#it’s not the best and i’ve blocked out my face for obvious reasons

[uhbasicallyjustmilex]

happy new year everyone!! 🌟✨ it's been almost exactly a year since i first tentatively poked my head into this little space here on tumblr, and being part of the wonderful am/miles/tlsp community here with you all has truly been one of the highlights of my 2023 💗

as i'm sure is the case for most of us, it's been a year of ups and downs for me. i've been lucky enough to experience some amazing things (living in a new city, reconnecting with my creativity, getting my dream job, discovering music that speaks to my soul, making new friends, reading some amazing books) and human enough to experience some less incredible things (chronic pain, family difficulties, discovering my dream job is not in fact my dream job, getting long covid, the ever uphill battle of healing from trauma). through it all, this space has been a continued solace and source of joy, where i've met some truly special people and felt part of a little community where i get to have fun and flail and just be me. i can't even begin to express how grateful i am to be part of a space like this, or how grateful i am to everyone here who makes it what it is ✨

i also just wanted to say a quick thank you to everyone who has supported me with my writing over this past year, whether that's through kudos or comments or messages or amazing cheerleading/editing help. one of the absolute gifts of discovering this fandom has been the writing fic side of it. maybe it sounds silly, but writing four walls has genuinely been one of the highlights and biggest achievements of my year. writing has always been something incredibly close to my heart, but my degree left me totally sapped of inspiration and confidence, and i'd been struggling for a while to climb out of that after graduating. something about alex and miles just instantly sparked off inspiration in me that i hadn't felt for a long time, and getting to write about them over the past year has reminded me of the sheer joy of creating and the magic of getting to share that with people ✨

it's something that's finally given me the confidence to pick up my own original writing again too, and i couldn't be more grateful to alex and his wonderful lyrics (particularly the entirety of humbug) and to everyone who's supported my fic ventures for helping me reconnect to and explore my creativity. it's the best feeling in the world to finally feel like i'm coming home to that part of myself and carving out a proper space for it in my life 💗

2023 was far from perfect, but it was filled with so many brilliant moments of illumination and i feel i am leaving it with a deeper sense of myself and my path moving forward. i know it's going to be a rocky one at times, but i am excited for what 2024 holds in store for me - and i can't wait to continue flailing with you all over all things milex and to enjoy all the amazing fics/gifsets/posts/art to come!

wishing all of you a year ahead full of wonderful moments and new experiences and fulfilment 💫✨ i really am more grateful than i'll ever be able to adequately express for this space here, and to all the amazing people i've been lucky enough to get to know through it. here's to an amazing 2024 for all of us 💗💞🩷💓💖💕💝

(the photos above are just a random little collection of ones over the past year that i particularly associate with the various things i've talked about in this post)

[primehyuck]

MOVES

aka good things take time (the happy ending version)

word count: 11.3k

i first started writing this because i’ve been listening to the song Moves by Suki Waterhouse on repeat, but it became much more than that

contents: long time best friend!haechan, slice of life, pining and yearning, chronological time jumps (mostly college and young adulthood), other members mentioned (Mark and Jeno!roommates), kissing, fluff, wet dreams, a good example of two people who seriously need to communicate, face sitting, morning sex, lots of pet names

“Do you think we’ll be friends for a long time?” Haechan’s soft voice distracts your attempt to focus on a blade of the blurry ceiling fan, unable to keep you cool despite it spinning so fast you think it might fly away.

“How do you mean?” the bed squeaks when Haechan sits up to lean over you.

“Growing up, I feel like my parents didn’t have many friends aside from each other. My mom told me that it’s because when you get older your priorities change and you realize who adds value to your life, and that’s who you decide to keep.” His eyes are glowing with sincerity, body blocking the flow of air from touching you at all “so when we’re older, and married with kids and other priorities, and we maybe live in different cities, do you think we’ll still be friends?”

You stare at him for a moment before shoving his face out of the way of the fans air stream.

“Definitely,” your confidence soothes him enough that he lays back down “if I ever muster up the creativity to come up with a reason to stop being your friend, you have to swear you’ll tell me how stupid I’m being, swear to me.” you smack his chest before he can even answer.

“I swear!” He smiles to himself, staring up at the ceiling with you, rubbing his hand over the warm spot where your hand made contact, melting into the mattress.

———

Growing up people always joked that Haechan and you would fall in love, that it was inevitable, practical even. Because, if you fall in love with your best friend you’ve already conquered one of the highest mountains - finding someone that you like, and who likes you back.

You had both seen the other in a relationship, an inevitability when you’ve been friends with someone since puberty. He’d cheered you on when you had your first kiss during a game of spin the bottle in high school, forced you to come out on double dates with him and a friend of his you didn’t even like just so he could take someone else out, and freshman year of college he’d even introduced you to the person you'd lost your virginity to.

The only time he cockblocked you was when you tried to get to know any of his friends more than platonically, so eventually you gave up and settled for real friendship with all of them.

“Trust me, you don’t want to touch him with a six foot pole.” He’d said freshman year when you had mentioned your attraction to his roommate, Mark.

“He seems so nice, though.” you pouted

“He is nice, but that doesn’t mean you want to be with him.”

“How would you know what I want?” you scoffed, and he looked at you like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

“Has the wind beneath my wings ever led you into the wrong arms?” He was highly animated, offended that you would question his judgment.

By the start of sophomore year it was obvious to everyone else that you were strictly off limits. All of his friends had decided unanimously that even if you did attempt anything with them they had no choice but to shut you down. The cold stare Haechan unknowingly serves them from across the room whenever they got too close was enough to keep them away. None of the boys ever minded the boundaries with you, there always was an ease in your friendship since they all knew it could never go further, but that didn’t mean they never thought about the possibility.

One night, at the end of junior year, Haechan is nowhere to be found at his own party and you graciously accept Jeno’s invitation upstairs when you complain of a headache, “we can play Mario Kart, and it won’t be all competitive like when Haechan plays with us.”

It starts like normal, and you're having fun when you realize that your tipsy brain can’t focus on the screen and the conversation simultaneously, opting for the latter as you relax into Jeno’s pillows. You don’t even notice him inching closer to you until his nose touches yours, tugging at a strand of your hair. This is the first time any of Haechan’s friends have shown interest in you, you’d never even been on the receiving end of a flirtatious stare from across the beer pong table, so you take the reins.

Kissing Jeno feels a little bit like winning, like you’ve finally made it past the invisible forcefield Haechan had put up around his friends. The kiss is lazy and hot, Jeno props himself up on one elbow and presses your back into the mattress with his chest. Your eager fingers run beneath his shirt, his abs tightening when you trail them over his sides. Your spine tingles when he groans into your mouth, the hand on your cheek moving to grip your knee and hike your leg over his hip. His hand holds strong around your thigh, and you sigh when he grinds into you.

Jeno pulls away too soon, stopping your hands reaching for the hem of his shirt with a pained sigh as he drops your leg to roll onto his back, flinging an arm over his eyes.

“Fuck, I should not be doing this with you.”

“Why, you don’t want to?” You want to curl into yourself, sitting up to stare down at his shaking head.

“No, definitely not that.” he pulls his arm away to meet your eyes, the alcohol in his veins making him brave enough to admit “Haechan would be pissed.”

“Haechan?” you question “did he say something to you?” Jeno groans, sitting up and hooking his elbows around his knees, staring at the mattress between his legs.

“No, no. He’s never actually said anything,” he knows he’s revealing too much, but he also knows he’s gone too far to stop “we just know he would never want us to cross that line with you.”

“We?” you can feel embarrassment bubbling in your chest at the idea of all of your friends talking about this.

“Yeah, you know, all the guys. We figured you were just off limits, I don’t know.” he grimaces, looking up at you with apologetic eyes when you don’t respond. You huff and climb off the bed, feeling rejected in more ways than one.

You’d crossed a boundary tonight, but Jeno was still a close friend, someone you’d spent a lot of time with since he met Haechan freshman year. He still knows you, so he grabs your wrist before you can leave, shifting to sit on the edge of the bed so he can stand you between his legs.

“I’m sorry, don’t be mad.” He envelops your hands in his and brings them to his chest.

“I’m not mad,” you mumble, avoiding his apologetic gaze “I’m embarrassed that all of my friends agreed not to touch me.”

“Did you really think not a single one of us was ever interested in you?” you shrug and he squeezes your hands tighter, heart tugging in his chest.

“When people don’t act interested, that’s usually a safe assumption.” you pout and Jeno’s laugh buzzes through your linked fingers "I gave up on all of you halfway through freshman year."

“Well, some of us are better actors than I remember.”

He has you laughing by the time you leave his room, sealing the night with one more self indulgent kiss and a pinky swear to never tell Haechan about what happened.

———

Halfway through the first semester of senior year Haechan bangs angrily on his roommates door before swinging it open and Jeno is genuinely shocked that it's taken this long for the gossip to hit his ears. The rest of the boys had clocked Jeno the next morning for being ‘too happy’ and he had to make them all swear not to tell, wanting to protect your pride and his own friendship with Haechan.

"You slut!" Haechan points an accusatory finger in Jeno's direction, dragging his feet slowly toward him until he's so close Jeno has to bat his hand out of his face.

"What are you talking about?"

"Oh, you know exactly what I'm talking about." Haechan's voice is low and angry, something new and unpleasant sparking in his gut at the idea of Jeno kissing you, touching you.

"No, I don't." Jeno can’t help but antagonize. Pleased with the perfect opportunity to trick Haechan into saying out loud what everyone else seems to have known for years.

"You kissed my best friend!" He shrieks, tossing his hands up in the air dramatically.

"So what, she's not allowed to kiss people?" Haechan squints his eyes at Jeno’s response, scrunching his nose in annoyance “how did you even find out?”

"She can kiss whoever she wants, it's all of you that aren't allowed to kiss her." Haechan waves his hand wildly toward the bedroom door, alluding to the large group of boys living in the house “you know Mark can’t keep a secret, he’s been bursting at the seams for months. All I had to do was ask.”

"It happened forever ago dude, why are you so pissed? You've never even given us a chance to get close to her in that way, maybe one of us could really like her." Jeno reasons, tugging at Haechan's strings, watching the gears in his brain turn as he tries to come up with a real argument.

"She has a boyfriend," Haechan finally says with a frown at the thought of the guy he’d only recently met, he doesn’t like him at all. From his stupid hair to the shoes he wears, there’s not a thing about your new boyfriend that Haechan thinks is good enough for you. He collapses into the gaming chair across from where Jeno is relaxed on the couch, not having moved at all since Haechan stormed in "plus, I think any of you would know by now, you've all known her for four years."

"I think, that it can take a lot longer than four years to realize how much you like someone." Jeno bites, "how long have you known her?"

"Since middle school." He picks at the hole in the knee of his black jeans, realizing what Jeno is alluding to, defensive exterior quickly crumbling.

"Right, I think that if you're blind enough then it can take ten years to realize how much you like someone."

"Well, maybe ten years is too long and that person missed their chance." Haechan turns his head to stare out the window, anxiously spinning the chair side to side.

"You know I'm talking about you, right?"

"God, yes, I know you're talking about me." Haechan glares at his friend, fidgeting stopping abruptly "and I know I've been a complete idiot about it, but like I said, I’m out of time."

———

Haechan can’t stop his free hand from clenching and unclenching as you sob into your pillow, his less angry hand rubbing over your back.

“He told me he saw us moving in together after graduation,” your voice shakes “how do you look someone in the eyes and say shit like that and then sleep with someone else?”

“I don’t know,” Haechan replies earnestly, feeling as helpful as flip flops in the snow from where he sits on the edge of your mattress “I’m so sorry.”

He takes your silence as an invitation, lying on his stomach, face turned toward you, fingers still drawing soothing circles over your shoulder blades. He waits patiently for you to calm down, unease swarming his stomach knowing that even after years of friendship he can’t truly comfort you in this moment.

“I’m so embarrassed.” you sniffle, smearing your face over your pillow before turning to look at him. He holds his breath, waiting for you to collect yourself enough to explain.

“I’m so gullible, he even told me he’s cheated in the past and for whatever reason I believed that he’d treat me differently, that he’d love me enough.” Haechan has to count to five in his head to stay calm before he speaks.

“You have no reason to be embarrassed. The most natural thing you can do is believe someone when they say they love you.” He murmurs, turning onto his side so he can pull you into a hug. When you curl into his body to bury your face in his chest he can only pray you can’t hear his heart pound against his ribs.

“He’s an idiot, and he didn’t deserve any of the love you gave him. I promise, you’re so much better off.”

Haechan hates the piece of himself that’s relieved your relationship has ended. The same piece that hated your ex the minute he met him, that feels heavy in your absence whenever you’re busy with anyone who isn’t him. The piece that crosses it’s fingers whenever you get this close in hopes that you’ll be the first one to cross the line, to finally do what he’s thought about doing for the last few months since he realized exactly how he felt about you.

“Thank you,” you mumble into his tear dampened shirt, lifting your leg over his to cuddle in even closer “thanks for always being my friend, even when I do dumb shit, like let boys be mean to me.”

He nuzzles his nose into your scalp, eyes fluttering shut at the smell of your shampoo “Thanks for letting me. Besides, even Beyoncé got cheated on, so you clearly aren’t that dumb.” the crowd in his brain cheers when you giggle into his chest.

“You’re so annoying.” He holds you even tighter.

———

“I can’t believe it,” your jaw drops and Haechan whips his head up nervously to look at you from across the couch

“What happened?”

“I got it, I got the job!” you shove his feet off your lap to jump up excitedly, bouncing on your toes as you read the email out loud. Haechan’s ears are ringing so loud he barely catches the first half, trying to shake off the dazed look he’s sure appears on his face.

“We were extremely impressed with your resume and even more so with the impression you left on the board during your interview, blah blah blah, excited to offer you this position, blah blah blah, and a relocation bonus to join us in in our new office!” the pitch of your voice rises a few octaves as you finish reading.

Haechan stares at you from his spot on the couch, eyes wide with shock that you’re too excited to notice, skimming your screen as you re-read the details in your offer letter.

His entire body is buzzing, torn between feeling excited at your accomplishment and sorry for himself.

He had a plan, a really good one, he thought. After your breakup you’d made it painfully clear that you wanted to be single for a while, and he knew if he could just be patient, it would all be worth it. So Haechan decided to bottle his feelings up, sitting patiently by your side where he had been for so many years, waiting for you to heal and hoping that when you were finally ready to start dating again he’d have mustered up the courage to make the first move.

“Lee Donghyuck, are you even listening to me!?” you drop your phone to pull him up off the couch, bouncing up and down with your fingers intertwined “I’m moving to my dream city, to start my dream job.” you reiterate and he snaps out of it, sweeping the imaginary shards of glass that his plan had been made out of under the rug and pulling you into a hug.

“That’s amazing, I’m so proud of you.”

“Your enthusiasm is overwhelming.” You deadpan, but squeeze him back just as tight.

“I’m sorry, I’m going to miss you is all.” He admits, "I'd follow you if my job didn't keep me here."

“I’ll make sure you don’t miss me too much, don’t worry.” you plant your cheek on his chest, surprised at the relief you feel in hearing him say it first.

———

This feeling was still a little unfamiliar, nerves. Haechan had never made you nervous growing up; excited, annoyed, passionate maybe, but never nervous.

The nerves began last summer, when he’d come out to visit you for the first time to celebrate his birthday. It was the longest you’d gone without seeing each other since you’d met, almost ten full months and the anticipation was palpable.

When he steps through the airport doors you think that it’s the relief of finally being near him again that knocks the wind out of you. Running into his open arms and being squeezed so tightly in them that you tap his shoulder to let you breathe. Ruffling his hair when he steps back and ignoring the fact that he had grown so much since you’d seen him last.

But as the night goes on, the slight changes to the person you have memorized become glaringly obvious. The way his cheeks have lost some of their cushion, revealing a sharp jaw and pointed cheekbones. The natural wave in his once unruly hair now falling perfectly over his brow bone, he had dyed it a little darker which made his tan skin glow even in dim lighting. Even his smell seemed to draw you into a trance, a much more expensive version of the Haechan you know.

“You know, that group of girls has been staring over at you since we walked in.” You raise your eyebrows playfully, pointing your glass toward the pretty gaggle that keeps walking past the booth you and Haechan occupy.

He doesn’t break eye contact with you before shrugging, “I didn’t come here to see them, I came to see you.” he smiles, punctuating his thought by reaching over the table and tapping your nose.

“I know, I know,” you laugh, batting him away “It never hurts to know when people are staring, though”

His face is unreadable as he rests his arm lazily up over the bench of the booth, body sinking into the seat while he lifts his glass to swirl his drink, biting the words that have been resting on the tip of his tongue the entire trip, and at the end of every phone call since you started your new job.

“How are you, seriously.” You push. In the time since you moved he’d started and ended a relationship with a girl that you’d never met. Your new job kept you so busy that you hadn’t even learned about the breakup until a week later, when you finally had the time to call him back. The guilt of your absence weighs you down, resenting your inability to be there for him the way he had been for you in the past.

“I’m over it, seriously.” You know he’s telling the truth, but it’s in your nature to pry.

“You never really talked about, why, you know.”

“Do I have to?”

“No, I’m sorry, I just feel so behind on your life.” You sigh and push your empty glass to the side, swirling your finger in the ring of cold water it leaves behind.

“It’s okay, really. You’ve been busy, I understand.” He reaches across the table to stop your anxious fingers “I didn’t love her the way I knew I should, that’s all. It’s a good thing that it ended, and I’m happy that it did.”

“That’s all that matters, then.” and he’s grateful that you drop the subject.

You eventually get back to your apartment, both giggly and flush from the alcohol still fogging your brain despite the long walk you'd hoped would lessen it. Haechan holds your hand the whole way back, even when he stops suddenly to pet a dog, dragging you down to the ground with him. He can’t help himself, grateful that at this point you'd touched one another in every way other than what he dreams about most, and you seem oblivious to his need to be so close to you.

As you get ready for bed he lets himself watch you undress facing the wall away from him, unaware of his gaze burning into your backside and the way his fingers tingle at the thought of pulling at the meat of your hips. He scolds his heart for thudding so loud when you squeeze your eyes into a smile at his reflection standing next to yours at the sink while you brush your teeth, the domestication of your friendship that he used to appreciate now suffocating him.

You put on a movie and invite him to rest his head on the pillow in your lap, wishing he could bury his nose into the skin of your thighs beneath it. Halfway through the movie he has to sit up to hide the way his cock is hardening at the feeling of your nails combing through his hair and down his shoulder, occasionally thrumming over his chest. He pulls a blanket off the back of the couch and tosses it over his legs as casually as possible, pulling you into his side by your shoulder, the other arm stretched across the back of the couch.

"Are you cold for the first time in your life?" Haechan never wants to use a blanket, but you’re grateful for the position giving you access to bury your face into his chest, gripping his shirt.

"No, just want to be warmer." he presses a blushing cheek onto the top of your head, trying to think of anything except the way your hair smells, or the feeling of the side of your breast brushing his wrist through your shirt. Haechan feels eighteen again and like he's discovering the connection between romantic and sexual feelings for the first time in his life. He tries to match his breathing to yours, holding his breath whenever you shift in his hold and reconnecting his stomach with your back as quickly as possible. The temptation to pour his heart out is overwhelming, but when he feels your body completely relax into his and your breathing slow down, the words become trapped in his throat, so he lets you sleep.

Haechan had never experienced a shorter 48 hours than that weekend he spent following you around the city you now call home.

You’re shining in your new space, and he happily trails behind you to all the places you’ve discovered in the almost year since you moved. His stomach does somersaults whenever you point something out that reminds you of him.

“I’ve been waiting to come here until you could come with me!” you're so excited to take him to the video game themed coffee shop that your co-workers had recommended “I thought about coming to see if it was even worth it, but I only want to play these kinds of games with you anyway.”

Sometimes he can forget about his feelings for you, when things are just as they always have been. You talk with and touch him the same, laugh at his jokes the same. He thinks that if he were to ever say out loud what he’s been feeling, that the two of you would still be the same but with a little More, ‘you guys’ but on steroids. So when everything is normal he can pretend like it‘a not. He can act like the More is there when you hold his hand to drag him around to the different machines, play games he wants to play even if you don’t want to, you even wipe ice cream off of his chin when his cone starts to melt because he’s talking too much to eat and he wonders why it took him so long to see it this way, and if you could too.

He keeps thinking the moment will come, when he’ll know spilling his guts to you is the right thing to do. But between you gushing over how much you love your new life and your willingness to point out every girl who has blinked at him this weekend, he completely loses the steam he’d gained during his flight, regardless of how his imagination runs wild with the More.

He curses himself the entire weekend for his lack of bravery, hoping that keeping his feelings in is the right decision. After his recent relationship crashed and burned because of his feelings for you he thought he had no choice but to come clean. But watching you, being with you in your new life makes him realize that his role in it hasn’t changed even if his feelings for you have.

The lump in his throat as he stands outside the departure doors is more than just sadness at the thought of leaving you, it’s the realization that he has to let the romantic idea of you go.

“How come you never cry when we have to leave each other,” you hiccup into his chest, and he coos your name lovingly.

“Don’t worry, you know I save my tears for the plane to make everyone in my row uncomfortable.” He knows that you hate that he’s making you laugh at a time like this, pulling away so you can swat his chest and he raises his hands in surrender.

“When will we be able to see each other again?”

“As soon as possible.” He nods reassuringly, wiping your tears with his thumb, heart pounding as he stares into your watering eyes “hey, you’re my best friend in the world, you annoy me every day, and I love you.”

“Whatever, I love you too.” you laugh, but his heart speeds up at the words that you’ve said to him thousands of times. You sweep your arms around him one last time before pushing him toward the airport doors “you better go, if you miss your flight I can’t guarantee I’ll let you leave at all.”

“Don’t tempt me.” He walks backwards slowly, staring at you with a ‘kicked puppy’ kind of face he mastered years ago and you wave enthusiastically, blowing loud kisses into the air that he catches and clutches to his heart.

“This is it,” he thinks, “this has to be it.”

———

Haechan is dreaming about you. He has been nightly ever since he got back from his birthday weekend. He’s grateful the dreams have variety, since some of them overwhelm him to the point of waking up and not being able to fall back asleep.

Sometimes, you’re young again and whenever anyone says “You know, it’s just a matter of time until one of you has a crush on the other.” you both theatrically gag, laughing at each other as if it were the most insane idea in the world. Or, you're sitting on his childhood couch watching your guys' favorite movie for the hundredth weekend in a row, vocalizing the parts of the two main characters and recreating all the best scenes.

Sometimes you’re at his apartment just hanging out together, which are dreams that feel so real he almost expects to see you in his kitchen when he wakes up. Most of these dreams spark a deja vu laced flame in his gut so deep he finds himself confusing them with memories. The ache of missing you wakes him up before his alarm some mornings, and he finds himself face timing you once he knows you're awake just to watch you make coffee and wash your face.

But sometimes, he has dreams that make him feel so ashamed he can barely text you back in the morning. Dreams where he reaches to touch you and you let him, where you tug at his hair and moan his name while he does all the things that he can only do to you in his sleep. He hates to say that these are his favorite, but it's the one dream he knows he'll never actually achieve and he goes to bed every night praying for them.

That’s the kind of dream he’s having when his phone buzzes him awake. He answers without looking because there are only a handful of people who can reach him when he’s on ‘do not disturb’, and you’re one of them. He hums a sleepy greeting into his phone, putting it on speaker next to his pillow and nearly drifting right back into the dream and between your thighs.

“Donghyuck” his eyes shoot open at the sound of your voice “did i wake you up?”

He can practically hear the pout in your voice, squinting at the time on his phone, “Yes, it’s three in the morning,” he stares down to where he’s half hard, running an embarrassed hand over his face even though there’s no possible way for you to know “are you okay?”

“No, well technically yes but I miss you which means things could be better.” you slur your words and Haechan smiles, somehow he's never annoyed that you call him pretty much every time you drink. He thinks it's because he's familiar with this version of you, though he definitely hasn't seen it often since college graduation. This version of you loves him hard, and is never afraid to say it.

"I miss you too," he takes a beat before adding "I was dreaming about you just now."

You gasp excitedly "Really! What were we doing." He smirks at the thought of telling you that you had been sitting on his face, hand reaching back for his cock while he guides your cunt over his tongue until you were shaking above him.

"Just, hanging out." he shrugs. It's his second time this week alone dreaming of your clit bumping his nose, and the thought makes his mouth water.

"I don't believe you." You say accusingly "that's way too boring for a mind like yours to dream up."

"What exactly is my mind like?" He yawns, throwing his forearm over his eyes.

"Oh, you know," you hum "your mind is a galaxy, with at least a billion planets and twice as many stars. I wish I could fly into your head and explore it, but NASA doesn't have the funds."

Haechan holds his breath at your compliment, the smile on his face so wide he can hear it in his own voice "That sounds like an episode of Magic School Bus."

"Your brain is definitely cooler than some cartoon, it's pretty much my favorite place on Earth."

"How would you know, you've never actually been inside?" He shakes his head, teasing you gently. Hearing words like these come out of your mouth breaks his heart and glues it back together at the same time.

"Are you saying you never think about me?" you ask him, not an ounce of sarcasm in your voice.

"I think about you all the time, I promise, all the planets in my brain are shaped like you." You hum, pleased with his response. He shuts his eyes and waits for your answer.

"Yeah, all the planets in mine are shaped like you, too." you pause for a second and add "plus all the stars, I win, I think about you more."

———

This time when Haechan comes to visit you, you know the nerves are more than just excitement at seeing your best friend. It’s a feeling that is nestled so deep in your stomach it makes you a little nauseous. You haven't seen him since you went home for the holidays and he only has one night in the city. You find yourself grueling over your reflection in the mirror, not used to being self conscious in front of him. You’re only going out for happy hour, but you put yourself together to last all night.

When Haechan finally arrives he whistles lowly, making you blush when he pulls out of your hug and requests a spin.

“I appreciate that you got so dressed up for me.” He teases, hoping you don’t catch his eyes sweeping over your legs, wanting to commit you in this dress to memory.

“Don’t flatter yourself,” you roll your eyes as if you hadn’t spent the last two hours making sure you looked as perfect as possible. Hoping he doesn’t see the pile of clothes shoved into your closet from all the failed attempts.

“Never,” he grabs your purse off of the counter and opens the door, sweeping his arm out in front of him dramatically “after you. There are some strangers outside who are waiting to catch a glimpse of you, they just don’t know it yet.”

“You are so dramatic.” You lock the door behind you, using the moment facing away from him to collect yourself. Lately you catch yourself wondering if he'd always been so flirtatious, or if you're just forcing meaning behind his words because of how badly you want him to be.

“What, a guy can’t compliment his best friend?”

You smile widely at him and grab your bag out of his grasp, popping your key inside and walking toward the entrance of your building. Praying your fingers stop shaking when you finally get a drink in you. Haechan throws his arm around your shoulders while you walk down the street to your favorite cocktail bar and you're grateful for his usual chatter, talking to you about work and his slow climb up the ladder.

“They put me in a hotel this time, so you don’t have to worry about making me breakfast in the morning.” He smiles at you, sipping his drink gingerly.

“You know I never cook you breakfast.” He feels so far away across the table and you wish that you were sitting next to him instead, shoulders cold without the weight of his arm around them. It feels so good to have him touch you, to feel like you're his. There's a small part of you that feels guilty for using his knack for physical affection to your advantage, he has no idea what the heat of his skin on yours does.

“I know, but all the meetings are in the hotel anyway so it’s easier this time to just stay there.”

You try not to let yourself visibly deflate at the news, wanting to keep him for yourself the whole time he’s in town. His knee presses against yours under the table and you focus all your energy into acting the way you would have before, but you can’t focus on anything else and cross your legs to pull away from him as casually as possible. As badly as you want to touch him, sometimes you can’t.

“What time do you have to be up?”

He groans, leaning back enough that his knee now slides against your shin, “too early,” and glances down at his now empty glass, motioning to the bartender for another “which means you need to drink faster, so I can stop at a reasonable hour.”

You smile, downing the rest of your drink in one gulp, when his foot taps against yours you know it's going to be a long night.

The end of the night finds you together on your couch with a shared bottle of wine sitting empty on the coffee table, his early meetings temporarily forgotten. You and Haechan have been in this position plenty of times, drunk, slap happy and overly touchy in a way that you had always been comfortable being with one another. The difference now is you, this version of you who wants your best friend in an entirely different way.

Every time he pulls you closer you feel electricity shoot straight to your heart so intensely that you have to duck out of his grasp. You don’t know what to do with the feelings that have been growing gradually from your toes up, now practically sprouting out of your scalp with a neon sign blinking “I’m in love with you” over and over.

“Why do you keep doing that?” Haechan whines when you all but flinch away from his hand reaching for his phone near your arm. He’d been aware of it all night, the space you left between the two of you while you walked back from the bar, your sudden inability to maintain the eye contact that he craved. The complete lack of physical touch makes him feel dejected.

“Doing what?” You give him a panicked look, practically sober at the thought of being found out, of what it would feel like to be rejected by him.

“You’re not letting me touch you,” he frowns, and the alcohol buzzes through your veins again “not that you need to let me, but you only avoid it like this when you’re upset. Did I do something?” he pouts, tired eyes low when he flops his head onto his bicep resting on the back of the couch. You forget to breathe for a second when he looks up at you under dark lashes.

“I’m not upset. I wasn’t doing it on purpose.” you’re lying through your teeth, but scoot an inch closer to him to make your point. He doesn’t look convinced, and if you’d had less to drink you may have noticed the mischievous glint in his eye before he grabs you by your arm, knocking you off balance and into his chest.

“See,” he sighs happily, wrapping his arms around your body and you can feel his chest buzz when he hums, cheek pressed to the top of your head. You have no choice but to ungracefully shift your lower body closer to him, making yourself a sponge and soaking in his familiar touch “isn’t that better?”

You nod, “Yes, it is better.” and you really wish he didn’t know you so well, that even in his fifth hour of being drunk he can read your mind. He pulls your ear off his heart to grab your cheeks, smushing them together and whispering your name with a shake of his head.

“What is it?” he urges, and you wrap your fingers around his wrist to loosen his grip. You shut your eyes, take a deep breath and count to three in your head before you can talk yourself out of leaning forward and pressing your lips to his.

You feel him falter for a half second before he’s kissing you back, pulling your face closer and pushing his body toward yours. You can’t hear anything over the blood rushing in your ears when his tongue touches yours, and then suddenly his mouth is gone. He moves so quick you have to put your arms out to stop yourself from face planting into the cushion he had just been sitting on.

“Fuck, I’m sorry.” you gasp “i shouldn’t have done that, Haechan, I’m so sorry.”

It takes everything in you to look up to where he’s now standing with his arms crossed over his chest protectively. You have no idea what he’s thinking, staring down at you with wide eyes. Insecurity sweeps through you under his intense gaze, and you almost beg him to say something.

“I’m seeing someone,” the way the confession rings in your ears would have you believing that he screamed the words, but his voice was barely above a whisper “shit, I’m sorry.”

You aren’t sure if it’s your life that flashes before your eyes, or your years of friendship with him, at this point the two tend to blur together.

“That’s-” you sit back on your calves and inhale shakily, knowing it’s not even worth it to attempt to fake any sort of excitement for him “why didn’t you tell me?”

He shrugs, swallowing thickly and pulling his eyes away from your face to stare at the ceiling “It’s new and I didn’t know how. It just never came up.”

“Well then, I’m sorry that it didn’t. I shouldn’t have done that, I don’t know what came over me.” grateful that he’s finally the one avoiding eye contact with you so he doesn’t see your legs wobble when you stand “probably best to pretend that never happened. I’m just drunk and I missed you-”

Your name sounds so pathetic when he says it this time and you think it’s the eighth wonder of the natural world that you haven’t started crying yet. You shake your head instead, wishing so desperately that you had changed out of the dress you were wearing as you pull the slinky material down your thighs.

“Honestly, Haechan,” You regret your next words before they even hit the air “you should probably go. You have an early morning.”

The shock on his face pains you, but you can’t stand to see what you can only assume is pity growing in his eyes for another second.

“I don’t want to go, I want to talk about this.”

“I’m sorry.” you say again and his shoulders slump in defeat, recognizing that you’d made up your mind.

“It’s okay.” He means it, shuffling forward and the look on your face is nearly enough to bring him to his knees. His breath catches when you shift away the inch he moved toward you, eyes locked on his and he can see the desperation in them before he hears it in your voice.

“Text me when you get to the hotel?” your voice cracks with a heavy mix of exhaustion and embarrassment that makes him nods once, grabbing his things and walking slowly toward your door. He turns to look at you, but his words catch in his throat when he sees your eyes begin to water, mustering up all his energy to offer what he prays is a reassuring smile before letting himself out.

You sink back into the couch when the door clicks shut, head hanging in your hands as the tears finally start to flow. You cry so hard you feel like you could throw up, replaying his rejection over and over in your mind, shame and regret coursing through your veins. Pure embarrassment heats your body at the look on his face when he told you he was seeing someone, and you’re not sure if it was disgust or pity in his eyes.

On top of the rejection, knowing that he didn’t feel like he could share something as big as meeting someone with you was a dagger to the heart, up until recently you had never kept a secret from him, and even this one you clearly couldn’t keep in for long.

You force yourself into the shower, scrubbing angrily at your skin under the scalding water. You get out once your fingers have pruned and your skin feels raw, avoiding the mirror on your way to your bedroom. You kick angrily at the dress you'd left on the floor, watching it land near the pile of outfits you had discarded while getting ready.

Haechan had texted you nearly thirty minutes earlier

“made it back”

you give it a thumbs up before turning your phone off, setting an alarm with the clock on your side table and letting the emotional exhaustion lull you to sleep.

------

Haechan is realizing that there is no way in hell that you need space more than he needs to talk to you. He tries to call you multiple times the first week after you kissed him but you never answered, and Haechan doesn’t want to push you to the point of no return. What he really wants is to go back in time and not leave you that night, but the pain in your eyes was so pronounced he couldn't bare to make it any worse. The only physical proof that you had kissed him at all being the stupid blue thumbs up on the text he had sent you that night. It's followed by a slew of reassuring texts, saying that he broke up with his girlfriend and if you would please just talk to him, that he's not mad.

This is the feeling he carries with him nearly two weeks later on the flight to you, when he’s sure that another minute of silence from you will kill him. By the time he gets to your apartment it’s almost midnight, so he knocks loud enough to wake you up.

When you open the door in a shirt he thinks might be his, Haechan knows he has no choice. He's speaking before you can say anything, before he can change his mind.

"I came here to tell you that I think you're being really stupid." He curses internally for the obvious nerves in his voice, your tired eyes widen with shock at his words.

"Excuse me?"

"Years ago you made me swear that I would tell you if you ever came up with a reason not to be my friend anymore. So I'm telling you now, I think you're being really fucking stupid."

"I'm not doing that" You defend yourself, tearing up at the sight of him. He pushes into your apartment, shutting the door behind him and standing close enough to touch. He’s staring you down with pleading eyes, and you bury your face in your hands so you don’t have to look at him.

“Then why are you ignoring me? Why won’t you let me fix this?”

“I don’t know I just,” you inhale shakily “I don't know how to do it right now, not like this."

"Like what?" He hopes he already knows the answer, but needs to hear you say it, to know that you’re as serious as he is. Your mouth feels full of cotton when he forces you to look at him by whispering your name, pulling your hands from your face and his heart pinches tightly at the tears welling in your eyes "please tell me, please. Like what?"

"You already know," your bottom lip betrays you, voice weak beneath heavy emotion when you speak "I love you, Haechan. I'm in love with you, and I don't know what to do about it. I feel like I fucked everything up, but I can’t undo it."

He feels his lungs fill with relief. Haechan steps forward to close the small gap between your bodies, grabbing your jaw to rest his forehead against yours. You falter, but his hand on the small of your back keeps you from going anywhere, he's practically panting and you can barely stand, dizzy with the feeling of him. You want to pinch yourself to make sure you’re not dreaming when he whispers "You didn't fuck anything up."

He ghosts his lips over yours for a moment until he's sure you're not going to stop him. When he finally kisses you it's with years of pent up adoration, directing your arms around his neck and pressing his thumb firmly into your jaw, long fingers wrapping around the side of your throat. He practically whines when your fingers tighten in his hair and your lips part for his warm tongue. His arm wraps around your waist so tightly you have to hinge backward to keep your mouths connected, gasping at the strength you didn't know he had.

He keeps your stomach flush to his own and kisses you until you're practically limp in his arms, pulling away to breathe. His eyes are shut as he rubs his nose over yours

"I love you, too. I've been meaning to tell you for a while." All the blood rushes into your ears at his words and you can't stop your biggest worry from spilling into the air.

“What if you change your mind?”

“I made up my mind a long time ago, there's nothing you could do to change it." He blinks his eyes open, pulling his face away from yours just enough to see you, the trepidation in your eyes makes him say your name quietly.

"It's only me, you know me," he assures you in a hushed tone "you have to know by now that you are my entire world."

You could laugh, only him, as if he hasn’t been one of the most important people in your life since the day you met. As if he isn’t someone who has seen you at every stage of it so far. It’s Haechan, who has always been funny, who has witnessed the worst sides of you and never made you feel bad, who has never left your side.

You kiss him again, fingers wrapping in tight fists around his shirt to keep yourself grounded. Haechan’s heart pounds happily in his chest and he hopes you can feel it this time, both hands nestling into your hair. He kisses you gently in an effort to slow down your urgent movements, moaning at the taste of your mouth. You fall into his rhythm easily, the way his tongue rolls gently over yours makes your body go up in flames. You move your hands to slide beneath his shirt, landing on the strong muscles in his back and teasing your fingers up his sides.

When you finally come up for air he stares at you for a minute before laughing, stomach tightening beneath your fingers when he does.

"What's funny?" you shut your eyes, leaning your forehead into his chest, letting the pretty sound ring in your ears.

"Nothing, I'm just-" he cuts himself off with a shrug, nuzzling his nose into the crown of your head "I love you, and you love me back. That's all, that's how easy it is."

"It hasn't been easy at all, in fact my life has been very very hard since your birthday last year.” He pulls away from your head to ogle at you.

"My birthday last year?" You nod, feeling your cheeks flush under his intense gaze, it had really been that long "God, I'm sorry I'm such a fucking idiot."

He's kissing you again before you can ask him to elaborate, grabbing hold of both wrists in one hand while he walks you backward and guides you up onto the counter as slowly as he has to in order to keep his lips on yours. His hips are the perfect height for you to wrap your legs around, gasping in surprise when he slides his hands around your ass and presses your core tightly against the growing bulge in his jeans.

You feel shy when you pull away to ask if he wants to go to your bedroom, feeling frozen in place when he stares at you with half lidded eyes, his plump lips swollen and red.

"Tonight, I'm just kissing you." Every cell in his body is screaming in protest at his own words. He can't express how badly he wants to do everything else, to recreate his dreams, to learn the parts of your body he'd never seen before. But he can't imagine doing anything but this tonight, just this; his lips on yours, your breath in his lungs and your body melting into his.

"Why?” your eyebrows pull together in confusion. You practically shiver with need, tucking your arms between your stomachs and burying your nose in his throat. His laugh buzzes against your face, rubbing his hands gently over your shoulders and trying to control his own breathing as your lips brush over his skin.

All he can say is, “Because I’ve been needing to for a long time.”

“How long?” You pull away from his chest, leaning back onto your hands and closing your eyes when he runs his own down your sternum and over your waist, groping at the flesh of your hips and trying not to regret his romantic side.

“Way too long.”

“Your birthday?” you ask, tugging gently at his shirt. He plants his hands outside of your legs to lean in close, one corner of his mouth pulling up.

“Much longer.” Your eyes widen in shock, and he interrupts you before you can question him “can we talk about it later? I have something really important to do tonight.”

———

He tells you that he's had feelings for you since senior year of college, when you kissed Jeno. He tells you about his plan to admit everything when he had seen you on his birthday, but that he was too scared. He assures you he ended his relationship the moment he got back home the previous week “because everyone has felt like a matter of 'when' it will end, not 'if',” He tells you that just two weeks of your silence hurt worse than any previous heartbreak, and you agree. And before you fell asleep next to him he tells you again, ‘I'm so in love with you.’ and shimmies excitedly when you say it back before kissing you until you can barely keep your eyes open. He holds your cheeks in his hands and practically lulls you to sleep with his tongue, plush lips pressing to yours so gently you can hardly feel them dotting around the rest of your face. He thinks he could do this forever before sleep finally catches up with him, his arm slung over your side to hold your face to his chest.

You wake up curled into a familiar side, your first emotion being giddy as the night floods back to you. Despite your obvious willingness to go further, Haechan had meant it when he said he'd only be kissing you. It made you crazy at first, but when the two of you were staring at each other in the mirror with shy eyes while moving through a nighttime routine you had gotten familiar with years before, you were happy he had the self control you clearly lack. The idea of him actually seeing and touching you in ways he never had before, of doing all the things you'd found yourself imagining him doing over the last year; it was overwhelming. Kissing until your jaw was sore and your lips were swollen felt easy.

You’re startled by Haechan’s hand reaching for yours, holding your palm and bringing your fingers to his lips to press a kiss to each one, “good morning.” his voice is deep and tired, mouth landing on the crown of your head.

"Good morning." You press your nose into his chest happily, gripping his hand in yours and resisting the urge to squeal with delight.

"What are you so excited about, me?" He teases, hand falling on your thigh to guide your leg up the front of his, stopping just below his crotch and you hope he's going to give you what you'd been wanting all night, for the last year.

"You, I just can't believe how happy I am." You admit, lifting your head off of his chest to smile at him. He pulls you right back down, kissing your lips once before rolling you both over so he's on top of you. He presses a hand over your collarbone and drags his lips down your chin and over your throat.

"You know, this means you're all mine now." he smirks against your neck when you nod, gasping when he sucks gently at the base. He has one forearm on the mattress, the other hand too gentle on your ribs. You can feel that he's hard and you immediately roll your hips up.

"Does this mean you're gonna do more than just kiss me now?" you intend to sound confident, but it comes out as a whimper. His nose brushes over your jaw before he presses lingering kisses to your chin and cheek.

"Yes, baby, if you'll let me." You nod eagerly, shifting your face so your lips are beneath his and sighing happily when he lowers his weight onto your torso, licking into your mouth. You shiver with anticipation when he pushes at your shirt, long fingers tickling up your side before landing on your breast. You gasp into his mouth when his thumb brushes over your already hard nipple.

Your impatience is overwhelming, grabbing the back of his shirt and tugging it up to his shoulders. He pulls away reluctantly, reaching one hand toward his back and pulling his shirt over his head. You gnaw at your lip, running your hands over his stomach and hooking your knees around his hips as much as you can while stretching your arms over your head.

“Cute.” he murmurs, pulling your shirt up and tossing it to the side. He gropes at your chest, tongue wetting his lips before he leans down to wrap them around one of your nipples. He’s trying to act without thinking, to let the dreams he’s had pave the path down your body because he knows the second he acknowledges his nerves he won’t be able to shake them off. His heart thrums when you gasp above him, arching your chest into his mouth. He’s greedy for your sounds, his hands squeezing your breasts together and licking between them to get to the other nipple. When your hips buck up into his he groans, pulling away from your chest and staring down at you with wondering eyes.

“Can I?” He feels unnaturally shy, leaning back on his calves and watching his fingers press dimples into the flesh of your hips above your underwear, tugging at the hem.

“You don’t need to ask.” He smiles, forcing you to sit by grabbing the back of your neck for a kiss. His fingers press into your clothed core and your hips roll into his hand. He sighs into your mouth at your desperation, torn between teasing you and touching you everywhere.

You can’t keep your legs from shutting around his arm when he pushes your panties to the side and slides his middle and ring finger up your wet center, circling over your clit.

You pull away from the kiss, blinking up at him and your mouth falls open when he presses firmly on your clit, rubbing in slow circles. His head hangs as he lets out a quiet “fuck” at your reaction, moving his hand off your neck to stroke over your stomach and without it behind your head you have to lie back, he presses your legs open. Haechan stares at your chest while he settles between your knees, pushing two fingers inside your dripping core. His jaw hangs open, watching his knuckles disappear inside of you.

“So soft,” he breathes, staring down to where his fingers glisten when he pulls them out to rub over your clit again, palming over his cock getting harder in his sweats “want to be everywhere at once.”

“Want you everywhere.” you whine when his fingers pull away to hook into your underwear, tugging them down your legs. Haechan stands to strip and you hold your breath and soak in the soft swell of his hip that leads to where his cock hangs heavy between his legs. It’s pretty like the rest of him, and thicker than you'd expected with a leaking tip that matches the color of his tongue, he strokes himself once and you don’t get the chance to reach for him before he lays back on the bed, rolling you to sit on top of him. You shudder when your pulsing clit rubs over his stomach, inner thigh squeezing into his ribs. He runs his hands up your waist, scooting you an inch higher and grabbing onto your tits.

“Do you remember a few months ago, when you called me drunk and I told you I was dreaming about hanging out with you?” He shivers when you grind down in response, wet pussy sliding easily over his skin “I lied.”

Your hands press into his chest, tilting your head “what were we doing?” you can barely speak above a whisper when he pinches gently at your nipple with one hand, the other rubbing over your ribs when he smirks up at you.

“You were about a foot higher than you are right now,” you gasp and reach out to grab the headboard when he jolts his hips to move you up his chest, staring down at him with wide eyes as he shifts to wrap his arms under your legs, fingers pressing into your thighs.

“You dreamt about this?” you let him bring your hips to hover over his face, hands falling into his hair when he brushes his nose over your clit as he nods.

“All the time,” he moans and drags you down onto his face, lips wrapping around your clit. You shudder above him, letting some of your weight collapse into your heels and he groans happily at the pressure of you on his chin, pressing you harder onto his mouth to fuck his tongue into you. He wants to devour you, every sound you make goes straight to his cock which is already rock hard at the taste and smell of you. Even just thinking about the fact that it's your hips grinding over his face right now is enough to make him moan into your pussy.

You slur out praise, one of your hands shooting up to grip the headboard. His hands wander gently up your sides, eyes opening to stare up to where he plays with your tits, hard cock pulsing at the sight of your head thrown back, hips moving in gentle circles over his face. Haechan’s hand tugs yours down to his hair, trying to restrain himself from thrusting into the empty air at the feeling of you all over him. He hums happily into your pussy when you start to grind over his mouth, flattening his tongue for you to ride until your legs are shaking.

He lets out a deep “mmhmm” when you warn him that you’re going to cum, suckling hard on your clit until you’re practically begging him to let you go, body crumpling forward with both hands tangled in his hair. He's grateful you didn't touch his cock, just the thought of your fingers wrapped around him is enough to make him cum and he has other plans.

You can’t speak when you collapse onto the mattress beside him, immediately warmed by the weight of his body on top of yours as he slots himself between your thighs, sucking a hickey onto the front of your throat.

“Taste too fucking good,” he hums, mouthing over your chin and cheek “been dreaming of eating your sweet pussy for so long.” you practically swoon when he kisses you, pre-cum wetting the inside of your thigh when he relaxes his stomach onto yours.

“Hyuck, want you in me, please” Your vision is blurry, whining into his swollen lips. He works them over your cheek before pulling away from you, bringing one of your legs up to his shoulder and you rest the other knee on his hip. He can feel himself pant when he taps the head of his cock on your swollen clit, practically drooling when he sticks barely the tip inside before pulling back and repeating the tantalizing motion.

“Been waiting for too long to be teased,” you pout, trying to encourage his hips toward yours with the ankle he’s not pressing his cheek into. He smirks and circles his leaking tip over you again, watching his cock spread your arousal around before he pushes into you a little further.

“I’m taking my time with you, feels so fucking good.” He can’t look away from between your thighs, messy hair hanging over his forehead while his fingers grip your ankle tightly. You whimper when he pulls all the way out again, one more hard tap against your pulsing clit before he pushes himself halfway into your leaking pussy. You rise onto your elbows, trying to reach one hand to grab for his hip but he releases the base of his cock to stop you by lacing your fingers together. When Haechan finally looks into your eyes he bottoms out, stretching your leg toward your chest so he can lean in. His hips stutter, a choked groan rumbling deep in his chest.

“Oh my god, Hyuck please.” you beg him to move with a gasp. His forehead presses to your chin, shaking his head in disbelief.

“Fuck, baby, been needing you," he thrusts into you slowly, lifting his head to look down at you glowing beneath him with your eyes shut. He pulls out all the way before thrusting back inside, quickening his hips when your eyes flutter open, the look on your face enough to make his balls tighten slightly, shutting his eyes to regain self control "knew you'd feel so fucking good."

"M’so full, Haechan." you moan at his words and the rapid slap of his hips on the back of your thighs, forcing your eyes to stay open so you can see his face. The way his nose scrunches with focus when he pulls away from your chest, both his hands wrapping firmly around your hips while he watches his cock sink into you. Brown, shaggy hair sticks to his damp forehead, full lower lip taken between his teeth. He’s pure, unadulterated boyish beauty, and he’s all yours.

You squeak when he lets your leg drop off his shoulder, pressing your thigh as far open as it will go with your heel digging into his backside. He fans his fingers over your lower stomach, thumb reaching down to push your clit side to side and your hips tuck up for more pressure, Haechan moans loudly when the movement causes you to clamp around his cock, "Perfect fucking pussy, can't believe it's mine now. Like my fingers on your pretty clit?”

You nod enthusiastically, letting go of your breasts to hold the backs of your thighs, Haechan's eyes move up your body to stare at your chest move beneath him, nipples looking sweet as candy. He’s dying to sink his fingers into the softest part of your stomach, the way you’re moving for him makes his mind turn to sand. You stare down to where his thumb is making circles over your clit, perfectly timed with the head of his cock bruising your g-spot. You feel a second orgasm build and the corner of his mouth pulls up proudly when your legs shake. Your head hangs back as you gasp for air, "yes, please, Haechan feels so fucking good."

"Make the prettiest noises for me, want you cumming all over my cock." he leans forward just enough to trap your throat beneath the weight of his palms, other hand still moving over your swollen clit. You smile at the pressure of his body on yours, eyes fluttering shut while you moan. You nod desperately when he asks if you can do that, "if you can let me make you feel that good, please, my pretty girl."

He takes his hand off your throat when you cum, wanting to hear every sound you could possibly make. You repeat his name like a blessing that has him cumming with you, moaning and breathless as his hips start to slow, milking you both through your orgasms.

You wrap your arms around him when he pulls out of you, reveling in the feeling of him when he lowers himself down, burrowing his face into your neck and warming your skin with his breath. You hold him there for a minute until he pulls his head up, dopey smile lighting up his eyes and making you laugh.

“What?” you scrunch your nose at him “better than your dreams?”

He nods, “so much better, best I ever had, my body belongs to you now.” he smirks at his own words, but his tone is so gentle he can’t even call it a joke.

“Just your body?” you tease, and he leans his nose onto your lips for a kiss that you carry onto the mole under his eye.

“Body, mind, heart, soul,” he sighs happily when you cup his cheeks in your hands, kissing him gently “all the planets in my head.”

"All the planets in my head too."

————

masterlist

authors note // this ended up being much longer than i anticipated, maybe the longest one shot i’ve ever actually written! i appreciate everyone who voted for happy ending because when i was originally thinking of a sad ending it was too hard lol. this feels forever unfinished because there is so much good to this version of haechan, i adore him.

[writerscall]

i cannot be your friend, so i pay the price of what i lost. and what it cost now that we don't talk.

because pushing her away was easier than having to stomach seeing her be with someone else.

author's note/s: 1k words. this is part one of a series. close friends to sad strangers to surprise college roommates is a trope, right?

Ignoring Hazel for the rest of the year wasn’t an easy decision or any easy thing to do. You two weren’t attached at the hip but you were such good friends that even the people who didn’t really talk to either of you eventually asked if you two had a falling out. We’re both just pretty busy at this time of senior year, you’d tell them; you had no idea what Hazel’s answer was to that, and you didn’t wanna know. It hurt you to ice her out but after what happened at the game, you just couldn’t be around her. Not when it was clear that PJ was in the picture like that.

Really, you should’ve been happy for her. You were one of the first people she came out to and even though she never explicitly said it, you knew she wanted to experience one relationship, or even a sort of fling, before high school ended. But your wishful thinking that it could’ve been the two of you in the end like some cliche really was just that — wishful thinking. That kiss and the way she and PJ acted around each other after said it all.

So you blocked it all out. Joined some clubs to fill up your schedule and actually make you as busy as you said you were, focused on academics like never before, got closer to other friends (for obvious reasons but also, why the hell not? It was senior year and you might not see some of them again). Overall, there were pros to what you decided to do about your crush on Hazel Callahan. You were making the most out of a sucky situation.

What you weren’t proud of was deciding to go out with the baseball team’s captain on a whim, and then agreeing to really date him after. He was nice and was a pretty good boyfriend, but you weren’t as into him as he was into you. But that was the least of your concerns throughout that relationship that inevitably came to an end as graduation neared.

You’ll never forget the complicated look on her face the day he greeted you with a kiss on the cheek at your locker. You’ll never forget the ‘Can we talk now? Please?’ text she sent that night, her last attempt at reaching out before she took to ignoring you too.

And that was it. Hazel wasn’t part of your senior year until its end and you assumed it would be the same for the rest of your life, or at least for a long, long time.

But the universe just loved playing cruel tricks sometimes.

“Okay, you’re sure you’ve got everything? Those new notebooks, your writing materials, enough bras and pa—”

“Okay, mom!” You cut her off with a nervous laugh, silently thanking god that your roommate and whoever was helping her move in hadn’t arrived yet. “I’ve got it all, I promise. It’s okay for you to go now.”

Your mother sighs as she reaches out to give your arm a squeeze, and after a few more pointers for your first day and about five ‘you can always give us a call for anything’ reminders, you were alone. You smile to yourself as you look at your fixed up side of the dorm, jittery in a good sense. Everyone said college was different from high school in the best way and you were determined to make it so. Even though you knew how much busier and hectic life would get with university level academics.

You’re so lost in your own thoughts that you don’t hear the door open. It’s only when that painfully familiar voice says your name that you snap out of it.

Hazel Callahan, practically the same as ever, standing in the doorway with her luggages and a duffel bag across her body. She manages a smile, small and hesitant. To your surprise, all you can say is, “You’re my roommate?”

Her face twitches in disappointment, smile faltering noticeably. You didn’t mean for that to come off the way it clearly did but the question escaped you before you could think. Of all the people in the world — or even just of all the people in high school, it just had to be her? You were over Hazel. You’d tried so hard and honestly haven’t thought about her much at all since graduation.

Only for all that effort to feel like it was undone within seconds. Fantastic.

“Trust me, I… I didn’t know this would be the arrangement. My mom’s got an old friend here who could probably do a room switch for one of us — I mean, for me I guess, you’ve already got your side of the room fixed up while I’m still all packed, so—”

You put a hand up to stop her. “Hazel, it’s fine. We can share this room. All that stuff from…” You let the sentence trail off and clear your throat. “I mean, it doesn’t matter anymore, it never really has.”

Though expecting her to brighten even slightly at your attempt at an olive branch, her expression stays the same. Complicated actually, like the one she had upon seeing you and your (short-lived) senior year boyfriend for the first time in school. You try not to think about it.

“Anyway, I’ve got some things to go check with the registrar’s office, so I’ll get out of your hair so you can unpack and all that.” There was nothing to check with at the registrar’s office, but you needed to find some place that wasn’t your dorm to pull yourself together. Or maybe scream.

There’s a look of understanding on her face but shakes her head at you. “You wouldn’t be in the way. We could use this time to catch up. It’s been a long while, you know?”

Well, you certainly weren’t ready for that, so you just say something about wanting to get to the office while it wasn’t too busy yet. You cast her a side glance with a smile that you really hoped didn’t look forced or fake as you watch her bring in her things, then make a beeline for the door. 

But you stop when she asks, “Hey, um, maybe we can sit with each other at the orientation tomorrow?”

“Uh… yeah, sure.” And you knew that didn’t sound forced or fake with the way Hazel almost grins at you.

Yeah, you really needed to find a place to scream somewhere on campus.

[piratefalls]

welcome back to the latest edition of biweekly fic recs! as always, mind the tags, if you can't leave a nice comment don't leave one at all, and happy reading!

masterlist.

There's No Problem That San Diego Can't Solve by @historicallysam

Alex doesn’t even bother knocking; he simply twists the knob on the door and shoves it open. His eyes narrow as the door bangs against the wall and he sees Henry on the phone. Maybe (definitely) it’s rude but his blood is fucking boiling so he doesn’t really care.

All the Ocean was Sleeping by @sparklepocalypse

The worst part about being a siren in the modern era, Henry ponders as yet another ship flies past his cove at a speed that he knows will disturb the anemone gardens below, is the yacht bros. Between the sound of their vessels’ motors and the dissonant noise the humans call music, Henry’s singing has no chance of attracting anyone’s attention.

cause you're a classic, and i'm reckless by @firenati0n

“I've, actually, uh. I've never done this before.” At this, Henry stops short, takes a second as his gaze moves up and to the left, trying to recall something. “I've seen your films. You most certainly have done intimate scenes.” Alex clears his throat. He hopes his nerves aren't completely obvious, the slight waver in his voice about to give him away. “Yeah, well. Never with a man, so. Not at this scale, anyway.” “Would it help to, er, practice?" Henry winces a little as he says it, which does not inspire confidence. But Alex is shocked nonetheless. What the fuck?

Over Land and Sea by SatinBirds

Alex and Henry come from very different worlds, and still, they manage to find each other.

Clean Slate by smc_27

“Henry.” Pez comes over, puts both hands on Henry’s cheeks and looks him dead in the eye. “You are not a sad man who’s gotten dumped. You’re in the prime of your life, and I quite desperately need you to act like it.” “The prime of my life,” Henry scoffs, more incredulous than questioning. “I’ve just gotten out of a 15 year relationship, endured a divorce, am suffering an almost impressive case of writer’s block, and your hands are like bloody icicles.” Pez grins, doesn’t take his hands away. “Explain to me how this is my prime. Please.” Pez tilts his head, and sounds entirely serious when he says, “Literally anything can happen from here.”

in bloom by stutteringpeach

Yoo, can u hook me up with some flowers?? It's the busiest day of the year for florists. Alex texts Henry with a last minute request.

here is a map (with your name for a capital) by @alasse9

That day at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics, Alex comes across the very same Prince Henry who just dismissed him having a panic attack in a bathroom. The choice Alex makes then has ripple effects neither of them could have ever expected. What's the story like, when they actually are friends all along? “So, you’re going back to England tonight, and you’ll spend the next three days pretending you two are the closest and best of friends until we can put this mess behind us.” And there are reasons he hasn’t told anybody this, good reasons, even though he’s sure June and Nora saw through him ages ago. Faced with his mom’s disappointment, though, and with the realization that the entire world apparently thinks he hates Henry and would willingly shove him into a fucking cake, he can’t stay quiet. “But we are friends,” he says, vehement and serious. “We have been for years. He’s—he’s probably my best friend, actually, along with Nora.”

thoughts of you consume by yrsonpurpose

Henry sees Alex appear on the red carpet in a blue suit that screams sex on legs and is ready to throw away all attempts at concealing their secret relationship in the name of dropping to his knees at the first available opportunity.

eyes on me by matherine

Alex’s hips buck back against Henry’s mouth the moment his tongue does more than tease, and Henry squeezes his hip in gentle consternation. But before he can say anything, Alex is already rambling. “Sorry, I’m — I’m sorry, I know you said not to move, and I’m trying, I — I’m trying to be good, I promise,” he blurts, voice shaking ever so slightly from something that certainly doesn’t sound like pleasure, resolutely refusing to turn his head so that he can meet Henry’s gaze from where he’s positioned behind him. Henry’s heart aches. “Alex — love, it’s alright. Where’s your mind?” Or: Sometimes, Alex needs a distraction. Something to take the edge off, to scrub away at the stress of the day. Some days, it works better than others. 

the evolution of intimacy by Poutini

There’s no spontaneity anymore. One might think this boring. That the novelty had worn off. The spark snuffed. Absolutely not

Want Me by OrchidScript

Henry had always been weak for a nice smile, but his was impossible to ignore. Blame it on summer heat and a fresh flush in his cheeks. Blame it on sunset painting the outdoor bar sweltering, romantic colors. Blame it on two healthy glasses of albariño thrumming in his bloodstream, or the good music floating on the air. Henry could blame it on anything liked if he thought long and hard about it, but that didn’t change much at the end. The core remained the same: he had been gone from the jump. -- Henry and Alex hook up on a vacation in Spain. Henry falls a bit deeper.

fill my lungs with sweetness by @priincebutt

Henry George Edward James Fox-Mountchristen-Windsor wakes up at 3 AM on his birthday to an empty bed. What could Alex possibly be getting up to at 3 AM the night before his birthday? The possibilities are endless.

got myself in quite a tangle by coffeecatsme

"It seems I've gotten myself in quite a tangle." "Tangle?" Henry's voice is hoarse, eyes darkened as they travel over Alex's body. They stop at his crotch, and Alex can see it even under the dim lights—Henry's growing hard too, a visible bulge pushing at his sweatpants. Alex's cock gives a desperate twitch. "Y'know, I was trying to put them around the tree," he starts, gesturing at the plain tree at the corner. It's clear he didn't even attempt to touch it. "And somehow I've managed to completely trap myself. Can't even move my hands." Henry makes a desperate noise at the back of his throat as his eyes snap up to Alex's face. Alex flashes him a suggestive grin, teeth biting down on his lip. "Seems I'm completely at your mercy."

The Forces of Chance and Coincidences by @stellarm

Bad weather leads to a late flight that leads to no one being where they wanted to be, but maybe everyone was where they needed to be.

I've never felt safer (than when I'm with you) by viciouslyqueer

Alex takes the bag and opens it slowly, careful not to rip it, and gasps quietly as he sees what’s inside. “H, you didn’t…” Strong arms wrap around his waist from behind, Henry’s chest warm against his back. “Do you like it?��� Henry asks in a whisper, resting his chin on Alex’s shoulder. Alex doesn’t know what to say. Gingerly, like he might ruin it with even the smallest touch, he takes out the silky fabric and holds it up in front of them. It’s a gorgeous dress, fancy too, in a deep red color with thin straps and an open back. It’s long, almost touching the floor even as Alex holds it up and has a slit on the left side that would probably end a little above Alex’s knee.

An Amateur's Guide to Professional Gift-Giving by anincompletelist

Alex, a former-law-student-taking-some-time-off turned professional part-time gift giver, is tasked with finding a gift for the most high profile client he's ever worked with, both in and out of the world of law. It turns out finding the perfect gift for the Prince of Wales might be easier than he'd anticipated.

Love At First Bark by everwitch

“I still don’t know your name, do I?” Henry watches Alex where he’s crouched down in front of David and gently scratching David below his chin. David absolutely loves Alex. Henry can relate. “It’s David,” Henry supplies. “Cool,” Alex says. “And what’s the dog’s name?” Henry blinks at him. “... David?” “What?” Alex exclaims. He looks from David to Henry and then back at David again. “Wow, okay, that is a choice.” Henry wants to sink through the earth and never come back up again.

don't let me get drunk again by headabovethewater

Alex had never wanted to cancel plans as much as he had while watching Henry pull a pair of light wash, tight jeans over his stockinged legs and bare ass. Christ, he’s getting hard thinking about it now.

The Beginner's Guide to Floristry by clottedcreamfudge

As if there's anything romantic about it; as if it's not the most humiliating death Alex can imagine. This is why he doesn't do relationships. This is why he never will. The risk, as far as he fucking sees it, is too great. -- Hanahaki Disease is a fictional disease where the victim of unrequited or one-sided love begins to vomit or cough up the petals and flowers of a flowering plant growing in their lungs, which will eventually grow large enough to render breathing impossible.

Everything you take, you make it better. So go on, take forever by @hgejfmw-hgejhsf

It's 2024, and nobody knows they're engaged. But they will, just as soon as Alex can decide what to wear to his birthday dinner. Henry has an idea and a special gift to match.

false pretenses by rizcriz

Henry spins around, glaring at Alex. “For christs sake,” He hisses, holding a hand out between them. “Can we just not? I do not have the capacity to pretend to hate you today.” Alex splutters as Henry turns on his heel and starts to walk away. He stares after him helplessly. “Pretend?” After a beat, he starts to follow after him, “What the fuck do you mean pretend?” Three years of breathing down each others necks, fighting every time they come in contact with each other. And if Henry is saying every single thing on his end has been pretend, Alex Claremont-Diaz is going to have a fucking breakdown. Because he has been harboring this stupid fucking crush and burying it beneath false antagonism, meeting Henry where he’s at, for three years, and if Henry is implying that they’re both faking it— -- or, Alex learns better.

turn the desert to glass (you would be the one) by @taste-thewaste

Henry and Alex's domestic bliss has lead to some changes in Henry's body. Henry doesn't really mind��being a little chubby, but he wonders if Alex does. Alex, it turns out, does not. Not one bit. He does not mind one bit, and he is more than eager to prove it.

coming on fast like good dreams do by cricketnationrise

When Henry recovers from his unexpected factory reset, he still can’t really breathe properly and somehow Alex is still standing in front of him with a hopeful and excited expression on his face. “Run that by me again?” he asks faintly. “I need your help.” “Right…” “I need you to edge me. Like a lot,” Alex says with a shrug. Nope, it’s not any clearer a second time around.

as always, let me know if you want to be tagged in future lists, whether you're a reader or writer!

tagging @starkfridays @stilesgivesmefeels @midnightsfp @sarahjswift @enablelove

[sovereignjojoz]

hi! i really enjoyed your headcanons about the Bucci gang and reader with a scary but nice Stand. would it be okay if i request that same thing for Josuke, Okuyasu, Rohan, and Jotaro? :D

Scary but sweet stand: part 4 edition.

Pairings: Josuke x reader, Okuyasu x reader, Rohan x reader + Jotaro x reader

Notes - I’m so sorry this request took so long anon! I’ve had writers block for a while. Hope you like it🤍

Higashikata Josuke

He jumped back and covered his eyes, your stand literally looked like something out of his nightmares.

Unfiltered, he blurted out, “the heck is that thing!”

If you become saddened by his reaction, he immediately changes his tune and puts on a lopsided grin (as best he can), he doesn’t wanna make his s/o sad.

But even so for the first few times he meets your stand he’s going to keep his distance until he gets over his wariness.

But believe you me once he’s over it there’s no separating him and your stand, like when it hovers over him he’ll become a chatterbox even though the stand can’t verbally response.

“I know! But then you won’t believe what Okuyasu did next, the idiot-”

He might punch someone if they insult your stand.

And I can’t get it out of my head that crazy diamond would love to play fight with your stand all the time.

And chase your stand around too.

Definitely has tried to play fight your stand.

Honestly your stand definitely squished cd’s cheeks in a scolding manner at some point, it’s just obsessed.

Oh, and if it wasn’t obvious before if you ever get injured the first one by your side is cd, ready to heal you.

Nijimura Okuyasu

Initial reaction: run.

He doesn’t mean to! It’s just he’s never seen a stand of the sought and he didn’t know to react so his first reaction was flight.

He definitely ran straight to Josuke’s house and Josuke gave him a look like: wtf is up with you.

After he apologises and depending on how mad you are he might take you to Tonio’s as an apology.

But when he finally warms up to your stand, he really warms up to your stand.

Like almost to the level that they’re inseparable.

He’ll use the hand to erase the distance between you guys if he thinks your too far away.

And he likes to try and scare your stand too to see the reaction it will bring out.

Probably tries to prank it too like by throwing water on it only to get scared after it reacts.

Tried to hug it a ton.

Honestly just a new bestie for him.

Kishibe Rohan

When he first met your stand, he couldn’t really hide his emotions very well.

His throat constricted and he let out a strangled gasp, just taking a long look between you and it.

He really didn’t understand, you were muse like material so what was that! Why did you manifest such a stand.

He doesn’t really sugarcoat so he might be a bit blunt!

He loves you, but not your stand (at first) so when it tries to come into contact with him he’ll dodge.

After a while though he see’s it’s not that bad and best believe if his actions are making you sad he’ll stop his diva-ish act.

He’ll pat it’s head and stuff and say thank you for all the additional acts it does.

I feel like an activity he’d like to do with your stand is clean for some reason, he likes that it’s silent and gets the job done (better than you too, he might even tell ya that!)

He loves drawing you however every one word in a while he might draw your stand too, sometimes when he thinks fondly of it, or to get character inspo since it’s so unique looking.

other times he’ll just leave a drawing around the house of it and notices how your stand jumps for joy.

Overall he does quite like your stand, but he likes you more.

Jotaro Kujo

He grimaces. Hard.

But he tries to keep a straight face and a neutral reaction as best he can, he’s seen weird stands before but yours is something he never would have even thought of.

Star platinum on the other hand mirrors his true expression.

He’s gonna act like your stand doesn’t exist for a good while as a result until your stand starts doing nice little things for him like readjusting his hat.

He’ll still act unbothered however he might give a nod of appreciation.

However one day your stand wasn’t how wrong around him like usual and immediately he noticed something was off.

He supposed he had gotten rather used to your stand assisting him he hadn’t truly approached it’s value.

Definitely see’s that your stands value in battle which makes him come to like it a lot more.

So the next time your stand was there he pat it’s back in an effort to show his appreciation.

Honestly though your stand just looks to star platinum to see his feelings and is quite pleasantly surprised to see they’re mostly positive.

Oh! And your stand most definitely plays catch with star when there’s time.

And probably also plays with it’s hair.

[pinkandlilacroses]

⋆ ˚｡⋆୨♡୧⋆ ˚｡⋆

Angel - Paige bueckers

• summary {when an unsuspecting girl falls for the basketball star}

• warnings {angst}

• comment if you would like to be added to the taglist

bellas pov

for everyday this week, azzis been over and i haven’t seen jake in a while. hmmm

avery has taken away my weed, and my valium because she says i need to ‘deal with things naturally’ blah blah blah

this week has sucked. especially because avery keeps dragging me to azzis basketball practice, and every practice, paige ignores me. i really need to stop thinking about her.

“its friday, that means you don’t have to go to a practice until monday” avery says, trying to convince me to show up to yet another practice. i don’t even watch basketball, theres literally no point to me being there

“ok, fine”

azzis pov

i know what avery’s doing is wrong. i mean shes cheating on her high school boyfriend with me, but i think im falling for her.

“paige cmon we have practice” i say, shaking paige, attempting to wake her up

“ok, ok, calm down. im up”

“also, avery and bella are coming to practice again”

“bro why” she says, complaining. she doesn’t like bella for some reason, like every time bellas around, she gets annoyed quicker than usual.

“why do you hate bella so much”

“cause she gets to attached” she says.

what.

“what do you mean paige” i say, somewhat yelling

“i mean, we hooked up and she got all mad when i kicked her out, then she blocked me”

“paige are you fucking kidding me” i say, fuming

i cant believe this, the one girl i actually like, of course paige has hooked up with her best friend

“it was before you guys got close” she says, defending her actions

“it doesn’t matter, avery definitely knows. oh my god” i say, getting more and more stressed

“bro it doesn’t matter” she says, getting ready, clearly unfazed by my anxiety heightening

“of course you would do this. why do you have to get with every girl on campus paige, she clearly isn’t like that” i say, yelling

“she was loving it” she says, smirking. why is she not talking this seriously

“your disgusting” i say, slamming the door and walking to practice on my own

azzi

- hey bella, im so sorry about what paige did

- i just yelled at her for you lol

bella

- did she tell you?

azzi

- yeah

- im so sorry

bella

- its ok

- it doesn’t matter

azzi

- does avery know?

bella

- yeah

- its pretty obvious

azzi

- yeah lol

fuck.

bellas pov

i mean, i appreciate azzi’s texts, but she shouldn’t be apologising for her shitty excuse of a best friend

“hey guys” nika says, as we walk into practice

“bella” kk says, spinning me around. i’ve gotten pretty close with kk over the past week, so this isn’t out of the ordinary

im talking to the team, as avery sticks to conversating with azzi, until

“paige” ice and kk say, somewhat screaming

azzi and avery just look at her, blankly

paige comes and stands with myself and the rest of the team, standing next to me

“can we talk” she whispers

“about what” i say, turning to face her. i obviously want to talk to her, but i dont want her to know how bad i want to

“i just need to talk to you”

“ok, fine”

she drags me to the bathroom and i sit on the bench

“azzi knows” she says, leaning close to me

“yeah, she texted me”

she looks at me, blankly

“is that all you wanted to say

“im sorry”

what.

“wait what” i ask, genuinely confused

“i shouldn’t of kicked you out”

im in shock

she continues “i was just horny and desperate, i genuinely do want to get to know you, im sorry”

she wants to get to know me?

“what do you wanna know” i ask, somewhat seductively

she bites her lip

“no”

huh?

“i want to know you, in a friend way”

“oh” i say, jumping down from the bench and walking out of the bathroom

“no bella, not like that” she says, chasing after me

i walk out of the bathroom and towards avery

“im leaving”

“ok tell me later” obviously referring to paige and i in the bathroom

im getting deja vu, walking through the halls, crying. fuck why do i care so much about her

paiges pov

i fucked up. i didn’t mean it like that, i meant that i want to know everything about her, like a friend. but i want to be more. fuck

why would i say that

“avery, whats your dorm number” i say, running up to avery and azzi

“why” she asks, confused

“what did you do” azzi adds

“i fucked up, i think i like her. and i fucked up” i say, shocking myself

they both look at me in shock

“no fucking way” azzi says, covering her mouth in shock

“its 235, be quick, run!” avery says, and i begin to charge out of practice. fuck that. this means more

after basically running through the dorm halls, i begin to hear soft cries. thats her

“bella?” i say

“leave me alone” she says, i run closer to the voice and i see her. standing outside her door

“bella, please talk to me” i say, standing infront of her, towering

“why paige, you just wanna be friends” she says, looking up at me with teary eyes

“please let me in, i need to explain” i beg, and she complies

“sit” she says, coldly

“ive always had a crush on you, ever since your freshman year, i’ve noticed you, more than any other girl. seeing you in the halls genuinely brightens up my day, at the bar. i had finally mustered up enough courage to talk to you and i just found myself falling more and more for you. i kicked you out because i was scared, ive never liked anyone like i have with you, your different. i tried to distract myself but i just cant. im so sorry”

i cant even look at her right now. fuck

“paige-“ she starts

i interrupt “i shouldn’t of done that” i say, and basically run out of her dorm

fuck

[purplecoffee13]

The Fake Girlfriend - pt. 1

Summary: “Y/N hates Harry, but fake dating him for a while seems to benefit them both, and she wouldn’t pass an opportunity to torture him, of course. But the lines drawn are blurry, and the tension is high…”

Wc: 3.4k

Tropes: semi-enemies to lovers (she doesn’t like him)

Warnings: jealousy, (slight and mentions of) violence, sexual tension

"Okay, just let me see if I got this right. You want me to be your girlfriend during the wedding of your cousin to get your parents off your back about another girl?"

"Fake girlfriend." Harry corrects me. "But yeah, that's basically the gist of it."

I stare blankly at him before letting out a scoff. This must be one of the most ridiculous things I've ever heard, and I've had a guy call me 'daddy' before.

"Why don't you just reject the poor girl? I'm sure that message will get to your parents."

"Do you seriously think I haven't tried that?" He sighs, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"I was just saying.." I raise my brows. I don't get why he's acting so frustrated, he's the one asking me for help. Which reminds me...

"Also, why me? You don't even like me."

When Harry and I first met, he was dating my old best friend, Marie. One night, he tried to kiss me while we were all out on the town, and I flipped out at him for betraying my best friend like that, and thinking I would ever go along with it.

The next day I told Marie about it, but she accused me of seducing him and we stopped being friends. Ever since then, I've hated Harry Styles. I hate him for creating that mess, for thinking I'd do something like that to my friend and I blame him for losing my best friend.

We never really spoke much to each other after that whole situation —besides the occasional forced conversation or collaboration during a project — so naturally I was surprised when I heard someone knock on my door and it turned out to be him.

"Because I don't want to go through the hazard of leading someone on, and all my other girl friends are taken and Leila's gay." He explains with a shrug.

"You won't lead someone on who's gay." I reason.

"My parents know Leila, so that wouldn't work." He counters, leaning forward and resting his elbows on his knees. "So, do you want to do this or do have any other burning questions?"

As a matter of a fact I do, ass.

"What makes you think I would help you?"

Harry clears his throat, shifting on my bed until he's seated with his body towards me. I get a bit nervous with how serious his face expression is.

"I've heard the stories about Malcolm, how he's trying to get you back." My face falters once the sentences leave his mouth. I didn't know it was that obvious. I know that Harry senses my uneasiness, but he goes on anyway. "After what he did, I understand that you don't feel the same as him, and this way we can get him off your back."

I frown, because he's right. It would benefit me too, and I hadn't even realized it until he pointed it out.

I caught Malcolm cheating on our six month anniversary, which was about about two months ago. I immediately broke up with him, and blocked him on everything. Unfortunately, Malcolm had somehow divulged himself into the delusion that he could convince me to get back together and he has been annoying me ever since. And while fake dating Harry seemed like absolute hell, it would be the perfect opportunity to send Malcolm the message that I’d moved on.

Malcolm disliked Harry too. I’ve never known why and I don’t think I ever will, but I didn’t question it at the time because I didn’t think very highly of Harry anyway, and assumed he’d pissed Malcolm off during a project or something.

I let some dramatic silence flow over us that consists of me frowning very deeply as if I'm working everything out in my brain, but I quickly open my mouth to avoid drawing it out too long. I have to say that it sounds like it could be fun, and an opportunity to embarrass Harry in many ways, in front of his parents.

Now that's tempting.

"Fine, I'll do it." I give in, secretly getting more excited as I make up ways to torture him in my head. "Anything I need to be aware of?"

"Wedding's in Italy, so you'll have to fake a stomach flu." He casually remarks, as if it isn't something he should have clearly mentioned before asking this loaded favor.

"What?! I was going to spend spring break at my moms!" — not that I was looking forward to that — "And how in the world am I going to pay a ticket to Italy? You know what, maybe this isn't such a good idea—"

"The ticket has already been paid, you don't have to worry about that. But if you'd prefer to be with your mom instead of a hotel in Italy, that's your call."

Harry's face stays neutral, but I can see in his eyes that he's hoping for me to say yes. I'd be lying if I said I was excited to spend a week at with my mom and her new husband; Italy sounded way more appealing. So, that—along with the whole Malcolm situation—was the only reason I said

"Okay, I'll go."

*****

"Oh my goodness, how romantic! When do I get to meet him?" My mom chirps over the phone. Her voice has raised two octaves since I told her that I'd started dating someone in secret about a month ago, and that it was getting pretty serious and he was now taking me to Italy for his cousin's wedding.

It was a bit weird to lie to my mom, but most of what I was telling was actually the truth, so that made the lie a bit easier to keep up.

"Oh I'm sure you'll meet him soon. Sorry I won't make it during spring break, though." I feel the need to apologize anyway, we hadn't seen each other in quite some time and she'd really forced me to take time off from my life here and work on our relationship.

"Yes, well it would have been good to see you, but you're young and these are the adventures you need to go on!" She encourages me as kindly as she can, and I fake a smile, even though she isn't there to see it.”

"Thanks for understanding mom."

"Of course sweetheart. As long as you take lots of pictures, we're good." She jokes. After that, we just say our goodbyes and I hang up.

I'd been running around so much to try and find outfits for Italy that I'd forgotten Harry and I were launching our fake relationship at a party tonight. We didn't really set that many boundaries yet, but I was quite okay with anything. It had to be believable, and my hatred didn't make me blind. Harry was hot and I knew it, everyone knew it.

He was at my door at nine on the dot, which I hadn't expected. We drove to the party because Harry wasn't in the mood to drink, giving me a free pass to get wasted. However, I made a promise to myself not to get too drunk tonight and accidentally slip out the truth.

By the time we arrive it's around nine thirty and the house is already filled with people. Since I broke up with Malcolm, I haven't really been to a frat party anymore, I've grown to dislike them actually. However, this is the perfect place to be seen, and our friends were going to be here so our 'relationship' would be picked up on soon.

Harry and I agreed on the friends with benefits to lovers story, and that's what I start telling my friends while they look at me as if I have grown a second head.

"But you hate the guy, you just complained about him last week." Zoey, one of my friends, remarks, making my stomach drop.

Fuck, I did talk shit about him last Wednesday.

"Uhm– yeah, that was just to keep up appearances." I quickly manage to make up. They all hum in understanding, which is quite surprising to me. From the looks of it, I know that they're not fully convinced, but I hope they'll just see it as my crazy rebound phase and leave me alone.

"Well, as long as he makes our little Y/N happy, right?" Natalia throws her arm around me, raising her brows at the rest of the girls, and they all agree with her.

"Okay... but if he hurts you I will cut off his testicles, fry them until they're crispy and force them down his throat." Zoey grunts, squinting her eyes at Harry who is standing a few feet behind us. He has his back turned to us because he is talking to his friends, but it's funny nonetheless.

I notice that Zoey's glare quickly disappears and blood starts to rush to her cheeks. Just when I'm about to ask what has gotten into her, I feel someone throwing their arms around me from behind.

By the tattoos on his arm I'm immediately able to tell that it's Harry, and my heart starts racing at the realization that this little act needs to be kept up for a month or two, and it needs to be realistic.

"Hi sugar." Harry greets me sweetly before kissing me on my head. I fight hard to keep myself from vomiting at that hideous nickname, and play along.

"Hey hot stuff." I turn around, and I catch the twitch in his eyelids as the equally, if not more disgusting name leaves my mouth.

"You want to go get a drink?" He asks after letting out a small sigh. I nod, and he intertwines his hand with mine before leading us to the kitchen.

I can see the people staring at us with wide eyes, and I don't blame them. It is a rather weird look, me and Harry. However, I ignore it and focus on the main goal, I can't back out anymore so I might as well make it as fun as possible.

When we get to the kitchen, Harry immediately nominates himself as my bartender.

"What d'ya wanna drink, babe?" He asks, observing the countless bottles on the counter.

"Something strong please." I lean my elbows on the counter, watching in silence as I see him scanning the table before grabbing a rum bottle. He fills almost half of the cup with rum and the rest with coke.

He pushes it into my hands when he's done, a bit of the drink spilling on my fingers as I take the cup from him.

"Hey! Be gentle, boyfriend." I grumble, sucking on each of my fingers to clean the rum and coke off them. Harry's gaze lingers on my mouth and fingers a little bit too long, but he is fast to regain himself. Scoffing, he leans forward until he's inches away from my face.

"I don't do gentle, girlfriend." He mocks me before backing away from me again. "Taste it."

I give him a firm glare, but take a sip of my drink anyway. My eyebrows instantly knit together at the strong taste of the drink.

"You know I asked for a drink, not a horse tranquilizer."

"You said you wanted something strong. 'S not my fault you can't handle a bit of liquor." He says as he pours himself some soda. I roll my eyes at his little jab and continue drinking the strong drink anyway.

There is a bit of silence between us, and when I feel it get awkward, I decide to speak up.

"D'you want to go back to our friends?" I propose, tilting my head a bit as I wait for an answer. Harry's eyes avert from whatever's in front of him and throws me a small smile before nodding his head. I'm about to start walking when Harry suddenly  grabs my waist, turns me around and pulls me into him. My drink nearly spills again.

"Just don't call me 'hot stuff' in front of my friends, it's an awful nickname." He pleads with a small smirk, occasionally breaking eye contact to observe the party.

"Says the one who called me sugar." The corners of my mouth start to lift too, liking this playful part of him. Because I spend most my time that I've known him hating him, I never really got to experience this side.

"At least mine is accurate." He reasons, grabbing my hips and guiding me until I have my back against the kitchen island. My heart beat picks up a bit; I'm not used to him being this close to me and I didn't expect him to be either. I remind myself that it's an act, even though we're not in front of our friends so technically there's no reason for him to get this close to me. But, I allow him, mainly because he smells so good.

"And why is that?" I ask, my eyes landing on the cross necklace dangling as he leans into me a bit. When I meet his eyes again, Harry has a smug look covering his face.

"Because I bet you taste real sweet."

His hoarse voice manages to awaken a tense feeling in my stomach. He closes the distance between us until our noses are touching, and a hitched breath leaves my mouth. He smells very intoxicating and I feel very floaty even though I've only had a couple of sips from my drink.

"You wouldn't mind if I see for myself, would you?" He pushes some strands of hair behind me ear before cupping my jaw with his right hand. I ignore the way my body is reacting. I haven't slept with anyone since Malcolm so this is the first time I've been so close to someone in a few months.

"Knock yourself out, hot stuff." I tease him. My laugh quickly fades away though, when he actually leans forward and kisses me. I didn't think he'd actually do it, I just thought he was purposefully riling me up.

I can't help myself to do anything other than go along as he deepened the kiss with the subtle entrance of his tongue into my mouth, entangling us even more than we already were.

A part of me was surprised to find out how good it felt, but something inside of me already knew. There was just something about Harry that always made me wonder. I mostly think it was because he managed to hit a nerve that nobody else could with his annoying antics and inappropriate actions, and I guess I always wondered if he would be the only one to be able to soothe it too.

This kiss makes me lean towards the idea that he indeed would be the only one to know exactly how to relieve me, just like he knows how to irritate me.

I have to say I'm a bit disappointed by how quickly he pulls away, but the smirk on his face gives me just about the same feeling as that kiss did.

"Let's go back, hmm?" He suggests, peaking his head to the side before planting a kiss on my forehead and putting his arm around me. I nod with a faint smile, my lips still tingling from that kiss and let his tight grip pull me further into him.

My smile immediately fades, though, when I see Malcolm staring daggers at Harry and me from across the room. My heart drops. I had no idea he was going to be at the party. The reason I actually agreed is because when my friends asked me to come initially, they assured me he wouldn't be there. I figured that his friends, who were here, would see us and that he’d find out that way.

There is no choice but to walk past him, and my hope for ignoring him crumbles when Harry decides this is the time to chat with him.

"Oh hey buddy, didn't see you there." He fakes some civility, and the puzzle pieces click together. Of course he wasn't kissing me because he wanted to; He saw Malcolm and wanted to piss him off to satisfy his own personal vendetta against him. I know it's what I agreed to, but it feels kind of weird anyway.

I don't want to be in the middle of whatever feud those boys have, and I definitely don't want to be confronted with Malcolm right now, so I wiggle my way out of Harry's arm and try to walk past the two. But when I do so, Malcolm grabs me by my arm and stops me in my tracks.

"Seriously? Him? Is this to get back at me?" He asks, the seriousness in his tone matching the crease between his eyebrows.

"Don't worry Mal, I'm sure there's a girl out there who'd like to settle for your small dick." Harry remarks, clearly pleased with himself.

"I don't have to explain myself to you." I growl at my ex, clenching my jaw. My second attempt to walk away fails when he tightens his grip even more as he pulls me back, which causes me to stumble backwards.

Before I get the chance to yell at him to let me go, as the painful feeling in my arm had turned into a lingering sting, his hand has disappears. When I look up from checking the fresh scratches on my arm, I see Malcolm pushed against the wall with Harry's hand around his neck.

Louis and Zayn, two of Harry's friends, are suddenly standing behind him ready to fight if necessary. I'm so stressed about how quickly this situation escalated that I don't give myself time to wonder how those two popped up out of fucking nowhere.

"Touch her again and I swear to God you'll never see the light of day." Harry threatens, and I actually find myself being kind of scared by his voice and his demeanor. He backs up, turning around with a frown that fades when he spots my widened eyes.

He pushes Zayn and Louis out of the way, his eyes and hands immediately focusing on my arm that still has a red handprint on it, along with a few scratches from Malcolm's nails.

"Are you okay? Does it hurt?" He tilts his head to see all the way around my arm, his fingers softly hovering over my elbow.

"'M fine." I huff, puzzled by how many sides of Harry I've seen today. "I'm gonna go home."

"I'll take you." He immediately offers, following me as I walk towards the door.

"I'll get a cab." I quickly make up, not wanting to be around him anymore. I walk out the front door at a fast pace, hoping he won't be able to keep up.

"Y/N! Stop!" Harry yells out, running until he's in front of me. "You're not going to take a cab, I'm going to take you home. C'mon, my car's across the street."

"What the hell do you care? You're not my actual boyfriend!" I say the last part a bit more hushed.

"I care because I'm a decent human being." He argues, setting me off more. I thrown my arms over each other.

"No you're not! A decent human being wouldn't use someone for the sake of their own personal vendetta!" I yell at him. Harry stifles out a laugh, shaking his head in disbelief.

"Isn't that exactly what you're doing?!"

"I'm doing this because this is the only way Malcolm will leave me alone. You kissed me because you wanted to set him off, to make him mad. What if he decides to get back at me when I'm alone one day?"

"He won't. He's too much of a pussy for that." Harry growls, but I can see that he's starting to see the logic in my argument.

"That's not the point, Harry!" I groan, throwing my head back and taking a deep breath. "Look, if we're gonna do this, we've got to set the record straight. I don't mind you kissing me, but it'll only be in public places to keep up the act, not for personal, selfish reasons. Understood?"

After some silence, Harry finally answers me.

"Yeah, okay. 'M sorry." His keys dangle between his fingers that he plays with as a nervous habit. "Can I take you home?"

I nod, throwing my arms over each other to warm myself up from the breeze that just passed over, and we start walking to his car.

Part 2 here

[dreemurr-skelememer]

Hi, uh, have a fanfic I guess? I dunno where this came from but here-

It’s not the best but midnight writing is hit or miss lol

(Heavily debated whether to post this on or off anon, anxiety ruled out-)

alsoloveyourartokbye

~~~

“-and it was just so… dreamy! I don’t know how he moves like that!”

Dream had been gushing about his latest crush for the past half hour, his aura pulsing like a solar flare with his giddiness.

Blue and Hearts were listening avidly, cooing and awwing at the way the positive guardian was practically swooning.

Ink had tuned out a while ago, drawing lightly in his sketchbook to the comforting background noise of his friends.

“…Ink?” The artist looked up with a questioning hum, seeing three pairs of eyelights trained on them.

“What’s up?” They asked with a confused smile.

Dream chuckled. “I asked if you’ve ever been in love before.”

Ink froze.

Had they ever…

Been in…

A ringing sound began to overtake everything else as they stared into nothingness.

He barely registered the concerned voices of his friends as the ringing grew louder and his vision grew fuzzier.

Flashes and whispers flew through his mind; a gentle voice, a soft blue jacket, yellow, red, a bright light, dust…

He felt lost.

~~~

“…nk…in…Ink!” He jolted with a quiet gasp, hearing and vision returning in an instant as someone called his name.

A gentle breeze brushed across their face, the sweet scent of flowers accompanied by the singing of distant birdsong echoed on the wind.

He was sitting on a large hill, cushioned by soft grass and surrounded by wildflowers humming with little insects. The sun shone bright in a blue sky, fluffy clouds dotted here and there across the expanse. The shade of a large tree blocked most of the beaming light, keeping him cool and comfortable.

The view was calming; the grassy hill sloped downward into a field that turned into sprawling forest that went on for seemingly forever. The tops of the trees swayed in the wind, and he could see how the leaves flashed as they moved.

“Ink? Are you alright?” The question had him turning his head to face the speaker.

For some reason, he felt like crying.

Gin was giving them a gentle smile, concern poorly hidden in his gaze as he tilted his head slightly.

“You zoned out there for a moment, inkblot. Did I bring up a bad topic?”

Ink blinked, staring into the face of his friend as he fumbled for words.

“Uhm, what… were we talking about?” They asked hesitantly.

Gin chuckled.

“I asked if you’d ever been in love before.”

The patient smile on the other skeletons face made something clench in his ribs.

“I… no, I haven’t. I couldn’t, even if I wanted to.” They looked away. “Being soulless and all. My love would be a lie.”

Gin huffed in laughter, and Ink raised a browbone at him.

“What?”

Gin merely shook his head.

“Nothing, it’s just, you seem to love so much.” He turned his body to face Ink, and the expression on his face made their cheekbones heat up.

“H-how do you mean?” They brought their scarf up to cover their lower face.

It didn’t help when Gin awwed at their rare display of bashfulness.

“It’s not always obvious, but you love in lots of little ways. Like how you put so much detail and effort into drawings of your friends and family, how you always bring me and Kin souvenirs you think we’d like from your travels, how you attend to the AUs and keep them safe and protected, the way you talk about the people you care for… you do love, Ink. I’ve known you long enough to tell.”

With every reason Gin listed, Ink felt his face grow hotter and hotter and before long, he figured it would be rather easy to cook an egg on his burning skull.

They heard Gin laughing again and pulled their scarf up to cover their entire head, his words making something churn warm and bright deep in their empty ribcage.

Arms wrapped around them to pull them into a comforting hold, and after a few moments they returned the gesture, burying their face instead into Gin’s shoulder with a wheeze.

“… you’re gonna kill me one day.” Their voice was muffled by fabric. They felt Gin shake with mirth, and a hand came up to gently rub the back of their skull. They melted into the touch.

“That would make me sad. But getting to see you flustered is a treat.” Ink groaned at the teasing, tapping a gentle fist against the other skeletons back in a wordless protest, much to Gin’s amusement.

They sat together for a while, listening to the birds sing, feeling the cool grass brush against their legs, enjoying the shade of the tree they rested under.

Feeling in control again, Ink drew back from the hug and met Gin’s gaze.

His eyes held only softness, and Ink felt both comforted and shy looking into his sockets.

“So, Ink. Have you ever been in love?”

Ink so badly wanted to draw the expression on his friends face, to preserve this moment for all of time.

That pretty grey-blue blush light on pale cheekbones, highlighting the cracks around his socket.

The gentleness in his soft lights, the love and care they held for Ink and Ink alone in this precious sliver of time.

Warmth curled in his chest as the artist felt his breath catch, his own blush reignited.

“… I think I have.”

~~~

Ink gasped as he was suddenly doused in freezing water, snapping out of the memory in an instant as he was abruptly returned to reality.

He sputtered out a “what the hell?!” as his friends crowded around him, shouting their worry and relief.

“Ink! Oh stars, you’re back! I’m so sorry, I didn’t- I had no idea-“

Dream was in tears, bright yellow magic falling from his sockets as he apologized profusely.

Blue had a hand on their shoulder, glancing all over their face with concern in his baby blue lights.

“Are you alright, Ink? You were not responding to us at all, you just sat there staring for almost an hour!”

Hearts sat down beside them, a towel and a change of clothes in hand along with a steaming mug of what smelled like chamomile-lavender tea.

Their head felt fuzzy and clouded, and they brought a hand up to rub at their nasal bone when pain throbbed behind their sockets.

“What… what happened?” They groaned.

“I’m not sure, hon. You looked so lost and out of it. We couldn’t get you to respond to anything. The water was a last resort.” Hearts explained.

“Oh… sorry for scaring you. I don’t know why I...” They rubbed at their skull again as it pulsed.

“Does your head hurt?” Ink nodded at Dream’s question, and soon felt two hands on the sides of his head. Warmth bloomed where they made contact, and Ink sighed as the pain slowly vanished.

“Thank you.” They looked up to meet the guardians eyes.

“Here,” Hearts handed them the clothes and towel, “go dry off and get changed, then come back for the tea. If you want to we can talk afterwards.” Ink nodded again, feeling a shiver run through their body as they were reminded of the cold dampness of their clothes.

He stood up, shakily, and made his way down the hall to the bathroom, ignoring the worried whispers of his friends behind him.

~~~

Ink stared into the bathroom mirror, taking in their haggard expression with slight distain. They felt so weary and tired, even though it was still fairly early in the evening.

He sighed quietly, rubbing at his sockets before turning away from his reflection and throwing his soaked clothes into the hamper.

Making their way out of the bathroom, they jolted upon seeing something out of the corner of their eye, whipping around to stare at their startled reflection in the mirror.

After a few seconds he shook his head and left the room, figuring it was just a trick of the light aided by his exhausted mind.

It was a nice thought, though, that Gin was still watching out for him.

~~~

Surrounded by the soft breathing of his friends, (and snoring from Dream), Ink, despite his weariness, found that sleep was evading him.

He was still stuck on what had happened earlier, when he’d awoken to icy water being dumped over him to snap him out of… whatever state he’d been in.

There was a large blank spot in their memory. Dream had asked a question, and then what felt like seconds later, they were doused in cold water.

The question… what was the question?

‘Have you ever been in love?’

Oh.

Right.

They remember now.

Their answer was swallowed up by the darkness of the living room.

“… I think I have.”

ANON DO YOU GET SICK KICKS FROM RUINING MY NIGHT LIKE THIS ?? ? ??s f???!?!?!?!?!????

THIS IS SOOO....SO SO SOooooo BEAUTIFULLY WRITTEN. I FELT THIS IN MY VERY BONES AND CRUSHED THEM WITH THE WEIGHT OF THE WORDS.

the gentle scenery, the two settings, the comforting feeling while i read.......oh anon.....................how could you do this to Me

you did it......youve fully captured them in my eyes.............you did it.......................

[arosesstorm]

Hello!!! may I please request a alec lightwood x gn!reader where he gets jealous when someone is flirting with the reader and he gets possessive?? thank you for this! ♥️

-ahhh I hope you enjoy this, I think I kinda diverted a bit, but jealous Alec is priceless so hopefully I'll write something more angsty next time; thanks for the request it was fun to write <;3

Jealousy Contest - Alec Lightwood

words count: a few

gender neutral reader! x Alec Lightwood

warning: jealous Alec

summary: as soon as Sebastian Verlac crossed the institute's doors Alec knew he brought nothing but trouble, but not for the reason everyone may be thinking...

English is not my first language loves, trying my best, enjoy :)

As a good writer would write, it all started when a Ravener demon decided to take a walk around New York. 

It was a normal evening, like any other at the institute when the news came and the Lightwood-Harondale trio was sent to solve the problem; their usual partners, y/n and Clary, were busy running after a Shax demon (something y/n hated as much as doing laundry) two blocks too far away to be involved.

"I just don’t feel good about this" Alec mumbled, slowly making his way towards an ally, bow raised in front of him as his steps were careful. 

"We follow orders, Alec" Jace sighed "he’s right big bro and-" a sudden turn to the left "it’s not like y/n and Clary are not capable of defending themselves" Izzy finished.

"I still don’t believe it’s a good-", but he didn't get to finish; the loud cry of a man interrupting him mid sentence. 

The three immediately felt the sudden urge to run as Alec’s feet guided him: he turned around the corner, to the right, to the left, to the right again, and there he stood, the blood in his veins dry: y/n was on the ground, a cut as long as Jace’s blade on her left side, but it didn’t belong to a blade, its darkish spots of venom visible as the Ravener stood in front of her, ready to go for another hit.

Someone was with her and it was not Clary. 

The figure stood forward, a blade as shining as the moon was in his hand as he cut the demon’s feet. 

The beast crying in agony as it fell forward, knocking the stranger to the ground. 

"Alright, now I am angry" he heard y/n mutter as their will helped them on their feet again, a tight hand pressed on their side, they were trying to show as little pain as possible. 

It took a second, he didn’t have the time to process, as he saw them took a couple of daggers from behind their back, their hands holding the weapons tightly as they threw themselves at the beast. 

As soon as the daggers sinked into the demon’s stomach, Alec’s harrow hit the creature in its head, its body falling still on the ground as he saw them turn towards him. 

The daggers falling to the ground as he heard them chuckle: "I can’t keep doing your work Lightwood" and he watched, horrified, their body falling to the ground, eyes shocked as they landed in the arms of the stranger. 

What Alec found out later was that the stranger in question, was a shadow hunter, worse, he was a man: Sebastian Verlac was his name and he was far from being discrete.

It was obvious the guy had a crush on y/n, he saw it from the way his eyes followed their figure every time they left a room, or how he would make sure to have breakfast at their table every morning, a stupid grin on his face when they laughed. 

It started to be very ridiculous and Alec himself for some strange reason was starting to get sick of it. 

When he entered the training room that afternoon, he felt himself roll his eyes. 

Y/n and Sebastian were training in a way it looked more like flirting. 

He touched them in ticklish spots, his words a continuous tease, his eyes a staring mess. 

Alec coughed, hard, which got their attention, eyes shooting his way. 

Sebastian was quick to react, his eyes kindly drifting back to y/n, "guess I’ll go, I’ve won enough for today", y/n’s quick remark "ah! You wish"as the blond made his way towards the door Alec felt the sudden urge to punch him. 

"I want a rematch then" Sebastian said, smiling, before disappearing into the institute’s many corridors. 

Y/n’s eyes were back on Alec as he came forward, "you look pissed" they stated as he took two training sticks from the weapon’s section. 

"How about we train?" He asked, his eyes sharp as he threw one in y/n’s direction. 

"Alright serious boy" they snorted grabbing the stick, legs in position. 

He was the first to come forward, his legs strong as he aimed for y/n’s stomach but they were quick to stop him halfway. 

Alec seemed determined as he came forward again, a shot for their shoulder, they dodged, a aim for their leg, they stopped him again as y/n pushed the stick back to Alec’s face. 

"More than pissed I guess", Alec chuckled darkly as he turned into position "this is called training" he spat, his gray shirt sticky on his torso. 

Y/n felt like giggling "what is going on with you?", "how about a hand to hand?" Alec replied, kicking the stick aside as you followed his moves, not failing to see his hands were trembling. 

"Something was in your latte this morning" y/n teased as Alec pushed himself forward, a hand flying in the air as they dodged his punch "actually, I go for black coffee" his body as stiff as a log. 

He tried to take y/n down again, legs following his moves swiftly, this time he got a open shot as he grabbed them by the shoulder, his arms wrapping around their throat as he held tight behind their back. 

"This is called winning" he slowly loosed the grip, as y/n’s eyes lightened with amusement "so you’re jealous". 

"What?" He asked, coming to the front again, his eyes everywhere but on them, "you really are jealous" y/n couldn’t help but laugh as the man was clearly uncomfortable. 

"As future head of the institute, it is my duty to show you how to properly train" Alec was quick to react, his eyes finally meeting y/n’s as they softly smiled. 

"Sure, future head of the institute, this is clearly what this is all about". 

"It is."

Y/n sighed: "How about a rematch?" They asked. 

"Can’t, gotta go" Alec replied quickly, his legs taking him as far away from y/n as possible. 

"Don’t go make a scene to Sebastian too!" Y/n laughed as Alec cursed under his breath, hurting to disappear, maybe, if he left quick enough, it would have been as if nothing happened. 

Y/n felt themselves softly smiling: "Head of the institute? More like lover boy".

mia

masterlist

© 2023 of Mia (arosesstorm). All Rights Reserved.

[skylarmoon71]

Amazon (Smallville) : Short Story - Chapter 3

It’s one of those slow evenings that Lex is entertaining a certain farm boy.

“You seem to be getting along with Ms. Prince much better. I haven’t heard you complain about her in a while.”

Lex had stopped by the Talon and ran into Clark. So now they're both seated at a table as Clark informs Lex of all his school activities.

“I think we’ve finally found common ground.” Clark informs.

Lex nods.

“So when do you plan to tell her about your crush?”

Clark sputters.

“Who said anything about a crush!”

Lex laughs.

“Because it’s obvious. Any woman that drives you that crazy, well there is usually a reason.”

Clark directs his eyes back at his textbook.

Lana walks over when she spots the pair.

“Lex, Clark.”

Lex lifts his head with a wave and Clark smiles.

“Hey Lana.”

“What can I get you two?”

“The usual.” Clark states, Lex says the same.

“I heard there was a fight here last time, is everything okay?” Lex inquires.

Lana nods.

“Some of the football players can get rowdy. One of them was harassing the waitresses but we actually found someone to help with the problem. I haven’t had an issue since.”

“So you got a body guard.” Lex concludes.

Lana simply laughs.

“Something like that. Oh, there she is now.”

Lana waves excitedly and the female walks over.

When they spot you, Clark looks a bit surprised.

“This is (Y/N).”

Lex’s smile widens.

“Oh, we’re well acquainted. "

You give a little nod.

“Hey Clark, Mr. Luthor.”

Your expression settles to the usual stoic state.

“You’ve all met?”

“Yes. Clark and I worked on a project together and Lex is doing an initiative with Diana.”

Now it all makes sense.

“So you’re freelancing as a security detail.” Lex asks.

“Obnoxious males irritate me.”

Clark just lets out an awkward laugh. You quirk a brow at his strange behavior.

“I have to get back to work. Enjoy your evening.”

You walk away and Lana wears a little smile.

“I can’t really read her. She’s a bit of a mystery. But she’s really sweet and she does a good job.” Lana comments.

Clark is a bit distracted. Seeing your serious face with that apron on is cute.

“Wouldn’t you agree? Clark?”

He blinks, tuning back in. Lex says nothing, just sends Clark a knowing look.

Clark is too much of an open book.

~~

The week seems to be awfully calm.

Your shifts at the Talon are quiet and you know it has to do with the newfound fear that you’ve instilled in the football players. They’ve been on their best behavior since you floored the linebacker who was causing a commotion on your first day there.

What you’ve noticed is that Clark and his friends have been coming in quite regularly. You sort of like the fact that you get to see him so often. Not all your classes crossover. So you only see him on certain days that you share periods together. Outside of school you’re either at the Talon or helping Diana in any way you can.

That evening as you’re getting off, you see Clark moving to the counter.

“Is your shift over?”

You nod.

“Yes, I just need to clock out with Lana. “

“I can give you a ride home.”

“Okay, give me a few minutes.”

So he does.

When he sees you again, you have your bag ready to go. Clark guides you to the door, opening it as you step out.

“My truck is a few blocks down.”

You nod, adjusting your strap as you both head down the street.

It’s nice to have someone around who you don’t need to have a filter around. Clark is also protective by nature as you’ve learned. That must be the reason he’s been hanging around so often.

“You don’t have to keep looking out for me Clark.”

His steps slow just a bit and you don’t miss the little expression that crosses his face. Like he’s been caught. It's sweet that he’s being so thoughtful. Given what you’re capable of, he really has no reason to worry.

“I’ve never said this but I think it’s very noble what you do. You protect your friends and others and take no credit. Diana told me you saved Mr. Luthor in that car accident.”

“Anyone would have done the same.”

You reach for his sleeve and he stops altogether at the tug.

“That’s not true. It seems your selfless nature is tied to your modesty. I suppose my mother was right. Kryptonians are a special kind.”

You offer a smile. Clark knows more than anything that it’s rare. He’s so used to your stoic expressions that when he sees the lighter ones it makes his heart race just a bit quicker.

“I'm glad that we were able to become friends, Clark.”

You were wrong about a lot of things, but you can’t help but feel a bit happy that you were truly wrong about how you viewed him. 

[bungeo-ppangie]

002 . chemistry

ღ wc. 1.2k~ words, 7k~ characters

Setting down the polaroids reluctantly, you finally got back to finding your scarf and heading to the filming location. It was only a few blocks away, fortunately, so walking there wouldn't take up too much of your time.

Of course, since Jungwon had to film an EN-LOG for most of the recording session, being late would come with at least 50 angry engenes staking out HYBE's dorms for the next two weeks. It was safe to say that you weren't planning to take any risks with this.

You arrived just in time, thankfully not with too much sweat. Unsurprisingly, it was a high end academy, to match the album's concept, the loves of youth. Jungwon was already there, with stylists crowding around him. Each held up different outfit ideas at him, trying to decide on the final outfits.

You laughed to yourself about his unfortunate situation, allowing yourself a second to enjoy it before being the better person and helping out. You walked over to him and tapped his shoulder, making him glance over at you.

"Yah, Jungcat. Are you still not finished with fittings?" You asked him as his eyes lit up from your presence. Meanwhile, your stylists were already all over the place, gathering outfit pieces and makeup.

"I've been busy, so they could only take measurements. I think I've earned their hate for a good amount of time from making them decide my mv outfits in only a few minutes." He grimaced, thinking about the struggle with makeup that would come soon.

“Yn if you drank a shit ton of water again right before this I’m going to murder you~” Your head stylist and probable 2nd best friend, Haeyoung, interrupted your conversation by grabbing onto your shoulders to steer you towards the dressing room, ignoring your protests. “Sorry jungwon, but you’ll see her when you start recording.”

“As long as she gets back somehow,” Jungwon replied teasingly, but the disappointed little pout on his face was obvious- his dimples even came out. All things considered, it even came as a surprise to you that the expression didn’t also come with a pair of drooping cat ears and limp tail.

“Young-a, it’s the first time I’ve seen wonnie in a week,” You whined as she buttoned a cardigan up on you at an impossible speed, unneeded pins ready to be used in her mouth.

“Ah, young love. Yn literally stop dieting or I’m complaining to the company, it’s the third time we’ve had to size down again.” Haeyoung barely paid heed to your complaints, instead dishing out her own.

“What are these double standards? You just told me to stop drinking so much water, now I have to eat more. I don’t see a difference. And that statement of yours was wrong on both accounts. We’re the same age, if you haven’t noticed, and me and wonnie are just friends.” You grumbled, spinning around at Haeyoung’s command.

“Quoting Miraculous? I would laugh, but I can’t dismiss my childhood love Adrien like that. Anyways, you do realize that I could go a lot faster if I didn’t have to continue stopping to take these pins out of my mouth to talk to you. Easy work for me, more time with loverboy for you.” Haeyoung murmured, not even hiding her love for the ship. Actually, it should be an entire cruise by now, as she’s managed to welcome over half of the stylist teams in HYBE aboard the vessel. Curse her extroverted personality.

However, you couldn’t deny her reasoning was correct, so you stayed silent for the rest of the fitting, in hopes of seeing Jungwon soon. When you finally headed into the recording studio, Jungwon was already starting his live.

“Good afternoon, engenes! I’m recording my new album with my best friend Yn today!” He gave the camera a wave and a smile, which only brightened when you slipped into the frame.

“Hey engenes! Nice to meet you all, I’m everyone’s favorite Belift soloist, Ln Yn!” You cheered, matching Jungwon’s dimpled cheeks with your own and a toothy grin. He threw his arms around your shoulders casually and slouched a bit while walking around and talking to make sure you stayed in the middle of the frame. Even though it went by completely unnoticed by the two of you, your actions as the live went on were able to completely convince everyone who was watching that you guys were absolutely smitten with each other. It started with exchanging knowing glances before giggling uncontrollably together, or gazing fondly at the other person while they worked on their pitch.

However, your chemistry became even more noticeable half an hour into the live. You would find yourself unconsciously leaning towards him, pr catch him looking at you with the slightest blush when you ran a hand through your hair. Nothing uncommon for you two, but it was completely new for the engenes watching.

You had actually been caught with him many times already by Dispatch, but they were never able to catch you close enough to identify you. You were able to stay just out of dating rumors for years due to your incredible luck. However, it seemed that your luck had run out by this live- but not necessarily in a bad way.

“Jungwonnie oppa, I just joined. Is that your yeochin?” Jungwon’s brows furrowed as he read out loud a comment, which he instantly regretted- well, right after he finished being confused over it. “Yeochin? Ah, yn? Ahh.. umm, we’re just friends. I’ve just known her for a really long time, so I’m more comfortable around her.”

Jungwon’s awkward tone only became hurried with his manager tapping his wrist at him to indicate that they had to leave soon.

“Oh, I have to go now engenes. I had fun today, thanks for joining me!” He quickly rambled, trying to find a way to end the live without an awkward aura.

“Kkeut!” You quickly put what you had learned as Riki's protege to use, ending the live quickly and hopefully less awkward than it could have been. Off-topic, but how were you younger than Riki? You always thought your age was practically the same as Jungwon's, yet you had to use honorifics with Riki in public.

In any case, Jungwon interrupted your thoughts by turning to you with an apologetic smile as the live ended.

"Sorry ynie, I read the comment out loud without thinking. It shouldn't be an issue, it was probably just that one fan thinking that. Don't be mad?" Jungwon parted his lips widely in what he thought was an encouraging grin, but turned out to be more of a cute grimace.

"It's all good with me, sheep garden. I'm an independent girlbossing woman, remember? A comment isn't even denting it." You flipped your hair behind your shoulder dramatically, not unlike the kdrama CEOs you mirrored the move from.

"I-LAND? Really? Be up to date, halmeoni~!" Jungwon called behind his shoulder, laughing as he skipped away. You heard his manager grumbling under his breath about how Jungwon was never this cheerful with them, and that if he was half this happy looking in all his lives, then he'd be on the receiving end of all possible good PR by now.

Little did you both know, this comment would bring upon the most change and chaos in your idol careers yet. You know that saying, "Everything will be better in the morning"? Well, whatever greater sentient being was in charge of making that statement true evidently forgot to apply it to you.

PREVIOUS . M.LIST . NEXT

[subzeroparade]

Creeping into your inbox with the great joy that we have such similar taste in horror! I was wondering what your favourite horror movies/shows/books are? I'm always on the lookout for more stuff :D

Oh! Well. *◡*

Some off the top of my head (shoving this under a cut for the long, rambling opinions in which I hope you find something useful). 

Movies: My current, contemporary favourite is definitely The Witch. It’s peak everything - period-piece, atmosphere, folklore/religious horror - everything I love. Absolute masterwork of minimalist horror.

As for what’s stuck with me, The Mist - took it like a fist to the face and still think about it all the time. There’ve been some other decent religious/folky horror stuff I’ve like over the past few years - Let the Right One In (book and movie both) The Omen (excellent buildup) and more recently Antlers (doubles as a monster movie), because I am obsessed with Wendigo lore. I know they’re kinda spoopy now but when I was a tween I was also a big sucker for The Village and Signs, ha. Again, mostly for the atmospheric buildup of dread, and The Village for its evocation of folksy, Puritanical horror. 

I’m a sucker for some monster movies as well, even semi-trashy ones like Cloverfield. I love the big monster-reveal moment. Prometheus, for the same reason. More interestingly, The Host (which is Korean) but adjacent to that are some of the classic Japanese horrors like Ring and the Grudge, especially The Grudge - both versions - which changed me forever. 

Series: Midnight Mass (just a Bloodborne modern AU honestly) has some interesting ideas on life after death, and Hamish Linklater’s performance is to die for. I’ve watched it twice and loved it both times. Archive 81 for the spooky ancient-god/slow burn dread. Huge fan of The Terror series which I think you know (I love Jared Harris, the best modern-day Cassandra if you take Chernobyl into account, and nice to see Tobias Menzies playing someone way less pathetic than Edmure in Game of Thrones lol). The book is a little more dry but still good, and I just started the series’ second season (Infamy) and love it already.

 Also worth mentioning a French series called Zone blanche (translated as Black Spot of Netflix), a little under the radar, which was great. Very much the subtle “the forest is a dark place beyond human understanding” vibe. I’m actively still going through Del Toro’s Cabinet of Curiosities but enjoying the variety of episodes so far: "The Outsider" (which frankly I just read as a queer/lesbian awakening story) and "Pickman’s Model" in particular (cannot avoid Lovecraft lmao, I’m so sorry). 

I don’t know if I can add the absolute incontrovertible masterwork that is Dark here, though it has some very, very itty bitty inconsequential minor horror elements. But I will watch it again and again until I die. 

In addition, some looser, genre-defying or multi-genre “horror” works like Get Out, Attack the Block, and the Southern Reach Trilogy (book only, the movie just couldn’t capture the peak high concept eldritch horror).  I would add the recent film The Wonder to that which has very subtle religious horror elements but is not supernatural whatsoever. I adored it. 

For books, any goddamn thing by Joyce Carol Oates but especially "Poe Posthumous; or, the Light-House" as I’ve made abundantly clear already; also I’m currently going through this excellent treasure trove of short horror stories collected in this post here (there is a second list somewhere too, if I recall, and they are even sorted by sub-category!) 

At the top of my must-watch list is Lamb right now, and eventually The Ritual and Midsommar, as well as The Lighthouse for obvious reasons. Any other recs are always welcome! I took two classes in CEGEP on Gothic lit and horror films and learned, fundamentally, that the horror genre is an incredibly useful and dynamic way to chart humanity’s anxieties over the past two centuries or so. (Dr Kris Woofter if you are still out there, you absolute hero, those were the greatest classes of my then-short academic life and I carry them with me always; or tucked neatly under my floorboards, where they writhe and groan ominously.) 

[homemade-ghosts]

i'm starting to see that some anti rinas are just racists...and that is really vile considering the show aim to be a safe space for young audiences

You’re absolutely right, so much of the hate Gina gets is, at its core, fueled by racism. 

Unfortunately, this isn’t a recent development. I’ve been blocking & reporting people (primarily on Twitter — but here, too) for posting incredibly derogatory & racist remarks about Gina (&, by extension, Sofia) since season 1 was airing. 

From day one, they’ve called her a bitch or a homewrecker or said she wasn’t good enough for Ricky (gee, I wonder why that is) — then, when 2b rolled around, they switched up, pretended to like her because they no longer saw her as a threat to their white ship (despite the fact that rini was already crumbling for reasons completely unrelated to Gina).

Suddenly, she’s their favorite character…as long as she does exactly what they want her to do & acts exactly the way they want her to act. Meaning, as long as she keeps dating EJ (the character they really care about) and stays sweet & soft, they love her. It’s always conditional.

The second they realized her relationship with EJ wasn’t going to work out, they started to villianize her again. Now EJ’s “the perfect boyfriend” (I lose 3 years off my life every time I see a pw call him that — like, is this perfect boyfriend in the room with us right now?) despite the fact that he treated Gina like a chore all summer, never showed up for her & never put a single ounce of effort into making their relationship work — but, oh, no Gina’s the evil one for even daring to suggest that she deserves better ??? 

Basically, they want her to sacrifice her own personal needs & wants to stay in a relationship she isn’t happy in for the sake of a guy who barely even gives her the time of day. Okay, cool. So Gina should suffer so that EJ doesn’t have to face his own flaws & insecurities? Got it.

I swear, she expresses literally any normal human emotion and they jump to criticize her for it.

She seeks comfort in her friend (at the time) Ricky because she wants to be around someone who understands what it’s like to have an absentee mom. Oop, she’s trying to “steal” Ricky away from Nini! Oh, & somehow that and Gina dating Ricky now is some kind of betrayal towards Nini? (yes, that is a real take that I’ve actually read). First off, I can promise you Nini does not give a fuck what Ricky does. How many different ways does the show have to tell them that they are done. Over each other. Bones & better off because of it. Nini has not spoken to that man all summer and she’s somewhere in Southern California chilling on a beach with her moms, living her best life. & more importantly, why are they always acting like someone else's happiness is more important than Gina's? Why is she not deserving of the kind of love that she wants and that Ricky can & will give her? I'd love to see pws/rinis try to answer either of those for me. I'm all ears.

Oh, & apparently Gina can’t even kiss the boy she loves without being vilified for it because, the other day, I saw someone say that the Rina kiss “made [them] uncomfortable” & that Gina pulling Ricky in for that second kiss was “aggressive.” (It’s called being passionate, my god — but I think we all know exactly what they really meant by that.)

Ultimately, Gina is the most well-rounded, complex character, played by — hands down — the best actress on the show, if #they don't like her, if they have a problem with her being The Main Girl™ of hsmtmts (if we're being fr, she's always been the main girl to me, but this season made it official) then it's pretty obvious why.

[lennon-cuddlywump]

The Biggest Cheesecake

Here’s my half of a fic trade with @fires-of-ninjago , based on some roleplays and chats we had.

“Hey will you hurry up with the popcorn Kai? The Golden Girls marathon is starting!” Cole called. “I’ve already got the onion rings!”

“Yeah yeah I’ll be there! Still don’t see why I couldn’t have put any butter on it.”

In an instant everyone glared at the fire ninja. “Besides the obvious reason, Zane needs it for the world’s biggest cheesecake he’s baking. He wants to break the world record!”

“Really now, I don’t think he’ll mind if I-”

Cole immediately grabbed his friend, shoving him onto the couch. “Just one drop of milk can turn the entire monastery into a biohazard! That’s also the real reason it burnt down in that upcoming Crystalized episode. Despite what the writers might lead you to believe.”

“Um Cole? Who are you talking to?” Lloyd asked, muffled from his cheeks full of popcorn. “Nevermind. Hopefully Zane can get the cheesecake done in time for the show!”

Back in the kitchen, the nindroid was blending together about a truckload of cream cheese with a wave of sour cream, ten dozen egg yolks and a tonne of sugar. “And that’s just for the cake part, the graham cracker base included an entire store’s worth of crackers mixed in with as much melted butter as I could get my hands on.”

It would have taken hours to bake if Ray didn’t come over and insist on using the last of his element to finish it instantly. As long as he could get the first slice of course, he didn’t get to eat much dairy products as a result of having two lactose intolerant members in the Smith family line. “Ooh that smells so good! Can’t I have a tiny slice right now?”

“It’s still cooling, after that I’ll decorate the top. Since we’re all watching the Golden Girls I’ll be designing us as the characters, obviously I will be Sophia. I’m still thinking about the others.”

The scent of the freshly baked cheesecake soon got the attention of a certain fire master, slipping away as the others were glued to the TV. “Just a little handful, I can just cover it up with more cream cheese.” Kai thought, tiptoeing his way towards his precious.

“HA! Thought I wouldn’t catch ya?” Lloyd snickered, pouncing onto the older man. “Zane put me in charge of cheesecake watch!”

“You huh? He must be using less sugar than usual.”

“Oh very funny, unlike you I can control my cravings.”

“Unless it involves mint chocolate balls. Tell ya what, I can cut you in for a slice if you let me have mine.” Kai whispered, staring deeply into the beautiful cheesecake just sitting there waiting to be eaten.

“Hmmmmmm. You got it!... HEY EVERYONE!! KAI WANTS THE CHEESECAKE!”

“LLOYD! YOU TRAITOR!!”

Before Kai knew it, Cole and Nya were on top of him like two wolves on their prey. “There’s no way you’re gonna eat all that! Just a regular cheesecake was enough to drive off the Overlord when he tried to reappear!” His sister snapped. “Don’t make me bring in the ball and chain!”

“Lemme guess, that will be how he’s defeated in Crystalized? Provided the author isn’t right about her prediction that it’s actually Clouse.” Cole joked. “Hey where’s Lloy-”

“Oh this is the best cheesecake I’ve ever had! So creamy and you can really taste all the sugar inside.” The famed green ninja moaned, his fingers covered in whipped cream. “It’s too bad Kai can’t have this.”

“OOOH THAT DOES IT!” Mustering up all his strength, Kai kicked his two teammates off his back and took a huge bite out of the cheesecake. “HAHA!! I finally have my precious!”

Another bite was taken soon after, followed by a third. He would have gone for a fourth if he didn’t get a block of cream cheese thrown right at his face. “You barbarians! I spent all day on that!” Zane growled, his right arm was now a cannon shooting down everyone with cheese.

Cole didn’t mind too much, as he could catch it all in his mouth, however it didn’t last once a loud rumble came from the fire ninja. “........ Uhh.. RUN LIKE HELL! KAI’S GONNA BLOW!!!”

[thatiranianphantom]

i gotta know who you are shading with the influencer thing because i didn’t know any of the rest of them were even attempting😅 is it someone like drew lol

Oh, sweet anon. I admit bias fully because while I intellectually understand that selling for brands is a normal thing to do, I’ve worked in too many low income areas to have any tolerance or goodwill for someone making literal thousands off a brand they pretend to use, especially when it’s being sold to primarily young people, often kids. At the end of the day the entire RD cast is just rich people and I don’t really make it a habit to support rich people. They’re fine without me.

Anyhow, can’t do cuts on my phone so here be controversial thoughts.

Some of their selling is very off. A certain cast member’s entire social media presence especially in ads is focused on their boobs and edited pics. I saw an ad this person did for a face cream where they literally didn’t even touch their face with it. Other cast members’ ads come off as disingenuous at best. Lili did one for a debit card and I was very ???? You know your base is children right? It’s very obvious some of them do not care about the products they are selling (I’m really truly generalizing this to most if not all of them, this is not just one specific person). Look. If they want to make money on ads that’s their business and there’s nothing wrong with it mostly. But I have sponsor block installed for a reason and I feel zero guilt.

I’ll tell you my philosophy. If you’re an average Joe making an average wage you should feel no pressure to donate to charitable causes. But if you’re a person who makes literal millions a year, you should be obligated to give some to charity. A good amount to charity. Like we should automatically take it out of your paycheck. You should feel that you have means and you should be giving back, you should feel obligated. That some of these celebrities (most of these celebrities) don’t is startling and baffling to me. An hour’s pay for them could fund a school in a developing country.

[potomacdebateacademy]

Captain’s Corner: Researching Tips

I’ve personally always believed good prep makes or breaks rounds. Yes, plenty of good debaters are able to get away with researching an entire topic the night before a tournament and do perfectly well. But with research, you can always do better. Researching arguments helps develop logical analysis, develops confidence going into rounds, and when backed with coherent logic, can circumvent any on the spot analytical response from even the best opponents.

So, here are Ruth’s tips for research:

Use Google effectively. Entering something generic into Google’s search bar always releases an overwhelming number of results. However, there are plenty of hidden cheats/tricks that can consolidate research for you. For example, Google’s Boolean operators:

Direct quotes: “’Great Power War’” for websites that contain that exact phrase.

AROUND (#): “GPC AROUND(10) Trump” for searching for specific words in a specific number of words in your phrase.

~: “~Great Power War” for synonyms of the term.

AND: “GPC AND Hegemony” for results that contain both words.

OR: “GPC OR Hegemony” for results that contain either word.

There is always Google Scholar (a special subset of Google search results that include only academic sources) if you want to narrow all your results at once. (However, personally, I do not use Google Scholar often because most of my sources come from news articles that wouldn’t be revealed in Google Scholar).

And there are plenty more that you can discover yourself! 

Have the right Chrome/Google Doc/Word extensions. Extensions will help you cut/find cards a hundred times faster. My favorites?

Personal Blocklist (Chrome Extension that is a red circle with a diagonal line across): Can block certain websites from ever showing up in your results. Best used when there are sources with obvious bias you never want to cite/read.

uBlock Orgin (Chrome Extension that looks like a red shield with a lowercase u and o): Can help get rid of popup notifications (whether it be cookies, donation requests, etc. with the lightning bolt feature). Also keeps you safe when you’re browsing the website—it independently acts as an ad blocker/virus scanner!

Cite Creator (Chrome Extension that looks like a right facing quotation mark in a black lined circle): Helps cite articles automatically with the ability to adjust formatting. You are also able to manually modify the cite to personalize it entirely or swap out just one section!

Debate Template (Google Doc Extension that looks like two debaters debating at their respective podiums): Helps cut cards that much faster; there are preset formats like (highlighting, emphasizing (bolding and underlining) etc. that are all customizable and require only one click).

Dodge those paywalls! The best content is usually hidden behind some sort of paywall, whether it just be a NYT article or a research paper. If you want to avoid paying these paywalls, try bypassing them with the following websites:

Archive.ph

Outline.com

12ft.io

Scihub *note: you must use incognito when using this and it only reveals research documents.

This was a bit of an information dump but I’ve used every single one of these “cheats” to help me find better research faster and I can indisputably say such research has been the reason I’ve won a good portion of my rounds. I personally believe research accounts for at least 50% of the round even before you enter it. So, use that advantage!

Captain out!