#just saw someone on twitter joking about their job

[takamoris]

How come no one talks about how Microsoft Teams is a really shitty program that runs like ass and has a ton of bugs, and that a lot of office jobs are still forced to use it anyway?

[forlix]

𝘀𝘂𝗯𝘁𝗲𝘅𝘁・l.f.

— in which you forget that your hot housemate follows you on twitter.

𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗱𝘀・1.1k 𝗽𝗮𝗶𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴・roommate!felix x gn!streamer!reader 𝗴𝗲𝗻𝗿𝗲𝘀・fluff, flirting, kind of an smau, implied friends to lovers, humor if u count jeongin being a piece of shit

𝗮/𝗻・saw this tweet the other day and it was so painfully lix coded that i knew i had to write something asap. contains a tiny bit of gaming jargon but is hopefully comprehensible. ENJOY ♡

y/n ꒰ᐢ. .ᐢ꒱₊˚⊹ @ y/nxx

if someone brings you fresh cut fruit to your table when you're gaming, they either like LIKE you or it's your mom

11:23 A.M.・Oct. 2023・220.2K Views

bokkie 🐣 liked your post.

“My tweet?”

You read aloud the newest text in your chatroom, and your face brightens when you remember the one in question.

“Oh, about the fruit—no, it’s so true though. And I love my mom, don't get me wrong, but I have an inkling she did it to guilt trip me." You change your posture and adopt your best motherly tone of voice. "‘This is your tenth consecutive hour wasting your young adulthood in front of that damn screen. I am now going to hand deliver apple slices straight to your mouth.’ That kind of vibe, y'know?"

A slew of messages follows your anecdote, but it is a comment from one of your moderators that catches your eye first:

je0ng1n: what about the other option tho 👀

You groan at the sight of his username. “Man, why are you always here? Don't you have a job?"

je0ng1n: i’m on break je0ng1n: taking a dump je0ng1n: ungrateful bitch

You brandish a middle finger to the camera. “Hope the dump sucks."

je0ng1n: HEY je0ng1n: don’t even joke about that :(

An involuntary cackle precedes your next words. “If you’re actually wondering, though, the only person who’s brought me fruit while I’m playing video games is indeed my mother. Heartbreaking, I know.”

At this, the steady flow of messages morphs into a gallery of depressed cat emoticons; your audience never fails to impress you with their way with words.

“But if someone other than your disappointed parent is bringing you fruit,” you go on, “they might as well get on one knee in the process, honestly. That's such an adorable, loving thing to do.”

Suddenly, the words MATCH FOUND splash across your monitor, and you move your cursor to accept the game invite—only to be met with a pop-up window and a familiar error sound that grates on your ears like screeching tires.

You know how this story ends: the lights in your mouse go dark, and you look on in dejected silence.

je0ng1n: LMFAOOOOO je0ng1n: bro’s mouse definitely just exploded again

“You guessed it," you sigh. “Hang tight for a sec, guys."

Half an hour ago, you could’ve sworn you heard sneakers being kicked off, a set of keys falling against plastic. Now, you pull one side of your headphones off and roll your chair a few feet backward, calling through your half-open door: “Lix, are you home?”

You pick up on a soft clunk that sounds like metal hitting wood—the cutting board, maybe?—and then your housemate's low, accented answer bounces off the walls of your shared hallway.

“Yeah, you alright?”

“The mouse,” you say helplessly.

“Ah.” It’s not the first time you’ve summoned him for this. “Be right there.”

A few seconds later, you remember to tack on a hurried disclaimer: “I’m live, by the way!”

“I know.”

This brings a bashful smile to your face, though the expression quickly turns to one of pure dismay when you return to your desk and witness the disastrous state of your chat.

Felix has become a regular guest on your stream by now, always popping in to show you a TikTok or ask for your opinion on a new pair of jeans or simply give your camera an awkward wave—but he may as well own your channel with how completely and unequivocally he has captured the hearts of your viewers. They’re convinced he’s the sexiest person to ever grace the earth, with his chiseled features and coffee-colored eyes; with a grin that could set entire estates on fire and a voice that could scrape the nadir of the Grand Canyon.

Do you agree? Absolutely.

Do you have any intention of voicing this sentiment, so long as you’re splitting rent with him? Absolutely the hell not.

Another of Jeongin’s messages—GET ME HIS NUMBER OR I GET VIOLENT—inspires you to minimize the stream window before Felix gets here. It’s for the best.

A few moments later, the door opens, and the air shifts inside your room. A hand comes to rest on the top of your head; a familiar silhouette appears in your periphery. There is a fond grin plastered across your face and a bright greeting sitting readily on the tip of your tongue.

But then, Felix places a plate of freshly cut fruit in the empty space to the left of your keyboard—here, he hums, the sound falling against the shell of your ear like a drop of melted chocolate. And the gears of your brain grind to a complete stop.

There is no further acknowledgment; no supplementary explanation for what he's just done. He simply picks up your mouse and gets to work.

The words of your tweet swim dizzyingly before your eyes, not unlike those halos of stars and birds that revolve around disoriented cartoon characters. And you’re suddenly, achingly aware of your roommate's arm nudging against yours as he tinkers away; of the aromas of vanilla and laundry detergent that always come with his proximity; of the heat that’s risen to your face, and the plethora of questions that have surfaced to your mind.

A soft huff of laughter follows a gentle utterance of your name, and you snap out of your trance. Felix’s eyes are glinting with amusement when you meet them.

“It’s been recalibrated,” he says, handing back your mouse. “Just give it a few minutes.”

Your fingertips brush over his palm when you accept the object, and even this blink of contact has your heart performing an elaborate hopscotch routine across the plane of your chest.

It’s either your mom, or…

“Thank you,” you mumble, finally retrieving your larynx from the bottom of the Atlantic.

“Anytime,” Felix returns, and you know he means it. “You need a duo, by the way?"

“Yes, please.”

He gives you a warm smile at this, and there’s a hint of something else—something new—in the curve of his lips. “Give me two.” And he’s gone as quickly as he'd come.

You will never know how Felix slips his phone out of his pocket the second he emerges from your room, his pulse hounding his ears as he turns a nervous gaze upon his screen.

There is now a supersonic blur of messages saturating your chatroom, a colorful cacophony of moving emotes and capital letters, but he is focused wholly on the person in front of the camera and how you slowly lift a hand to your mouth, deathly silent despite your every viewer demanding your comment on the matter, your sanguine cheeks visible even through the gaps of your fingers.

That is all he needs to know.

Felix sinks into the leather of his gaming chair and bends to power on his computer. Only after a deep breath blows past his lips does his smile start to stretch into a grin, every bit as embarrassed as it is relieved.

je0ng1n: no way je0ng1n: no fucking way je0ng1n: my heart fluttered je0ng1n: wtf je0ng1n: how’d you pull HIM??

y/nxx has removed je0ng1n as a moderator of this channel.

𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸? please consider reblogging, commenting, or sending me an ask to let me know; or, read my other works here. thanks so much for the support ♡

© 𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗹𝗶𝘅 (est. 090323) · all works are pieces of original writing and all characters and relationships are purely fictional. please do not repost or reuse for any reason.

[beybaldes]

Karma is the guy on AFC Richmond, coming straight home to me!

summer sleepover masterlist

roy kent × gn!famous!reader (loosely inspired by Taylor swift and Travis Kelce)

summary: “kisses with a height difference” requested by two anons <33

an: okay you can actually thank the queen of my heart @onceuponaoneshotfanfic for my sudden (although potentially one night only we’ll see if I get my uni essay done lol) return because she reposted a celebrity prompt list and it got my mind whirring oops love you tally thank you for breaking my writers (and reading) block <33

“Hot.”

One simple word had sent your 68 million instagram followers into an absolute frenzy, and half of them, you were pretty sure, didn’t even know who Roy Kent was.

“‘So nice of them to put this football player on the map?’ They do know I was famous long before you ever were, right?” You only laughed as Roy grew more frustrated, allowing him to scroll through your Twitter account while you made the both of you some breakfast.

“Hey, maybe they have a point?” You tried to stifle your laughter, knowing Roy’s eyes would be sending daggers into your back, though only for a moment so he could continue winding himself up over the things people were tweeting. “I mean Richmond tickets have now sold out for the rest of the season.”

Roy knew you were only joking. Well, kind of. The two of you had been together for just over a year now, recently celebrating your one year anniversary, but besides the odd article about each of you potentially seeing someone, no one knew you were together - let alone that you even knew each other. Keeley had been blowing up Roy’s phone since she saw the comment demanding to meet you, her favourite superstar, and you’d woken up to 37 missed calls from your dad, furious you hadn’t told him you were dating Chelsea legend Roy Kent.

Above everything, you’re still in disbelief Roy tried to hard launch your relationship in the comment section if your most recent instagram post on a random Tuesday evening.

“Hmm, and I’m sure your next tour is going to sell out 10 times faster now the world knows you’re with the great Roy Kent.” Roy had given up on reading tweets speculating about what his comment meant and if the two of you were together, instead choosing to press his bare chest agains your back, wrapping his arms around you from behind as you finished up breakfast. Fortunately you knew, Roy Kent or not, your next tour was going to sellout. Though you’d rather have Roy be by your side for it.

“Maybe if I’m lucky.” Putting down your fork, you turned in Roy’s hold to face him, standing on the very tips of your toes to press a lovingly slow kiss to his lips. Since dating Roy, you were certain early mornings were for breakfasts that take too long to cook and kisses that end too soon for your liking. Roy’s grip on you tightened and he dipped his head slightly, making the kiss as easy on you as possible. When you began to pull away, he only ducked his head further to press his lips back against yours. “Mmm, although I’d already consider myself very lucky.”

“That you are.” Roy murmured against your lips, immediately pressing them flush against yours when he’d said his piece. “And so am I.”

an: okay short and sweet but I’m hoping to get back in to writing and get up to date with my requests now that I’m settled at uni and with my new job. Missed you guys hope you all are well <33

[uhgood-girl]

why jikook?

i've been asking myself this a lot recently bc well, why them? why not tkook? or ynmin? hell, jihope even, they're underrated as hell honestly, have you seen that hot tub video? hobi was ready to unhinge his jaw to swallow jimin whole (and who (jk) could blame him.)

but jikook, in a not joking way, hits different. they always have. it's been years at this point that i've been deep in this rabbit hole (within the larger bts rabbit hole, my god, how deep does it go) but i don't recall making the conscious decision to fall in.

maybe a little background?

i'm a fake love army. actually, if we're getting technical, i'm an outro tear army bc it was in the comments of the freshly released fake love music video that i saw someone recommend outro tear if i enjoyed fake love and then it was over for me. extremely not fake love at first listen, who's voice is second on this track? i NEED to know. i'm a yoongi/rapline bias to this day. fake love still fucks though, don't get me wrong, it's a never skip for me.

for that first year and then some, i consumed backlogged content like it was my day job. i am a prone to hyper-fixations hermit, basically, who was going to stop me? my therapist? nah, she picks her battles.

i watched everything i could get my grubby little hands on like someone would be testing me on it later. (shoutout qdeoks, you were so real) i didn't open stan twitter for the first time till probably the end of 2018, really just in time to be slapped in the face full force with the shitshow that was a hate campaign against these boys i was deeply invested in by then, the likes of which i had never experienced in an online space up to that point. it was a truly, truly wild era, don't ever let anyone tell you differently.

all that to say, i've been here for a hot minute and i developed my own first impressions on bts and the members as individuals in a vacuum. no one had to point jikook out to me, they stuck out on their own.

potentially relevant disclaimer before we continue: i am really really queer. i grew up in the united states conservative deep south and had to change high schools my sophomore year bc i was outed and then violently ostracized for being in a relationship with my same sex best friend at the time. it is safe to say i have a lot of feelings about and experience even when it comes to having to be low key (understatement lol) about who you love. i am not here just to make my barbies kiss.

actually, on that note, jikook wouldnt even be my chosen barbies out of bts. if we're in true fantasy delulu hours here, i would want yoonjin to be real. god, that would be the stuff, they're so old married as it is. peak romance.

i think the first place jikook ever truly caught my attention were the memories dvds. jimin has always been a sweet, bby angel taking care of all his members but i remember thinking that he seemed to pay a little extra, special attention to jungkook. and of course, why not, jk's the maknae after all. all of them have always been doting on him and deservedly so. but in those briefly shown really serious, quiet moments, jimin was often first in line. a spot very easy for him to obtain tbh as jk never seemed to be very far from him anyway. maybe if you've never in real time lived the satellite jeon accusations (hi pandemic army, bless you, i hope you make it to 2025 when we have them all back without restrictions) you might find them easier to dismiss but it was so consistent back then in all of the content being released. and once noticed, i don't know how anyone ever un-notices it. but i was in deep before i even realized the water was boiling.

should i talk about why not tkook? or ynmin, for me? i'm just pulling those as examples bc i know they're the popular contenders here but all joking in the beginning of this post aside, none of the other members interpersonal relationships, in any configuration (sadly, RIP yoonjin romance), have ever struck me as anything other than puppy crush/deep friendship/family. and that's not bc i don't think over half of those men aren't queer in some form or fashion because WHEW, that is an entirely different post and we simply do not have the time to unpack rn but it's not for lack of looking.

i started in a vacuum, but i have by no means stayed there, i walked in all of those front doors and sat down and said "convince me." i've got the time and lack of life, i am ready to be won over. what have i missed?

to this day i still regularly try and check my own confirmation bias, i'm obviously looking for jikook at this stage but i'm still ready on my toes if any of the others want to get crazy. (yoonjin i am rooting for you, we're all rooting for you)

and i'm not here to really persuade or sway anyone one way or another either. there are a 1000 other blogs on this site that can probably offer you better explanations, specific clips, and detailed break downs of moments throughout the years and even then people are going to see what they want to see. i just wanted to write some of my own thoughts down finally.

though...i guess if i had to point to any one single piece of "evidence" it would definitely be tried and true gcf tokyo? but if watching that the first time didn't ring through you like a gunshot, i def don't think there's anything i could say beyond that.

honestly, i think so much of "why jikook" for me boils down to the pit in the bottom of my stomach that i used to get when i first began to notice them. when i got past the initial warm fuzzies inspired by the sincerity of their interactions, my immediate second emotion was concern.

i remember the first time i heard some of the other boys make an offhand joke about them being a couple and i got anxious, fast. i thought hide, hide better, please be safe. i began to pay extra attention to the other members in general too when jikook would do things and felt like i could sometimes see a similar anxiety to my own in their expressions. for a long time, i just worried about them and where i saw other people rejoice in their more obvious moments, i was slow to celebrate.

despite my initial hesitation, it's now been about 5 years since the first time they ever made me double take. they're a few years younger than me but i feel like we've been growing up together. (parasocial? idk her.) they're less conspicuous these days, and for lots of obvious reasons, but i feel like overall, their confidence in themselves and each other is quite high. i know that's probably a funny thing to say in light of this last week especially, but i stand by it. i've seen this song and dance before. i have managed my own expectations in the past, taken full steps back only to be beaten anew over the head so many times with enough "coincidences" i felt borderline foolish to try and deny anything. jikook are truly some sort of neuro-spicy pattern recognition drug, i swear.

and i've never really gotten to talk about any of this with anyone before! i'm shy irl, and shy online apparently bc i have just been lurking around the outer lines of this circle this whole time like some creepy creep but i've decided i'm over it. fuck it. growth.gif. idk that i have anything important or new to contribute to the conversation but my god, no one else seems to let that stop them so i might as well take my turn on the soapbox, no?

so 📢 JIKOOK REAL (?) jikook sus. jikook make bandaged queer little heart go boom boom.

[zvtara-was-never-canon]

thoughts on sokka and zuko's netflix actors ian ousley and dallas liu (jokingly?) teasing zukka in interviews? are they queerbaiting?

For those who don't know what the fuck queerbaiting is: you know how Disney announced "it's first openly gay character" in literally every movie they've been releasing lately, and these "characters" are always on screen for only 5 seconds so it won't annoy conservatives or be banned in China?

That's them trying to use the promise of gay content to get people (be it gay people or someone that just wants to know if Disney will handle the subject properly) to watch their stuff. It's just false advertizing in rainbow colors.

Netflix, being the cheap bastards that they are, love using "We got minorities in this!" to advertise either their bland, bad shows that will get a million seasons, or the rare good show that they'll cancel way too soon because they seem to be alergic to quality. Either way, the gay content they promise audiences is usually there - you know, it's just not good because Netflix hates good things. Hell, they made Oma and Shu a lesbian couple from what I've seen.

Considering I've heard that the cast of the Avatar Live Action is pretty comfortable dunking on Zutara as a ship despite it being crazy popular and some fans literally only watching the show because they thought it'd make Zutara canon, and even having the balls of saying their show is less problematic than the OG one because they cut the plot of Sokka unlearning sexism, I'd say they're not claiming to like Zukka because some executive told them to, in the hopes of getting people to watch. The actors are probably either two buddies joking around because "Dude, what if our characters got together?" or saw some fanart/headcanon on Twitter and rolled with it.

So no, it's not queerbaiting, it's just actors voicing their opinion - basically the same as the Wedneday situation. The actresses for Wednesday and Enid ship their characters, but Netflix never gave any indication that these two would be a thing, and the internet only cried QUEERBAITING because people can't accept that sometimes the goth girl and the girly girl don't kiss because none of the writers even thought about making them gay.

And before someone inevitably goes "Oh but one/both of them are straight/don't want to discuss their own sexualities - are they queerbaiting when showing excitment at the idea of their characters hooking up?"

1 - Real people can't queerbait because their sexuality is a personal matter, not a product meant for other people to consume.

2 - If Netflix does want to make Zukka a thing (and I've seen nothing to sugest that they do) and starts promoting it, it's the CHARACTERS that would have to be gay, not the actors. I'm pretty sure Zuko's actor can't create/control flames at the palm of his hand, but that doesn't mean he's lying to people, he's just an actor acting. Even if and Sokka's actor have to play a gay couple at some point, it won't be queerbaiting for them to do so and even be excited for it/thinks it makes sense for their characters, regardless of what sexuality they are in real life, because the actors are not their characters they're just people doing a job.

[ourpickwickclub]

I thought someone on Twitter/X did a good job of describing G and Tony last night….along the lines of some people will always have chemistry….but that doesn’t mean that is who you marry or spend your life with. It resonated with me because I have a college boyfriend that I rarely see…it wasn’t the best break-up….but over the years, I will randomly run into him and we can pick up as if we just saw each other. I think of him fondly and am happy to see him but it doesn’t compare with what I have with my husband. Tony and Gwen have a connection because they were a young couple and have known each other for a really long time but it is more like brother and sister and nothing at all like the soulmates andCHEMISTRY hat Gwen and Blake have…as evidenced by tonight’s hot photos!

Tony tried to get back together with Gwen after the breakup and she said no. They joked about it early on but I have always felt like it was played up by the label. But I do think for many years Gwen trusted Tony as a dear friend.

What stands out to me is how emphatically Gwen told everyone thru IG stories, that was fun but LOOK, I’m in Nashville with Blake, there are Blake’s boots, I love my husband SO much!!! Playing There’s A Light That Never Goes Out by The Smiths 😍😍😍😍😍😍.

Coachella was awesome but Gwen playing that amazing song by The Smiths with a pic of her and Blake….that is what healed my teenage soul. True love!

And Blake looked so happy and proud.

- B

[ingravinoveritas]

The people that keep saying not to ship Michael and David together in real life because of their relationships to Georgia and Anna are also the same ones who keep begging to have the two girls appear in the next season of GO as a couple because of Anna’s little joke of making out with Georgia. Seriously people saw that tweet of hers and immediately decided to ship them together and call them the “ineffable wives” but Michael and David have come out with soooo much more adorable moments of the love and joy they have for each other and everyone starts saying that it’s disrespectful to ship them when their “married” to females in real life 🤷‍♀️ I mean…. The hypocrisy is astounding and disturbing on levels I can’t even comprehend. The fact that Georgia, who is known to search her and David’s name on Twitter and answers back to anyone that tags or even mentions her didn’t even acknowledge Anna’s tweet says sooooooo much about this “best friend dynamic duo”. The fact that Anna is resorting to jokes about kissing another woman just for attention also…. WHEW. If this isn’t the biggest cry for attention I don’t know what is. And the fact that people feed into her attempts also and are petitioning for them to kiss and show up in GO!

Lord. I've seen so much talk about casting female actresses in regard to fem-presenting Aziraphale/Crowley over the past week, and while it is disappointing, I am not at all surprised. The first inkling I had was upon seeing the reactions when a behind the scenes photo of Crowley as Bildad the Shuhite was posted just before the release of GO 2:

It seems that a lot of folks were expecting/hoping for fem!Crowley, as we saw in Golgotha in season 1 (on the right), and when that turned out not to be the case, the reaction was to call Bildad!Crowley ugly, to say that he should shave, and other comments essentially making fun of this particular look. Obviously, much of this could have (and likely was) made in jest, but the overall consensus was clear: You can't be feminine with a beard.

(Which...I'd like to see someone tell that to Michael Sheen, because yes, the fuck you can...)

So from the outset, I was already bothered by what seemed like the hypocrisy of on the one hand celebrating a show where the characters are genderfluid/nonbinary by definition, and then on the other hand getting upset when one character doesn't fit into a prescribed, conventional idea of femininity.

When Neil subsequently mentioned that there had been a storyline for female-presenting Aziraphale and Crowley in the 1960s, it was dismaying (but again, not surprising) to see these same fans casting female actresses in the roles. Never mind that you already had David playing female!Crowley and Nanny Ashtoreth in season 1. Never mind that both Michael and David have played...well, "drag" doesn't seem like exactly the right word, but they've played women, and brilliantly subverted gender roles in their own ways. There is no reason to think that they couldn't do a fabulous job as fem!presenting Aziraphale and Crowley, except that (again) some fans seem to have a specific idea of femininity that they think does not or cannot apply to Michael and David.

Which then brings us to the apparent clamoring for Anna and Georgia as female Aziraphale and Crowley, which has again left me scratching my head. In all of the tweets and hubbub, I have not seen one person say why they think AL and Georgia would do a good job in said roles--like, "Oh, Georgia was so good as [insert role]" or "I loved Anna as [insert role]"--only that they would be "so amazing." This leads me to think that the only reason these fans want AL and Georgia in the roles is because they are Michael and David's partners. They are assuming that this is somehow a guarantee of the same profound understanding of the characters and their connection, despite there being no evidence of such a correlation. (I mean...I fooled around with my former grad school professor last year, but that doesn't mean I have a PhD...)

What it also seems to indicate is that these folks are not thinking of what is best for the characters, either, or indeed if playing female!Aziraphale and Crowley is something AL or Georgia would even want to do. Neil recently said that Georgia turned down a role in GO 2 supposedly because the character was older than her and she didn't feel it was appropriate. If this is the case, why would Georgia want to play the role of a middle-aged character? Because that is what Aziraphale and Crowley are--ageless celestial beings, yes, but beings who have chosen to present as middle-aged. That is a key part of who they are, so to have the female versions of them played by younger actresses makes no sense and seems downright disrespectful.

There is also what you said, about AL's cringey tweet from a little over a week ago. Georgia could have absolutely responded to or acknowledged it by now, as she has responded to several other tweets since then...but she hasn't. Not a reply, not even a 'like.' And I agree with you that that seems to speak volumes, and that it would probably be a good idea if people looked beyond the Staged-driven narrative of "Georgia and AL are BFFs" to see how Georgia actually seems to feel about her.

(And to echo another thing you said, I will never understand how it is somehow completely fine for fans to ship Georgia and Anna/want to see them make out despite neither of them showing that level of affection toward each other or having any visible chemistry, yet not okay to ship Michael and David who do have that chemistry and have been making their feelings for each other very obvious for the last several years...)

So yes, those are my thoughts on the whole female Aziraphale/Crowley fancasting situation. I just hope that if we do get them as fem!presenting in season 3, that it is Michael and David, because there is no way any other two actors could give us what we got with Aziraphale and Crowley the way Michael and David did. I guess we'll see what happens...

[talkbykhalid]

idiot in love. k.yeosang x f.reader 5.7k words (fluff + humour)

“I have an idea!”

“No.”

Yunho, who had just burst into the room with a bright smile on his lips, now stood by the doorway with a pout. His phone is held tightly in his hand and playing a video from what looks like tiktok. A chorus of cheers and gasps comes from the gadget’s speakers and you can’t help but to be intrigued.

“Don’t be rude, Yeosang.” San tosses a candy wrapper at the other’s face, telling him off for crushing the light behind Yunho’s eyes. 

You sit on the pink reclining chair in the middle of the room and look up at your tall friend who had just arrived. Currently, you were waiting for the rest of your friends to get to your guys’ usual hang out spot. A comfy little pool house in the back of Seonghwa’s normal-sized and humble house, or that’s what he likes to call it (you’d rather skip the pleasantries and call it a mansion). It’s a decent sized pool house, as decently-sized as a mansion’s pool house can be, and it’s well decorated.

That’s a lie. 

You know how there’s this big thing with the generation now with aesthetics and styles? Yeah, so if you’d gather all those and smush it into a snowball pile and then throw it against a wall, you’d get the pool house decor. It wasn’t bad! Mingi once said that this is what cluttercore is. And you don’t think that it’s ugly, it’s not the best interior design you’ve done but if you look at it at a certain angle and then tilt your head to the left, then sure, it looks pleasing to the eye!

Actually scratch that. This was all Jongho’s fault! Yeah for sure. He calls himself an interior design major yet he can barely even get this place in check. Yeah, that’s right. How about you shift majors, Jongho?

No… that’s a lie too. Because you know god damn well that Jongho’s no joke when it comes to designing. This mess of a house was collectively everyone’s fault. Why? Because everything in this god forsaken pool house was brought by none other than your group of hooligans. 

Hongjoong had speakers stacked up in one corner along with a keyboard and a 2015 dubstep pad which you highly doubt still works. Beside his mess is another mess, this one is of dumbbells and resistance bands with a pull up bar station and foldable bench (which never gets folded) in between it all. This one was courtesy of your gym rat friends, i.e: San, Mingi, Yeosang and Jongho.

Jongho’s solo corner is most definitely the only aesthetically pleasing and neat area of the whole place. He had set up a little bean bag seat by the door so he could bask in the afternoon sunlight. And beside that was his little guitar stand and trusty acoustic guitar. You remember gifting it to him when he graduated high school; oh the memories of huddling together to gather all your saved up cash from your part time jobs.

Your corner? Well you didn’t exactly have one, per se. You had a habit of hovering around everyone else’s little respective corners and sticking your nose into their business, so you never really saw the need to have your own space. But you had a little pink reclining chair you thrifted in the middle of the room. It was beaten up and the leather was peeling in some spots  but if you covered it with a blanket, then it’s out of sight and out of mind.

Anyway, back to the topic at hand. 

You were sitting on your chair with your legs dangling off the arm rest and scrolling through twitter when your friend unceremoniously slams open the sliding glass door and holler about his brilliant idea. San was lying on the rug watching ants march by a cookie crumb and Yeosang was messing around with Hongjoong’s keyboard. Seonghwa was back inside looking for some snacks to share and everyone else was on their way to the pool house.

“What is it, Yun?” You turn to the man and place your phone down onto your chest.

“At least someone cares.” The tall blonde trudges to your side and plops down on the ground beside you. You watch as he shuffles around to get his bum comfortable on the concrete before he shows you his phone screen. Once he’s comfy enough, he leans his chin onto your tummy and starts talking about this one tiktok he saw. 

“So I was scrolling through tiktok and there’s this one that has like thirty million views.” 

San crawls up from his previous spot before kneeling beside your pink chair. His eyes are trained onto the people on the screen as he scurrys closer and leans his chin onto your shoulder. The newest addition to the scene connects eyes for a split second with the man on your stomach before he hums when the video replays again and it vibrates on your shoulder. But you’re not concerned, because your attention was on something else. Rather, someone else.

Yeosang stayed where he was, fingers mindlessly pressing key after key on Hongjoong’s keyboard while his other hand scrolled through his own tiktok. Is he not interested in what Yunho’s showing? Why isn’t he coming closer, you pout inwardly. 

Listen. If you were in his situation and you heard people gasping, you’d have ran all the way to see what was going on. This is not to say that you want Yeosang to come running towards you at any chance he gets, it’s just… Okay you do want him to run towards you whenever the opportunity’s there.

But can you be blamed for having a simple crush on your friend? He is exceptionally beautiful, of course all your friends are beautiful but you just think he has that edge that puts him above everyone else (but don’t tell Wooyoung or else he’ll flip). His large russet irises that just glitter in the sunlight like cold brew on a sunny afternoon. His high cheekbones and the rich red birthmark that sits at his temple. And his voice! So deep with a timber that makes your heart rattle in your chest. Everything about him just had you captured.

“Keep the pda to a minimum please, we have a minor.”

Hongjoong scolds from the doorway, throwing a glance at the other side of the room where Yeosang sat all alone with his equipment. He stands proud on his feet with pottery clay stained sleeves and mismatched socks. No one really knows what Hongjoong does in his free time, but he always turns up with skin tainted in whatever and oftentimes a new hair colour. Behind him stood your other two friends, one bearing a scowl and the other freely giggling at Hongjoong’s words. 

“I’m literally twenty one.” Jongho grumbles, unbuttoning the first couple of buttons of his tan cafe uniform dress shirt. 

“I’m talking about Mingi.” Hongjoong directs a nod at the taller of the three who then yelps out a ‘hey!’.

You and your friends had this little inside joke that Mingi was actually five years old mentally. Not in the sense that he’s dumb (he’s actually the opposite), but rather because of his cute and clumsy nature. For a man of his height, you wouldn’t expect him to be the type of person who makes hand hearts in every photo and calls the colour pink ‘heart coloured’. 

Moving forward, it’s not like skinship wasn’t a norm with your little gang of misfits, it was. Especially with the more cuddlier guys of the bunch, like Yunho and San. So, seeing them getting all cozied up with anyone isn’t all that surprising. 

“Where’s Wooyoung?” You ask, genuinely curious of where the loud one was.

“He went to bother Seonghwa. Probably making those crappy western sandwiches with ham and potato chips.” Mingi responded, making his way to you and peeking at the screen in Yunho’s hand.

“That looks fun.”

-

“Wait, so how does this go again?” Jongho asks, sitting on the ground beside the tray of snacks Seonghwa had prepared. Wooyoung had sneaked in three of those crappy sandwiches that Mingi mentioned onto the tray, and they were all eaten by him too. The rest of you settled on the bowl of salted pretzels and kettle chips.

Yunho downs his can of beer before tossing it to the side (much to Seonghwa’s dismay) and beginning to explain again. He believes this is his eighty-eighth time explaining to the group because none of them are ever listening at the same time!

“So we all put our phones down in the middle and make sure they’re locked.” Yunho demonstrates by placing his phone on the floor with the screen pitch black and reflecting his face. 

“And then we wait for one of them to light up. The person who owns that phone will then have to call their crush!”

Now everyone’s listening. Especially you, reclined on your chair and suddenly sweating. You can feel your fingers start to tremble and your heart beat quicker. Your eyes flicker to Hongjoong who gives you a wicked smile.

Hongjoong’s the only person who’s known about your… affectionate feelings for Yeosang. It’s rather an embarrassing story to recall. You were scrolling through your guys’ group chat and skimming across the recently sent pictures. You guys had just gone on a little beach trip in the middle of summer, yes how anime plot cliche of you, but who’s to judge? Anyway, you had stopped on a particular picture because it had caught your eye.

The sky was a rich blue and thin clouds had been strung out  across it. The horizon sits beautifully between it and the clear blue sea that calmly breaches onto the hot sand. But who cares for that view when you have the perfect view of Kang Yeosang clad in only his swimming shorts, sitting on a beach towel with his hands planted behind him to lean his head back. His hair was dripping with the salty sea water that trickled down onto his skin and pooling in his deep collarbones. 

You couldn’t stop staring. Not with the way his eyes had been shut and his lips hung open in a deep exhale. You were– as what the young ones say these days, quite gagged. The sight of his smooth skin with a light sheen of the sea and the sand that stuck onto his muscular thighs. Oh the things that ran through your mind… 

You wouldn’t have stopped staring if it wasn’t for Hongjoong walking up from behind you and gawking at the picture opened on your screen. In full brightness. Zoomed in on Yeosang himself. 

What’s worse than that was the way he reacted, but that’s a story for another day.

“I’m in!” San happily announces after Yunho explains, immediately fishing his phone out and placing it beside Yunho’s.

And soon, everyone had their phones out and ready to participate. Even you, although it does feel like you’re shitting your heart out of your ass. But what are the chances right? There are nine of you and there’s absolutely no way that your phone out of the nine lights up first. You had about an eleven point eleven percent possibility, so it couldn’t be you.

Yet, why were you so jittery? You know that your chances are low but why do you still feel like running out and diving to the pool by reason of insanity?  God, what’s up with you right now?

“We have to film this.” Wooyoung interjects before the game starts.

Everyone now had their phones laying in a circle right beside the litre of sprite. And honestly, you were kind of anxious, seeing that your phone was the closest to the bottle and might possibly get wet from the perspiration that’s dripping down the green plastic. You had literally gotten that five months ago, had to bust your ass sitting dogs and begging on your knees in front of your parents…

“Idiot how are we gonna film if all our phones will be in the pile?” San delivers a soft smack to the back of the shorter’s head. And now that you think about it, Choi San has been quite violent today. Throwing stuff at people and smacking heads.

“Seonghwa has two phones.” 

You hear Hongjoong call out from opposite of you. His voice was rather bitter, understandable. He, of course, has to live with his crappy little iPhone 6s plus until next month when he’s eligible for a new one from his plan (don’t ask why he hasn’t upgraded in the last– something, years). And his dear best friend Seonghwa is here with two of the latest iPhones tucked into each of his back pockets. But it all comes from a place of banter, though. You know how Hongjoong and Seonghwa’s dynamic is. 

“I’ll get the tripod!” Jongho immediately jumps onto his feet and runs to Wooyoung’s little nook. The latter then complains at how Jongho teasingly scatters his stuff in search of the tripod that’s ‘literally right there!’

When everything’s all set up, everyone huddled on the floor, Seonghwa’s turquoise iPhone perched by the sliding doors, and phones readily on hand, Yunho begins his countdown.

“Okay guys, so we all know what to do, right?” 

A chorus of ‘yes’ erupts from the team and a quiet ‘get on with it!’ sounds from Yeosang, who Yunho throws a pouty glare at.

“On the count of three, we’re all gonna lock our phones and then put them in the middle.”

One.

You have your phone in your hand and your fingers are trembling. You’re honestly so nervous because, fuck. The chances of you being the one chosen is high. Who in the world thinks that one in nine is a low possibility? Definitely not you! That eleven percent was one above ten percent. And in a situation like this? You think that a ten percent chance is still ten too many! 

Two.

You think about backing out, again. Maybe you should smash your phone on the ground and go oops! No… Maybe you could pretend faint and fall face first into the bowl of pretzels. Yes! That sounds– fucking stupid. Come on brain! You yell inside your mind, Think! Think! Think!

Three!

Too late. Everyone’s now clicking their phones shut and you’re left no choice but to follow from the peer pressure. And soon everyone’s phones are back on the ground again. This time, you’re not that worried about the damn puddle of water on the fucking gray concrete. All your mind is racing about is the fact that your life is on the line (okay dramatic much?). 

Your heart is pounding in your ears, and it’s all you can hear. Granted, everybody in the room had shut up in anticipation, but it just made the beating of your heart even louder. Your palms are growing clammy and you can feel beads of sweat forming on your hairline. It feels like millions of years have passed by now, but anyone can tell you otherwise. In fact, it hasn't even been five seconds since your phones were tossed into the ring.

With everyone’s eyes glued onto their own phones, you all waited. For whichever iPhone lights up first. The screens lined up together to perfectly mirror the way the pool water reflects the sunlight into the room. You try to distract yourself with the refracted light that dances on the ceiling, enjoying how they wiggle and float as a result of the pool right outside. It’s crazy how science works. But that distraction barely even lasts a moment before your eyes flicker onto a pair already staring at you. And as you stare into Hongjoong’s dark irises, you’re reminded of the fact that you’re waiting. For one phone to ping with a notification. Waiting. 

Waiting. 

Waiting.

Ping!

There it is. Finally you’re put out of your misery! Your eyes, along with everybody else's, fall onto the glowing screen. And you see the face of Suna Rintarou, Inarizaki High School’s Volleyball Team’s six foot one middle blocker. The same exact picture you have on your lockscreen. A text notification floats into view and it reads:

“Happy Birthday! This is Doja Cat, meow~. I am sending this message from my private number…”

That’s crazy, you think, who gets scam texts from Doja Cat? Haha… Oh.

Panic surges through your veins as it now registers that it was your phone that pinged. It was you who got the Doja Cat scam text. (It’s not even your birthday! Who sends this kind of stuff and how did they get your number?! What?) … And it’s you who has to call your crush right now.

At this point your heart has probably fallen out of your asshole, maybe even crashed through the crust of the earth. You can’t believe that this is happening to you right now. You had only a little over ten percent of a chance on your side yet the universe still pointed its grubby wrinkled finger at you. You’re convinced that you’re the main character of some stupid early afternoon sitcom titled ‘What are the odds?’ or something… Fuck, with a capital ‘F’!

Right after your phone had pinged on, Hongjoong’s crappy banged up iphone six followed suit with a notification from instagram. But it’s too late. Whoever just liked his post was twenty-three seconds too late. You were the chosen one.

The two of you make eye contact once more and his eyes now glitter with mischief. Not only was he saved by the grace of god, but he gets to watch you crumble into dust and debris like the ruins of Parthenon, again! Oh what a splendid day it was to be Hongjoong. What makes this situation even more satisfying (for Hongjoong and not you, oh dear god, especially not you) is what happened a couple days back. And the male who sits across from you can’t help but smile.

For context, it was a lovely Wednesday afternoon. You were lying on Hongjoong’s kitchen counter whining and moping about being single, as per usual. And your friend sits on the newspaper covered floor, painting his cabinets blue. Not even the usual calming sky blue that shows up naturally, no; he is painting his kitchen cabinets an awful shade of neon blue. One that blinds you and leaves a lasting orange mark behind your eyelids when you close your eyes.

“Is this about Yeosang, again?” He had asked you without even looking away from his brush strokes.

You felt your face heat up at the mention of him. You turned your head to look at the man with a pout, which he doesn’t even notice. Again, all his attention is on keeping paint from his precious bronze hinges.

“Maybe…” You responded after a few moments of silence. “And why aren’t you using a big brush like any normal person?”

Hongjoong murmured something along the lines of ‘mind your business’ and then told you to carry on your rambling. So you do. 

“I don’t know! It’s just that… I’ve been silent about my feelings for so long and this is my first time talking about them to anyone, so I’m dumping out a lot of emotions here.”

“Aren’t you glad I found out, then?”

“Fuck you.” You scowled at Hongjoong’s teasing tone pertaining to how he found out. You hate him.

“Like there’s something about him that’s just so charming!” You continued when he gave you no response. “When I first met him he was shy and quiet and so it was like whiplash because his best friend is apparently Wooyoung? I can’t be the only one who was surprised at that. But then… then he started opening up to us and then my perception of him just tumbled from there…”

Hongjoong placed his paintbrush on the floor, soaking the newspaper in blue paint and his focus had moved onto you. The way you talked so nonchalantly, like your feelings for Yeosang were something so familiar to you. The way you absentmindedly wiggled your fingers every time you giggle at a memory of a certain blonde. It was so obvious that your feelings for the man were much stronger than what Hongjoong first sought it out to be.

“He’s just so funny in his own little way. He doesn’t even have to try! Like that one time he was frying an egg and he tried to flip it but then–” You bursted out laughing at the memory. Hongjoong remembered too, the clueless expression Yeosang had after dropping the sunny side up egg on the ground was just hilarious. 

“I don’t know why I like him so much. We’re not the closest of the group– I don’t think I’ve even spent an hour just him and me alone! So it doesn’t make sense to me how I started liking him. I don’t know anything about him that you don’t, and vice versa. It just happened suddenly and now I have uncontrollable feelings for my friend. It’s like fucking cupid just punched me in the gut and went ‘hehe you have feelings now’!”

By now you had your face down on the countertop, muffling your cries onto the cold surface.

“And it’s so frustrating because he has the qualities to be the perfect crush! He’s handsome, funny and kind, but I know that’s not why I like him. Maybe it adds up to why, but it’s not entirely true. I think it’s because he has this aura around him that just had me hooked. It’s like his own angel halo, he’s just so– so… benign!”

“Benign?” Hongjoong finally spoke, he has never met anyone use the word ‘benign’ to describe anyone. Especially you! He did not expect you to pull out uncommon words for this. No hate, he loves you kiss kiss, but you’re the type of person to slap someone in the face and call it flirting. Describing someone as benign was not up your alley. 

“Why don’t you just ask him out then?” He asked you the most obvious question ever.

“What if he rejects me?” And you responded with the most obvious answer ever. 

“You’ll never know unless you shoot your shot.” Hongjoong picked up his paintbrush and went back to painting his cabinets such an atrocious colour. 

You gave him a cocky laugh in response. Pfft– confess? You? It was like telling an elephant to bungee jump, that’ll never happen! 

“But! If I don’t shoot, then I’ll never miss.”

Were your infamous last words, Hongjoong remembers so well. So maybe that’s what makes this entire thing so interesting.

Hongjoong watches you with hawk-like eyes, reading your heart off from your sleeves. Your eyes meet for a quick second before your eyes flit back onto the phone in front of you. The room erupts in hollers and hoots and Hongjoong can’t help but let his eyes drift off to the male who sat two persons to his left. 

Yeosang’s face was undecipherable, that’s all one could say. His eyebrows were raised in the slightest bit as a sign of intrigue. The corners of his lips were neither turned up nor down; they were just neutral. The only telltale sign of interest he’s showing is the upturn of his head as he tries to get a better look at your glowing phone screen. But other than that, you might say he looks indifferent.

But that’s not what Hongjoong sees. Oh no, the older male has his eyes on Yeosang’s closed fists. Watching as they ever so slightly clench when you shakily reach for the gadget. And Hongjoong’s mind is set. He knows now. 

“This is rigged!” You cry with your phone heavy in your hands.

“How?!” Wooyoung screeches from beside you. 

“You rigged it!” You point an accusatory finger at Yunho who flinches and gives you his sweetest most clueless puppy dog eyes. That devil.

“You came here with this idea! This was planned from the start! I am a victim!” You cry, voice getting more deranged as each word flies past your lips. 

And it’s funny, yes, everyone’s glad it’s getting captured by Seonghwa’s phone. But what will be even more fun is when you actually get to the fucking plot of this and call your crush!

“Just call whoever you have to call, y/n!” Jongho says firmly after his own laughing fit. Scary how strict the younger generation is nowadays.

“Do I have to?” You resort to pleading. “Can’t we just go again?” 

They all give you one final stern glare before you finally give up and unlock your phone. With each tap you do, your breathing gets even more shallow. Oh it’s bad for you.

Everyone has their eyes on you, some curious, some teasing, and you just want to die. Dig a hole and die. Eat concrete and die. Roll in barbed wire and die. Anything! Literally anything would be better than you embarrassing yourself. 

So you find the contact and press call. A ring comes from your speakers and it goes silent for a moment. Everybody is on their toes, giggling to themselves and feeling giddy over something that doesn’t even involve them. But can you blame them? They’re all so nosy and always want to be in each others’ business.

The next ring that blares into the room comes from the circle of phones on the floor. A light blue iphone vibrates and flashes, catching everyone’s attention. You’ve pressed your face into your palms, refusing to look at anyone as embarrassment spreads like wildfire on your skin. Just like before, the room has fallen silent again, minus the constant ringing of the still unanswered call. 

Yeosang stares, mouth agape and eyes wide. That’s his phone. There’s no mistaking it. And only he has his notifications set to LED flash which he first did because it annoys Wooyoung. He doesn’t exactly need it, per se, but at this point he’s had his phone set to LED flash for years now that he’d feel empty without it. Back to the scene at hand, Yeosang’s still staring at the call screen.

Everyone was at a loss for words. For multiple reasons, the first one being you having a crush on Yeosang. Wooyoung, at first was about to wail about you not choosing him instead, because obviously he is the better choice (his words). But that soon went over his shoulder when he glanced at the phone on the floor. The second, and more appalling reason to everyone’s disbelief, is that the object of your desires does not even have your number saved. 

“You don’t even have her number saved?!” Wooyoung suddenly breaks the silence and it makes you snap your head up. 

What…? You’re taking blow after blow today, a match with Manny Pacquiao would have had less punches to the gut. Triple Whammy! Or whatever you call it.

“Wow… You’re really…” San speaks up from beside you. “Really, you’re something else.”

The phones finally stop ringing and you hear an automated voice come from your end of the call. You could hardly look in Yeosang’s direction right now, because, face it, him not saving your number? That’s a large blaring neon sign of unrequited affection. And you’re too wrapped up in your own emotions, still frozen in shock, that you don’t notice Yeosang frantically shaking his head and hurriedly blurting out about how it’s a misunderstanding.

“It’s not just, y/n! I don’t have anyone’s numbers saved…” And his voice trails off when realizes that he just made things worse. That does not sound reassuring at all.

“Bro?!” Wooyoung snatches Yeosang’s phone from the floor and holds it up briefly to his best friend’s face to unlock it. The dark haired male finds his contacts list and it’s true. So far all he can see saved are his family’s numbers. Heartbreaking really, because after all they’ve been through?

“Eight years! We’ve known each other for eight years, Yeosang. And you don’t have my number saved?!” Wooyoung’s hysterical, which is somewhat funny. He’s an inch away from mauling his best friend like a bear and Yunho’s tasked with holding him back by the collar considering he’s sat beside the feral man. 

But there’s nothing for you to smile about, it seems like the group had momentarily forgotten about what happened a mere minute earlier. Which, thank god, you don’t want to dwell on that forever. But you are craving a little bit of attention right now, preferably from someone who’ll comfort you or some shit. You don’t know! It’s confusing.

Seonghwa notices the way your fingers pick and pull at the strings of your distressed jeans and he decides he should at least get you out of the room. He spots the empty bowl of pretzels and uses this as an excuse.

“I’m gonna go get more pretzels. Wanna come, y/n?”

You jolt at the mention of your name and you look up to see Seonghwa holding a hand out to you. Which, after you catch on to what his intentions are, you gratefully accept. Now on your feet, you grab the empty bowl and throw a quick smile at the squabbling group of idiots before making your way out. Missing the way a pair of panicked eyes trail after your figure. 

Once in the kitchen, you sigh and plant your hands on the pristine countertops. Actually, last time you were here, Seonghwa’s countertops were steel gray granite. How come the slab in front of you was now a snowy marble. When did his mom even renovate the kitchen?

“Hey, Hwa.” You start when you hear footsteps join you in the kitchen. “When did you get your countertops changed…”

Yeosang is who greeted you when you turned your head. Not Seonghwa.

And then everything’s quiet. Where was Seonghwa? You have no idea. Was he the one who set this up? You’re not sure, but you think so. Will you absolutely abolish him when you get him? Absolutely. 

You don’t know how long you both stand there stupidly staring at each other, but you assume it’s a really long time. You counted about seven bird chirps from outside and approximately three cars had honked as they passed by the road. You think you can see the sunlight moving, or maybe you’ve absolutely lost it. Matter of fact! Maybe that’s not even Yeosang in front of you. Maybe that’s just another one of your crazy hallucinations, that sounds about right. Real. 

Yes, there is no Yeosang in the room.

“So…” 

It talks?! 

The man in front of you starts and you’re startled out of your thoughts. Oh sweet cheese… That’s the real thing. That’s the real human Yeosang… oh great heavens…

“Uhm…” He scratches the back of his neck and sucks a breath through his teeth.

That is a telltale sign of discomfort, you conclude, the psychology major part in your brain puts on her lab coat and pushes up her jacket. Hand on the back of the neck? Head tilted? Avoiding eye contact? Yep, he absolutely despises you. He wants to grab you by the ankles and throw you onto Seonghwa’s incredibly large front lawn like a shot put. Miss Trunchbull style.

Only, you’re studying architecture. 

“This is awkward.” Yeosang speaks again.

“I’ll get the pretzels.” You turn your back and try to find a bag of pretzels, when you know that they’re in the pantry. And the pantry is right behind Yeosang so that means that to get to the pantry you’d have to walk past Yeosang. And you’d rather not get within shot put throwing distance of Yeosang right now! Maybe, you can take an alternate route over the kitchen island and then take the stairs up to the balcony and then jump off into the pool and then walk back in to grab the pretzels. 

Yes. Wonderful.

But, right when you’re about to jump over the marble, Yeosang’s voice pierces through the room.

“We should go get coffee sometime.”

And now you’re rooted in your spot. Because did Yeosang just ask you out or did you just bang your head on the counter in an attempt to run away? 

“I mean like… If you want to!” Panic rises in Yeosang’s eyes because, from his perspective, you’ve been silent this whole time. You even tried to avoid the topic entirely. But, I guess he wouldn’t blame you after the whole thing in the pool house. 

He’s been freaking out since the phone call. First of all, he fully expected San’s or Yunho’s phones to ring because you’re always cuddling with them. Maybe even Hongjoong, you go over to his place often and have a lot of inside jokes and secrets with each other. Who’s to say that you two weren’t secretly harbouring feelings for each other. But, that’s not to say he’s unhappy that you called him. He was just pleasantly surprised. 

He’s not complaining, he thinks you’re cute and he loves your personality. If anything, he’d love to get to know you more, maybe spend some time away from the hooligans you call friends. They always did hog you whenever you hung out. Never gave him the chance to talk with you one on one. Maybe this is his chance?

So, when Seonghwa offered to pull you out of the scene, he decided to take his place. A quick ‘I’ll go’ whispered as he passed by the older male. His palms were leaking by the time he got in the kitchen, standing nervously and bashfully scratching his neck. He genuinely didn’t know what to say. Where should he even start? 

So when he blurts out an invitation to go out, he feels his heart fall into the depths of the abyss. He didn’t mean to say that! He should have de-escalated the situation first, fuck! Now you’re standing there in the kitchen looking at him like he was stupid. He is.

“If you don’t want to then it’s okay.” 

And you just stand there staring, for another good three minutes. 

“Sure.” You finally whisper, eyes wide and dumbfounded, but Yeosang heard it. And it made his heart swell. Sure.

If idiot in love was the phrase, you were the picture.

note: not proofread and it's kinda rushed. ive had this prompt im my drafts for about a year now and i just wanted to let it out.

[ahaura]

(Dec. 8) by Mahmoud Alyazji

Article title:

Refaat Alareer taught life

Article text:

The inspiring writer and educator Refaat Alareer has been assassinated by Israel. (Via Instagram) 

I remember how Dr. Refaat Alareer entered the classroom.

He immediately put a few books on the desk. They included Gaza Writes Back – a collection he had edited – and Rifqa by Mohammed El-Kurd.

Dr. Refaat always carried them around. They were a part of his identity, as a reader, writer and storyteller.

He introduced himself, said a few things and told a few jokes. He listened to what we had to say, then took Gaza Writes Back in his hands and started to read aloud.

His face lit up; his eyes opened wide.

He really captured the essence of “Omar X,” a story by Yousef Aljamal.

Dr. Refaat told us that he recently bought a car. The worst part about doing so was that he couldn’t listen to the stories of taxi drivers in Gaza any more.

“I could spend hours just looking at beautiful sentence structures or reading stories,” he said, smiling.

Another favorite hobby of his was making memes. He encouraged us to be similarly creative.

My first impression of Dr. Refaat was that he was different in a good way. His enthusiasm was real.

I had never been able to concentrate properly during a three-hour lecture until I attended one of his.

He taught me creative writing.

He taught me poetry.

He taught me Shakespeare.

He had a profound connection with modern plays and poems and taught them in a funny and interactive way.

Encouragement

When I remember Dr. Refaat Alareer, I don’t just remember him as someone who worked at the university. He was someone who taught life.

He was my friend. Someone I looked up to – like a father.

Even in the darkest of times, he would check on me and other students. He told us that if we needed anything, please let him know.

The last time he texted me via WhatsApp was on 27 November.

He reproached me for not publishing anything since the beginning of Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza. And he encouraged me to write.

On 3 December, The Electronic Intifada published an article I wrote titled “World shrinks for Gaza’s children.” I sent Dr. Refaat a link to it but I wasn’t sure if he saw my message.

I have subsequently learned, though, that he reposted a link to the article on Twitter. When I saw that, I couldn’t help but cry.

You believed in me, Dr. Refaat.

You believed in the strength of words.

You told us, “If I must die, you must live to tell my story.”

You always gave me confidence and strength.

I was over the moon when you asked me to deliver a class when you were sick.

I remember when you edited my first story and said, “I see a writer in you.”

You always paid attention to the details.

You shared my first published story on a WhatsApp group before I had even told you it was published. “Good job, Mahmoud,” you said.

You made me a writer.

You were the best teacher I ever had.

I will always be proud to have been one of your students.

I miss your lectures.

I miss the comments you wrote on the right hand margins of our papers.

My eyes filled with tears while I was writing these words. But I wiped them away and continued writing.

You are not dead, Dr. Refaat.

I promise that I will always write.

I will fight with my pencil and my poems.

I will never forget how much you brought to my life.

You will always be my inspiration.

[nekoannie-chan]

Just throw it

Title: Just throw it.

Fandom: Marvel, Captain America.

Pairing: Brock Rumlow X Double Agent!Reader.

Rating: Teen.

Word count: 430 words.

Warnings: Conspiracy, mission failed.

Summary: Brock hates Steve.

A/N: This is my entry to @multifandom-flash, Annie-3002 & square 1:

"Take this job and shove it."

You can read it on Wattpad and Ao3 too.

@saiyanprincessswanie

My native language is Spanish so I wanna improve my writing skills in English if you notice any mistakes, please let me know and I will correct them.

I don’t give any kind of permission that my fics to be posted on other platforms or languages (I translate myself my work) or the use of my graphics (my dividers are included in this), I did them exclusively for my fics, please respect my work and don't steal it. There are some people here who make dividers that anyone can use, mine is not this type, please look for the other's people. The only exception is the ones I gifted 'cuz now belong to someone else. If you find any of my works on a different platform and are not one of my accounts, please let me know. Reblogs and comments are always welcome.

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Marvel's characters (unfortunately), except for the original characters and the story.

Add yourself to my taglist here.

My other media where I publish:  Ao3, Wattpad, ffnet, TikTok, Instagram, Twitter. 

If you like it, please vote, comment, and give me feedback to improve my skills and reblog.

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You and Brock Rumlow were having a quiet dinner in his apartment, although Brock's face reflected the opposite. You knew what was making Brock so grumpy, someone who had come to ruin all the plans and organization they already had in the team.

“What's wrong, Brock? You can't go on like this. The tension with Steve Rogers is affecting your mood. "

Brock sighed and dropped his fork on his plate.

“It's a drag working with him, always trying to be the hero. I can't stand his morality and the way he runs missions. It's driving me crazy," his voice betrayed obvious annoyance.

You smiled and patted his hand.

“What if I told you that I have a plan to fix everything and maybe things will go back to the way they were? "

Brock's gaze lit up at your words, he picked up his fork again and fixed his eyes on you.

“Really? Tell me more. "

You shared your idea, it seemed too perfect a plan, coldly calculated. Brock was reluctant at first, but you managed to convince him when you saw that you had thought through all the details and possible scenarios.

The following week, during the mission, you and Brock executed your plan meticulously. You manipulated information, sabotaged some devices and created situations that would lead Steve to make wrong decisions. The result was as expected, a totally chaotic scenario, but not so disastrous as to cause irreversible damage.

Back at the base, you and Brock watched from a distance as Steve dealt with the consequences of the failed mission. Neither of you could help but smile.

“I can't believe it worked out so well - that guy deserves it! “You said, Brock kissed your cheek quickly.

After a few hours, everyone was in the gym waiting for Steve with new instructions, although you and Brock had heard everything, the gym was full of murmurs and signs of tension between the team members. You and Brock were enjoying the chaos, sharing laughs and jokes about how Steve was dealing with the repercussions of the failed mission along with Jack.

“I don't think we'll ever see him run a mission the same way," you commented,

“That man needed a lesson. Now maybe he'll learn to stay out of our way. "

“Steve Rogers was not in tune with the way we work. Now, we can go back to doing things our way. "

Although when Steve came to the gym everyone shut up, some even began to ignore him, things would probably be as they were before.

[anonymous-dentist]

Yeah, I just have a hard time passing this off as ‘just a joke’ because… what’s the punchline? A former Trump supporter and his friend brought a 2024 Trump flag to be seen by thousands as a Christmas joke? Twitter is being ‘triggered’ again?

Dream has a history of picking the most immature option. He’s accused of grooming, and he decides to post ‘joking’ Tiktoks of doing things in the bathroom of his best friend’s little sister. He’s accused of cheating, he hires a fucking astrophysicist and refuses to take accountability. Someone says something mean about him, he responds publicly knowing that his fanbase is extremely loyal and willing to harass the person into deactivating.

Dream, at the very least, is an immature asshole. I think it’s real telling that not a single one of his peers publicly defended him or his character during the grooming allegations, especially considering BBH, when also accused of grooming, had several other peers come to defend his character. Sorry, I just get so frustrated thinking about Dream. How hard is it to not be an asshole? How hard is it to do some self-reflection?

I’m not gonna be someone who posts exclusively about how much Dream sucks because it’s pretty much common knowledge that he’s extremely immature at best and a literal criminal at worst.

But the thing with Dream and his current fanbase is that they’re effectively bully-proof. After years of having the entire internet set against them, they’ve developed this sort of mentality where they can’t be bullied. And I’m not saying that us bringing these points up is bullying, I’m saying that- to these people and to Dream himself- it is bullying.

All the things you mentioned have been brought up by people outside the community- by so-called antis. To Dream fans, these allegations have always been baseless. It’s just bullying. To an extent they’re right (the aftermath of the face reveal video, for one), but also? They aren’t! Nobody is immune to criticism. Is it bad to bring up things from ten years ago just to make someone look bad now? Yes, and cancel culture is a disease. But Dream is not immune to criticism just because he pretends that he cares about his community. He doesn’t even care about his job considering he hasn’t done it since the last time he was in MCC back in the summer.

The parasocialism involved in Dream’s fanbase is terrifying to see as an outsider. It’s even a little disturbing to see literal children defending someone accused of grooming because they see him as someone they actually know. And this was encouraged by Dream, as anyone who has seen his twitter literally ever knows. And his Snapchat.

Today on tiktok literally an hour after I posted my thing on the flag ordeal, I saw a video saying that giving a British man a Trump flag was a joke. It’s a gag. Twitter is too parasocial. It was just a joke.

Big surprise, just glancing at the profile showed the user was white and a minor. For that reason, I will not be revealing their identity (because, unlike some people, I don’t encourage the bullying and doxxing of minors.) But then most of the comments agreeing with them were also white and also minors. Many were queer, though not all.

It’s a worrying trend! I’m not a fan of it.

[greyfacade]

Ask game questions! 5, 7, 8, and 23 for spamton bc I'm legally obligated to ask about him. You don't have to do all of them tho if you don't want!

5. What's the first song that comes to mind when you think about them?

I'm Gonna Win - Rob Cantor

First song I thought of, though I'm sure there are other more suitable songs I could come up with. But honestly, due to my illness I don't get to listen to music often. I'm sensitive to sound.

7. What's something the fandom does when it comes to this character that you like?

There's been some really nice fanart, and I love the fake ad ones people make, and the pinups. I love buying merch from people.

Its also nice when people treat their plushes nicely, or actually see him as more than just the "funny salesman." Don't get me wrong, Spamton's is an awesome a salesman and all, but that's not all he is.

Oh, my fave part though, is how everyone celebrates his fan birthday. Thats super sweet. I love seeing people make fanart for that.

23. Favorite picture of this character?

Hm.. there's lot of great fanart of him, and you can see what I post already.

But I guess his shop sprite. It's fun to talk to him.

I do wonder what he would be like in person though.

8. What's something the fandom does when it comes to this character that you despise?

Haha... heh.... well, this will get long... (Sorry.)

Mostly just the fact that the fandom is made up of a LOT of hateful people, who hatepost about Spamton because he's "popular," or because their fans of Swatch/Queen/Addisons and are in denial about what those guys did to him so they try to pin it on Spamton by saying "he deserved it" or saying it never happened.

Which is REALLY ironic in a way. But wait, we got more!

(_WARNING: RANT INCOMING!_ You dont have to read this.)

Many people can't get past the "funny salesman" trope. They think the salesman pitch Spamton puts on is literally all he is, that he really is this guy who is silly, obsessed with money, and batshit crazy. Does no one know how entertainment works!? Has no one ever followed a YouTuber or Twitch streamer, or gone to the circus or seen a live show? That how people act in front of a camera, isnt how they act all the time!? Spamton doesn't actually care about money, he said it himself; he does all he does because he's an entertainer trying to survive! The Spamton Sweepstakes, the Fangamer ads, the Twitter replies... while they contain truths and genuine things about him, for much of it, he's playing everyone like fiddles! He's saying whatever the hell he can to make you buy his shit, because funny thing, its his job! And the things is, it WORKS. Everyone totally buys in to it! But while I'm sure he does find joy in what he does, it can also be kind of painful that everyone actually thinks that's all he is in a way... they infantilize him, they treat him like he's crazy/stupid, they stereotype him, they make fun of him, they talk about wanting to hurt him... and they think its okay, because "he's in on the joke." Yeah? You really think anyone would find joy in seeing you make art of them getting abused/hurt/killed? REALLY? Ever thought that maybe... its not actually okay....

I guess I feel bothered by it. Sure Spamton chooses to play up all the stereotypes about him so that people will buy his stuff, and its cool that he can still joke about things like that. But... I wish people saw more of the real him sometimes, and realized he deserves kindness and respect like anyone else.

But I think Spamton is a good example of how people go too far, how they'll greedily take everything from someone, even their dignity, if it means feeding their own happiness. How they can't separate entertainment from reality (... yeah yeah, some irony there as I'm talking about a fictional character...)

In a way, the Spamton fandom, often represents to me, much of the things I hate about the entertainment industry, hell even fandom. I'm glad people love him and buy his stuff, but I also wish they liked him for kinder reasons. I hope that if he continues to be in entertainment, he gets to make something he loves, that allows him to be who he wants to be. Because like many of us, he sometimes gets trapped in a role, determined by other people. And while some of it is true, like he is funny and has a dark sense of humor, and I'm sure he does enjoy many of the things he does... but some of it, I think is sort of forced on him. It's like if you don't act the way everyone wants, they'll get angry or abandon you. And that, thats awful.

(And Im not saying don't enjoy his salesman persona, just that, I wish people saw the rest of him too. Because he's a kind, caring and brave guy, and I really wish him the best ya know?)

.... of course, I admit this might be some of my own self-projection too, but lets not unpack THAT.

...

......

You made it this far, wow... uh... *gives you a gold star saying "I just wasted several minutes of my life to an insane fan rant." except all the words don't fit on the star, so it just says "I just wasted."*

... *runs away while you ponder the star*

[sanguinechaos]

cant believe i was so fucking delusional about Flamebringer and Enforcer interacting in some way that it came into existence

actually can we talk about that

listen i already Hortus de Escapismo would be a treat because its a Laterano related event and it involves my wife. actually he got an alter even i knew it i KNEW IT I WAS AN EXALTER TRUTHER AS SOON AS I SAW THAT BOUJEE WINCHESTER 1887 MY FUCKING WIFE IS HOME MY WIFE

and then they dropped the operator records for the Notarial Hall trio and for anyone who has not read those yet tl;dr from somewhat dubiously google translated chinese text:

in Insiders oprecs theres almost an all out brawl over a family heirloom donut recipe. its so funny to me that we all made fun of him cause his halo looked like a donut and he really is Donut Man™

actually his personal donut recipe is so sweet and greasy that the doctor nearly chokes to death on it. im pretty sure if you eat it you can physically feel your arteries popping shut

apparently he likes sweets so much because when they picked him off the streets in some small town bordering siracusa and brought him to laterano they gave him some candy and it just left such an impact on him

do all of you have dead parents is that like a requirement

he has donut pajamas

Executor oprec is kinda cute honestly. this guy is autistic. he has joined the war on autism on the side of the autism. anyway what we learned is that apparently his lack of empathy (as in the sanktas 6th sense) is something hes had from birth and not in fact due to his job as an executor

and also he has always had a black halo and wings. according to the manhua they also dropped his entire extended family has black halo/wings it has absolutely fuck all to do with him being willing to kill sankta if his job necessitates it its just genetic

he doesnt actually have that much of a problem recognizing what people are feeling, its more that he has trouble piecing together cause and effect or what those emotions mean to people. and his parents (before their tragic demise) taught him to like draw shapes on paper matching different emotions to parse it? cute

anyway the other executor that was on a mission with him when he was still a rookie bites the dust and Executor takes it so so so seriously and fucking tries to eat 100 scoops of ice cream because his senpai made a joke and he was just like "okay so that can count as a last will and testament i guess" like babe. babe. he applied for executive gelato funding

and they leave us hanging but i genuinely wonder how many he managed to eat before he probably vomited and couldnt see gelato for the next 3 months

Federico Giallo? no. Federico Gelato

also hes only around ~25 as of Exalter

Enforcer goes around asking various sarkaz about Kazdel cause obviously hes intending to go look for Cecelias dad with her

actual live reaction as soon as i saw 炎客 BEYONCE?! FLAMEBRINGER?!

Flamebringer is a wanted criminal the Notarial Hall has his mugshot on the office notice board (which tells me that there is NO WAY that Executor doesnt KNOW him or about him please i am so delulu rn Lowlight i fucking beg you let them interact kiss. violently suck face, even. "Dino wasnt this a 炎见 post?" if you were paying attention to my Twitter youd know i really like 葬炎见 in that exact order but ill take any combination of just two of them) and also he absolutely does not give a shit he just keeps watering the plants while Enfocer talks at him

Enforcer gets slammed against a wall and maybe choked a little unbelievable and Flamebringer is like "go bug someone else, blood is not for watering flowers" like oof ouch the edge on this guy

Mudmud helps Enfocer in the end tho :)

also he might be like 19 while my conservative estimate was at least 25 i THOUGHT the Notarial staff had law degrees now i get why everyone in Guide Ahead was like "waow, so young :o and already an executor!"

[yandereloversblog]

I've seen a lot of writing about Bonten Sanzu being mean and an asshole (and I lowkey find it fun) but what about a darling who's usually cold and collected, only showing respect to superiors because otherwise she kinda glares and finds everything annoying but when she meets Sanzu she kinda likes him and acts opposite; real sweet and nice but with him only. How will Sanzu take this?

𝐘𝐀𝐍𝐃𝐄𝐑𝐄!𝐇𝐚𝐫𝐮𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐲𝐨 𝐒𝐚𝐧𝐳𝐮

╰┈➤ . . . 𝐑𝐞𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭: 𝚄𝚜𝚞𝚊𝚕 𝚌𝚘𝚕𝚍 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚞𝚗𝚌𝚊𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝙳𝚊𝚛𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚒𝚜 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚕𝚕�� 𝚗𝚒𝚌𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚑𝚒𝚖 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎𝚜 𝚑𝚒𝚖

╰┈➤ . . . 𝐅𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐨𝐦: 𝚃𝚘𝚔𝚢𝚘 𝚁𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚗𝚐𝚎𝚛𝚜

╰┈➤ . . . 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐫: 𝙷𝚊𝚛𝚞𝚌𝚑𝚒𝚢𝚘 𝚂𝚊𝚗𝚣𝚞

╰┈➤ . . . 𝐖𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬: 𝚈𝚊𝚗𝚍𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝙱𝚎𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚒𝚘𝚛, 𝚃𝚘𝚡𝚒𝚌 𝙱𝚎𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚒𝚘𝚛 , 𝚄𝚗𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚕𝚝𝚑𝚢 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚃𝚘𝚡𝚒𝚌 𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚍𝚜𝚎𝚝, 𝙼𝚊𝚗𝚒𝚙𝚞𝚕𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚟𝚎 𝙱𝚎𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚒𝚘𝚛, 𝙼𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗𝚜 𝚘𝚏 𝚖𝚞𝚛𝚍𝚎𝚛, 𝙸𝚗𝚟𝚊𝚜𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚘𝚏 𝚙𝚛𝚒𝚟𝚊𝚌𝚢, 𝚂𝚝𝚊𝚕𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐, 𝚂𝚝𝚎𝚊𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚐

╰┈➤ . . . 𝐓𝐲𝐩𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭: 𝙷𝚎𝚊𝚍𝚌𝚊𝚗𝚘𝚗𝚜

This lowkey a really cute request, too bad Sanzu's a maniac.

... It seems I have gone overboard but this concept kept turning out too fluffy and I didn't like it 😀 Bonten Sanzu will never be a good yandere to have after you... Unless you've been together with him ever since he was a kid.

Sanzu didn't like disobedient people, especially if they disobeyed him- or god forbid they disobeyed Mikey.

He missed one meeting because of a job he had to do out of Japan and he comes back to hear those Haitani brothers kept talking about a pretty looking new recruit who was being a pain in the ass.

Apperantly they didn't talk to anyone and kept avoiding conversation, only listening if Mikey told them something.

Now Sanzu, rightfully so, felt that his position was being threatened as Mikey's loyal dog.

So obviously next meeting he's going to sit right next to you and give you a glare, wishing that you tried your "I'm better than you" attitude.

Then you actually looked back at him, your eyes locking with his glare and Sanzu saw how you looked surprised for a second, then shyly smiled and gave him the softest hello in a small voice as if to not disturb the others in the room.

Historic moment in Bonten; Sanzu shutting his fucking mouth for once.

Man was shocked, curious, amused and most definitely in love.

As soon as the meeting was over he went to Rindou and started lowkey choking.

"Are you fucking dumb!? Do you not have eyes and ears!? I should kill you for being so stupid!"

Normal fight between them but Sanzu was genuinely angry this time around. He was about to shoo you away and Rindou and his dumbass brother would've been the cause of that.

Sanzu immediately would try to reach out to you and ask you to hang out- he'll be mean about it tho. He'll DEMAND you hang out and give a back handed or sarcastic compliment because he's nervous.

Most likely drag you to these hang outs of executions or parties... Then a few casual dates where you did normal couple stuff... Then him just cuddling you...

And you'd LET him- you even thought he was funny when Sanzu told his stupid dark humor jokes that would definitely get him canceled on Twitter.

The conversation of who was attractive came up once and Sanzu immediately asked you.

"It's definitely me isn't it [Y/N]! Tell these assholes the truth."

"Well I can't deny that~ even your scars are super pretty Sanzu."

Sanzu was also left speechless and he might've kissed you impulsively in front of everyone and cuddled you for the rest of the night.

... Yeah everybody knows now. It was hard to miss because whenever Sanzu saw you he'd basically stick to you like glue. An arm around your shoulder, waist, even holding your hand, hugs from behind, glaring if someone was staring or trying to talk to you.

Sanzu just grinning when he sees you sitting on the couch, immediately going to lay down with his head on your lap and cudde to take a quick rest.

Especially happy when he sees you smile down at him and pat his head but as soon as someone else approaches your expression falls into that cold one.

Sanzu just looking smugly at Ran who's hand was shaken off by you because he placed it on your shoulder.

"Don't bother my [Y/N], Ran. If you touch them next time I'll cut your hand off."

You bet Sanzu's a cocky bastard whenever you come up. Taunting the others because it's very clear Sanzu is the only person you listen to and like -and Mikey of course-

Then he starts to get very possessive. Putting you in clothes that he likes, getting you a collar, being physically more affectionate and giving you hickeys in public.

Giving you very affectionate nicknames and usually calling you "My [Y/N]"

The only reason why Sanzu probably hasn't locked you away is the fact you genuinely only pay attention to him and shoo everyone away.

"[Y/N], if anyone approaches you tell them to fuck off. Don't let anyone lay a hand on you okay? You're mine. If they fucking touch you I'll kill them and then hurt you too so don't let it happen!"

This is when Sanzu starts to get restless... His sober self is literally unable to function if you aren't near him, luckily this only made him more lethal to enemies so Mikey doesn't mind.

Especially the reward Sanzu gets after; your affection and attention only on him, especially your praise when he hugs you.

Sanzu -and all of the other Bonten members too if they loved you- can't exactly stay stable for long if they realize you genuinely love them. It's like finally getting something you've wanted for years and being too scared to let it go.

Sanzu has definitely broken into your place a few times just to steal a few things to keep to himself.

Though it just has to be one little mistake from you... Just one small slip up that Sanzu would've let go of in the past.

You touching someone for too long might be his breaking point and he'll literally bring you to his house, place a shock collar on you and smile.

"This is where you'll be staying from now on [Y/N], and don't even think of leaving or I'll cut your legs of alright? So be a good doll and listen like you always do~"

Then you see Sanzu get on drugs and boy is he overbearing.

Gonna rip the bandaid off and say that drugged up Sanzu will most definitely hurt you nearly to death.

Sober Sanzu revels in your affection to the point he can't breath if he doesn't have it, all because you only love him and no one else but when the drugs hit him he's so overwhelmed he can't help but hurt you.

All while smiling and grinning when you start crying from the pain as he carves his name on your skin multiple times, saying he loves you very much.

You've gotten Sanzu to depend on your affection so much to the point of worshipping, he doesn't want to hurt you but the problem is no one is there to keep him in check, he can't help the overwhelming urge to hurt you because kisses, praises and sex just isn't doing enough, he wants to do and show you EVERYTHING.

But it's worth noting you get somewhat good aftercare at the end. He'll never let you die.

"It's fine right [Y/N]? I'm doing this because I love you, I love you so much that I can't help myself~ Ahh even your tears are just as pretty as your smile~"

[desultory-novice]

I've been reading your various theories/analysis on the Nightmare Wizard and I was impressed what you came up with, given how HAL has given us virtually nothing on Mr. chin man.

It's a somewhat popular headcanon that Meta Knight was created by or at the very least connected to Nightmare, but this came from evidence in the anime canon. I was wondering what are your thoughts on this theory based on game lore?

Hrgh! I LOVE Nightmare! I have so much fun writing him and speculating on him! I mean, whether he's an actual physical, incarnation of the concept of bad dreams or just a once-upon-a-time power hungry Wizard who decided to name himself after the concept... that's so cool?!? It doesn't even bother me that he gets jobbed all the time. It's the POTENTIAL!!

I love his VA, Banjo Ginga, too. This wizard might have a chin the length of a galaxy but he's got a VOICE to back it up!

Now, you said game lore, but I'm going to go ahead and talk HC because, like you said, we know almost nothing canonical about Mr Chin Man, but the chance of a Halcandra connection seems GOOD at least. (Actually, even better now with a parallel version of him showing up in the same game with the Gem Apple Tree?)

So, I strongly HC him as being responsible for Marx (in several ways) but anime-originating or no, I think making him Meta's creator/corruptor is a fun little theory.

It's common to assume Kirby's species just gains wings as a matter of fact (I'm undecided, despite the fact that we have three winged... err, four if you count Zero Two - then again, those are apparently veins?? // why did this never click for me despite the fact that they show it in the END CREDITS?! // so maybe three - members of the "species") but if you start the whole line at Galacta, as a progenitor being or even god, with their unsullied angel wings, there is something "monstrous" about Meta Knight's devil/bat wings. He LOOKS like the "evil clone" despite being more the hero on every level.

(...Once we forget the military coup. Silly tangent, but I saw someone on Twitter make a joke about Elfilis and the Beast Pack forcing the captured Waddle Dees to work the generators and how cruel that's portrayed, when Meta Knight's own ship uses Wheelies for the same purpose! ...Of course, maybe that's just exercise for Wheelies? We don't know if it was mean... necessarily...)

Speaking of Meta Knight and a questionable past, I was thinking the other day about DMK and Marx and since they're the last two of the "You jerks don't deserve to be Dream Friends!" trio - Magolor having proven himself a true friend and worthy ally after an extended trip through hell - and trying to think just what Dark Meta Knight and Marx could possibly have in common. (Outside of Salty French Bread canon (?) where they get along surprisingly well. Then again, everyone in that group is a secret maniac, except Adeleine) This is especially when I step back and remember that DMK is still BASED ON Meta Knight. Meta Knight's thoughts and feelings exist somewhere within Dark Meta Knight, they're just twisted. (And under what grounds would META KNIGHT ever have to get along with/sympathize with/feel camaraderie with Marx??)

.That's a long way to get around to saying I'm actually REALLY fond of Nightmare Knight (...is that a badass name or what?! Also love that his independent play modes are called "Meta Knightmare" Too bad that's a localization only thing, as it would be GREAT fort this theory...) as a splinter HC! I actually have a lot of room for this to fit in my personal/main HC too!

(:cough: since I liked to imagine Nightmare as a former Halcandran Geneticist, this would not even be hard for him, especially if he managed to get ahold of Galacta Knight's DNA. And my Nightmare, who absolutely has a twisted sense of "humor"...

"You COULD have given the Noddies arms, you know." "Ha! They're literally engineered to sleep all day! What possible use would they have for arms? Grabbing a pillow??" :later, Marx, trying and failing to grab a pillow: "...Grrrr...!!!"

...would absolutely see Meta Knight as a consummate warrior and thus, as the "cherry on top" program him with an insatiable lust for battle, "...just like his stabbity-happy genetic predecessor!" Something Meta Knight is constantly trying to combat w/ copious amounts of book reading and fancy sweets... :cough:)

You know, it would be kind of fun, too, if that played into the reason Meta acted so unusual in Adventure. He's on-board with Dedede's plan to stop Nightmare, but he also knows well enough that the stall won't STOP Nightmare and thus, he supports Kirby throughout the puff's adventure.

Or maybe Meta Knight was even fighting his genetic programming/monster nature during that campaign? (Does that happen in the anime, too? Generally decent critters who are monster-fied try to fight the evil inside??) The potential story ideas are endless!

I was told at one point that Marx pulling his MWW stunt out of hunger from the "Spring Breeze" famine was the only way to explain how his game fit in the "plot" of Super Star. But when I think about Nightmare reaching out his long claws to manipulate both Marx and Meta Knight (one last tangent: but Noddies are pink just like Kirby. Both Marx and Meta Night look like them but with a distinct blue(ish, in Marx's case) palette. And who else is those colors??) the fact that you unlock Milky Way Wishes after Revenge of Meta Knight (I lied/another tangent: What IS Meta Knight "revenging" anyway? His defeat? The one he basically engineered in Kirby's Adventure? Weird thing to get upset about...) could also give you a slightly different take on that "storyline." Maybe?

The only thing I DON'T like about this theory is it would potentially make Meta Knight realllllllly old. Centuries, even. And that doesn't matter so much if you throw out the concept of realistic human-esque aging in Kirby altogether (which I sometimes do, because I'd easily take "Kirby is hundreds of years old but STILL maintains a young, optimistic, innocent point of view" over "Kirby is an almighty battle toddler" - We don't know Kirby's actual age, but I've seen some numbers thrown out by fans, and the idea of non-chalantly sending a literal 6-10 year old to do the stuff Kirby puts up with in game makes me uneasy) but in a lot of cases, I think i prefer Meta Knight to be closer to a contemporary with the main gang?

Chalk me up as one of those people that thinks Meta Knight tries his hardest to act mature, to always be seen as the "smartest and the eldest" but is actually a big, huge dork on the inside. Like he decided he would have the role of "group adult" only because he wanted it, not because he did anything to earn it.

[ultranos]

Hi! Would you say ao3 writers shouldn't worry about the mining of the website? I saw your tags and I'm curious :)

So, broadly-speaking, what it sounds like the people handling this AI are trying to do is use AO3 as a data source to feed into the AI to "train" it. I understand the alarm from writers, because it's one thing to use a script to generally scrape the web to generate a database for machine learning, and it's another to specifically target fanworks, especially coming from a person with as...colorful a track record.

And using a script to just scrape the web for training is a fairly standard method, as I understand, although one thing you quickly learn is the adage "garbage in = garbage out" holds very, very true. You have to curate the data somehow. (See also: the number of times someone has let an AI bot interact with people on forums freely and then been shocked to discover the AI has turned into a Nazi.)

So think about how you navigate AO3. Think about how you try to find fics you want, how the tags sometimes do and don't work for you, how exasperated you can get as you sift through stuff you don't want to read until you get really good at understanding the tags and filters.

Now realize the AI probably isn't doing that. The AI has no idea how tags work at all. It's probably reading everything.

Based solely on the dead-simple Markov chain nonsensical language processing it can do from that dataset? Oh man, that's hilarious.

But okay, I'm going to give the engineers here a lot more credit. They're not just Markov-chaining and actually trying to do legit natural language processing (NLP). The problem: for NLP, document generation where the AI is writing documents that make sense? That's considered an AI-complete problem and any natural language understanding application/problem falls under one of the great unsolved problems in computer science. Our current technology today cannot do it, since it basically requires creating an AI that is actually capable of passing the Turing Test.

So the creators of this AI are clearly trying to solve this problem, which in and of itself is noble and I honestly don't think nearly as many people would be alarmed if it were an academic institution doing it. And it's not like other corporations are not doing it (there's a joke for over a decade that Google's been attempting to train an AI on search results which is probably less of a joke in reality). But the fact is that it's tied to Musk, which is alarming because of his recent actions with Twitter.

But also hilarious because this man has a track record of having absolutely no concept of how difficult actual technical problems are. Twitter is just the most recent one to blow up in his face. But he's also promising brain implants in 6 months, and I would put money down on guessing that he hasn't solved the seemingly-simple-but-actually-complex problem of actually implanting them into the brain. (I looked into this 10 years ago in a job. You basically have to slide hundreds of tiny knives into a bowl of jello without damaging the jello. On a time limit, so you can't just go very very slow. Theoretically doing it on a mouse model was terrifying enough.) This is also a man who thought he was going to create and manufacture a miniature rescue submarine for cave diving and ship it halfway around the world in under two weeks.

This man is going to get an AI that will write terrible nonsense that makes My Immortal look like Shakespeare and Tolstoy. And it will be incredibly bad porn to boot.