#i used to have a reader who kept comparing my version of kim to his ex wife

[bigbrainkatrina]

Say The Name

This is a sequel to my fic, Check the Name. But can be read as a standalone. Sans Ron, Kim is building a new Team Possible. She’s already recruited Drakken, now she has her eyes on Shego.

"You want me to WHAT?"

Kim sighs, wrapping her arms tightly around her chest to give her some warmth under the dark of the night, and eyes Shego with heaping amounts of intention. She speaks in a level tone.

"I want you to become a full time member of Team Possible. You won't get paid for any of your efforts, but none of us are and that's okay, because we're doing the right thing and the people's compensation can be better spent elsewhere. I want to you fight with us, operating off of programs and services that are solely engineered through donations and the good will of others. I want you to stand besides me day-in and day-out, sacrifice your free time by always being on-call so that you can respond to every disaster that need our assistance."

Kim gulps. Talking about mission stuff? That's easy. But personal stuff? She looks into Shego's emerald eyes and briefly considers the thing she actually wants to say to this snarky woman, this — person who despite all the murder attempts is actually quite charming. This funny lady who loves to tease Kim and never goes that hard on her. This quote-unquote enemy who's taught her an entire Bachelor's degree in survival skills. This person who is — ugh.

Family.

Kim said it to Drakken, and he told her that he always saw her as a daughter. He's part of Team Possible now, and that was surprisingly easy. So why is this so hard? Kim's mouth opens for the full load of pathos but it catches in her throat. Kim sees Shego's cold demeanor and blinks. Coughs to play off the weird lapse and returns to the herospeak. "In short: I want to save the world with you, Shego."

Shego blinks and rubs her eyes as if she just woke up from a colossal sleep.

"Ugh, Kimmie. Rhetorical. Yawn."

Kim bites her lip. She accounted for this. Obviously, Shego wouldn't take it seriously, and now she's marching over to the wall of Dementor's fortress. "Shego, please. You know we're legit. If you want to make a difference this is it. We're the most effective group there is out there."

Kim bites her lip for a second time. Actually draws a little smear of blood. Ever since Ron took off for his full-time gig with Global Justice, she's been tongue tied. Because her best friend and life partner is too busy to remember a Skype date. She doesn't hold it against him, it just means she talks to people a whole lot less than she used to.

Shego twists her head back and arches an eyebrow so high that Kim's surprised it doesn't shoot off her face and right to the tippity top of the wall Shego's about to scale up. But then again, Shego has always held expert control over her emotions. Just because Kim can't help but give every thought and feeling voice by letting them crawl onto her face doesn't mean everyone does.

Shego twirls her grapple hook in widening circles. "Since when did you start talking like an army recruiter? If I were you, I'd lay off established mercs like me and check out your high school campus."

Shego lobs the hook high, high into the air and it just makes target, crashing into a lip of the stone wall. Shego pulls on the rope and the hook doesn't move an inch. She cackles and returns to Kim. Rests a hand to her hip. "Or is that too soon for you?"

"Making fun of my age?" Kim deadpans. "Isn't that a little dry for you?"

"Yep," Shego shrugs, casually beginning her climb. "Don't really care. See, I have a big, spicy paycheck waiting for me and I don't want to be distracted from the hot vaca I'm scrounging from it."

Kim's a little relieved Shego's not looking; lets her release that anger into that eyebrow flicker. Shego would notice that after all. Since both women are intimately aware of each other's physicalities — no, not like that. They just know what to look for in the other, how to gauge their feelings. And if Shego looked back, she'd see that Kim's pretty hurt and even though Shego doesn't actually like being a big jerk (Kim and Ron's theory) and she'd say something humiliating.

Y'know, to add insult to injury. Kim's been feeling down for a while, so much so that she can't even call it a secret anymore.

So Kim makes the first dig. "I'm sure Big Daddy Brotherson gives you a lot of benefits. But more often than not, you're taking out dirty politicians and businessmen."

Shego freezes, knees wedged sideways into her gut, hair falling past her shoulders and aligning perpendicular to the ground she's now twenty feet above. Shego hesitates, but snorts off the decision and proceeds to scale the stone wall.

"Shego — " Kim groans, voice getting farther and farther away. "You don't need to be a super-villain with plasma strength to pick someone off from miles away. Please."

That one gets her.

Shego stops and runs her feet up the wall like she's going up a half-pipe, swiveling 180° so she can fully see the red head. She grabs her long raven locks and pushes them aside. "Sure, Princess. I miss the good old days. But this stuff pays, and besides — I've already saved the world once. I think I've done my time."

Shego hands there for a moment, body arched in a position that's surely uncomfortable. Kim has seconds to collect herself before this conversation is officially over.

"Shego, don't you dare try to convince me that what you're doing is good. You know what happens when you ice the CEO to a fast food chain? His son whose name probably ends in a Jr. inherits it."

Shego's eyes darken, but her mouth curls high. "Ice, Princess? You afraid to say the word kill? Or are you just upset that your stinkin' BF is doing that all the time?"

Kim's cheeks sting and she looks away.

"See," Shego drawls. "You can't even stomach that. Think about what working with me would be like. That's why I'm saying no."

"I don't think that's why you're saying no."

Shego blinks. Kim steps forward, awfully defiant. There's another weird lapse. This is the part where Kim is supposed to explain why Shego is saying no. It'll be emotional, maybe some tears, and finally these two estranged women will reconcile.

Kim mouths something indistinct then scratches the back of her head. In a low voice, she says, "Ron's not part of the team anymore. It's just me on the field and you know how everyone's been picking up the slack since Lowardia. I'm good but not that good. I might — erm — die out there and — that's not going to stop me but — a little muscle would be good."

Shego momentarily softens. She's never seen Kimmie put herself down like this. Not her best look, and certainly not the girl she used to go toe to toe with on the reg.

Also — Ron's the super-powered Big Kahuna now, huh? Super weird. She's still processing that one. Like, where's Jenna Wortham and Wesley Morris when you need them?

Shego dismisses Kim with a wave. "Nah sorry. Not convinced. Anyways, I gotta go and take care of these mutant petunias or whatever Dementor is using to take over the world this — "

"Which incidentally is my evil take over the word scheme!" a gruff voice barks through Kim's earpiece. Kim claps a hand to her face and cringes from the blown out speakers.

"Drew — " Kim swears under her breath but it's no use, Drakken's in full swing now.

"How dare he use my strategy and my smartest most refined geniusest brilliance to — "

Shego blinks. Leans as far down as she can without dropping off the wall. "...Drakken?!"

"Oh," Drakken mutters from the end of his line. "H-hello Shego."

"Yup," Shego shakes her head and finally throws her body back into proper posture for climbing. "Forget it, Princess."

Kim hoped that by the end of this conversation, she could stop clenching but now — the clenching persists. She watches Shego throw herself over the fortress wall and vanish, taking the grapple line with her. Not that Kim doesn't have one on her, but ya know — message received.

She turns on her heel and looks out at the rolling waves way down below. Even as high up as she is, little drips of seawater pelt at her face.

"Now what?" Drakken stutters.

"Plan B. I'm busting in. Not using Shego's route obviously because that'd be lame," Kim paces around the stone wall and looks for a different — better — opening.. "Hey Drew?"

"Yes, Kimberly Ann?"

"Remind me to not let you ever throw anyone a surprise birthday party."

=KP=

Despite the doom and gloom gray of Dementor's fortress, all Kim can see once she hits the arena is bright, vibrant turquoise. Turns out Dementor's mutant army of petunias are actually quite deadly, moving so fast that the green vines, no matter how thin, blur Kim's entire scope of vision. Paired with Shego's plasma bolts, it's a wonder Kim can make out anything. She doesn't want to admit it, but she's a little unnerved by it all.

Every big leagues villain retired shortly after the Lowardian Invasion. It wasn't a secret that folks, ally and enemy alike, had been scared stiff by the newly polished form of their archfoe's sidekick. No one, not even Kim, expected that from him. She still feels kind of bad about that. About doubting him. But then she reminds herself, for her own confidence, that Ron didn't earn the Mystical Monkey Power; he stumbled into it.

Kim worked herself down to the bone to get to where she is, but people are telling her she's not good enough. It's not Ron's fault. It's just — nauseating.

Meanwhile, while Kim and Ron warred through the bric-a-brac, they polished their blades and prepared for the real deal. But soon Ron moved into the Top Security Clearance world of Global Justice and it became apparent to all the mooks and rapscallions like Dementor and Monkey Fist (yes, Monty's back from the dead, it's a whole thing) that Agent Stoppable's not actually gunning for them, leaving Kim to deal with their vastly improved ilk.

Heck, not even Kim knows where Ron is today. Half the time, if not more, he's not allowed to tell her. The past few weeks, the former Dynamic Duo has been testing out the long distance gambit, but just as they found their groove in regards to frequency of texts and Skypes, Ron got bumped up another promotion and threw the whole thing off. Now it's radio silence. Either she's too overwhelmed by the escalating difficulty of her missions to consider texting Ron or he's too busy to remember they had a Skype date.

Beep-beep-de-beep!

Speak of the Devil….

"Don't you ever silence that thing?" Drakken rasps through Kim's radio.

"Uh, well the whole point of call me, beep me is the beeping part," Kim snarks, pulling her phone from the satchel tied tight around her waist. "Unlike you Drak, the texts I get are actually important."

Drakken curses under his breath; asking Kimberly Ann to organize his inbox the other day had been a mistake. After hours of sorting and deleting, all she did was sigh extraneously and say, "Drew, you should really consider unsubscribing from some of these newsletters. Like NaNoWriMo was almost a year ago, you obviously have no intentions on reading these Writers' Tips."

But that's not fair! Sure, he only got six thousand words in last NaNoWriMo, but that doesn't mean he'll never finish It Was a Tuesday! Why just the other day he wrote an experimental chapter about the time he used flashcards to remember his evil plots! And Kimberly knew that! Because she proofread it!

Heck, she even likes his writing! She's — ahem — the only one who does…. aaaaanyways, oh how she gets under his skin! Sometimes she's even worse than Shego! Words hurt you know.

But back to that incessant beep beep-de-beep. Kim crooks her elbow under her chest so that she can look at her phone in the tight air duct.

Ron [6:54PM] Awwwww, seriously? he's back from the dead. that's bananas!

Ron [6:55PM] that's a joke, feel free to use that on him

Ron [6:55PM] ya know for a guy who mutated himself into a monkey you'd think he'd be chiller about monkey jokes

Kim rolls her eyes and stuffs the phone away. Kim would happily use a Ron joke on Monkey Fist, but the two of them never quite had the rapport for linguistic ballet.

Yet despite everything, Ron could probably march in and tick Monkey Fist off like any internet troll worth their salt. Kim wonders what kind of gags Ron would go for. There's the obvious monkey jokes, but also now the zombie gags. Seeing how the old coot's risen from the dead and everything. It was Amy's doing, but Monty ditched her fast and partnered up with Dementor. Their plan has some kind of synergy between evil plants and ancient Monkey Tomes or whatever. Kim never really knows. She just sees it and punches it.

With the crazy media coverage lately, it makes sense that Monkey Fist's resurrection flew under the table, but it really is too bad that Ron can't waltz over and check it out. Maybe Kim should do some verbal sparring with the Brit for Ron's sake.

Ugh. Kim's not even here for Monkey Fist. Shego's got him on lock after all. Kim has to remember that and keep her eyes on the prize. She thinks it over. Using Ron's little joke might actually work for a strategy on how to win Shego over. Shoot. She should text Ron back before she forgets — no, she'll text after she gets Monty's reaction. That way Ron will text her back a few hours later with an emoji. Or a stinkin' el-oh-el if she's lucky.

Kim sighs in a way that would even make Eeyore concerned, and kicks open the vent. She rolls out of the steel and almost immediately regrets diving in.

It's like entering a warzone. Exhausting to track from above, on ground level her heart threatens to thump its way out of her chest. Because it's not turquoise — it's green and blue. Separate. She can't quite see Monkey Fist from here but he's surely putting up a fight, throwing out blasts that rival Shego's. The beams shimmer like flames, dancing erratically. Neither light lets up, blasting into the next beam, etching a matrix of death all around the room.

Just as Kim's about to stick her landing, a beam of blue comes out from under her. She holds back a scream and twists up, firing a grapple line back into her hidey-hole air duct, line going taut fast. She swings up, narrowly avoiding the blue but instead finds her back running against a column of green fire from Shego. She screams, but manages to hold on tight, and releases another grapple line, and swings through a safety gap in the blaze.

Kim throttles between the blasts, spiraling in the air, peeking through every gap to find something — anything — she can grapple onto, but just as she finds a straight fall to the floor there's a terrible screech that gnaws at her eardrums. One of Dementors petunias snaps up at her, bulb bigger than Kim's entire body.

Right Evil mutant plants. She totally forgot.

White teeth as long as Kim's arm, tightly knit into ugly rows along the maw, snap at her, splattering acid into the air. Kim's not fast enough and one particularly jagged tooth snags her foot and whips her through the air.

Gravity wants to throttle Kim down into the monster's gullet, but she preserves all the strength she's got and keeps herself held tall and poised no matter where the monsters whips her. At the peak of its swing, she pops one foot up and back down, crashing a boot into a tooth, knocking it free. Acid sprays from the gap in the mouth and Kim falls, slipping into the mouth. She grabs two teeth and kicks both feet into teeth opposite her, limbs searing from the momentous effort. But her weight makes short work of the creature, and it tumbles on down to the floor.

Just before it hits stone, she rolls out of the bloom and narrowly avoids a stream of green fire that the monster falls into, promptly burning down to ash. Kim finds her bearings fast, wiping sweat from her forehead. Her head hurts more than it should and she decides she's probably poisoned. She quickly radios to Drakken, asking him to scan her vitals while she works. Another petunia lashes at her, but Kim's ahead of this one and grabs the roof and floor of its mouth, cracking her arms far apart to keep the mouth splayed open. She pushes hard, already short sleeves rolling into her shoulders. She raises her feet and dropkicks the horrid beastie in the mouth and it bends under her.

Kim hits the floor at a roll and finally catches sight of Shego and playfully waves to her. Shego's eyes widen because seriously? Kim what the heck. Or fuck. What the fuck is more Shego's speed.

Ever since the Lowardians, big guns got drawn and people, including Shego apparently, like to think that means Kim isn't up to par anymore.

Well, not quite. Check the name.

Kim snaps back into action, somersaulting back, just as another rogue petunia dives at her. But she's got the leverage to launch herself above him, and she grabs its wiry stem like she's at the gym, twirling a full 360° before coming back down with a stomp that's the equivalent of crushing someone's windpipe. It whimpers before falling fully slack.

Two more come. She leaps and throws her legs into a full split, cracking one of the creature's maws wide enough to keep her safe. Meanwhile, her arms grab onto one of the other creature's teeth, yanking down on it like Quasimodo does every morning in Paris.

The tooth snaps free and the creatures roars, tumbling to the ground. Kim slips the jagged thing under her arm and twists her body like a pretzel, grabbing the petunia holding her by its tooth and — CRACK!

The first petunia thumps off the floor, and Kim lands between the slain beasties, stabbing both through the heads, grinning at Shego like a mischievous kid might.

"Princess, hey, you need to — "

"Hold that thought!"

Kim leaps into the air again, twirling like a helicopter, the twin teeth whirling around her and catching yet another petunia in both sides of its gaping mouth. But Kim doesn't stop there. She keeps spinning and the teeth cleave right through the jaw, decapitating the monster. Kim hits the ground, coated in plant mucus, but she's not quite through yet.

"Five o'clock!" Kim shouts and Shego ducks, one of the teeth launching over her head like a javelin and nailing the final petunia in the face. It bursts into acid and splatters across the floor.

Kim brushes the hair from her eyes and shoots another winning grin at Shego. But that grin quickly becomes a grimace as Kim is suddenly thankful for all the fencing classes she took. Bolts of blue fly at her. Kim swings the tooth up and down, deflecting the bolts as they just graze her. But the blue is too fast for any human, even her, and after ten volleys one bops the tooth from her hands, knocking it into the air and yards behind her.

A fist as big as her head materializes in the air and goes for broke, angled just right to pop her skull open. But Kim's got something else in mind.

"Wow, it's really bananas that you're back from the dead, Monty."

The flaming fist stops right before her face. Quickly, the blue light coagulates into a tangible form before her. Monkey Fist sweeps a scoop-shaped thumb across his long nose and sneers at her. He's evolved a bit since she last saw him. Hair is a bit more wild, muscles a bit more trained, and his eyes empty blue fire from his sockets. He's flanked by a blue aura, but it's nowhere near as crisp and clean as Ron's.

"What — did — you — say?" Monkey Fist hisses.

Kim bites her lip and tries not to giggle out of anxiety. "I — said — it's — bananas — that — "

"OOOOOOOOOOOH!" Monkey Fist whistles like a train, big honkin' feet stamping against the ground like a child's. The fire fades and Kim can see the long sloped lines of his distorted face. "That makes me so mad!"

But before the gentleman can throw a rather uncordial tantrum, one of Shego's plasma bolts knocks him upside the head and blasts him across the width of the entire room and into a wall, where stone bricks avalanche onto him in heaps.

When the dust fades, Kim sees Shego staring at her with the coldest expression the mercenary's ever flashed, fists rolled so tight that they shake, wedged into her hips.

"Bananas?! That's the best you had? You just risked your life to say Wow Monkey Fist, it's really bananas that you're back from the dead?!"

Kim frowns and scoops her phone out, quickly showing the screen to the green woman. "Ron told me to say it. Speaking of…." She dives back into the text thread to fire off a —

Kim [6:58PM] Good one. That really got him going.

— before emerald fire surrounds Kim from all over, crafting a tunnel leading out to the exit, archways burning all the way out. Before Kim can jump to Shego's side, a wall blisters the floor between them and separates the two.

"Out! Now!" Shego screams, flames so dense Kim can't even see her.

"Huh? No way!" Kim pouts. "This is my turf as much as it is yours!"

"No it's not! This is my gig, like I get a bounty for stopping them! You don't so stay out of it!"

Kim shuts her eyes and forces it from throat even though she really does not want to air this.

"Shego, stop yelling at me, please. Why can't we just be friends?"

That hangs in the air for a little longer than either is comfortable with. Kim's cheeks burn red and she continues, "Shego, I'm serious — I like you. Like really, really like you. You're funny and tough and smart and I always had fun sparring with you and I think it'd be good for the two of us if we started working together."

An imprint of Shego's body sinks into the wall, just enough for the grimace to set itself nice and strong. Though the neon light does make Kim's eyes water, so she tries not to look for too long.

"We were not sparring," Shego grunts. "Maybe you were — you've never been that responsible. You're lucky Doc's so dense or maybe we would have taken over the world."

The outline of the mouth moves but it's hard to say in which direction; but it's okay. You don't need nonverbal cues from Shego to get where she's at.

The flames flare towards the tunnel and Kim has to firmly plant her boots down to not be swayed. But she's bleeding from the toes because of the planets and that poison is doing god knows what to her body. She can't hold on much longer.

"I wouldn't resist if I were you," Shego taunts. "Could easily break a bone trying for the immovable object gambit."

"You wouldn't," Kim sneers. "They were spars. You've never tried to hurt me. But other people do. Every day. And if you don't want to be my friend, fine. But still join up. Some back-up would be great, or else Monty might whip me into a Kimmie Frappé."

Kim slips. One heel flies up and the other follows. She flails her arms but it's no good. She gets one last look at Shego before being throttled.

"Puh-lease, Princess. You don't need little ol' me, do you? I thought you could do anything!"

She's airborne and not even sure if Shego can hear her, and it's hard to talk with the wind blasting down her throat, choking her. But she says something because it's important. It comes out as a croak and Shego does hear it, two flares arch up just slightly at the words:

"You know that's not true anymore."

A bellow of air jams its way down her throat and another swing nails her in the nut. She flies back and somehow miraculously lands on her feet, just outside the fortress. Not from any effort of her own. She cracks her head up and watches the flames give way to ash and frowns. Shego is — powerful. It's a little unnerving.

Why is everyone just now deciding that they can outclass her?

Kim blinks back something that might be tears and grinds her knuckle against the dirt. "Dammit."

"Sorry to eavesdrop, but you know I can't resist the hot goss," Drakken says stoically through the earpiece. "You need a different approach, pathos won't work on Shego. Or at least — erm — words. Good at using them, not so much listening."

Kim finds the embarrassing tears and crushes them with the back of her glove, forearm rising to wipe off the sweat and goop. "I can do this right?"

"What? Recruit Shego or defeat the evil plant army that's MY idea and so poorly implemented by Demenz and —"

"Drew. Focus."

"Mm."

"I'm talking about Shego. Is it worth trying? I think I got poisoned earlier and I don't know if it's a good idea for me to…."

"You are poisoned. I didn't want to tell you because you were working, but…."

Kim's posture droops. "Great."

"Kimberly Ann, I hate to be a Negative Nancy but this is poor strategy. You're not going to impress Shego by beating people up. Nor will you words. Maybe, if you can get back in there before she — erm — after whatever it is that she does to her 'targets' — perhaps I can Dr. Phil for you two."

Kim raises an eyebrow. "Dr. Phil?"

"Don't tell me you don't know Dr. Phil!"

"Uh — tell me you don't still watch cable television."

"What? People don't watch — what do they watch then?"

"It's streaming platforms all the way, Doctor D."

=KP=

The next scene is just as much of a warzone as the left, but this time Kim's poisoned.

No blue lights this time at least, just plants. But more plants than ever. Vines and stems everywhere, wriggling and writhing with the occasional flash of plasma bleeding through. Kim can hear Dementor yucking up a storm about — something. She's not sure what could possibly be funny given that Shego is schooling his army of plants. Like yes, she's outnumbered but — oooooooh.

It's because resistance is futile. They're not just plants, they're infinite. Like a hydra. Whatever Dementor's doomsday machine is probably has the ability to respawn them lickity split. But Shego's more crash crash boom than nuance. She probably doesn't connect Dementor's laughter to anything other than a personality defect of his. That being he is very annoying, which is true.

Kim narrows her eyes and sees a massive, whirring machine in the back of the throne room. The stones have been stripped from the floor, giving the gadget ample amount of dirt and soil to work with, and if Kim squints, she can see small hints of green tailing under the metal panels. So that's her target.

No matter how depressed the idea makes her, she has to suck it up. Because she is Kim Possible and she actually can do anything. Long as she doesn't overthink things. So she strains her cheeks and forces that grin. It sort of helps. Just a tad.

Ron would want her to smile. She would too.

There's a creak from below and Kim peers down to see the furry head of Monkey Fist passively entering the room. He stands before the whirring mass of green and takes in a deep breath. Big fists start to glow blue and from where Shego's standing, there's no way she can see him. Too much overlap of color.

Meaning like it or not, it's showtime. Kim has to save Shego.

Kim drops down from above, ramming her hands into the back of Monkey Fist's neck, cracking his chin deep into his chest. While he hunches over, she rolls off his back and lands in a sprawled out Look at me! kind of position.

It's a move that yadda yadda won the cheerleaders oy old jokes, yeah?

"KIM POSSIBLE!" Monkey Fist shrieks with such volume that his jowls are set a-quiverin'. He pounds his chest and launches at her. His fists cut through the air, leaving behind burning trails of blue that linger for a few extra seconds before dissipating. Kim backsteps fast, just managing to avoid each swing. She's not stressed because she's smiling, and that jubiliance makes it all look easy.

"Quit monkeying around, Monty," Kim snarks. "I don't have all day."

Monkey Fist's forehead throbs with rage and it's a wonder he was ever even capable of tolerating Ron's loudmouth, considering how bad Kim's jokes are. Get a real punny buy in the room and Monkey Fist would probably have a heart attack. But it's 'kay, Kim'll settle for the undying rage. His fists pick up the pace and while the blue trails don't linger in the air as long now, the swaths of power glow darker.

Kim somersaults back to avoid one particular devastating swing, legs almost snapping out from under her upon landing. She opens her mouth for some other joke, she's actually not quite sure what she'll say yet and it ultimately doesn't matter because Monkey Fist's knuckle cleaves into her jaw. Her whole body shoots up like the bell in a strongman game, another fist coming from above, fist splintering into her eye.

She falls back, now brandishing an impressive shiner. "Nice trick," she spits a gob of blood to the floor. "But I don't think any of the audience members at the circus would laugh at it."

"Eh, that one's a stretch, methinks," Monkey Fist chortles, grabbing her by the scruff of the tunic and lifting her into the air. Things slow down, mostly from Shego's now divided attention; yes, she noticed. She stands as still as a statue, glowing hands only occasionally flying out to smack a rogue plant away.

"You won't harm another hair on her head, Monty," Shego growls.

"Ha, as the youth say: As if," Monkey Fist laughs and though one of his hands is still free, it's an invisible one that throttles by at the throat, knocking her whole body into the air. Her body weighs against the neck, stretching the tendons farther than they should ever go, bone preparing itself to crack. "You'll do nothing to me you welp."

Kim feels the blood rush to her head, but another crack! and the invisible hand whips her to the ground. She hits the ground. Hard. Rolls several feet, shoulder smashing against her collarbone.

Monkey Fist's big square teeth grind against each other. "Nobody makes a fool out of me."

Kim doesn't need to look to know that she's standing between Monty and the doomsday machine. All she needs is to let the show go on. She cranes her neck up even though doing so causes blistering pain. "Don't you mean make a monkey out of me?"

Kim doesn't even get to appreciate the villain's resulting beet red face because an all-consuming blast of blue masks everything. But she does feel a burning in each and every one of her joints, body shooting high into the air and arching into a spiral. She flies far and just as the white floor rushes up to crash into her nose — she feels something tight squeeze into her, body accordioning into itself from whiplash.

Shego slides a hand to the small of Kim's back and leans her up from the teeter totter angle and their noses briefly brush against each other before Kim gently falls onto the floor. A dome of green fire materializes around them, the burning embers overtaking what sounds like an argument rumbling between the two partnered villains —

"Monty, you almost scorched mein evil plant army! Careful!"

"But — but — she called me a monkey!"

— but no more after that, too much going on, like she's in a different room. "These powers are kinda new," Kim drawls.

Shego rolls her eyes. "It's not, I just didn't need to tap into this kind of power back in the old days. Now everyone's going nuts and — "

"You mean going ape," Kim sits back up. "I — "

"No, you're benched, Possible," Shego growls, eyes lingering on Kim's bruised eye longer than usual. "I cannot fight delusional powerhouses like these fools when I have to keep one eye on you to make sure you don't get clobbered. You're out of your league. Go back to babysitting, I don't know what else to tell you."

Kim tries to protest, but the words sputter out and don't mean anything. Not even worth transcribing.

"You are dying, Kim," Shego says without glancing over her shoulder. "We're never going to be friends. So give up. Move on. You're a great kid but — show's over. I'm not burying you."

Kim is too stunned for words, and squints away more tears when Shego dashes off right quick, passing through the flames like it's nothing. Kim's outstretched hand gently closes in on itself the arm retracts back to her torso. A dramatic gesture maybe intended to make her sudden loneliness feel a bit more valid, but instead she just feels feeble. But Kim is not feeble. She's anything but feeble, and she needs to get back in the ring ASAP.

Even if it kills her. But it won't.

With no time to waste, Kim crosses her fingers that Shego isn't actually trying that much harder, and rolls forward. The flames lick her from all over and — oh, so that's what a ten on the pain scale looks like. This is worse than Monty's magic, but is torture, literal torture. She can't think straight, can't process anything else. Her ears ring and when the cold air of the castle room crosses through her, she vaguely sees a yellow blob. It's — keening? Scared — eyes dilated to the extreme, uvula flying like a pendulum.

The green flames pass in front of her and the white hot numbness returns — she kicks Dementor upside the head and conks him out, throwing her body to the ground and rolling against the floor. It takes longer than she'd like but it does the work and kills the fire.

She checks on Shego, cringing and screaming from the pain bubbling all over, and finds Shego going toe-to-toe with Monkey Fist, while also dealing with — no — fending off — the plant monstrosities. Against either party, she'd fare fine, but these are two titans to reckon with. Kim checks the machine puppet mastering the whole plant army and it's definitely too big and too complicated to take out — unless….unless she turns back to Monkey Fist and cups her hands to her mouth and shouts —

"Hey Monty!"

Monkey Fist blinks and he lazily sucker punches Shego to the ground, briefly smiling at the blue light crackling between each of his hairy digits. When he looks up though, he is immediately flabbergasted. "KIM POSSIBLE?!"

"Geez Monty, are you new to this?" Shego rubs the golf-ball sized bump on her head. "Coming back from the dead is kind of her whole bag."

There's a bit of a sneer in that and Kim shrinks a little bit at Shego's glowering, but the green woman is quickly overcome by a renewed army of plants that tear out from the floor beneath her, shoving away the brick and mortar, to drag her deep into the soil. Monkey Fist laughs through his nose and stomps across the hall to Kim.

Kim could easily tick him off all the way from over here, but she's already kind of learned her lesson that maybe getting him to chipshot this isn't such a grand idea. Close-range all the way if we're talking Mystical Monkey Mayhem.

So Kim motions for him to come closer and throws on the appearance of a shout, but really it's a wide-mouthed whisper.

"Do you have any nieces?"

Monkey Fist blinks. "What? Erm. I — " he draws closer. "I didn't quite get that."

"Do you have any nieces?"

He blinks again and lifts a paw to his freakishly large ear, letting it guide him across the floor. "Kim Possible, please speak up. We are in the middle of battle, after all."

She repeats it. But quieter. "Do you have any nieces?"

He shakes his head. "Is this some sort of bit?" He growls and jumps onto all fours, prancing right on up to her, lifting himself back to his full height with fists wedged against his hips. "I am not in the mood for a bit."

"Not a bit," she shrugs, stepping backwards. He doesn't consciously think to follow her, but he does it anyways. "I was asking if you have any nieces."

"Hrm," Monkey Fist scratches his square chin. "Not by blood — though I suppose Bates had a kid a few years back, I suppose I could count their kin as my nephew."

Kim nods, and while she doesn't think her joke is actually that funny, she smiles so wide it hurts. Especially considering the pain. But this is what Kim Possible does. This is how she saves the world. She chuckles between words like a lovable stand-up. "Is your kin by chance — a monkey?"

"What?" Monkey Fist drapes a hand over his head to better itch his forehead. "I don't — understand — monkey?"

"Why you'd be a monkey's uncle then!"

If only there were a little monkey sidekick there to smash some cymbals together, that'd be great. But the joke lands anyways and Monkey Fist goes so red this time his aura actually twists into a sickly violet.

"OOOOOOOOOH!" he screams and lunges at her, waves of power emanating from his fists; this is strength he doesn't even know. Otherwise he wouldn't be getting so up close and personal about this. But his fists lash out like an excited kid playing whack-a-mole and it sets Kim at a fast enough pace that's she actually a little worried about running backwards so quickly.

One particularly devastating kick flies up like Charlie Brown screwing up and eating dirt instead of football, and Kim has to somersault back to avoid it. She lands on top of the doomsday machine with all four limbs splayed out, taking on the sort of stance that's more Ron's scene. Monkey Fist's kick lodges itself directly into the metal and sparks fly.

Kim laughs and quickly kicks off her boots, letting her bare feet hook toes around loose nuts and bolts to better hold her balance. She then looks straight down at Monkey Fist and giggles, "Well look at that! Monkey see, monkey do, huh?"

Monkey Fist screams and flips upwards, somersaulting up the metal after her. She flips back, landing on top of the machine just as Monkey Fist shoots over her, momentarily gripping the bricks in the wall so that he can better direct a dropkick onto her person. But no magical aura this time, just pure monkey.

Kim blanks.

She wants to make a cheerleading joke because those are honestly some stellar flips — and she's been thinking of replacing some people on Harvard's cheer team (yes, two months in and she's already captain). But she knows she should stick to monkey gags and then Monkey Fist's two bare feet slam her in the chest, big and wide enough to dig into her whole form and she falls clean off the machine and hits the ground.

Before she can even get up, Monkey Fist is before her. He lifts her by the front of her tunic and smashes her body up against the machine and flashes a smirk so gnarled that it fully exposes one of his deadly canines. "You thought you could fool me, Kim Possible?! Ha! You act as if I am a rank amateur! Perhaps if you were my hated arch-foe, Ron Stoppable, you'd be more clever with your jokes but I, I am an educated man who comes with wealth, prestige, and a Master's in Primatology from Oxford! You will never be smarter than me, nor will you ever be stronger."

Monkey Fist gives her the once over. Bleeding foot, black eyes, scratched up all over, crazy burns….but not quite enough for his tastes so he punches her in the face, almost hard enough to knock her loose, but his grip is too tight for that.

"Looks like I win!" he chortles.

Kim tries as hard as she can to resist the burn in her neck and looks up, though it appears like her head's balancing on a slinky. "What's your damage with Ron, Monty? It's like he's a chimp on your shoulder."

Monkey Fist blinks and grinds Kim deeper into the metal. "The boy is not a chip on my shoulder — for I am the all-powerful…."

"Ah," Kim crawls, sliding her hands up against her face. "Monkey see no pun, monkey hear no pun…."

"Wh-what?" Monkey Fist sputters. "Pun — what?"

Kim's face falls. "Hello? Chimp on your shoulder?"

Monkey Fist blinks. Ties together a few stray thoughts and screams at the top of his lungs, darting in for the kill but Kim's legs roll up into his stomach and swing up and over, smashing him against the machine. She hits the ground first and he stumbles after her, sparks beginning to spiral around him.

"You think you'll get me to destroy my own machine, Possible? Don't be ridiculous."

Monkey Fist draws closer. Kim checks for Shego to make sure she's hanging in there — and she's not. There's just too many monsters for her take on at once. Maybe she's still thrashing, but it's a dogpile to overcome.

Kim crouches down, mostly from her draining energy, and glares ahead. "Monty, do you know where Ron Stoppable is?"

Monkey Fist snorts, so Kim fills in the blanks. "He's taking down terrorists of whom you don't even know, of whom I don't even know, because my security clearance isn't that high. See, Ron only takes on the A-Level."

"Tsch," he flashes his canines again. "I am a solid A. They'll all see that soon."

Kim steadily backs away, bare heel sliding against the rim of stone. She stays there and Monkey Fist's big feet steadily sink into the soil, the sparks still alive. His whole frame quavers with raw power and she grins.

"No, they won't. Because you're B-Level. These guys Ron takes out? They're serious. They're organized. They don't throw temper tantrums at bad jokes."

Something in Monkey Fist stifles and she's knows it's getting to him. If even just a little. But this isn't enough so she keeps pushing.

"Well," he leans in as if balancing on a cane. "I have superpowers. Surely, that bumps me up. I'm just — insecure — is all."

"Mm," she bites her lip and widens her tance. Any second he might blast her. But he's not mature enough for that. "Yeah, it's the only thing keeping you from the D-List. You have powers. I do too. It's why I'm a B-Lister."

"You," he snorts. "You have powers?"

"Yes, it's called never giving up."

"I don't think that constitutes for much," the sparks redirect around him, slowly angling themselves to rip from his muscles where they have a better vantage point to obliterate the teenager. "I hit you one more time and you're out for good, Kim Possible. So choose your next words wisely."

"Okay — a promise then. I'm not gonna lay a finger on you and still take you out. You'll go to jail but don't worry Monty: I'm B-Squad, I don't stand a chance against you. So we won't fight, but you will lose, and when they haul you off, you're going to look me in the eye and despite all the power you've smacked me with, I'm going to smile."

"Oh," he mock shudders. "I'll make sure you don't smile."

"Tsch." Kim tries not to ler her eyes linger on the sparks licking the soil. She tries to brace herself for something incredibly painful. "You know I heard that monkeys can get time shaved off their sentences if they volunteer to be shot into space."

Monkey Fist roars (predictable) and the sparks flare up, slicing into the soil and with that — every single root protruding from the machine, all burned off in one fell swoop. Kim hears the terrible, inhuman death calls disturb and splinter her ears, each bulb crashing to the ground like a fallen tree. But the sparks swirl together and rush at Kim in a haze and even in her most peak physical condition — no mortal can withstand that.

But she can yadda yadda do anything whatever. You get it.

The blue light cascades at her and Monkey Fist cackles with laughter — that is until his sparks not only kill the plants, but travel up the stems like dynamite fuses, all the way back to the machine they spawned from and — well — ka-boom. An earth shattering ka-boom.

The machine blasts apart and the resulting explosion nails Monkey Fist in the back.

So it's the two of them that go soaring, one after the other. Kim, scorched to a crisp, hits the floor first. Monkey Fist lands besides her and despite all the Mystical Monkey Power resting in him, Kim is the one that's still conscious.

She can't hear a damned thing, but there's a white shadow with triangular dimensions hovering above her face, chastising her over….something obvious probably. Their voice is harsh but it's the touch that betrays them, the way her finger so gently scoops Kim's face upwards. Twin green lights plume in the air and Kim realizes that it's Shego.

"Hi," Kim rasps.

"Kimmie…" Shego stutters. She must have just said a lot and Kim almost feels sorry she missed it, but that intense Kimmie kinda collectivizes it all together pretty well.

"I know," Kim coughs. "But now you know you don't have to worry about me on the field."

Kim's limp wrist doesn't support that claim, nor her watering eyes. "But you don't really care about that right? You trust me enough. You're just scared of being my friend, right?"

It catches in Kim's throat when Shego lifts Kim up and slings her chin over her shoulder, face burying deep into Kim's shoulder.

"I'm not scared," Shego mutters, her voice like crystals. "I don't know how I feel."

Kim looks at her very seriously. "Shego — I'm sorry I was mean about you being a hit-man now. But you don't have to do that work. I don't know what damage you carry and you don't have to tell me but I want you to take this seriously. Please. Please please please. Work with me, Drakken, and Wade. We're not just going to save the world, we're going to have fun."

Shego's jaw lowers because she's obviously not used to someone asking her that. It dangles long before she finds something typical of her personality to use as a retort, but it's just not there, so she wipes her eyes. "I can't believe you committed that hard to the monkey bit. Honestly though, you peaked really early in. Like seriously Princess, it's called a tight-five for a second."

Kim laughs way harder than she should and it's embarrassing, but it's okay because it's been one of those missions.

A man in a blue coat click-clacks into the battlefield, notebook in hand. Green fire erupts in Shego's eyes and she shoves Kimie off. "What do you want, Doc?!"

"Oh, I," Drakken bites his lip and checks the room. "Good — good job here. Erm. I'm going to Dr. Phil for you two so you can get through this conundrum."

"Ew, Doc. Dr. Phil?" Shego raises an eyebrow.

Kim whispers in Shego's ear. "Drakken doesn't know about streaming platforms."

Shego's eyebrow goes even higher. "Not even Netflix?"

Drakken's dry lips find themselves suddenly incapable. He just stands there.

"Also read the room, Drew," Kim coughed. "Me and Shego made up. She's part of the team, and tonight we're gonna introduce you to online serialized television!"

"But I — "

"Do you have an account?" Shego asks Kim seriously, who shakes her head in response. "Well, since we're doing you a solid, Doctor D, you'll be paying the subscription fees."

"Sub-subscription?"

Kim grins. "Monthly."

He looks between the two of them. "Is it too late for me to change my vote to No, let's not invite Shego?"

Kim and Shego say it together. "Objection sustained."

[yesokaythatsfine69]

In Need of A Stable Relationship (Jean Kirstein x reader)

Description: y/n's having a shitty week- mainly because she's tired of loving Jean because he doesn't feel the same way.

Character(s): y/n, Jean, Connie, Sasha, Eren, Mikasa, Levi

POV: 3rd person

Warning(s): cursing, little bit of angst, fluff

A/n: JEAN IS SO HOT I LOVE HIM SO MUCH he's such an absolute cutie and probably the second most attractive character in the series. I'll let you guess who's number one.

Word Count:

Song: listen to Agni kai- epic version by Samuel Kim. It's just cool.

*none of the gifs used are mine, full credit goes to the maker.

Y/n bit into her bread harshly, swallowing the lump thickly. "y/n? Are you okay?" Taking another harsh bite, y/n nodded at Armin. "I don't think I've ever seen you eat like that." Eren laughed, but his eyes remained wearily trained on her. "I'm just hungry." She grumbled, taking a third bite.

"Hey, but not even Sasha eats like that." Connie pointed to the girl who sat next to him, who was stuffing bread into her mouth like it was candy. When she noticed everyone's eyes on her, she looked side to side. Quickly swallowing, she smiled sheepishly.

Y/n rolled her eyes, quickly losing interest in the conversation. "Didn't captain Levi say that if we didn't have this place spotless by the time he got back we'd be eating our own shit?" Y/n got up from the table, and her chair squeaked against the wood floor.

"You're already done, y/n?" Mikasa approached the table, a tray in her hands. Y/n only took the young woman in dejectedly, giving her a small shrug. "Yeah, you can have my seat." Y/n grabbed her empty tray and left the group, leaving them to watch her silhouette retreat out of the lunch room.

A few seconds later Jean arrived, coming in the same way Y/n had exited. He was sweating, obviously having just got done training. He grabbed a tray and made his way to the table, sitting down beside Connie.

"What's up with y/n? She barely spoke to me just now." The table was silent. "I think she ate too much." Sasha said, as she put a hand on her stomach, her own face scrunched up in pain. Jean raised an eyebrow at his friend, his gaze moving away from Sasha to Armin. "She's been off with all of us recently. Maybe the scouts are getting to her." Armin spoke, shaking his head slightly.

Eren folded his arms across his chest, a sign that something was obviously bothering him. Jean watched the action sharply, his eyes narrowing the slightest. "Yeah, maybe." The rest of the time it was mostly quiet, a few different topics arose. Noticibly, Jean remained silent, barely eating.

His mind focused on her, analyzing everything she said, did. He could barely eat he was so engrossed in worry for his friend.

He missed y/n.

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

Y/n sighed. The stables were always dirty, but when you're in a bad mood- they seem dirtier. She grabbed her broom, fixing to sweep when a door opened. She turned, surprised at first- but then her shoulders relaxed when she saw who entered.

"Did you need something, Jean?" Jean's eyes widened. He had such pretty eyes, a lovely warm brown. In the soft glow of the stable lights they were illuminated and they sparkled. He was beautiful, and even her misplaced anger couldn't diminish that. Y/n felt a sinking feeling as she realized just how captivated she was. This was going to be harder than she thought.

Jean, swallowed and shut the door behind him. "I came to check on you. You seem off." Y/n just shrugged and turned away from him, continuing to sweep. "It doesn't really matter."

In less than four steps, he caught up with her, grabbing onto her arm. "Hey, what's wrong with you? You're obviously mad- instead of just sulking maybe you should-" y/n spun around to face him.

"Shut up Jean! Just shut up!" She stabbed a finger at him. "Maybe I should just blow up like you do, without thinking or caring about the consequences of my actions. I'm sure that would just solve all my problems!" She huffed at him.

Jean straightened. "So this is about me?" Y/n's eyes widened. "No!" His eyes widened. "I never said I was perfect, y/n but..." He closed his eyes. "You...you're acting like a child!" She stared at him.

Before she could even acknowledge what she was doing her arm flew forward and she punched him square in the face. He grabbed his jaw, his doe eyes wide.

Y/n's own eyes widened and she clutched her hand. Pain erupted from her knuckles, but she ignored it, watching in fear as Jean clutched his face, staring at her in shock. "Oh God, Jean I'm so sorry...I- I..." He only winced, removing his hand. "Your right hook has gotten better."

Y/n stared at him. "But it still doesn't compare to mine!" Jean swung barely missing her as she ducked, side stepping him. The two fought, hand to hand combat style. Again Jean tried to swing but y/n was still to fast, ducking and landing a hit to his chest. He grunted but quickly regained his balance.

Jean swung again, but this time y/n caught his first, bring his face inches from her own. Then without warning he sideswiped her feet, bringing them both tumbling down.

Jean landed on his elbows above her, both out of breath. Finally, Jean caught his, looking down at y/n with sincere worry.

"What's wrong, y/n?" He asked again, his gaze gentle. She sniffed and looked away.

Silence.

"please, tell me. I want to help you." He spoke barely above a whisper, afraid he'd scare her off.

Finally, she spoke. She gave up.

"I-I love you."

Silence.

Tears streamed down her cheeks.

"And you...you don't love me."

She let out a sob then, more tears streaking down her face. Her hand wrapped around her mouth, a feeble attempt to subdue her cries.

She flinched when his hand reached over to her, gently cupping her cheek. He guided her to be directly in front of him.

But his face surprised her, he looked pissed. Jean was gritting his teeth in frustration, "How could you say that? Damnit! You can't just- You could've just asked."

"What?"

"Of course I love you! You're y/n y/l/n. You make life bearable, you make my day, my night. After Marco died- you were there for me. You've always been. I'd... I'd have to be an idiot to not...to not love you, y/n." Unshed tears shined in his eyes. "Of course, I love you."

Y/n frowned. "But Mikasa, I thought you-" "That was a year ago, y/n." they stared at each other, the truth finally sinking in.

Then, she smiled. Jean arched a brow as y/n wrapped her legs around his waist, a blush erupting on her cheeks.

Then suddenly she spun the two of them around, switching their positions. "Then why the hell didn't you say anything! You could've not wasted my time- the precious time I have." Again, Jean gritted his teeth. "Well, I thought you liked Yaegar! Considering the fact that you follow him around like a lost puppy!"

Y/n stared at Jean, who glared from under her. Then she bursted out laughing, a different type of tear streaming from her eyes. "You thought I liked Eren and I thought you liked Mikasa?" She laughed, slapping her thigh.

"We're both a pair of idiots!" Jean's scrowl slowly dropped, a smile slipping onto his face until he too began laughing hysterically with y/n.

Finally, She wiped her face, about to get up off of Jean but he grabbed her hand. His thumb gently ran through the knuckles, and he smiled.

"What's the rush, y/n? I like this view." Y/n flicked him, and got up, giving him a hand. He hopped up, but kept their hands intertwined.

Jean pulled their connected hands to his heart, and thus pulled her closer. Y/n closed the space between them, and Jean wrapped his free hand around her waist, settling his palm in the small of back.

The kiss was sweet, Jean's lips were soft and he dipped his head in deeper, catching her breathe. She snagged his bottom lip in her teeth, gently tugging. He tasted sweet, and it made her giggle, the thought of her hothead being anything but spicy- it was poetic.

"y/n..." He breathed, removing his lips from hers and peppering her face with sweet kisses, moving down to her neck. Her breathe caught at how soft he was.

"Oi, I didn't realize that the stables were suddenly designated for snogging." Y/n and Jean's eyes shot open, them freezing their minstrations. Captain Levi stood before them, his arms crossed.

In a flash they separated, putting a safe social distance between the two of them. Simultaneously giving him a salute, they spoke "Captain Levi!"

"Tch, save it you shits. You're both on horse shit duty. Separately." His eyes flickered dangerously between the two of them. "For how long?" Jean asked, his face pale. Jean hated getting in trouble, though it often found him because of his hotheaded nature.

"Until you start hating it, horse boy." Levi's eyes dangerously glittered at him. "Now, I expect you two dumbasses to have this place spotless by the morning." He leaned against the wall and Jean and y/n shared a look.

Sighing she picked up her broom and Jean grabbed the mop. Under the watchful eye of their captain they cleaned, but even under the burden of being in trouble the two could barely wipe away their smiles of delight.

"Will you two shitheads stop smiling, it sickens me."

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A/n: hey guys this one isn't my favorite prolly because I psyched myself out with doing Jean. Anyways feel free to give critism and feedback. Thanks for reading + happy new year

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[krreader]

BTS scenario → telling your children your love story.

pairing: bts x reader fandom: bts warnings: / genre: fluff ; crack word count: 1.5k+

a/n: you did make it in and I hope you like it! ♥ also, happy birthday to the dear anon, I’m thinking about you and your grandpa today, I also hope you enjoy this ♥

kim seokjin

“I met your mother when I was still at Uni. She was taking some of the same courses as me.”

“Wow.. so you've been together for that long? Really?”

Both you and Jin chuckled, you being the first to answer the question of your son, “Not really. You have to remember that your father was even more famous then, than he is now. He didn't make a lot of friends during his Uni days. We only met each other again after his group had disbanded and he had come to a reunion.”

“And then?”

“And then I realized that all the people I went to class with were at a point where they were happy in life, either with themselves or with partners, except for me and.. your mom,” Jin smiled and interlinked your hand with his, “We talked all night long, got to know each other for the first time, despite having met so many years before that. And the rest is history.”

Your son quickly closed his eyes when he saw his father leaning in for a kiss.

He asked for the story, but he didn’t need you two to display just how much you loved each other.

min yoongi

“You remember when your father was still a member of BTS? How much time he would spend in his studio?”

Your daughter snorted, “Yeah. I remember. It's hard to forget.”

Yoongi shifted a little uncomfortably, but your son quickly smiled for him to know that it was okay and that nobody was angry at him for that. Back when they were kids, they couldn’t understand why their father was away so often, but now they did. They heard the songs and watched the music videos. They understood now.

“Well, I used to work with him on one album. Just the one. And we'd spend hours in his studio together for a very long time. We both poured everything we had into that album and saw sides of each other that were very vulnerable. And starting off a relationship with this kind of vulnerability and trust.. we just kind of continued seeing each other, because neither of us has had many relationships that were so honest and pure. Even after the album was done, we didn’t stop meeting. We'd meet, we'd talk and eventually..-”

“And eventually..-” your daughter wiggled her eyebrows, your son immediately hitting her arm and saying, “You're ruining the story! Stop it!”

“Eventually we fell in love,” Yoongi completed the story, “That was what your mother had wanted to say, because that's what happened.”

Your son seemed to accept it, unlike your daughter, but at the same time, she didn't want to hear an alternative version, so she was content with it.

jung hoseok

“Your uncles and I were on vacation, the first time in a very long time without any cameras. We were able to explore on our own and do whatever we wanted.”

“Or whomever you wanted,” your son rolled his eyes, knowing damn well that he was the reason you two ended up married, because Hoseok had managed to get you pregnant on that one-month trip.

“What?” your younger son blinked in confusion, you quickly interfering.

“Your dad and I met at the beach,” you smiled, “Remember when we were at the beach? How much fun we had playing in the ocean? That's what daddy and I did. We had a lot of fun. So much fun that when it was time to go back for your father, he asked me to come with him.

It was the truth... just in a child-friendly way.

“That's true love!” your youngest jumped into your arms, while your oldest looked at Hoseok and mouthed: “That's no contraception.”

But despite that, he knew that you two loved each other. Yes, your relationship hadn't exactly started out the way that Hoseok’s family would have wanted it, but in the end, everyone loved and accepted you.

And most importantly, Hoseok's and your initial feelings for each other never dulled, they only grew with time.

kim namjoon

Family time like this was rare nowadays, as your son had hit puberty recently and spending time like this wasn't 'cool' anymore.

But for some reason, when his younger sister, your daughter, asked for your love story, he became interested.

“My business was still quite small back then. I could barely pay the rent, didn't have a lot of customers and no matter what I tried, every choice I made seemed to bring me closer to having to close my shop. And then one day, your father walked in with his beautiful smile and asked me if I could arrange a bouquet of flowers for him, because it was grandma's birthday and my shop was close to her house.”

“You went to mommy's flower shop?” your daughter's eyes beamed, “Mommy makes the best bouquets, doesn’t she daddy?”

“That’s right, baby girl,” he smiled at you with the same smile that he had on his face that first day he walked in. That smile that you fell in love with, “I kept coming back to her store, despite never having an occasion that needed flowers. I just wanted to see her, because despite all the pretty flowers in her shop, she was and still is, the most beautiful of them all”

And while your daughter was swooning, even your son couldn't help the soft smile that spread on his lips.

park jimin

“I was trying reeeeeally hard to get your mommy to fall in love with me,” your daughter sat on Jimin's lap, gently rocking her from side to side as he kept kissing her head, “I messaged her every day, saying good morning, how I hoped she would have a great day and then I'd say goodnight when it was time to go to bed.”

“And did you not message him back, mommy?”

“Not at first. I didn't think your father liked me that much,” you thought he wanted you for another reason that you didn't want to tell your daughter at her young age just yet.. or ever, “But after a few months, I finally agreed to go on a date with him.”

“What did you do? Did you go to see a movie like daddy sometimes does with me?”

“No, we went to this really beautiful restaurant. Like the one we were at with grandma and grandpa last Christmas. Do you remember all the beautiful decorations and flowers?”

“Woooooow, really? And did you fall in love with daddy there, mommy?”

You smiled at Jimin, “I think I already fell in love before that.”

Because at some point, even if you always had that bit of doubt within you, waking up to these wonderful messages of his.. they really were the best part of your day. 

“You did a good job, daddy,” she gave him a big thumbs up, both of you starting to laugh.

kim taehyung

“I was in Seoul for the premiere of my new movie that day and your father was one of the people that attended the screening and the after party.”

But your daughters both looked at you completely unimpressed and turned their heads to their dad when they realized that your story had already come to an end, “Can you tell the story? You tell it much better than mom does.”

Taehyung chuckled, “Well, let's see. Where do I begin? Maybe.. the moment I first saw her? That was.. like nothing I've ever felt before. I have heard of your mother, at that time, everyone had. But seeing her in real life, nothing compared to it,” your husband smiled happily at you, “I couldn't take my eyes off her and I knew that if I didn't at least try to talk to her, I would regret it for the rest of my life. And thanks to my undeniable charm, she couldn't resist when I asked her out,” he wiggled his eyebrows.

“Really?” your eldest chuckled, “Were you impressed by dad?”

“It was more of me feeling really bad for him, I think. He seemed desperate,” you winked.

“Hey! Don't lie to our kids, you were giggling like a teenager back then!”

All three of you girls laughed.

jeon jeongguk

“Uncle Jimin told me that the story is really funny, is that true?” your son asked.

“I think that depends on who you ask. At the time, it wasn't funny at all,” you continued folding the laundry, looking at Jeongguk to tell the story.

“Your mom had started working for BigHit only a month prior, so I didn't really know her when it happened. One day, I wanted to go up to Bang PD's floor and she managed to jump into the elevator just in time. Everything was fine until the elevator suddenly stopped and we were stuck there. For ten hours.”

“TEN?!” your older daughter yelled, “Seriously?! Why weren’t you able to get out sooner?”

“It was really late and there was barely anyone at the building and since we were still below the surface, neither of our phones were able to get a signal. We tried the alarm button in the elevator, but it took forever until they came.”

Both of your daughters now stared at you in shock. That was definitely a twist they hadn’t seen coming.

“Once the initial panic was gone after we realized that we weren't that high up and that even if the elevator did fall, nothing serious would happen, we started talking. There's.. not really much else to do for ten hours.”

“And that's when you realized you were perfect for each other?”

“I don't think it was that,” finally, you sat down next to Jeongguk, “But when you share a moment like this, it's almost as if something connects you that you can't quite explain. We shared a lot of personal stuff and just.. bonded. And that's all we did for the first few months of seeing each other. We just talked about things that we hadn't told anyone... ever.”

Your daughter grinned, “You found your soulmate.”

“We did,” Jeongguk smiled.

[sluttyten]

Hi!!! Could I ask for the “You can’t leave without letting me hug you first.” and “Wait, don’t pull away… Not yet.” with Doyoung? Please? (this is up to you: but if it could be with a chubby/plus size reader it would mean a lot to me). Thank you so much for your time.

I love your writing 💞💞💞

The relationship you had with Doyoung was a long and complicated one. Your families were friends, and when you were younger your families had often met up for holidays—celebrating the New Year together, birthdays, the lunar new year, even going on summer trips together occasionally—so you were rather close.

As you grew up, it wasn’t that your families grew apart, just that schedules grew busier and your families couldn’t see each other as much. But when you were fifteen you celebrated the New Year together for the last time, and you and Doyoung snuck off together with a bottle of wine no one would miss, and you’d sat together in the park nearby, passing the bottle back and forth and waiting for midnight to strike.

You never learned if it was the wine or just an impulse decision or what caused it, but at the stroke of midnight as the country celebrated the calendar turning over, Doyoung kissed you.

It had taken you totally by surprise, and you’d run away, embarrassed and ecstatic and overwhelmed that Doyoung had kissed you.

But you didn’t see too much of him again after that, not for a few years, by which point he was taller and much more filled out and more handsome. Your mother had told you about Doyoung growing up, how handsome he’d grown. And the way she said it made it sound like he’d grown from being awkward to handsome, and you just wanted to tell her that he’d always been handsome. But then you finally saw him.

And damn. She was right.

Handsome Doyoung of the past was gone and now he was just....

“Wow,” you gasp under your breath when Doyoung walks through the door of his parents home.

For the first time in ages your families are getting together. Your whole family and Doyoung’s parents and brother and himself. It hasn’t been this way in many years.

Doyoung’s gaze lands on you, and immediately you feel your face grow a little warmer. You tug at your clothes, trying to get a little air on your suddenly hot skin, and also just trying to make sure it’s laying right. Before you’d left home, your mother had clucked at you and suggested you change, but you liked your outfit so you kept it on.

But now with Doyoung looking at you while he looks like that, you almost wish you’d changed.

And then his face breaks out in the huge, familiar warm smile of his, and he says your name. Instantly the cool handsomeness of him now melts away and he’s just young, dorky handsome Doyoung again.

You’re all together to celebrate Doyoung’s dad’s birthday, so there’s much talking and celebrating, then dinner and cake and presents and more laughter and toasting, and throughout it all you keep looking over at Doyoung, amazed at how much he’s changed in the last few years, wondering what he thinks about how you’ve changed or if you’ve changed at all in his eyes.

After a bit you excuse yourself to use the bathroom. You’re not gone for long at all, but as you start to return to the table, you see Doyoung’s not seated there with everyone else anymore and your heart sinks, thinking that maybe he’s left. You know he doesn’t live wi to his parents anymore; he lives in an apartment across the city. So you don’t return to the table, instead you wander back down the hallway.

This house once was as familiar to you as your own. When you were much younger, before puberty hit, you spent many nights having sleepovers here with Doyoung. And even now your feet tread the path to Doyoung’s bedroom.

As you stand in the doorway, you realize the room isn’t empty. Doyoung’s sitting on the bed, looking at some photos he has stuck to the wall.

“Doyoung?” Your voice seems so loud in the tranquility of his room.

He looks over at you. “Oh, hey. Look, I forgot I had these up here.” He points at the wall, and you step inside his room, move around to see the wall where he’s pointing. It’s an array of photos from his childhood. Pictures from school, from theatre, of you and him with your arms around each other’s necks.

“When’s this from?” You step closer, touching one photo you don’t remember being taken. The pair of you sitting on a swing set together, his arm looped around one chain of your swing to keep you both held together. You’re laughing with your eyes squeezed shut, and Doyoung’s smiling at the camera in his hand.

“New Years.” Doyoung answers easily. “You were so giggly and cute. I took it when you weren’t paying attention.” He stands up and when he’s beside you, you can suddenly feel the memories rushing back to you, can feel the best of the alcohol in your veins on that cold night, the thrill of sneaking out together and the joy of being with Doyoung. And then the kiss.

“I’d better get back to the table.” You say quickly. “I think my family’s about to leave.”

You make it as far as one step away from him before Doyoung grabs your wrist lightly. “You can’t leave without letting me hug you first. Who knows when we’ll see each other again.”

The photo on the wall draws your gaze again, a frozen memory of the last time you saw each other. You don’t want years to go by again before you see Doyoung again, and you definitely don’t want to go years regretting not having felt his arms around you.

As soon as you nod, Doyoung’s swept you in against his chest, and he wraps his arms tightly around you in the warmest embrace you’ve felt in a long time. You sigh and return the hug, loving the way it feels to be held by him, to have his cologne filling your nose.

You could happily stay there locked in his arms, but you don’t want to make it weird.

“No.” Doyoung groans as you start to drop your arms from him. “Wait, don’t pull away... Not yet.”

Your heart starts beating faster as Doyoung holds you tighter.

“I love how you fit in my arms,” Doyoung murmurs, tucking his face even more against your shoulder, winding his arms just a little tighter, pulling you that much more against him. “God, I’ve missed you. I feel like I really fucked up my chance with you back then. I should’ve made my move earlier, but you were just so pretty.”

You pull away to frown at him. “Me? Doyoung, I was such a chubby kid. What do you mean pretty.”

He frowns right back at you. “I mean pretty. Yeah, chubby. And cute and pretty. It’s not like those things can’t all be the same thing.” He reaches over for the picture; one little tug brings it down off the way, and he holds it beside your face. “Yeah, you’re still the same. Chubby, pretty, and cute.”

You whine and push at his arm. “Doyoung!”

“What? You are! And I like you just the way you are.” Doyoung tries so hard to defend himself. “Don’t you like me just the way I am?”

“First of all it’s been years, Doyoung. I’m not going to judge you just based off of visuals.” You sit down on his bed to look up at him. “And you look a lot different. You’re all—“ You gesture you and down at his tall, fit figure. “Yeah.”

Doyoung sits down heavily beside you, places the photo in your lap, and points his finger at his face in the image. “I’m that same Kim Dongyoung. I don’t look different.”

You snort. “You’re taller and somehow more handsome. We aren’t discussing this. If we compare who’s changed into a better looking version of themself over these years, then it’s clearly—“

“You.” Doyoung answers before you can say anything else. “It’s you. You look the same, but you look happier too. And more confident. I don’t think you back then would have ever worn something like this with such confidence. You were always shy and worried about what other people thought of you, but now you seem so much more confident and that’s sexy.” Doyoung leans back on his hands to get a full look at you. “I’m telling you, you’ve always been pretty but now you’re confident and that just so attractive.”

You fold your arms in front of you and look over at Doyoung. “I feel like you’re just saying all this stuff.” Doyoung shakes his head. “So you genuinely mean it?”

He nods his head. “Why do you think that I kissed you back then? I had a massive crush on you. I spent so many days thinking about confessing to you, but always losing my nerve. Then that night was my chance, probably my last chance because I knew I was going to be a trainee and would lose pretty much any chance at having a social life for a while. So I went for it. And then you ran away, so I thought you didn’t like me and I made it weird.”

“No!” You laugh. “I was just surprised. How could I not like you? Back then, you were my ideal type, Doyoung.”

“Back then?” He sits up again, holding his face close to yours. “Just back then?”

You look back down at the photo in your lap. You remember feeling so happy right then, the night air rushing around you, the taste of the wine on your tongue, and the heat of Doyoung’s fingers beside your cheek. That Doyoung made your heart pound just as much as your heart is right now.

“I don’t know you as well anymore. I can’t say,” you tell him.

Doyoung stares at you in silence for a few seconds, and then abruptly he stands up and holds his hand out to you.

“I’m Kim Doyoung.” He says as you slip your hand into his to shake. “I think you’re stunning, and I’d like to take you out sometime to get to know you like we used to know each other. Will you say yes?”

You stare at him, trying to read his face to see if he’s totally serious right now. Is Kim Doyoung, your childhood friend, really asking you on a date right now?

You stand up, still holding his hand.

“Well?” Doyoung asks.

“Take your second chance. Show me you’re the same Kim Dongyoung who gave me my first kiss.” Your glad to see the glint in his eye as he accepts your challenge, his hand tightening around yours as he draws you in for a second kiss, years too late.

requests are closed now! Thanks to everyone who’s sent them in!

[jimmymcgools]

Can you do a directors cut for they pay me a golden treasure?

hi! this has been in my ask box for like two weeks! i'm so sorry! my brain broke and i forgot how to think about things!

i'm glad you asked for this one, thank you so much 🙏 i'd had the first ~500 words of this sitting in a google doc for so long -- i was originally thinking of posting after i finished slip and fall season. but then my brain did that thing where i wanted everything to be exactly perfect and i kept working and overworking the first few paragraphs until way too much gluten had formed in the dough and it was chewy and terrible.

but then i took a step back and just tried to write a thing that captured all the little interesting ideas i wanted to include, and that helped me get the ball rolling.

commentary below! 💖

Two points of pressure weigh down his shoulders, as heavy as the bags of cash had been—heavier, even. It feels like he has two hands locked on either side of his neck. He can feel the man who owns the hands standing behind him, and he can hear the echo of the word wife.

this idea was one of the first things that made me want to write this oneshot -- linking this physical sensation of carrying the bags with this metaphorical way he feels lalo's control over him.

He swallows. His mouth is tacky with a sugary layer of Gatorade.

i wanted the whole thing to hopefully be SUPER sensory and way deep in jimmy's head. and this is the kinda shit that takes me longer than it should to remember. sometimes i have to just sit and think through every part of my body as if i'm in that situation and see if anything good leaps out.

He’s just standing there outside the apartment and his arms are so heavy and his shoulders are so heavy and his head is so heavy he feels as if he’s going to fall right through the ground, as if he’s going to plummet into the earth before she can even open the door.

this is one of the sentences that previously died to being overworked. i kept changing it and changing it until eventually i looked back at my very first version, which was more brainstormy note than intended prose, and i thought it was better than anything else i'd managed. so i used that!

There’s a bang and his eyes snap open. The door is widening to a square of light and his hands are in front of his chest, curling into balls.

this part is a reverse of the previous example, though! here i kept an earlier version for a while, something that started like "The door opens with a bang etc etc" and then i realised it DID need more work, it needed to be more in jimmy's head and not tell the reader exactly what was happening in the first three words.

A square of light—sand and sky and space blankets—and then she’s there, silhouetted against the white, and he takes— —one step, then the next, then the next— —through the bright doorway.

fuckin' love an em dash, mate

His legs, having delivered him here, to this final glowing space, give up.

another one of the ideas i was very excited about for this one-shot was comparing kim to the golden glowstick he holds that night in the desert! i always think about it when i watch that scene!

here's my first shot at making the comparison -- this final glowing space. for a while i wanted to include the memory of him holding that glowstick right here, so that people might link it with him holding her in the entryway, but it didn't work with the pace.

Her voice sounds like it’s coming down a long phone line, traveling through thousands and thousands of copper-lined miles. Crackling and cracking.

i'm a self indulgent lil shit so i put some references to my other fic in here. hopefully if youve read acb, this specific description makes you think of baby kim and jimmy talking softly on the phone at night.

Kim’s fingers are razors in his hair, crushing his head close against her shoulder.

another metaphor from early acb used here, which in itself is a reference to a song by the national, of course. all my fics are just a bunch of national songs stacked inside a trenchcoat

As soon as his chest touches hers, he’s clawing with tight fists at her back, holding her faster and faster, like he’s scrabbling for purchase over screaming dirt

i loved the idea of drawing all these parallels between the desert experience and his experience here. it makes me think of the split-screen opening. jimmy's dry tongue sticking to his mouth is like him trying to say the first part of kim's name. the way he hugs her is like the way he scrambles towards the esteem.

it's all entwined forever now.

From down the long crackling line, she says his name again. Jimmy. He almost can’t hear it. Jimmy.

god, i'm such a writing nerd and i love thinking about writing so much and it's like -- what does not having his name in speech marks add here? in my head it adds so much. is it real, is she really saying it? is he just thinking it? yet he says he almost can't hear it. somehow not having the speech marks also makes it feel far away to me. intangible. if she's really saying it, it doesn't feel real anymore.

i love writing!!!!

“Hey,” Kim says, her voice quiet, her eyes locked on his. The dry skin on his lips stretches with his smile. “Hey.”

would die for these two softly exchanging "hey"s.

It’s good to be close because he knows there’s something horrible trapped between their chests. Something he can feel running warmly down his white and unblemished t-shirt.

jimmy brushing his hand over the spot as they sit together on the sofa.

Like he’s something that might burn her, or something that might break. Or both—like he’s fragile and electrified.

i kind of want to do more with this duality at some point. i think they both feel this about the other. that they could burn them or be burned by them.

He wants her to cradle his cheeks the same way she always does, or stroke her thumbs over his mouth, or curl her fingers around his ears, but she doesn’t. She just holds him in her fingertips. Like water in her hands, he thinks.

more of that wild self-indulgency, but god i couldnt resist linking this moment with the first time they makeout in acb:

"Then she pulls back, breathing heavily, looking down at him. She frames his face with her hands. Gasping for breath, staring up at Kim from between her palms, Jimmy feels like she’s the only thing holding him together. Like he’s water in her hands."

the only thing holding him together.

the ", he thinks." i added in the one-shot makes me feel like jimmy's making the link too, not just me as the writer.

The apartment smells of smoke. Another thing he’s dragged with him over the threshold from the desert: one hundred thousand dollars in cash and the word wife and the smell of dust burning beneath a high sun.

of course, it smells of smoke because kim's been smoking inside, but jimmy doesn't know that

Boxers picked up and then put down in almost the same spot on the bathroom floor.

this moment always gets me. these actors are incredible. there's so much goddamn emotion in one little action.

In his hand now, the ache of a yellow glowstick. The edges of his fingers are made red with it, and his skin and bones and all the gaps between the different parts of himself are marked out with the light. He’s awake, and the yellow stick is fragile in his grasp. Glowing through the cold and the dark. Burning a ghost on his retinas. His suit jacket is thin above him, a loose sheet. The desert is loud with lizards and wind and tires wheeling over dirt roads. The glowstick is golden.

and now finally i get to this glowstick moment. i'm really proud of how i executed this paragraph. it's the writing nerd in me again. i love what the present tense does to it. to me, it makes it feel eternal, ongoing. this is how i felt okay about not setting up the glowstick thing earlier. this paragraph makes me feel like jimmy's been thinking about this the entire time.

all the gaps between the different parts of himself are marked out with the light

also the thought of like... jimmy sitting awake in the desert thinking about the jimmy vs saul of it all.

Burning a ghost on his retinas.

"Did I dream it or did I have $1,600,000 on my desk in cash? When I close my eyes, I can still see it. It's burned into my retinas like I was staring into the sun."

Kim’s face is warm against his spine. Her heartbeat seems to pulse through his skin.

more of my stolen acb lines, this from the final chapter:

"He can feel her breathing, her knees pressed up close behind his, her chest against his back. Her heartbeat seems to pulse through his skin. If he didn’t know better, he’d feel like the Sandias, like a line of protection between her and the world."

When he closes his eyes, he’s walking, he’s still walking.

returning to the first sentence here gave it all a terrifying feeling to me. like -- does jimmy feel like this moment of getting home is the dream? this looping dream?

thank you so much to everyone who read this one-shot, by the way! i was super nervous about tackling canon times, and everyone's messages have been so reassuring. i really appreciate it 💖

[justasparkwritings]

The Word of Your Body: You’re Gonna Be My Bruise {3}

Previous: Strip

Pairing: Namjoon X Reader

Genre: Angst / Slice of Life

Rating: PG15

Word Count: 1.7k

Warnings: Swearing, Body Insecurity, Beauty Standards, Comparison, Vulnerability, Mentions of Sex

Listening: The Word of Your Body from Spring Awakening  

Master List

           It was on a Saturday in October that Namjoon took to Weverse to declare the results of his most recent physical. He questioned himself as he wrote it out, would Army care? Does Army want to know his fitness goals? He’s proud of his body, proud of its growth and ability to perform high energy, high powered dances while spitting bars nearly as fast as Yoongi. Not to mention his brain but being an intellectual came easy to him. Namjoon wrote his post, sharing with Army that he was working out 5 days a week, on a diet and pushing himself harder than before. He wanted his body fat to be at 10% or lower, a full 5% less than his current state. He wanted Army to be proud of him. To see his dedication to them and to himself. He couldn’t preach love yourself, as you are, to Army if he didn’t believe it.

          Once it posted, he set his phone down and went to make dinner with you.

          You didn’t look up when he came into the kitchen. Your eyes were glued to your phone, having received the notification that Namjoon had posted. You read the translation quickly before turning the music up and trying to push it from your mind.

          You were delighted by your body. Namjoon loved your body. But the shame from his post started to wash over you as you moved through the kitchen, nodding at whatever he was saying. You turned quickly, bumping into him, spilling the warm contents of the pot all over your shirts.

          “Fuck!” You yelled, the hot liquid hitting your stomach. “Fuck, fuck, fuck.”

          You reached for the kitchen towel and realized it was no use. You haughtily stomped off to the bathroom to try and rinse some of it out before it stained. Namjoon followed behind you, needing to change his shirt too, and frankly concerned that you’d gotten so upset.

          “You can borrow something,” Namjoon said moving past you into the closet.  

          “No, I can’t,” You snipped. You tried to move your soaked shirt in a way that both covered you and kept some of the wet parts off your body. You looked and felt ridiculous.

          “Why not?” He asked, slipping his shirt off. He looked at you quizzically.

          “Because,” You responded, eyes down cast, trying to blink the tears away.

          Because?” He stepped closer to you, gently placing a hand under your chin. He wanted to see your eyes, to see your heart. What had happened that had made you afraid of showing him yourself?

          “It won’t fit,” Your voice was only audible to him because he held you so close, unwilling to let you hide. You can hear him taking a breath, realization hitting him.

          “Do you want to run home and get something-

          “No, Namjoon, whatever, it’s fine,” You said as you started to move away from him.

          “Babe, I didn’t mean-

          “I know you didn’t, I’m not mad,” Your voice wavered.

          “Then what are you?” He asked, sitting on the bed.

          “Embarrassed,”

          “Don’t be, baby,” He tried to pull you to him, but you stepped back.

          “How can I not be, when you’re posting about how you’re at almost at 10% body fat and I’m living in a body that’s three times that! How can I not be embarrassed when I come to my boyfriend’s house and I can’t even borrow clothes when I need to?” Your voice filled the bedroom. The furniture absorbed what it could, taking every decibel down a peg to soften the reality that you were throwing at Namjoon.

          “I, I don’t know what to say. I love your body; do you want me to prove it to you?”

          “No. I just, maybe I need to go home. Sleep it off,”

          “I don’t want you to,” He said.

          “There’s nothing that you’re going to say that’s going to make me feel better. There’s nothing to do tonight, I’m upset and I’m feeling really fucking insecure.” You leaned against the wall, pausing to look at your boyfriend. His shoulders were slumped, his eyes were fiery and defeated. He didn’t know what to do, and you could tell that he was trying to negotiate with himself. Concede to something he didn’t think he needed to, and comforting you by reenforcing things you already knew.

          “I,” You sighed. “There is nothing wrong with you wanting your body fat to be so low, to work out five times a week, that is what you choose to do with your time and your life. You rap and dance for hours. Our bodies are always going to be different. I just, I wasn’t expecting you to post something so…”

          “So what?” Namjoon asked. He didn’t feel bad about his body, and about his fitness. He felt bad that you were upset, and he wouldn’t take it down.

          “Vulnerable, and just, I’ve never seen anyone be that open except when Taylor Swift said she’s healthier and happier at a size six instead of double zero… People talk about weight loss journeys, not fitness journeys. It caught me off guard,” You said, sitting down next to him.

          “It’s hard work, and I’m really trying. I want to be as fit as I can be, for BTS, for me… I’m trying to see how far I can go.”

          “I know, and I admire you so much for that.” You said.  

          “I feel insecure too,” Namjoon responded.

          “Tell me about it,” You said, wrapping an arm around his waist and resting your head against his shoulder.

“You know I don’t fit the traditional beauty standards… You know what people say,”

          “Namjoon, I have no idea what people say about you other than you’re sex personified, and holy shit have you seen his thighs? Oh, and your smile,” You said. 

          Yes, you were part of the BTS Army. Yes, you read the thirst tweets and shared the kinkiest fan fiction with him, sometimes to recreate it, sometimes to watch him become increasingly uncomfortable… yes you know thousands if not millions of people wanted Namjoon in the ways only you knew. But BTS hate wasn’t anything you’d looked into or read about. Not because you were dating Kim Namjoon, or that you thought the hate would seep into how you viewed your lover, mostly because who the fuck cared? You knew Joon’s heart, what made him laugh, what made him feel loved. That’s what mattered to you.

          “To be tall, have a strong jaw, a European nose… Double eyelids, to be rich and intelligent,”

          “Aren’t you most of those?” You asked, curious how he could not be any ones ideal. Had they seen Namjoon? His eyes? That smile? His laugh. The spread of his hands, the way he tilted his head to the side, how he curled into himself when he was cold? There were many days where just the sight of him breathing sent you into a frenzy. Not to mention when you discussed politics, finance, religion, love, anything and everything. There was nothing sexier than Kim Namjoon’s intelligence… except him stepping out of the shower.

          “No, I don’t have all of them. Think about it, Jin is the most traditionally handsome member of BTS. He’s literally Worldwide Handsome, if you look at us together, I don’t compare.”

          “So, you’re focusing on something you can control?”

          “I, yes,”

          “Your strength.” You filled in his thought. You could feel him nod, his inhale rattling against you.

          “Look at Jungkook,”

          “Okay,” You turned your body to face him, tucking a leg underneath you. He did the same, and placed a hand on your thigh.

          “He spends hours working out, perfecting his body, meticulously learning dance moves.”

          “Joon, do you want to do that?”

          “I,” he sighed. “I want to be the best version of myself, physically, mentally.”

          “I want to be that for myself too. I’m worried you’re comparing yourself too much,”

          “How can you not?”

          “I mean, yeah you’re surrounded by six other stunning men. Of course you’re going to compare yourself. But, Joon, don’t forget they’re human too, they’re all flawed.”

          “I know, I just,” He looked down. You knew he was searching for the words. Writing lyrics were one thing, but expressing his intimate thoughts were another.

          “What?” You prompted, moving your hand to cup his cheek, thumb rubbing over his cheek bone.

          “I can’t help it.”

          “I don’t want you to work yourself to the bone, Namjoon.”

          “I won’t,” He held your gaze, a silent promise.

          “You could hurt yourself or do permanent damage.”

          “I’m being smart,” He reassured. He was. They had trainers and instructors. He knew how to safely use the equipment… but that’s not what you meant.

          “That’s what Jung Kook thinks, and Jimin. How many times have they gotten hurt because they’ve pushed themselves too far? I’m nervous that you’re going to push and push until there’s nothing left.”

          “I won’t,” He promised.

          “Promise me,” You whispered. “I love you.”

          “I love you too,” Namjoon said before lightly placing his lips on yours.

          “Can we toss this shirt in the wash?” You asked, pulling away.

          “Are you going to walk around in your bra?” He asked, immediately excited by the idea.

          “Yes, it’s cute.” You said, pulling your still wet shirt over your head.

          “You’re trying to tease me?” Namjoon feigned shock.

          “No, I’m trying to find a good solution, because you don’t want me to leave, and I was really looking forward to spending the night with you.” You responded, tossing the shirt at him.

          “I have shirts that will fit you.” Namjoon said, standing. His statuesque figure staring down at you made you feel all types of ways.

          “Maybe, but what’s worse is trying them on and them not fitting at all and having to tell you that.” You said moving towards the door out of the bedroom.

          “Do you want to try?” He offered.

          “Why don’t I go see what’s left of dinner, and you can rummage for a few options, and I’ll mosey on back to see what you’ve found. If they don’t work, I’ll just hang out in my bra while my shirt is washed.”

          “That’s a plan,” He responded.

          “And then, after you’ve done the dishes, you can take my bra off, shirt or no shirt.” You winked.

          “Can I fuck you on the counter?” He called after you, smile on his face.

          “Oo, think you’ll have the strength after I blow you on the couch?” You laughed, your rolls jiggling along with you.

Next: Holy 

[bacon-lettuce-tomato-blog1]

Seed Folks

In the Paul Fleischman's children's book, Seedfolks, the idea of diversity and multiculturalism is introduced to younger audiences. Fleischman does this by introducing characters from different races and ages. Some of these characters also have other distinguishing factors such as pregnancy or being crippled. All these characters are linked together by a small community garden where everyone is invited to plant their own plants and help each other out,  putting the “unity” in community. Amir is a great representation of multiculturalism because, he is always trying to meet new people in the community.

Paul Fleischman depicts Amir as an Indian man who comes from Delhi. Amir compares the cities in India to cities in America, as both countries have large cities with an abundance of people. It is later revealed that Amir runs a fabric store in Cleveland. According to Fleischman, Amir is trying  to “ … avoid contact, to treat all as foes …”(58) This quote shows Amir to be a quiet person that doesn't want much interaction.

Amir sees the garden as an opportunity to meet his neighbors. Once he joins the garden, Amir starts to grow out of his shell once his eggplants showed a coloration that the other participants have not seen before. He seemed happy to explain the strange color and talk to the other members of the community. Amir makes friends with the person that borders his plot and is taught about her polish culture. He then made friends with Royce, who made everyone feel uneasy. That was until Royce, Amir, and one other man stopped a thief, all the characters seem to respect Royce even more and treat him like one of the other plot owners.

Fleischman’s representation of Amir is very remenaciant of someone who just moved somewhere new. By showing the evolution of Amir before and after joining the garden. At first he kept to himself but, in contrast, he then openly learns about the another foreign culture. Fleischman also did his research when choosing between the Amir’s occupation and vegetable that he plants. Working in a fabric store is a nod to indian culture. Having fancy fabrics is very important in indian culture. Fabrics “. . .has a significant presence in the [Indian] economy as well as in the international textile economy”, according to Dr.P. Chellasamy and N. Sumathi in their paper entitled Indian Textile Industry. Eggplants (Amir’s choice of vegetable) is very common in indian dishes. India is the second largest producer of eggplant in the world next to China, as stated on specialtyproduce.com. He is also asked how to cook his eggplants by members of the garden.

Amir’s main conflict is trying to be a part of the community. Before the garden he was afraid of everyone and treated them like enemies unless they were deemed friendly. He overcame this by trying to be more accepting of others by engaging in conversation with others, getting to know more about people and their background, and being curious and accepting other cultures in into his life. He did this in five stages.

The first thing he did to become apart of the community is planting a variant of eggplant that many of the other gardeners have not seen. “Very many people came over to ask about them [eggplants] and talked to me.”(59) This quote shows how many people are intrigued by the plant and how Amir is able to connect to the other gardeners through this.

His second stage was getting to know Royce better. Before helping catch a robber, Royce left the participants in the garden feel “ … relieved when he left the garden.”(61). By seeing what Royce can do and not stereotyping him,  Amir was able to see Royce past his gangbanger look on the outside, by witnessing his act of courage while stopping the thief. Eventually, the members of the garden found out that Royce has sisters that he has to take care of. Through Royce’s actions, Amir was able to connect with him more, as well as the other gardeners.

Amir’s third stage was learning a heritage through conversation. Instead of keeping to himself, Amir engaged in a conversation with a person where her garden border his. Through this conversation Amir learned a lot about the lady’s polish culture. Amir has always heard about the the hard working polish men and women but, even admits that “ … I’d never know one - until the garden.” This shows how he didn’t expect to to learn anything about the Poles but he is very accepting of the fact that he is able to learn.

His fourth way that he became part of the community was by accepting other cultures ways of celebration. Amir was confused once he saw Mexican men bring food and instruments into the garden. “Perhaps it was one of their birthdays, or perhaps no reason was needed for the party.”(63) This shows how Amir thought that there was supposed to be a reason for  the food and instruments but, he later found out that this celebration didn’t really have any reason behind it. It was just a party to just relax, have fun, and connect with each other.

His final step was confronting a woman who called him out in his own store. According to the text, this woman called Amir “ … a dirty foreigner.”(64), despite both of them being foreigners. The woman apologizes to Amir, as they have became friends through the garden, and constantly saying, “ ‘Back then, I didn’t know it was you . . .’ ” (64) This shows how the garden itself was able to bring people together, even if they had a feud at a previous time.

Amir as a character seems to be pretty realistic. Amir can be related to the Daryl Davis story, where Davis was able to befriend members of the Ku Klux Klan by engaging in conversations and respecting what each party had to say. In Amir’s version of the story, he was able to befriend his “enemies” by getting to know them more through conversations. He was once a shy person who didn't want to talk to anyone. Once he started working on the garden, and started to make contact with other people, who he once saw as villainous, that's when him and his community became acquainted with one another. A lot of people today don't try to engage in a conversation with strangers unless if they have seen them around a common place of interest.

Is Seedfolks a good book to teach children about diversity and multiculturalism? Yes, it is. If you look at the book as a whole, you will be able to see the good that the book is able to teach. It shows how many different people from different cultures unite. It also shows how people will help each other out. Lastly, it shows how to be accepting of people who are different from yourself.  

The characters in Seedfolks show unification, even though they are from different cultures. “A man with a knife had taken her purse. Three men from the garden ran after him.”(60) These two quotes show how, when presented the opportunity, the members of the garden will come together to solve a problem. The problem in this case being a thief. They put aside their differences and together they helped a person in need. “When people all the time complain about carrying water, he [Sam] start contest.”(38) This quote shows how Sam is trying to get the community to work together to overcome a problem that they all experience. “Someone bring three old pots to scoop water out of cans”, “I quick go to score. Buy three funnels to make easier filling containers.”(39)  These quotes show how people are expanding on the contest winners product. This shows members of the community uniting to overcome a roadblock to benefit the rest of the community.  

Members of the garden are willing to help each other out, despite their different backgrounds.  “And it’s up to us to save them.”(10)  This quote is in regards of Wendell seeing Kim’s beans die. The characters Ana and Wendell work together in saving Kim’s lima beans. Ana spots the dying beans from an apartment building near the beginnings of the garden. Ana later informs Wendell about the dying beans. At this point, Wendell saves one of Kim’s beans and see Kim for the first time. Wendell backs away, as he didn’t want to scare Kim. We can later see that Kim fixes all her beans so they mirror Wendell’s saved bean. Later on in the book, Royce is introduced into the book. Royce, although he does not have a chapter, always helps the members in the garden.

”In return, he watered for people who are sick and and fixed fences and made other repairs. He might weed your garden or use the bricks from the building that was torn down up the block to make you a brick path between your rows.”(62)

Royce was willing to help out the gardeners without asking for much. This is one of the reasons that Royce became trusted and accepted within the garden community.

Seedfolks introduces a few characters who are different from the rest of the cast. Instead of their race, other features are brought out with these characters. Fleischman introduces a pregnant teen and a disabled man. When introducing Maricela, the pregnant 16 year old, Fleischman puts us in her shoes to feel what she is feeling in the chapter. “My body was part of nature.”(56)  By accept her pregnancy by realizing that it’s all just a part of nature allows the reader to relate even more to Maricela because everyone is a part of nature. Nora’s chapter introduces us to Mr. Myles, an elderly man bound to his wheelchair. Mr. Myles was intrigued by the garden and with the help of Nora, they started at their own plot. Introducing Mr. Myles shows the young readers that elderly people are able to enjoy the same things as middle-aged adults, teenagers, and children, regardless of disability.

Despite the book trying to teach diversity, it fails when you focus more on specific characters. This is when you see stereotypes show up, unintentionally. For example, Fleischman introduces Tío Juan and Sae Young, two foreigners who can’t speak, or can only speak broken english. Tío Juan has probably resorted to using pantomime (as stated on page 50) because of his inability to communicate with most people. Sae Young speaks very broken and basic english. The best example of this is, “When people all the time complain about water, he start contest.”(38) Another stereotype that shows up is with Royce. It is stated that “. . . people would have crossed the street  if they’d see him coming . . .”(62) It is implied that Royce, being African-American, has a threatening exterior. “ … The blacks on one side, the whites on another, the Central Americans and Asians toward the back. The garden was a copy of the neighborhood.”(26) This quote supports David Brooks’s People Like Us, which states that people are “making strenuous efforts to group themselves with people who are basically like themselves.” The members of the garden are unintentionally segregating themselves, despite the garden representing unity.

In conclusion, Seedfolks, by Paul Fleischman, is a great book to show to kids to teach them about diversity and multiculturalism. The book shows people, regardless of diversity can work together to reach a combined goal. It also shows how people will assist one another if. Finally, the book teaches young kids to accept people who are different from them. Although there are flaws within each character, the book, as a whole, is beneficial to young readers.

[krreader]

BTS reacting to your daughter wanting to become an idol.

pairing: bts x reader fandom: bts warnings: language genre: angst ; fluff word count: 2k+

a/n: sooo, I wasn’t sure if you wanted the main argument to be the dieting, but I feel like there are a lot more reasons why they’d be worried, so I hope you don’t mind me only putting diets as one of the many reasons. nevertheless, I hope you like it ♥

kim seokjin

“We were seven men and we had our own struggles. What do you think happens when it's seven women who are constantly getting compared to each other?” Jin stood in front of your daughter with his arms crossed in front of his chest, “Do you know what's going to happen? They're going to say things like: 'Oh, you've gained more weight than her, you need to be put on a diet now'.”

“I'll deal with that if it comes down to it, dad, but I'm old enough to know what I'll be putting myself through and I'm making this decision with or without your approval,” she got up and copied his pose and once again, you could see that she truly was his daughter.

You got up with a sigh, standing between the two before the argument could escalate any further.

“We're worried and you know we have every reason to be. So how about we make a deal. You do your thing, you agree and join the company, but your father is allowed to monitor everything.”

“What, like I'm a baby?! I'm 16!”

“No, like a manager,” you turned around to look at your husband, “You've been itching to work in the industry again as well, just differently this time, this would be the perfect opportunity. Sira could become the idol she wants to be without having to worry about much, because you'll take care of her like the father that you are and the manager that you could be.”

It certainly was an odd proposal, there weren't many idols that were managed by their parents, but it has happened every now and then.

And it was something that both Jin and your daughter were ultimately okay with, because they both got their ways, even if not exactly how they thought they would.

min yoongi

“Aren't you... going to say anything?” your daughter pushed her food around, her eyes on her father who wasn't looking at her at all.

You were feeding your baby to your right, your eyes switching from her to him, afraid of what this might turn into.

“So you want to become their slut.”

“Yoongi!” you immediately complained.

“No, (Y/N),” Yoongi looked up, first at you, then at your daughter, “You have no idea how fucked up this industry really is. Why do you think I left when I did? Why do you think I did everything I could to protect you from this life? Do you want to starve yourself for the rest of your life? Do you want to portray a version of yourself that you're not until the day you die?”

“I didn't do anything yet, dad! They just made an offer, I didn't say anything yet!” she was upset, clearly, “I'm sorry, I should have just said no.”

But when she started sobbing, Yoongi's hard shell broke down immediately and his shoulders slumped with a heavy sigh.

“Listen, I know you love music, but becoming an idol is not the way to go. If you're serious about music, I can help you get in touch with the right people, people that won't use you like the agencies would in a position of as an idol.”

She nodded, even though she was still crying.

Later that night, you ended up joining her in her bed, holding her close while explaining to her why Yoongi had been so upset. Why he was so scared for her and that he didn't do this to punish her, but simply to protect her.

And thankfully, she understood.

jung hoseok

“How much sleep do you get nowadays?” Hoseok asked.

“I don't know.. seven to nine hours?”

“Forget that. You'll get four if you're really lucky, two on a normal day and none if you have comebacks. How much do you weigh right now?”

“Why are you asking me this?” your daughter clearly became uncomfortable.

“Because they will be asking you. They will want to know whether to put you on a diet or not because you are 'too fat' for this industry.”

You let out a frustrated sigh and cupped your daughter's face, “He's not sugarcoating it like I would have, but he's right. This industry isn't as beautiful as you think it is and your father has seen it up close, so he’s not just saying these things to scare you off,” you kissed her forehead, “I know that you're currently in a stage of your life where you don't know what step is the next to take and I know that it's scary not to know, but please do not make any rash decisions and sign any contracts. Think about this... carefully.”

She did... because you didn't raise her to be naive and stupid.

kim namjoon

“Do you know why we disbanded, sweetheart?” Namjoon's voice was gentle, his eyes on his other daughter picking flowers in the garden.

“You... never really went into details about that,” but she was instantly curious and straightened her back, crossing her legs on the bench that she was sitting on.

“At that time, we reached the peak of our careers. There truly was nowhere else to go, but people still expected us to go higher and reach for more stars. But we were exhausted. We were.. depressed,” Namjoon's eyes flickered to you, since you had been the one to pull him out of that dark place once, “What me and your uncles have accomplished will forever be something I will cherish, but it is not a life I would wish for you. The never ending diets, the never ending stress and expectations... it's... horrible.”

“But there's perks too, right? I mean, you had amazing fans.”

“We did. And then we also had the ones that stalked us. The ones that sent us creepy letters. The ones that threatened to hurt our loved ones,” finally, he turned his head to look at her, “You and your sister should not grow up in a world like this. I want you to be able to eat what you want to eat without someone telling you that it has too many calories. I want you to be able to sleep in on the weekends after a long week of hard work. I want you to be able to go on vacations with your friends without having to worry for your safety. Do you understand what I mean?”

She didn't respond right away, but ultimately she smiled a little and nodded, “I understand, daddy.”

And boy, did you both let out a relieved sigh.

park jimin

“No,” Park Jimin was not the kind of father to say no without giving a reason, especially because he hardly could say no to his first and only daughter, the apple of his eye. But when she asked him about her possibly getting into BigHit, he instantly shut her down.

“But..-” her eyes widened, her lower lip already beginning to tremble and you, being stuck in the middle, turned your head to Jimin with a small smile, “Can you check up on Seungmin? Tell him it's almost dinner time.”

Jimin knew that you handling this conversation would be better anyways, so he did end up walking outside to check up on his son, while you turned around to your daughter and grabbed her hands, “Your father had a great life. He had a wonderful career that he doesn't regret having, but the wonderful things that you see online and hear from fans and friends and family... it wasn't always like this.”

“What do you mean?”

“When your father made his debut, he ended up struggling... a lot. Not because he wasn't good at singing, or dancing.. but because he felt like his face was too chubby. He felt like his abs weren't good enough. He felt like his legs didn't look strong enough,” when she looked confused, you kept on talking, “He went on one diet after the other and went days without eating anything, just because he felt like he had to. Now, imagine him having been a woman. And I really hate saying this in a modern time as this, but the world isn't as lenient with us as it is with men, and your father knows it, sweetheart. If one fan were to ever mention that you're one gram too heavy, the company would take it to heart and put you on a diet. And not just a diet for a week, a diet for a month, maybe a year. Your father has experienced this first hand and he just doesn't want you to live a life such as this too,” especially because she had inherited his beautiful cheeks from him and so he was worried that she’d go through the same things just because of that wonderful detail.

She hadn't known about this, because if she had, she never would have brought it up.

And after that day, after thinking about what you had said once again and after actually looking up what you had said and confirming it all, she never brought it up ever again.

And Jimin was more than glad about that.

kim taehyung

You both should have assumed that this would happen at some point.

Not only because of who Taehyung is and used to be, but because of who your daughter was. Confident, breathtakingly beautiful and talented. Of course, she'd want to pursue a career in a field such as this one.

“Listen,” Taehyung brushed a strand of hair behind her ear, “You know your mother and I support you, no matter what you want to do, but this life that you're envisioning right now is not the life that you'll have.”

“He's right, sweetheart,” you sighed, “You are already struggling with keeping your life private, if you join BigHit, it'll get even worse. Then there's crazy fans, more so for you because of who your father used to be. And the diets.. the never ending diets..”

“I know you're worried and I can't blame you for it,” she grabbed her fathers hand and pulled it to her cheek, leaning against it, “But whatever happens, I know you two will have my back. That's why I want to do this, because I know that no matter what, I can always come back here and get my slice of normality and love.”

It... kind of made you really proud to hear that, even if it didn’t decrease your worries.

jeon jeongguk

BigHit had been trying to get Jeongguk to sign up your daughter ever since she was old enough to walk and talk, but he had always denied them.

Now, however, she was old enough to make her own decisions, and her saying yes, didn't come as a surprise to either of you.

“Don't you think there's a reason I kept telling them off?” Jeongguk was angry. Angry at BigHit, angry at his daughter and most importantly, angry at himself that he didn't put a stop to this once and for all, “Do you want to starve yourself for the rest of your life to be the perfect doll that they want you to be?”

But instead of yelling back, she actually listened to every little bad thing that he had to say.

Only when he let out a frustrated sigh and dropped down on the couch next to her, did she speak: “I know this isn't what either of you wanted for me and I'm sorry I'm worrying you like this, especially you dad, but this is my life and my decision.”

You decided to join in, your hand on your daughter's lower back, “It's not that we wouldn't support you, but this life is hard. We're just scared for you.”

“I know, mom,” but she was stubborn and so with one last glance at her father, she said: “I'm sorry, daddy, but it’s what I’m going to do,” and got up to go into her room.

All that Jeongguk could do now was keep BigHit in check. Every little thing they wanted to do to your daughter had to go through him.

She didn't know about this and he made sure that she never would... but it was the only way that Jeongguk would allow this to happen.