That vid was so dope, I’ve been looping it constantly! You’re definitely gonna enter, right?”

Chihiro: Abso-cutely Chii’ll be there~! Chii’s all set to join anyway, ‘cuz y’know, influencer events like this get massive clout, right?

Chihiro: My boss was like, “Join the event and make HAMA Tours even more famous!”

Chihiro: “Are you going solo?”, Man~, figured y’all would be curious ‘bout that.

Chihiro: There’s a solo category and a team category for teams of five or more people, and you can choose either~.

Chihiro: Since it was the vid with Ten-cham that got us here, Chii thought it’d be so totally awesome if we could compete together. So, Chii’s goin’ in with a team! Ten-cham’s our first confirmed member ♪

Chihiro: At first, he was all, “What a pain in the ass”, but after some diligent daily persuasion from yours truly, he gave in! Impressive, right?

Chihiro: “I’m sooo stanning Chii-Ten’s friendship right now.”? Aww, that makes Chii real happie~!

Chihiro: And with that being said! The remaining 3 members are gonna be a fun and inchresting bunch, all handpicked by Chii——

Neighborhood Cat: Meow.

Chihiro: Hm? “Is that cat one of the members?”

Chihiro: Nooooo, ‘course not, this kitty and her babies have just been wandering ‘round here recently. The real members will be revealed during this stream~

Chihiro: Haha! Guys, chill! We’re gonna do a surprise reveal righty now~!

📍 HAMA House - Snake Room

Chihiro: Up first, we got the color wizard, Kirokkuma~!

Kiroku: ……..Natsuyaki……san?

Nanaki: What’s with this “Up first” thing?

Chihiro: Come on over, you’ll see, so c’mon~♪ Chii’s gonna borrow Kirokkuma for a bit, kay!?

Nanaki: Ah, sure, go ahead.

Kiroku: Wh…Wha….

📍 HAMA House - Horse Room

Chihiro: Comin’ up next isss~ The Avant-Garde helmet guy, Munecchi!

Muneuji: Natsuyaki-san, what are you doing here with Kinugawa?

Ushio: Wait, huh!? You got a camera with you…..! Don’t tell me this is a livestream? Please, don’t show my face on there.

Chihiro: No worries, put some trust in Chii’s filming skills, mmkay~? Alright, Munecchi, c’mere~!

Chihiro: As for our final member…..You, who’s watching the stream right now. Chii’s comin’ to get you…. So wait patiently, alright? ♪

📍 HAMA House - Boar Room

Toi: Aaah~~~~~! I’m so excited! Who’s the last member? Who is he going to pick up!?

Toi: Always know how to keep us on the edge of our seats, Chii-sama, no matter where or when….. You really are the ultimate idol ever…..!

Toi: Huh.

Chihiro: Annnd there we have it~! Our final member, the pure-hearted angelic fortune-teller, Sugarael, aka Tonya~♪

Toi: …….Huh……. Whaaa……

Chihiro: Ahaha, Tonya, did cat got your tongue? So kyute!

Toi: M-Me…….. Huh?

Chihiro: So, with this team, we’re gonna rock the hell out of that event~! Everyone, be sure to hype us up with everything you got, Chii’s leavin’ this honor to y’all ♪ Well then, that’s it for today’s stream! Buh-bye~!

TL Notes:

Chiitizens: Term I coined for Chihiro’s fandom name (ちぃ民)

Sugarael: Toi’s alias (シュガエル) is a pun between “Sugar” and “Michael” so I just combined them in English like that

[dexaroth]

megapost of commentary on the watcher dlc that ill keep editing multiple times below the read more hehe

HOLY FUCKING SHIT THIS IS THE BEST TITLE SCREEN ART EVER. the nice blue and purple ooough.. and what are those glittery moth things. they remind me of the way the batflies get turned into white pixies in the random buff mod

i always stare at the cutscene art so much bc it looks so nice and yet so simple. the parallax and blur effects make it so much more than just cutscenes. god i love the cutscene artworks

spent a lot of time fucking around (going up and turning back at the industrial complex region) and died to rain bc i didnt really see much point in saving just yet. oh well

i also completely forgot about the echo vision. which im gguessing, like saint, i have to find an echo. oops

Also Also one. annoyed that i cant eat meat and two. Why are there king vultures. AND why is that industrial complex region supposedly not behind a gate A N D why does it look like a bottomless pit though i think it isnt bc it doesnt have the famous pit gradient. god i miss the screen peek mod

i also just realized there are no batflies nearby?? rain world without batflies. can you fucking imagine. how

ITS THE SECOND DLC WHY ARE THE SHELTERS STILL THESE SHITTY BOXES. MAKE BETTER SHELTERS!!!! RAAAAGH

release me wench!! (i injured them and am awaiting the once present scavs to come back for some reason) -> i died lol

ok well i explored all pipes and it seems the only way is to go to the IC pit apparently. wack. i dont remember whether downpour named the starting regions or not. i wonder if i could go back up the intro ledge with a squidcada

ah. it really was just a named starter area. always cute when they do this thing of using an out of bounds part of a vanilla room as part of a 'new' region

went straight to chimney canopy since ic doesnt have an echo and im assuming this is a future timeline where pebbles is dead or collapsing. also the echo sent me to a room that wasnt rot-infected before yet it is now. dunno what to make of that

eww. what the fuck is this pulsating thing. if i can ill bring it to a shelter and see if it hatches or something bc apparently it tastes bad. also why are there so many bugs everywhere. good lird <- brought to a shelter and slept. nothing happened. i gguess theyre just rotted? or have bugs in them? they only exist in areas with a lot of bugs so..

ok. everything is rotten and a lot of regions are lost to rotten pipes. and the mysterious echo replaced all the others and theres fucking bugs everywhere. nasty! its not even blue rot, its the purple rot. i dont remember what campaign has the purple rot tbh. rivulet i think? it keeps sending me to the same place and im getting annoyed at the back tracking, but i also think the echo doesnt want me bothering it apparently?

OOOOOOOOO

oh god the lizards are rotting.

torrential highways! i can inside the little wagons! awww

FINALLY a different shelter. get real

oh wow. straight up portals. inchresting. hello coral caves

AETHER RIDGE LETS FUCKINGG GOOOOOOO <- i forgot about the annoying wind mechanic. nevermind

WHAT IS THIS CUTE THING???

OH MY GOD YOU CAN EAT THEM NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!! theyre so cutes..

ah. i believe ive been poisoned

gonna give this thing the time of its life

ok well clearly theres these purple signal hotspots that need Something to be done to them but other than that i feel very clueless. gguess ill just fuck around anhd find out. tomorrow. im tired

my spiky slug guy simply despawned from my shelter. rip lil dude

huh. at first i thought they were like batteries, but then i thought they looked like test tubes and. well

speared this guy to see if they were unkillable like those damned frogs but erm? poison spear? and they didnt die either lol <- ok well they survive one hit but not two. and the one lizard i hit with the spear died so cant really say if its poisonous or not

i thought the yellow ring meant i already got the echo in the region but its absolutely the contrary and i was going crazy in rusted wrecks for no reason. theres always this one stupid obvious thing i get wrong. sigh. also there were so few rooms with a sand ground which is kinda sad.. i hope the snowy ground region has the same or more amount of rooms

badlands has been the most impressive so far though the moths are an absolute pain in the ass. i saw a scav use a spore puff though which is really cool. i never saw them do that even in downpour or arena, i wonder if its part of the dlc <- also i immediately lefft bc i found the echo in the first like 7 rooms lol. will go back later. heat is not my element

oh god what have i done <- food. yummy but also gross. ew

whoag.. floating whale.. also why did the echo marking in the map icons disappear. am i nearing the end?

go, my flying horsies

oh wow that was actually the intended solution to get to the other side. fucking awesome <- nevermind, you can grasp their whiskers apparently. neat either way

im atop the right(if there is another one?) tower in this pink region and im convinced theres literally no other way to get up here. i had to do trickshots off vultures bc there really seems like no other way. considering i was meant to grab the whiskers there i can only guess there HAS to be another way but. how on earth???

what the hell is the deal with this echo girl. whats up with her. is anything gonna make sense ever

WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM ME!!!! WAAAAAAUUUGHGUAAAGH

ok read the wiki and i dont have the karma for that. also i started today at 11h in the save and am kinda pissed i dont know where to go. eventually found the portal to unfortunate development though but im still annoyed i couldnt just make new portals -_-

there seems to be a rotted leviathan in the walls and somehow the pips indicate Something will happen at the end of the cycle.. scary

went to the left side of outer rim for absolutely nothing apparently. must be some kind of end game thing. but i do like the sandy part of the region quite a bit! i wonder what all the green glitter is though.

machine riser started playing help. scary. scared

ok theres fucking nothing in these towers apparently. well there was one of those waypoint markers that i cant do anything about but i had to just jump off bc the cycles are so small. annoyed rn

not sure if its a glitch but it seems slugcat is getting used to eating the rotten fruits? sometimes they faint sometimes not, but the times they do the stun seems to take less time. inchresting <- nevermind, eating rotten popcorn it just seems the stuns are uncommongly faster. sometimes

dude. that's where i already am. what

IVE ALREADY BEEN HERE WHY. WHYYYY. i dont have enough 'ripple' for that!!!! ughhhh. i am gonna mouse drag and do whatever i want this is so annoying

welp apparently ive explored the entire region already and didnt get anything from it. i guess all i can do now is go to other echo-marked regions apparently.

ive gotta say that while all the regions have been neat the fact that youre just a cowardly survivor is really really boring. this wouldve been fine if it was the first dlc but like, this really has been a walking simulator more than anything. i dont think ive really been enjoying it. there isnt any history for any of the regions (that i know of so far) so they really are entirely disconnected and hard to care about :/

[marswasnothere]

The edibles were very fun

We had music playing on the TV and I kept getting distracted staring at the album covers with a 1000 yard stare apparently. So, my friends would start laughing and every single time I would turn around and go "huh? What's funny?"

We also were playing board games and I don't even know what was happening?? There was this fnaf board game and like... I was drifting off man, that game was naaawt real (it was a bad board game LMFAO) also did monopoly and somehow that's the best I've played it

inchresting. Take note good jester, the edibles make you an economic genius 🤔

[justablah56]

My step dad just got a new job and suddenly my mom bought on brand groceries???? We have like real oreos and highland cheese what??? How much is he being payed????

oh huh. inchresting.

[daenystheedreamer]

pls more abt viserys Omaegorverse I'm so fascinated it's insane and i honestly think grrm would b proud

im so happy u love it and this means so much but i do NOT think he would be proud 😭 he would read my posts (gun to his head ofc he wouldnt just. do that.) and sit in silence for a few minutes and then he would say. Maegor isnt gay what are you talking about. and i go well thats not really the point and anyway sexuality is kinda fluid and its more about opportunity and power than about sexual attraction although i will concede- and then he sends elio and linda with spears to hunt me down.

he's canonically a nothing character with personality of 'Beloved Of The Commons' n nothing else so i can kinda do whatever tf i want with him which is fun. he's also mostly there to be a sad wet cat that gets kicked by everyone and everyone he loves dies or is weird about him in some way. he's my special little sad uke twink i brutalise for my personal entertainment <3 im so maegorcoded so tyannacoded... anyway more about my babyboy viserys below<3 warning its SOOO long like fifteen fucking paragraphs Jesus christ

trigger warnings for like everything. incest death depression mental instability murder psychosis uhhh. torture and suicide. just all of it do NOT read unless youre like super certain you wanna read about my deviantart OCs because guys it is NOT worth it

childhood pre-Torture Labyrinth. he's born in 29 AC and was 8-ish when he was at the deathbed of Aegon1. aegon the uncrowned is three years older than him, and rhaena is six years older. jaehaerys is 5 years younger, alysanne is 7 years younger vaella who i kept alive is 10 years younger. just to give an idea of ages and general canon info :>

his only personality trait is Promising and Beloved of the commons. i think him and aegon were friends :) younger brother so he followed after him a lot. slightly scared of rhaena the big cool older sister who has a pet dragon. think his granddad is soooo cool doesnt really think about The Implications of conquest or anything. normal boy normal childhood (as normal as possible when ur siblings are married...) also he is gay because it adds to the horrors later on 🥰

something i think is Inchresting is the rhaena, aegon and viserys are named for rhaenys, aegon and visenya :3 i think viserys is like hercules right where he was named in an attempt to appease The Wife. aenys was like hiiiii auntie/stepmum visenya look i named a kid after you you dont wanna kill me right?right? and she looks at this kid who didnt claim a dragon isnt a girl isnt maegor and goes oh so youre insulting me huh.

i think rhaena aegon viserys had a slightly weird dynamic. rhaena the lesbian getting forcibly betrothed to her younger brother by her father is gonna make things weird, also aegon was 15 and rhaena 18 which adds just the best most awesome sauce to the mix. i think viserys had very complicated feelings on that especially if he is gay cos like... rhaena obviously does not love her brother romantically right. so u are a boy and ur sister is a lesbian but you dont have that word. and you are gay and your brother is cool and the crown prince and everyone is screwing their siblings and that makes your brain chemistry weird. and now your brother is marrying your gay sister. What about you. the dragon has three heads??? idk he's like 12 at this point he just goes back to playing hide and seek with jae+aly.

Uh oh daddy's dead. daddy's dead and uncle maegor is king now with his three wives. Uh oh. oh awesome he's kidnapped you and you're his squire now that's so cool. well its mostly a power play and hes not actually making u do anything as long as you stay locked in the red keep all day he leaves you alone. also maegor's insane girlfriend stares at you like you're a baby lamb that would make a delicious lamb tostada. but hey your big brother aegon has a dragon now and him and rhaena are gonna save you soon. Uh oh aegon's dead. aegon's dead and maegor is king for real for real.

everyone steers clear of you in the keep. you used to play with your siblings and the commoners and you used to play on dragonstone and kings landing and now no one wants to touch you. no one is calling you maegor's squire now, the pretence is gone. you are maegor's hostage. you fantasise about a different outcome, where maegor took you to the battle as his squire, and that you being there might have changed what happened. maybe you could have warned aegon. but you know nothing would have changed. youre not a dragonrider. you're worthless you're powerless. youre 14 years old :)

alys harroway is dead. maegor killed his wife. you knew alys, you saw her around the keep. she seemed very nice. she was very quiet and stayed in her rooms. she was always pregnant. you wonder why she married maegor, why she and tyanna are so strange with each other. you hear rumours. you wish you had talked to her. but she's dead now. maegor killed her. maegor tortured her. she's a whore now. you look out the window and see her rotting leg on a stake outside, her torso on another. you wish you had talked to her.

visenya targaryen the looming shadow over your life, the woman you're named after who looked at you with nothing but scorn, is dead. your mother is gone and she took jae and aly. what about you? what about you? is she not your mother too? are you not her little boy anymore? you are 15 years old. maegor killed alys' family when he was angry with her. is he going to kill you now?

ok second person pov over the gimmick is getting lame. anyway this is where the AU deviates: instead of viserys dying of torture, maegor is like hey maybe my nephew will be more fertile than my BITCH wives. and visenya the blood witch before her death compiled a bunch of old valyrian a/b/o fanfiction and said son if you ever find yourself with infertile wives. Consult These Texts. then tyanna and maegor made viserys mpreggable i dont care about how or like. what his body looks like. im not into the fetish of omegaverse LMAO i dont want to think about the fertilisation or birthing process or what organs he has thats unnecessary. only thing thats important is viserys can incubate babies and they are birthed via c-section :3

quick lore dump: vis is forced to maegor -> rhaena crashes the wedding but vis is so broken at this point he just doesnt want anyone else to die and has resigned himself to maegor so rhaena reluctantly surrenders -> alyssa jae and aly DO go to the red keep after they find out about the wedding and jae dies fighting maegor which makes viserys fully break -> alyssa now has husband dead 2 kids dead her son is queen and she also loses her fight :( lives on dragonstone with alive vaella -> alysanne is given to the faith -> rhaena agrees to a truce and she is hand of the king now and viserys' main protector -> vis gets pregnant and the kid is basically a reincarnation of jaehaerys -> tyanna loses her shit and tries to murder/sterilise/whatever viserys so maegor kills her cos he's finally got his babymaker -> vis has a daughter who's the reincarnation of tyanna -> faith uprising, shut down -> vis has his second daughter final child daenys who's birth is heralded by the martyrdom of poxy jeyne poor in the quashed faith uprising

vis is in the torture labyrinth for a couple decades. life sucks husband sucks everyone is weird about him. very death in venice people are weird about the boy type deal. has to wade through gender and sexuality politics of westeros which means several men going utterly insane about him including a couple kingsguard knights (celibate hypermasculine freaks bound to be insane sexually). one point early-ish on he DOES start believing this one kingsguard knight will save him from The Hells The Horrors but maegor finds out and kills that guy adn sexually humiliates viserys in front of the kingsguard and makes their son watch. So that fucks up vis' psyche for a while :3

rhaena and alysanne try to convince him to rebel and run away that they will use their dragons and fight. but maegor has made vis so paranoid and crazy he thinks maegor knows everything knows all his thoughts so he's terrified of plotting escape cos he thinks maegor will kill everyone. plus maegor made sure to force kids onto him early so that vis wouldnt be able to leave :3 world's most evil babytrap of all time.

vis doesnt interact with anyone except rhaena aly maegor his kids and the kingsguard so yeah its bad for him. ceryse hangs around for a while but shes like yeah i dont want any part of this shit dude being queen is NAWT worth it and she goes back to the hightower to plot marrying her niece off to maegor's son.

also there's a curse on the kingsguard all of them die really horribly and early. its a fun little thing for me personally because in f&b maegor's kinsguard is cartoonishly bad and jae's is cartoonishly perfect so i though Hey what if we did a little curse on the kingsguard ey. that would be fun. the only guy who stays long is a bracken because brackenfail cancels out knightfail. he's all godly and pissy about the gay marriage thing but he's also a monarchist so even though he think maegor is satan he's like well. he is my king i must serve him i obey my vows. he thinks viserys is a freak of nature but slowly grows to respect him and helps kill maegor + takes the fall for it. they have a weird father figure/white knight/weird tension thing that never gets consummated yay ^_^ the maegor torture labyrinth will have you 21 years old and best friends with a 50 year old celibate knight like dang where tf ser bracken at today 🥹

viserys snaps in 66AC with no like big catalyst or anything. he just has a good day where he's mostly lucid and he's angry and he's tired of everything and he's sick of maegor and he wants freedom he wants to be free. he wants to breath the air without panicking that maegor is going to hurt him. and maegor says some disgusting comment to him while theyre alone in the throne room and vis just snaps and start fighting him. daenys shows up cos she had her own Visions and Voices and they just start whaling on him. bracken knight helps too he takes most of maegor's counter attacks his organs are all over the floor but maegor dies impaled on the throne YAY

vis is like. A bit better for a while. his son is now king and vis is seeing that oh it doesnt get better does it people will still die. also his son jae has this weird oedipus complex about him thanks to maegor's insane parenting and viserys is fully aware of that so its not fun times for him. jae and daenys try to make him better try to invent therapy but its the middle ages they dont have that yet. they finally send him off to harrenhal (BAD IDEA) because they think viserra (the elder daughter btw, the tyanna one) might be able to cure him with her weird witchcraft. they think she's insane too but its the last option... viserra thinks vis is lame and weak but she does love him in ehr own way or maybe just pities him. anyway she does her best and it works for a while but viserys sorta gives up cos the depression is too much. and viserra believes in euthanasia as a mercy and thinks this is best for him this will let him be at peace. daenys has a premonition about it and tries to stop him. she has a big blowout fight with jae about it too and curses his bloodline and prophesises the long night. burned the red keep a little bit, you know how it is.

blah blah blah anyway daenys and vis end up dying in the gods eye together in a murder/suicide suicide/suicide murder/murder whatever. viserra has the lake dragged and they're found holding each other like a mother and her fetus :3

Fucks sake this post is long. holy shit holy fuck. my fucking bad guys my bad im so sorry. Holy shit. anyway thats my deviant art oc tee hee ^_^

[highoctanegem]

LOL! I mean, we love the occasional Peascake Factory date, and your typical leisure strolls, especially when I bring the wheelbarrow and she gets to. And going for tacos. And sometimes we also get take out, to enjoy a chill night in, movies type of deal. Huh... I do love eating with her as much as I'm sensing a theme. Oh, and the bog, how can I forget the bog? Or the cemeter Nope, too reveal But even if we march by the beat of our own drums, that doesn't mean we can't do regular hangouts! What are you thinking? Clubbing? Bar? Regan went to a club once. There was a tiger? And mimes? Inchresting. I mean, Regan runs cold, isn't that kinda

[user follows Kit and links her account in return. user rates everything 5, then proceeds to give her real Bloodworth scale rating]. Absolutely! Plus, ads? Nuh huh. We're literally back to cable. Wake up, people! This isn't what we wanted. Also, they can't even be good cable, cause they keep canceling stuff. LOL! I can't take a character seriously if their name is Karen :/ No way it was intentional. You know how they keep saying every movie has the first gay character ever? They never commit! Animation my beloved, indeed! We need more 2D also.

I guess we are. What kind of gay hangouts do you two enjoy? Keep the answers SFW, there could be children reading this. Or grandmas. Or both. A title for her fashion choices? That's a little vague. I'll be judging her fashion accordingly when we do this gay hang, for the record. Oh, you have to get on that. 'Tis the season to fuck a snowman and all that.

I absolutely have a Letterboxd account. [user links it. i'm just picturing ayo's letterboxd here, tbh.] Piracy is the preferred method for movie watching. Who has the time for 1000 subscription services now? Sophia Bush was there, and her char's name was Karen. I guess you could argue queer subtext, but who knows if it was intentional. The live action remakes are so overrated. Who needs them? Animation is fine.

[evilvarric666-archive]

as someone who at one point could’ve been described as part of the proshipper then as part of an anti “community” you’re absolutely right! proshippers/anti antis/whatever they’re called now very much are more organized about it and it’s definitely something I’d feel comfortable calling a community. The anti “community” however just isn’t really? i originally started called myself an anti both ironically and as a reaction to the Things that happened in the proship community, which was super common among other “antis”(and they mostly got that label by being called that and then just rolling with it) side note to everyone tho: never ever join the bnha fandom. Ever.

tldr: basically proshippers tend be people who actually call themselves that and form a community based around it, while antis tend to be people who were called that and, for some reason or another, called themselves the term as a reaction.

(just to be clear here i don’t actually consider myself either of these things anymore, but i do get called an anti a lot so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯)

Oh hey thank you for chiming in! It's nice hearing from someone who's been in closer with these groups than I have.

[iamfabiloz]

hmmm u know how sleeks whole fandom thing was that she liked darktail n all and she’s evil and does murdery stuff 4 him but like I was skimming avos river of fire and this scene makes me thimk

She hates rowanclaw and blames him for what darktail did?? She doesn’t like darktail?? What huh but JWKW what cats is she talking abt??? Crowfrost? Dawnpelt?? Did she not kill her mom real?? She was miserable growing up she says hmmm her whole supporting darktail bit that was cuz she hated Rowan 4 not dealing with him?? Or did she believe in him bc she thought he would give her a bette r life than Rowan, but then realized he was bad when he was killing people she liked she redirected the blame on Rowan 4 not stopping him?

Also this part it could have been sleekwhisker faking her shock, but when leaf is telling them abt the terrible things darktail has done, is she like oh man he’s even more horrible than I thought?? She pins the blame on rowanclaw for her being sad as a kit and his weak leadership for not getting rid of darktail, so darktail did hurt her too and she knows he’s awful?? Sleek isn’t a darktail Stan in this book or mom killer potentially??

in other books I know she’s like number one darktail supporter but this also makes me think like what hmmm shakes sleekwhisker WHAT IS GOING ON IN YOUR MIND maybe she’s still like sticking and making herself follow darktail bc she can’t bear to grovel to Rowan LMAO but then bee and dawnpelt dies and that’s when she realizes he’s bad bc people she cares dies hmmm

Idk it’s 5am and im dead tired so I probably misread smth lmao but I think this is rlly inchresting…

[toririvas]

Part three! We're finishing the listen today. I feel it.

Lake trip, simple truth or dare. Angela has some sort of sun reliant power? Eh?

Back to Mary .. sticky note man? An animator? Neat! Agatha.

That siren made everyone too chill and Nick is paranoid about it until he can't be anymore. Alice is SO down bad.

She's lost in the woods, somewhere in South Cali and she's never gonna make it to LA-- lmao.

"I have you trapped here and you're gonna *talk*." They're so dysfunctionally cute. Nick is trying to lie his way out of Alice's brain. Gaslight gatekeep girlboss, king.

"You had to invent a whole new me to be attracted to me!" Nick you like her back oh my god. THEY'RE MAKING OUT IN THE WOODS. i fucking knew it.

"that kiss was for the /real/ you." AAAAUGH

Vince got jumped by Sasha ! Lmao.

Stella v Roy, this is maybe the funniest mid-fight dialogue. He's just a down home classic southern gentleman, I get it lmao. I knew that would end like that with fuckin what's her names pheromones in the air.

Back to school. Lmao, somebody glaciered (Michael). Alice is putting on the fucking moves.

Vince gets extra training, neat. Sparks close up, fire long range. Fun!

Ethics of being a hero. Fuuuun!

Finals prep. Okay, makes sense to have the week off. Can't imagine how poor Chad is coping. He must miss it. Nick has an eidetic memory question mark? Or just a very good one. That's pretty neat. Threat evaluation is solid stuff.

Roy v Stella again! They're buddies in battle! And Violet is there too, she weakens people iirc?

Chad is so weirdly eloquent. Like it's so ... He's so robotic. Poor thing. Feels wrong. Stop using big words, nerdass.

"What do we do?" "We could play DnD?" "Mm, n-" "Movies?" "DnD it is!" LMAOOO

Carnival time. Aw, Alice

WHO TAZED HERSCH AND MARY??

MICHAEL GOT GIVEN THAT FOLDER? AND THIS IS HIS REVENGE?

Sasha asked the question and Vince can't fuckin lie! Oh god!

They're reconvening. Who's this? Agatha. Okay, she's a good egg. Nice girl.

It was the coaches, or someone who looks like them. Huh !

"they took our fucking kids!" Goddddd!!!! Vince has a paladin instinct. Nick is trying to dip, Alice punched his glasses off. Fucking queen.

"I did what I had to!" Rip into him, Alice, kill him with WORDS!!

He's so paranoid. My god. Okay they wanted Mary, Herschel is collateral. I'm anticipating a Roy appearance soon solely because George called Hersch useless.

Nick is going to leave, or so he claims. Vince is walking into a fire- where'd transport take him, fucking Centralia?

HOW IS THIS GOING TO RESOLVE IN AN HOUR? HOW?

Okay. Nick is in, decidedly not an incompetent asshole by his own word. All of the people from The Company are named like those books. Insanity but very funny. Mr. Move, Ms. Tracker?

THEY GLOW!!! THEY G L O W YOUVE GOT WESKER EYES MY BOY!!!

"Roy isn't the only son of Titan!" That seems like an important guy.

IS THAT? A WHISKEY COVERED BULLET? YOU ABSOLUTE MADMAN NICK! SHIT! Alice has her friend leader moment, and oh yeah let's go heavy hitter! Paladin nova Vince goooo!

Mary got free, nabbed George, and Vince fucking drained him. Avatar style. Well, that was a hell of a battle. But who were the coaches working for? I figured there had to be a draw for sequels SOMEWHERE.

They don't have to take finals? Pog.

Mary and Alice together, Nick alone. And of course, Mrs. Daniels has decided Vince is her son now! I'm happy about it. Hersch gets another brother! Nice!

Persephone is working with some people trying to, I'm assuming, stop Powereds from infiltrating the ranks of Supers. And Vince's father- his biological one, obviously, - is one of them. Inchresting... I wonder who of the Big Five or whatever he is.

And that's a wrap! A full review will come later today.

[moccahobi]

Eek! What a cool first chapter!

As an introductory chapter, I feel you weave so many important points to keep an eye on in this! Altho there was a lot we were learning about the dynamics of the mc and Tae and Namjoon and his friends, the way you wove exposition into the more action focused scenes of moving in was so wonderful!

We got moments of flashbacks that showed the mc's vulnerability and showed prime character points (like Tae saying Namjoon and the MC were "normal" and Namjoon's subsequent comment normal being relative). The characterization that we got to see as readers was shown through actions and flashbacks in ways that feel so much more tangible and reliable than what a character might say (... tae with his normal).

I also love how the conflict/s that might arise were woven throughout the chapter and slowly laid out/hinted at (LIKE WHEN TAE TOOK TOO LONG TO RESPOND AT THE WE THING? BRO U GET THEM ROOMING TOGETHER WTF U MEAN BY THAT SILENCE?).

There are also moments of humor that are shown through this story which helps keep the mood overall light (like the normal comment... sorry i keep harping on it lolol... and like Tae and the MC knowing Jimin was sleeping instead of helping with moving in). This lightness also really helped ease my mind off of some of the questions that are itching my brain.

Who does the mc know in the ot7 friend group? Have they met the members through Tae? Or will Namjoon also introduce them? Did Tae intentionally not introduce the mc to the members? Why isn't the mc close to them?

How does this theme of loneliness play out further? What will happen next for the mc? How will they grow? Will we see something in Namjoon as well that might need some care as well?

I am HOOKED! And can't wait to continue this series (in 5-10 business months because i am such a slow reader it is tragic... BUT I WILL READ IT!)

My live reation is under the read more.

I feel the living with a man. I don like the idea of it unless I know them well!

Oooof. That's tough! Not being able to room with who you wanted can be so challenging!

"Actually a good plan" 🤣🤣🤣 I love taes sas!

Their heart ran wild when tae offered his couch???? Do I sense unrequited love??

RIPPPPPPPPPP THEY DEF DO! I HAD JUST ASSUMED TAE TAUGHT THEM FRIENDLY LOVE BUT NOOOOOOOO

Tae bear is such a cute nickname!

😬😬😬 dysfunctional friendship??? What are u alluding to here!?!?

"It'll warm up before fall comes in full force". Ah yes. The autumnal foreplay

Too much stuff! 😭😭😭MEEEEEE

EEK! THEIR MEETING! I'd so do what Namjoon did with knocking too. Just to announce yourself. Esp when norms aren't set yet.

Love how tae said to both of them that the other is normal! 🤣🤣🤣 AND THE SUBJECTIVITY OF NORMAL!

The good person face! 😭😭😭 also I am namjoon awkwardly asking for a number

Inchresting comment abt boredom tae. I wonder if Namjoon would disagree or if I'm projecting 🤔🤔🤔

Oof. The emptieness of a place u just move into is so real! I relate so much.

Oh! I like how Namjoon and the mc have common friends outside of tae! It might make stuff harder if the mc confesses to tae and he lets them down... but that's just an if ówò

THE DOOR OPEN POLITICS! I feel this so hard with like how much it can affect housing dynamics.

YOONGI WIRH THE YOURE WRONG LINE ONGG

I feel the jumping! Also why is he on the floor???

Why did tae take so long after the WE?!? HUH??? HUH???

The awkward "you guys are close" comment 😭

Oof. Taes past relationships sound like they've taken quite a toll on the MC

Oh! Interesting question about how tae sees the mc!

I love how you tie their friendship with tae to loneliness. It really broadens the conflict past unrequited love and to the question of belonging! Which is such a cool and complex one!

I. Your Wild-Running Heart || KNJ

(banner by @/itaeewon)

Title: My Feet to Follow, and My Heart to Hold (Masterpost)

Rating: NSFW - minors dni

Genre: college!au, roomie!au, angst, s2l, the absolute slowest of burns

Pairing: Namjoon x female reader, unrequited Taehyung x reader

Beta'd by @/kookstempo, @/casuallyimagining, and @/toikiii - thank you endlessly!

Summary: You know a lot about the many types of love thanks to Kim Taehyung. You love him as the only person you see as “family”, you love him as your very best friend, and you love him as the beautiful, funny man he’s become. But when a twist of fate during your senior year has you rooming with his good friend Kim Namjoon, you just might find that you have plenty left to learn about love. 

Lesson One: there are such things as a right way and a wrong way to love and to be loved.

//

When your roommate bails last-second and leaves you completely in a bind for the new school year, your best friend Taehyung mentions that his friend Namjoon needs a place off-campus, too.

Section Warnings: language

WC: 7k

The world is mine: blue hill, still silver lake, Broad field, bright flower, and the long white road A gateless garden, and an open path: My feet to follow, and my heart to hold. - Journey | Edna St. Vincent Millay

Friday August 28 

“Please, no,” you beg. “Please tell me this is a joke. I can’t live with a man. Do you know what men are like?”

Taehyung, quite a specimen of man last time you checked, cocks an eyebrow at you. “Y/N,” he says flatly. “You’re doing it again.”

It meaning being dramatic, and you resent that implication.

You whine, shuffling your feet unhappily. “But Tae,” you say - okay, you whine. “If my roommate is a guy, then I have to wear a bra in the apartment, like, all the time.”

“Oh my god,” he says, throwing his hands in the air, completely over you. “Do you want my help or not? What are your other options right now?”

How nice of him to ask. 

You’d been so excited to lease an apartment off-campus for your final year of university, even more excited to share it with a girl in your writing program named Penny. You hadn’t thought twice about putting the lease in only your own name, but when Penny texted you - the audacity of her to not even call - to say she wasn’t going to return in the fall after all, you were stuck with the responsibility.

So, since Taehyung asked, your options are this: pay the entire rent by yourself (impossible), or find a roommate, fast. 

“Namjoon’s a really good friend of mine,” Taehyung tries again. “I am personally vouching for him that he’s not a weirdo or a creep. His building flooded and he’s in a bind - just like you. He’s nice, he’s smart, and he’s normal.”

“What about clean?” you prod. 

Taehyung shrugs. “Cleaner than me.”

You sigh. You know Taehyung is right - you need someone quickly, and at this rate you’re bound to only find creeps. At least this guy - even though he’s a guy, which is your main issue - has been vetted.

“You’re not very clean,” you tell your best friend.

He grins at you, guilty as charged. 

“Could we talk first?” you suggest, nerves churning. “Like, can I meet him?”

Taehyung narrows his eyes at you. “Did you think I was going to drop the key off at his place and say ‘okay, have fun!’?”

“Maybe!” you cry, feeling a little hysterical. 

Taehyung rolls his eyes at you. “Want me to see if he can swing by the place tomorrow?”

The plan for the next day was originally for you two to load up your car through the morning, grab lunch somewhere, and then start moving your stuff into the apartment after you ate. 

“Yeah,” you answered. “That actually sounds like a good plan. Then he can see the apartment, too. And you’ll be there with me.”

“Actually a good plan,” Taehyung parrots with a scoff. “Please.”

After your lunch date, Taehyung drops you back home so you can finish packing. You’d packed a lot already - all of your big pieces of furniture were there already, your bedroom now just a mess of random piles of clothing and your bare mattress on the ground. A lot of what you still had were things you knew you’d need to use again during the days you were starting to pack - toiletries, electronics, that kind of thing. With a sigh, you turn on some music and start pulling hangers out of your closet. 

You think about your situation as you work. You’re disappointed about Penny - you’ve lost a roommate and a good friend, somehow. You’re nervous about meeting Taehyung’s friend Namjoon. You’re somehow both excited for and dreading the academic year starting - your final year, complete with a senior thesis course you’ll have to pass in June. And you’re excited for the apartment - your first one that isn’t an on-campus dorm. 

No campus security knocking on the doors, no RA going through your fridge for forbidden liquor bottles, no shared hallway bathrooms. With your own bedroom in the apartment, you’re guaranteed a space that is just yours, a sanctuary where you can have the quiet you crave and aesthetic you want, your own four walls that are completely your own. 

Taehyung’s apartment, which he shares with two friends, isn’t far from your new one - walking distance, actually. He’d offered you his couch there when Penny first bailed. But even if you took his offer, you’d be charged for breaking your lease, and you’d still have to find something more permanent - which would mean another security deposit, not to mention rent. As long as you kept the optimism that you’d successfully secure and keep a roommate, staying was the cheaper option.

You won’t talk about how you wish Taehyung would offer more than his couch.

You won’t talk about how when he’d said, “You know, you could stay with me,” in that deep, comforting voice of his, your heart had run wild. 

Then he’d continued, “That couch isn’t too bad to sleep on, I’ve done it before. And the guys wouldn’t mind. Then you’d have time to find something new, maybe something you can afford alone?”

And your wild-running heart had stuttered, stumbled, caught its footing, stood still. 

You can’t even get mad at him. He’s trying to help. It’s not his fault - at all - that he doesn’t know that your imagination leapt off a cliff at his words, was already picturing snuggling in his bed, those strong arms tight around your middle, was already picturing waking up to his sleepy smile. 

You don’t pretend for even a second that it’s anyone’s fault but your own. 

--

Around ten pm your Aunt Lin comes and knocks on your open door, looking down at the scene before her: you, sitting cross-legged on your bedroom floor, surrounded by half-closed boxes, miscellaneous items strewn around the floor around you, clothing piled up like mountains around you.

“You don’t look very ready,” she remarks.

“That’s helpful, thank you,” you say. 

Lin has raised you ever since you lost your grandmother, who had taken care of you before that. Your grandmother and Lin are the only parental figures you can really remember, but Lin’s technically only ten years your senior and has always felt more like a big sister than a mother. You can’t fault her for it; she was still quite young when she took over raising you. She certainly didn’t have to take you in, but she had, and she’d done her best. 

Lin chuckles. “Why isn’t Taehyung here helping?”

You roll your eyes. “He’s my friend, not my servant. He’s helping me move all this in tomorrow, that’s plenty.”

Lin shrugs, already disinterested. “Okay,” she says lightly. “Well, I wanted to say good luck with the move, and good luck with school this year. Let me know if you need anything.”

You look up from your packing and take in her appearance. She’s in scrubs, a huge thermos of coffee in her hand. She’s got work tonight, then, and won’t be here in the morning when Taehyung picks you up. You should have figured. 

“Thanks,” you say. 

She shifts, looking down the hall instead of at you, suddenly. Lin’s not great with emotions; it’s where you get it from.

“Okay,” she says. “I’ll see you for winter break? If not before?”

“Yeah,” you say. “Yeah. Definitely by then.”

She nods, tells you goodbye, and heads down the hallway. You hear the front door close, and you’re alone with your boxes. That’s about as mushy as it gets with Lin.

[11:44 PM] Tae Bear 🧸: what time tmrw?

[11:45 PM] You: you drive the car, you tell me

[11:51 PM] Tae Bear 🧸: 10?

[11:54 PM] You: you think that’s enough time to pack up the car and drive there before lunch?

[11:58 PM] Tae Bear 🧸: 🙄 this is why i asked YOU what time

[12:01 AM] Tae Bear 🧸: 😤

[12:02 AM] You: 9:30 

[12:03 AM] You: and bring me iced coffee 🤗 plsssss???

[12:06 AM] Tae Bear 🧸: 🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄

[12:08 AM] You: love u tete

[12:11 AM] Tae Bear 🧸: yeah yeah love you too 

You press the top of your phone into your forehead, closing your eyes. Letting yourself pretend, for just a second, that he could mean it the way you do.

Saturday August 29

Taehyung shows up in the morning - at ten, not nine-thirty, but he has an iced coffee for you in his car, so you let him live. 

It takes you over an hour to load up the car, the boxes and suitcases and garbage bags squished together, shoved impossibly tight, the world’s most desperate game of tetris. Taehyung declares it impossible no less than five times, bemoaning that he’ll have to make the hour drive a second time in order to fit all of your shit. 

In the end, you make it happen. It just takes a little determination. 

The drive to your university is around an hour, depending on traffic. You and Taehyung both don big, goofy aviators and blast music as you sail down the highway, the backseat loaded floor to ceiling. The car is so stuffed, you even have boxes between your feet and on your lap. 

The sun shines brightly down on you as you and Taehyung sing and groove your way through the drive, and you feel… so content, so sure that this is right, that you’re meant to be next to him, like this, forever. Like everything in the universe just clicked together to give you the perfect snapshot of how things are meant to be. 

What if you said it? What if you told him? 

Sometimes, moments like now, you just can’t fathom how he doesn’t feel it too. 

But you know better. You know he doesn’t - doesn’t want to. Something deep inside you tells you to tread carefully with this best friend of yours. Something instinctual tells you that the dysfunctional friendship you’ve crafted together is a Jenga tower and if you so much as nudge the wrong brick, it’s all coming down. 

You eat lunch at a table out in front of a cafe, people watching and basking in the sunlight. It’s the last, trickling days of August, but today’s breezy and cooler. It’ll warm up again before fall comes in full force, you’re sure, but you appreciate the reprieve from the scorching heat, since you’re about to spend several hours hauling boxes up a stairwell.

After lunch, Taehyung drives to your new neighborhood and finds a street-parking spot close to the front entrance of the tall, brick building.

“Okay,” he says. “Now the fun part.”

You giggle. “Have I told you yet that I appreciate you?”

“Elaborate, please,” he says, which is so typical for him. He looks over at you, sunglasses low on his nose.

You roll your eyes, but you’re smiling. “I appreciate you helping me move in. I appreciate you driving me. I appreciate the afternoon you’re about to spend carrying boxes and shit.”

“You’re forgetting something,” he tells you sagely.

You want to whack him in the belly for being so obnoxious, but you can’t risk him dumping all your stuff on the sidewalk and fucking off to let you deal with the stairs on your own. 

“I appreciate you finding me a roommate so I don’t have to sleep on your couch,” you add.

“There we go.” Satisfied, he unbuckles, and you both get out and examine the backseat for whichever Tetris piece seems like it could be removed easiest. Arms full of boxes, you make your way up the steps to the little lobby that houses a wall of mail slots, and then up a second set of stairs to your second-floor apartment.

You set down the box you were carrying and dig out the key, opening the door to your new home.

You really do love this apartment. Through the open space - past the kitchen and through the living room - sunlight streams in through the large front windows that overlook the city block below. You can already see in your mind where you’ll put plants on low tables, or hanging from the ceiling.

You had done the big stuff days ago, with both Lin and Taehyung’s help; Lin had rented a little moving van and you’d loaded up the big furniture. From Lin’s house, you’d taken your bedframe and boxspring, leaving just the mattress in your old bedroom at Lin’s house. You’d also loaded up your low dresser, a nightstand, and two bookshelves. You’d gotten a few pieces from a local repurposing store - a desk to work at and a little swiveling chair to go with it. Your final splurge was an expensive mattress; the one in the store had felt like damn clouds. It was set to be delivered sometime this afternoon. 

You’re already looking forward to going to sleep later.

You and Taehyung try to just put boxes where they’re meant to go. Two boxes end up in your bathroom, another two in the kitchen. You split the books between your bedroom and the living room, where a lone bookshelf is the only current piece of furniture. You heave bags of clothes and linens into your closet, determined to deal with them later. 

The mattress delivery goes smoothly, the truck arriving as you and Taehyung are about halfway done unloading the car. You leave the building’s front door and your apartment door propped open and both teams do their thing: the delivery guys carrying the mattress up the steps, you and Taehyung behind them with garbage bags full of your clothes or boxes of books. 

“You,” Taehyung pants, “have way too much stuff.”

You grin sheepishly, as in the other room your new mattress is removed from its plastic wrap and placed atop your awaiting boxspring. You’re itching to dig out your linens and make the bed; that’s always what makes a room feel ready to you, even back when you were just setting up a little dorm. Once the bed was made, everything else slowly fell into place. 

Once the delivery truck rolls away, you throw yourself bodily onto the mattress, letting out a series of happy groans as you let the pillowy goodness envelop you. 

“Taehyung,” you call tantalizingly. “Come feel it.”

You hear him drop a box in the living room with an audible oof - it must have been more books - and then he comes into your new bedroom and flops sideways across the bed next to you, the mattress jumping and settling again under his weight.

“Wow,” he says, rolling on his back and then turning to look at you, his legs bending to touch the floor. “This is nice. Let’s trade, I’ll bring mine over.”

“Nope,” you say, smiling. “I bought this one with my hard-earned summer money. It’s just for me.”

“Yeah,” he says, voice wry, “for you and your guests.”

Now you do whack him in the belly. He grunts, hands covering the spot, then lays still again.

“That wasn’t nice,” he comments mildly. “No hitting.”

“What guests?” you pout. “I haven’t had a guest since–”

“Ah, spare me the Great Drought of 2022 story,” he begs. He sits up, reaching into his pocket. As his hand retracts, you realize his phone is buzzing with an incoming call.

“Bro,” he says as a greeting, and then listens. “Yeah, we’re here now. That’s fine. Sounds good. Okay.”

He taps to hang up and looks at you. “Namjoon is almost here. That’s fine, right?”

“I was right here,” you huff. “Yes, it’s fine, but you literally could have asked me.”

Taehyung ignores you. “There’s one more box. I’ll go get it, and then I’ll stay while you meet with Joon, and then I’m gonna go, okay?”

“Oh,” you say, heart sinking a little bit. You’d kind of hoped he’d stick around, just hang out and goof off while you unpacked boxes and organized your stuff. “Sure.”

He reads you like a book; he always does.

“Don’t pout,” he says, and there’s something apologetic in his tone. “I just have to do some stuff today. And I really need to shower, this got me all sweaty.”

Well, you don’t need that mental image. Luckily, you’re saved from yourself by a knock at the front door. This strikes you as so polite, because not only is Namjoon going to literally live here, but also because the door is still propped wide open.

You sit up, fixing your hair from where you laid on it. Taehyung has already made his way through the living room and is giving a one-handed bro-hug to the guy at the door. You make your way over, heart thumping. 

You notice a few things right away. He’s tall - taller than Taehyung, and you don’t see that often. His eyes are absolutely striking - there’s sharpness to them, something that makes you want to see the world how he does, something that makes you want to keep looking, something that makes you curious about how he’d see you. 

When he smiles, each cheek dimples, the perfect size for the pad of your index finger. He’s all in browns except for a pair of light-wash jeans. He’s got a dark brown beanie tugged low on his head, and even his thin, wire-frame glasses seem to be chosen for the vibe above all else.

“Hi,” you say, sounding a little shy even to your own ears. Taehyung moves out of the way and you reach to shake Namjoon’s hand. “I’m Y/N. It’s nice to meet you. Taehyung promised me you’re normal.”

The guy lets out one big laugh, surprised. “He told me the same,” he says conspiratorially, “but really, that’s such a subjective thing.”

Taehyung rolls his eyes, and you step back to let Namjoon in, preparing to show him around. 

“Kitchen and living room are here,” you say unnecessarily, since he can see for himself. “Your bedroom would be on this side.” You push open the door and Namjoon sticks his head in. The room is completely bare, the empty closet door standing open. 

“You get your own bathroom,” Taehyung points out. Namjoon nods appreciatively, still looking silently back and forth across the room that would be his as soon as you pass him a key.

“Is it okay?” you ask, suddenly feeling nervous. If this guy backs out, you’ll be back at square one, and now with less time to solve the problem.

“Oh,” he says, as if remembering he should communicate. “Yeah! It’s great.” He turns and peers at the living room, which is empty but for your lone bookshelf and several boxes of books, unopened.

“I have some stuff we can put here, if you want?” he asks, his tone a little uncertain. “Specifically, I have a couch and coffee table, plus a TV and a console to put it on. It should all fit.”

“That would be great,” you say enthusiastically. “I was already stressing out about saving up enough for a couch.”

He nods easily, looking around the room thoughtfully. Taehyung has wandered over to the large windows and is looking up at the tree that stands right outside, the branches waving lightly in the afternoon breeze. With the sunlight coming in, he looks like a painting. 

“I have a rug, too,” Namjoon muses. “Would you be interested in that?”

“Definitely,” you tell him, tearing your eyes away from Taehyung’s back. There’s something knowing in Namjoon’s face as he watches you, and you flush, feeling weirdly caught.

“Okay,” he says, “I’ll bring it. What about kitchen stuff?”

“I don’t have a ton,” you admit, pointing to the two boxes - not very big ones - that you’ve left on the kitchen counter. “If you’ve got more, that’s probably good. I don’t cook that often, to be honest. I’m not very good at it.”

Namjoon smiles at you, leaning over a little like he’s letting you in on a secret. “I can barely boil water,” he admits. “So you’re all good.”

You stand together as you discuss how you’ll be splitting the monthly costs for the utilities, not to mention the high-speed wifi that’s getting set up in two days. That leaves you to work out the rent, what day it’s due and how you want to handle paying it. In the end, you decide that he’ll electronically pay you, and you’ll pay the landlord, since it’s your name on the lease. He pays you right there on the spot, and you pass him the key that was meant for Penny.

“Is it okay if I start moving my things tomorrow?” he asks you.

You shrug. “This place is yours now, too,” you say easily. “You can honestly do what you want.”

“Okay,” he says. “I’ll probably start in the morning then?”

“I can’t promise I’ll be up,” you laugh, “but don’t let that stop you!”

“Should we…” he pauses, adjusts his glasses. “Should we exchange numbers?”

Taehyung makes a face you know well; it’s the face he makes when he wants to laugh or make fun of something, and he’s doing the Good Person Thing by keeping the thought to himself, but he wants to make sure you know by his face that he is holding it in. He wants credit for doing the Good Person Thing.

You honestly hate him sometimes. It’s the only thing keeping you from tipping straight into insanity. Sometimes, I really hate Taehyung. 

“Yes, we probably should,” you say, because someone in this room needs to act like they aren’t twelve years old, and it’s not going to be Kim Taehyung, apparently.

You do, and then Namjoon tells you both goodbye, making his way back out to the hallway and down the steps. You can hear his footsteps fall away into nothing. 

Taehyung looks at you, smiles angelically. “See?” he says. “I told you he was nice.”

He reaches for his keys on your kitchen counter. You frown, detecting his imminent departure. 

“Will you come over tomorrow?” you ask, a little pitifully. 

He considers this, and nods. “For dinner?” he suggests. 

“Yeah,” you say. “We still won’t have wifi yet. We’ll be bored.”

“Only boring people get bored,” Taehyung says sagely, holding up one finger like a wizened philosopher. Then he comes to hug you goodbye, pulling you into a sweet embrace. You want to live there, in the spot between his arms. 

Once he’s gone, you look around your new home. Alone, you decide to put on music and start tackling boxes. You start in the bathroom, finding towels so you’ll be able to shower in the morning, unpacking all your toiletries, setting up your toothbrush just so. You do the kitchen second; the sun sets outside as you find places for your battered pots and pans. 

You stop for dinner, getting take-out from a place nearby that delivers. Then you dive back in, setting up your bedroom. It feels cozy already, once the bed is made and you’ve plugged in your little lamps. Calmer, you start folding clothes to put into dresser drawers. At one point you wander out of your room to get some water and you freeze in your bedroom doorway, struck by how lonely it feels. 

The rest of the apartment is lit only by the yellow glow coming from your bedroom, plus the thin, white light that filters in from the streetlight below the living room windows. You hurry into the kitchen and turn on the light over the sink, which vanishes some of the bad feeling for you. You pour your glass of water and lean heavily on the counter, looking out at your empty living room, and the dark doorway of Namjoon’s untouched room. You wish Taehyung had come back over, or that some of your university friends had moved back into the area sooner.

You rinse your glass and head back into your room, ready to distract yourself with more unpacking until you’re tired enough to sleep.

Sunday August 30

Bumps and crashes wake you in the morning. It takes you a few minutes to figure out where you are - ah, the cloud bed, in your new room. The morning sunlight is strong; apparently the windows on the front of the apartment face the east. You make a mental note to shop for some good blackout curtains, and check your phone. Not much waiting for you - Lin texted around 1 am asking if you got settled okay, probably while she was on a quick break. You answer her, check your socials, and then lay back, just looking around. 

You got a lot done yesterday, but you still have more unpacking to do. It also occurs to you that not only is there no coffee waiting for you in the kitchen, there’s no food of any kind in the whole place, unless you count your container of leftover takeout from last night. 

You shower and get dressed, figuring it's best to stay out of the way - you can hear the grunts and huffs and loud bumps that indicate Namjoon’s got some friends helping him move things in. But eventually, the growling in your stomach and your body’s clamoring for caffeine send you out into the living room.

The low entertainment center is in place across the room from you, a flatscreen tv situated on top. There are now two stools tucked beneath the breakfast bar in the kitchen, and a pretty, wooden coffee table sits in the center of the living room.

There’s a guy on the floor surrounded by furniture pieces, a screwdriver, and a packet of instructions in his hands. You can hear a lot of shouting, bumping, and cursing floating in from the stairwell down the hall. 

“Hey,” the guy on the floor says. “You’re Y/N? I’m Namjoon’s friend, Yoongi.”

“Hi,” you say, a little bewildered. “What are you… building?”

He sighs, squinting at the paper in his hand. “It’s supposed to be a bookshelf. Eventually.”

You’re about to respond to this when the noise from outside the open door gets infinitely louder. You see Namjoon’s expansive back as he shuffles backwards through the doorway, one end of a faded, grey couch in his hands. 

“Okay, you have to turn,” he coaches whoever is on the other side.

The couch makes it through the door, and you’re surprised to see that you know the other person carrying the couch. He’s one of Taehyung’s best friends, and you’ve hung out together as a group plenty of times over the last three years.

“JayKay!” you call happily. “Welcome to my house!”

He laughs, nose scrunching with delight. “Y/N,” he crows. “Where should I put the couch?”

“Across from the tv,” Namjoon answers for you, sounding a little breathless. They shuffle through the room, and you notice for the first time that they’ve already put the rug in place, covering most of the warped, wooden floor of the living room. The couch settles over top of it, and Namjoon slides the coffee table to a more centered position.

One more guy comes through your doorway, carrying a nightstand and a lamp. He’s got quite possibly the widest shoulders you’ve ever seen. He disappears into Namjoon’s bedroom, and you hear the quiet thump as he sets the nightstand down in there.

“Wow,” you say. “You’ve got a whole moving crew.”

“Notice who’s not here helping,” Jungkook grumbles.

You smile to yourself. If you know him at all, you’ll guess Taehyung isn’t even out of bed yet. 

“In his defense,” you say, and Jungkook snorts, as if it’s so typical that you’d defend Taehyung, which… it might be, “he did a lot for me yesterday. We had his car packed with my stuff.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Jungkook mutters and turns to - presumably - get more stuff from downstairs.

“You have a lot left?” you ask Namjoon, who seems to be catching his breath for a minute, perched on the arm of the couch. “I’d offer to help, but I was just about to go get groceries - there’s very literally no food here.”

“We’re about done with the heavier stuff,” he says, looking at the open door, like he’ll find an inventory there that he can reference. “But still plenty of assembling left.”

“Hooray,” Yoongi deadpans from the floor, holding the instruction packet up in the air like a different angle will help him decipher the directions.

You find your little foldable cart and make your way to the grocery store a few blocks away. By the time you’re done scouring the aisles, you’ve loaded the cart to the top and still have to carry some of the bags. But at least now you’ll have food to eat, things to drink besides tap water. 

Getting up the stairs with your groceries sucks, but you make it, panting like crazy as you finally unlock the front door and let yourself in.

You’re greeted with silence; it’s clear the guys are all gone. The living room looks completely different than twenty-four hours ago. The couch and table look great, and it seems like Yoongi’s bookshelf is mostly complete - it’s upright, just missing a few shelves near the top. You set the groceries down in the kitchen next to three unopened boxes - it seems like Namjoon’s gameplan was the same as yours yesterday: get the boxes into the appropriate rooms, do the rest later. 

You peek into his bedroom - he’s left the door all the way open, which feels nice, like he trusts you, and you make a mental note that you should probably do the same. You notice that it looks like the furniture is all in place there, too. It doesn’t differ much from yours, actually. The bedframe is put together, the boxspring and mattress leaning against the far wall. He’s also got a tall chest of drawers, a wicker hamper, and in the corner, a desk. Namjoon’s furniture is a lot more modern looking than yours, sleek and matching. You bet he didn’t get half of his from the thrift store. 

You put the groceries away and make yourself a small lunch, eating it on the couch in the quiet of the apartment. You’ve got about twenty-four hours to go until there’s wifi and you can stream shows when you’re home alone. You’re just cleaning up your lunch when you hear a key in the lock, and then the cacophony of boys’ voices as they reenter the apartment. 

“-far superior, I’m telling you,” Jungkook is saying emphatically. The smell of greasy burgers and fries hits you in the kitchen along with the sound of his voice.

“I hear what you’re saying, and I respect your opinion,” a flat voice responds that you think might belong to Yoongi. “It’s just that you’re wrong.”

“Hey,” Namjoon says, noticing you standing in the kitchen. The guys pass through, heading into the living room, Jungkook already digging in the bag. They surround the coffee table, handing out burgers and fries, filling the room with delicious smells and noisy chatter.

You take this opportunity to head back into your room, sitting on your bedroom floor and opening one of your boxes of books, starting to put them on the small shelf beneath your window. You pop in your airpods and turn on music, losing yourself in the monotonous movement of digging out a new book, then turning to place it on the shelf. Rinse, and repeat.

When you finish, you move into your closet. You put your little wire shoe rack back together and locate your box of shoes, lining them up neatly. Then, you tackle another garbage bag full of clothes that go on hangers, flapping each shirt or dress to relieve it of wrinkles before hanging it up. After that, you find a box of miscellaneous dresser items - jewelry boxes, perfume bottles, headbands - and put those where you want them, too.

By the time you decide you need to sit down and take a break, it’s nearly evening, the light outside reaching that golden hour. You really do love the natural lighting in this place. 

You take out your airpods and set them to charge, listening carefully. You’ve had your bedroom door open this whole time, but the guys had left you alone and you’d minded your own business. Now, the apartment is filled with silence again. They must be gone.

You text Taehyung for the first time that day, which strikes you as weird. He must have been busy today, too. It’s odd for you two to make it until almost dinner without speaking.

“Dinner?” you text, and then wander out into the living room. 

“Hey,” a voice says from near the floor, and you practically leap out of your skin. You startle so violently that your phone slips from your hands and clatters to the floor.

“Holy crap,” you breathe when you realize Namjoon is sitting on the floor next to his newly assembled bookshelf, an open box of books before him. He seems to be sorting them into piles before putting any on the shelf.

“Sorry,” he says, eyes wide. “I didn’t mean to--”

“No, you’re fine,” you assure him. “I’m just… a jumpy person. You’ll get used to it.”

You watch him sort books for a minute, then eye your own empty bookshelf, your boxes still closed on the ground next to it. You decide if it’s Bookshelf Hours, you might as well, right? You set your phone on the coffee table and settle in, opening your first box and starting to place books on the bottommost shelf.

“So,” you say, because it feels weird to be sitting four feet from your new roommate and not speaking, “Taehyung said you’re a grad student at the university?”

Namjoon nods wordlessly, eyes on the books he’s sorting. “Yep,” he says finally. “And you’re a senior?”

“Mhm,” you confirm. 

After that scintillating conversation, you both lapse into silence as you work. You continue like that for some time - long enough to reach the middle shelf - before you realize you hear your phone buzzing on the table. You stretch to reach for it, missing how Namjoon glances sideways at you, at how an inch of your stomach is revealed as you lean over. 

“Hi,” you say, pressing the phone to your ear.

“Took you long enough to answer,” Taehyung gripes.

“Sorry,” you say. “We were putting books away.”

Taehyung’s silence is just one beat too long. “We, huh?”

You laugh, once. “I mean? That’s what each of us is doing? So? Yeah?” From his spot a few feet away, Namjoon glances over his shoulder, frowning slightly.

“Anyway,” you say, “dinner? Do you want to come over?” 

“Yes,” he says decisively. “Order us something and I’ll head over?”

“Sure,” you say, already hanging up. You don’t need to ask what he wants; no matter where you order from, you know what he likes. 

“Do you want to order with us?” you ask Namjoon mildly as you scroll through the local delivery app. “I was thinking pizza.”

“Yeah,” Namjoon says slowly, like he was deep in thought and has to process what you’d said to him. “That would be nice. Thanks.”

The place you’d order from back when you lived in the dorms is actually closer to this apartment than campus, which is the most beautiful, serendipitous thing that’s ever happened in your life. You place the order for delivery and continue putting your books away. Once all the books are on shelves, you’re essentially done - finally, after two days - unpacking. 

This gives you exactly one whole day to relax before you have to start going to classes again.

Taehyung arrives before the pizza, knocking on the door in a silly rhythm. You pound back on your side of the door, echoing his rhythm, before opening it, greeting him with a big smile. You’d missed him; of course you had.

“Wow,” he says, genuinely impressed, as he peers around you. “It looks so much different in here.”

“Right?” you ask, filled with joy. Taehyung pokes his head into the kitchen, which is arguably the least “ready” room, as aside from putting your things into drawers and cupboards, neither you nor Namjoon had really done much to it. No hand-towels hanging by the sink, no magnets on the fridge, even the counters were empty, save for the two sets of keys resting there. Taehyung adds his own to the key pile and moves into the living room, which is much more impressive.

“Hey, man,” Namjoon says from the floor. It seems like he’s done sorting his books into piles and has started actually putting them on shelves now. “Looks good, right?”

“It does,” Taehyung answers from the doorway of Namjoon’s room, where he's peeking nosily. “The guys helped you?”

“Everyone except you and Jimin,” Namjoon says innocently. 

Taehyung smiles guiltily. “I helped Y/N the entire day before, just the two of us,” he argues. “And what about Hobi? He’s on--”

“--on vacation with his parents,” Namjoon finishes agreeably, “so he’s off the hook. Where was Jimin?”

“Where do you think Jimin was?” Taehyung scoffs, reaching down and touching the rug absently.

“Sleeping,” you and Namjoon say at the same time, both of your voices wry. You smile at him, and he looks away. 

The pizza arrives and you all sit around the coffee table to eat. Conversation flows better with Taehyung in the mix; he talks so much, it almost doesn’t matter if anyone else does. 

“I was thinking of making a list of things we need for the apartment that wouldn’t necessarily belong to either of us - cleaning supplies, stuff like that,” Namjoon says to you. “I thought I could buy it and we could split the cost?”

“Buy the cheap stuff,” Taehyung advises. “Y/N’s summer money is gonna go fast, especially the way she orders out instead of cooking.”

“Thank you, Taehyung,” you say flatly, shooting him a look. “I start work in like two days. I can handle it.”

After the pizza’s done, Namjoon goes back to working on his bookshelf, obviously wanting to clear the floorspace of his book piles sooner rather than later. You and Taehyung sprawl across the couch opposite each other, his feet resting near your elbow, both of you on your phones. 

You stay like that until nearly midnight, talking occasionally but mostly just happily coexisting in your own little bubbles. At some point, Namjoon finishes the bookshelf and wanders into his bedroom, pausing to look at you two on the couch before disappearing. He pushes his door almost shut, leaving it open a few inches. You hear the subtle sounds of music playing from behind the door, but not loud enough to discern what it is. 

Taehyung hugs you before leaving, and you snuggle into the embrace, body exhausted from the moving process. He rests his chin on top of your head, swaying you around a little bit. 

“Thanks for helping me,” you murmur into his chest. Sometimes the only time you can get Taehyung to be serious for a conversation is when you’re like this; in each other’s arms, your walls come down - in his case, deflecting with humor and sarcasm, brushing off everything like it’s a big joke. In yours, saying what you really mean, and not a more delicate version of it.

“You’re welcome,” he answers, squeezing you a little. “I’m glad everything worked out. It really does look good in here. And I think you guys will get along.” 

Once he leaves, you deadbolt the front door and head to the kitchen to wash the plates and cups you’d used for pizza. Behind you, you hear the squeak of door hinges, and Namjoon pads into the kitchen behind you. He pauses, scanning the cupboards.

“I don’t remember which one I put my cups in,” he laughs a little, and then starts opening each one until he finds what he needs. Once he has a glass, he rummages in the fridge, taking out a juice carton and filling his glass about halfway. You finish washing the last plate and turn the water off, rummaging through a drawer for a dish towel to dry everything.  

“So…” Namjoon says between sips of juice. “You two are pretty close, huh?”

“Yeah,” you say, shrugging easily. “He’s my best friend.”

Namjoon hums, nods, purses his lips thoughtfully. If you knew him better, you’d push - ask him what that face means, or why he’d asked in the first place. 

But, you don’t need to. You know already. You’re used to being interrogated by others about your relationship with Taehyung. Sometimes people are trying to see if you’re a threat in their quest to worm their way into Taehyung’s heart (or pants) - and in your own weird way, you kind of are, at least for the former. 

Taehyung definitely sleeps around, but he’s surprisingly tight-lipped with you about it. You’re not sure if he’s sparing you, or he’s actually just a gentleman. Could go either way. But when Taehyung considers dating someone - rare, to say the least - he always has you vet them first. You never like any of them, surprise surprise. 

You’re used to girls approaching you in bathrooms, sometimes aggressively, sometimes meekly, to ask if Taehyung’s your boyfriend. You’ve had girls come apologize, saying they “didn’t know about you”. Once you’d had a girl nearly shove you down a staircase for talking to “her man”, but luckily, said man was walking next to you and helped shut the whole thing down. (You two had had a serious talk after that one about communicating with his partners about his relationship status. Things have never gone that far again, to date.)

Less frequently, you’ll get asked about Taehyung by guys who are interested in you, who are trying to figure out how much of a lost cause it is. That one’s a little trickier. How do you tell the cute guy at the coffee shop that no, you’re not dating Taehyung, but you are secretly so in love with him that it really isn’t worth their time? 

Anyway, usually you just tell guys that you’re not dating Taehyung but that you’re not interested in dating anyone. It usually does the trick. It’s not that far from the truth, either.

That leaves the last category of people who ask about you two, and this is where you feel Namjoon falls: the people who watch your weird, boundary-pushing friendship and are just genuinely curious how it could possibly work. 

And you get it, you really do. You know how this looks from the outside. Hell, you’re sure that from the outside it’s fairly obvious how gone you are for him. Is it just as obvious to the outside that he sees you more like a sister than anything datable? 

Probably.

You’ve had friends ask you what keeps you around. You always say the same thing - regardless of your feelings for him, he’s also your absolute best friend.

Your friendship is precious to you, sacred. It sometimes feels like the only thing you have, in a life where you generally don’t have much. Your family is Lin - that’s it, end of the road. Your girlfriends are nice, but Penny was the closest you had and she’s across the country now. You only have Taehyung. And what you have with him, as special as it is, it’s also precarious. 

If you lose him, it isn’t just that you’ll lose him - and trust, that would be devastating - it’s also that you would be deeply alone. 

Finished with the dishes, you bid Namjoon goodnight and head back into your room for the night, planning to change into pajamas and wait for Taehyung to text you that he made it home safely, wait for Taehyung to text you goodnight. Namjoon murmurs goodnight, but you feel his calculating gaze on your back until you close your door softly behind you.

Next ->

Thank you so much for reading! I started writing this in August, it feels amazing to finally postttttt. Please consider some type of feedback - I'd love to hear anything you want to share! Section II will post on Friday, January 27th - hope to see you there!

[bluewinnerangel]

The only thing I got from this whole Pleasing/Pleased as business is that, if indeed Pleasing will be connected to H it will be a further statement to the fact that paparazzi don’t happen to “hang out” on Italian shores close to luxurious yatch or private plane hangar. The boy was literally advertising with that jumper!

Look ppl he's back in the US and also look ppl its a pleasing hoodie is what it looks like here hah.

With Harry I always think of Jenna Marbles' 3 looks, I got 3 looks, 3 looks, and that's it. For Harry it's

Stylish flowwy mcwowsers pristine wow style wow often gucci

some coded statement clothing colortheory transflag bluegreener wow inchresting harry you're wearing that now on this day huh wow what a choice of colors oh wow also your comfy clothes and louis' comfy clothes corporate wants the know the difference between these pictures

walking advertisement for something he's affiliated with, often his own merch, columbia, fullstop management, free&easy...

just grabbed 3 random pics to demonstrate real quick

[frogtanii]

Me being ace watching y’all be horny real quick: ...so anyways those Akashi dots huh? Pretty interesting haha

LMFAOOO i mean it is p inchresting

[maggotbrainz]

can i get a uhhhHHH D with james & jason 😳💖

sdkfjkjh bro i love drunken confessions theyre so funny like ??? amazing. under cut cause this one got mf LONG AS HELL oops

okay so. 90s college aus have my whole ass heart so this is what were mf doing

anyways james switches colleges sophomore year cause the last one was. fuckin awful LMAO. and cliffs like hey apply to my college dude its pr cool ,,, anyways things work out and james ends up in the sober living house on campus

which is a mf joke cause everyone drinks anyways and the RA is a huge stoner

and he ends up as roommates w/ jason 

pothead jason ,,,, my uwus 🥺🥺 SDFSKJ anyways its vitally important to me that hes majoring in arts for like. journalism and hes on the track team doing the steeple cause he just thought it was neat in high school so now its like. his specialty LMAO 

and james is just. dying because every single morning jason gets up at like five to go for a run and james is like. 😑😑 bitch ,,,, 

jason puts his hair up in a ponytail tho and the first time james sees it hes just like ,,, 😳 oh ,,,, huh ,,, 

james doesn't rlly know what he wants to major/minor in ,,, hes just. drifting thru life rn ,,, anyways so theres the whole introductions and jasons got fuckin. posters all over his side of the room and shit ,,, cassettes all over his desk and one day while hes out at class james is snooping around like ,,, *turning over cassettes* huh ,,, inchresting

they've got english together so theyre chillin, they go to the library and study together and james finds out jasons from michigan and likes mountain biking and good barbecue and james is like oh cool im from cali and i like skateboarding 

and like. a couple weeks into the first semester jasons like hey. u should come join the track team dude we could use some more members and james pauses in between hitting the bong like. huh ???

so he joins the track team LMAO 

lars + dave r on the track team too ,, lars does long distance + dave runs the relay ( and EVERYONE knows they hooked up freshman year at a frat house party but NEITHER of them talk abt it LMAOO and daves banging kirk anyways ,,, kirk + jason r friends cause they have a fine art class together LMAO)

anyways ,,, i just. fuckin love stupid college antics so much. SDFKHFKH

studying all together ,,, going to track meets and shit ,,, getting stoned to pink floyd at like 2 in the morning cause they dont have class the next day and lars drives them to the mcdonalds cause hes the only one not blitzed ,,, jason literally ends up sitting in james lap and james is just. dying inside

CAUSE HES GOT A CRUSH ,,, my mans got it bad at this point ,,, anyways james meets cliff for lunch like. HELP ,,, and cliffs like. why dont u just tell him dude. considering ur fuckin attached at the hip i think u got a pretty good shot

anyways. so there’s the state meet for track + their school sets a bunch of new records and theres a party at the frat house dave lives in afterwards ,,,

james gets. fuckin SLAMMED dksjfkjh

and theres a karaoke machine. anyways james gets an idea. 

so he fucking drags jason over and keys in alone by heart and at first theyre singing and joking around cause theyre drunk dumbasses but eventually it gets to the point where james is. serenading jason like the drunk idiot he is ,,, 

and when it ends jasons like ,, 😳😳 and james is like ,,, jason i-

and then he pukes all over jasons shoes. like. everywhere. 

and poor jasons dying inside ,,,, anyways he takes james back to their dorm and is like u better go to bed dude and like gets james into his own bed (after he throws out his shoes </3)

and james is like jason wait ,,, and when jason leans back to look at him he leans up and kisses jason before passing out LMAO ,,, 

which is. well. jasons heart is like 💥💥 but hes also like :-(((( cause vomit ,,,, anyways hes like ,,, confused cause is this ,,, for real ??????? hes had a crush on james for ages but uhhhh,,, hes been too chicken to say anything LMAO

anyways. james wakes up and he doesn't rlly remember much ,,, expect for kissing jason,,,

FUCK THIS GOT TOO LONG 

basically then james is like dude i rlly like u and jasons like ,,, for real ???? anyways theyre dumbasses in love <3 THE END 

[calumscalm]

i am... in pain

strawberry lipstick state of mind