#maybe i’m also cringe and weird and that’s why i don’t see it

[devilat-thedoor]

genuinely sad at the fact that there’s people who think Sammy is “cringey” and don’t like him for it…….

[aajjks]

please please PLEASE! (m)

synopsis. He’s a determined man, and he knows a magical word, please.

warnings. ännöyïng köö, hë häs göt thë fättëst crüsh ön yöu, përsuätïön, bêggïng, tsündërë yn, evïl bräïnêd köö, cütê köö, mänïpülätïön, cöcky köö.

He is kinda cringe but yk yolo.

note. HEYYYY I already miss him so.. I wrote this in like 37 minutes.. kinda rough kind of cringe but you know… and based on the interactions and reactions, this will get this may become a little Drabble series. OK OK NOW ENJOY. AND PLEASE SEND ME SOME FEEDBACK OR ASKS THEY MAKE ME REALLY HAPPY.

“PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE YN!”

When are you ever going to agree?

Do you know that he cannot sleep because of you? Do you know that he’s not even able to eat without feeling sick to his stomach, ALL BECAUSE OF YOU.

You are very evil. Jungkook thinks that you are very mean, insensitive! You are evily beautiful, frustratingly sexy and awfully perfect.

He HATES you.

“You evil woman! I hate you!” He’s crying, he’s devastatingly frustrated right now. He has been persuading you for a month. But you still haven’t agreed.

He looks up at you, you look bored. He’s on his knees, his hands resting on your thighs, he’s got tears in his eyes, “JUST ONE DATE!” He chokes out.

He’s looking at you constantly, but it doesn’t have an effect on you, you’re looking at your nails while he’s begging you. “I said no.” You shrug, he scoffs. What is your problem? He’s hot. He earns well. AND HE LIKES YOU A LOT.

So why won’t you give him a chance?

“JUST ONE DATEEE PLEASE.” he sounds really cringe and desperate. He’s a grown man. But he’s on his knees, begging you. “Ynnnnnnn!” Are you enjoying this? he’s sure.

He doesn’t mind entertaining you, but… he really wants you.

“Yn!” He whines, he’s even tired of crying and screaming. His throat feels dry now. He stares at you dumbfounded. You are one stubborn woman.

But he’s also very stubborn, and he knows you very well, your reason to not go on a date with him our date is very ridiculous in his opinion..

He rolls his eyes. You are about to say it.

“No kook. You’re my best friend.”

Of course he’s your best friend, that is the problem.

“BUT I LIKE YOU.” He argues back, biting his lower lip, he doesn’t know how to get you to agree. Even though he knows you very well… he’s not sure.

But one thing is for sure, he won’t stop annoying you until you agree.

You don’t reply, still looking at your manicured nails. They take his attention as well, distracting him. They are a pretty color of brown, with a gray sparkly French tip.

He loves your hands so much.

“FINE.” Jungkook pouts. “because of you, I’m gonna die alone.” of course guilt tripping has to work. You’ll have to agree now.

He has been your best friend for the longest time ever, and he knows that you cannot see him sad. He’s liked you for as long as he can remember.

And you know that very well.

“Yn… you make me very sad.” He turns his eyes away from you. And he feels your gaze shifting to his face. He can feel the heat of your gaze suddenly.

He smirks.

He feels kind of evil, but he’s gotta do what he’s gotta do.

“Y-You know I’ve liked you for the longest time! A-AND IT CAN BE KIND OF WEIRD TO DATE YOUR BEST FRIEND, BUT… just one chance.” He speaks in a very low sad tone.

Crossing his hands across his chest. And then he hears you sigh. “You are a very evil man, kook.” His ears perk up, you are definitely about to agree.

His hard work is finally starting to pay off. Maybe begging you for the last couple of weeks… was worth it after all. He’s got a goofy smile on his face, you can’t see it because he’s turned his face away from you.

“Ugh… don’t give me the silent treatment… I can hear your pout.” he is sure you’re rolling your eyes right now. The thing is that you both know each other very very well.

That’s why you are perfect for each other.

Go on… go on go on!!!

“Okay fine. UGH DON’T MAKE ME REGRET IT.” You say, finally giving in.

And at the speed of light, he turns his head, almost breaking his neck. Jungkook is looking at you with wide eyes. His mouth is agape.

Did he hear you right?

“SAY THAT AGAIN!” Standing up, he giggles. Clapping his hands like a toddler. He knows he’s annoying the fuck out of you right now, but a man’s got to celebrate.

“OH MY GOD YN Thank you I promise you won’t regret it and you will want to date me every single lifetime of yours.” He smirks, his changing from desperate to cocky in 00.0 seconds.

He winks at you while you give him the middle finger.

“You are going to want me so bad after this. I WON.” He Throws his hand into the air, doing a dramatic pose.

“Now I’ve gotta go!!! GO TO PREPARE FOR THE DATE. It has to be perfect. Bye bye ynnnnnn!!!! I love you.” He blows you a flying kiss before yeeting out of your home.

You just hope you won’t regret this.

[lovesickonmybed]

to hands between legs | 18+

masterlist | xo masterlist | info about palestine | donate to gaza

pairing | bully!ellie williams x loser!virgin!reader

synopsis | ellie williams made your high school experience a living hell, but once you got to college you thought you were finally free…until running into her at a frat party where she humiliates you just like it’s high school all over again.

warnings | 18+ MDNI! bullying, wedgies, dub-con, underage drinking, panty kink, degradation, humiliation, fingering, virgin reader, mommy kink.

word count | 4.4k

a/n | if wedgie kinks make you uncomfortable or seem cringe to you then please keep scrolling and let me indulge in my weird little kinks thank you! also i dropped out of college so if any of this is inaccurate i'm sorry!! i urge you to not buy any of the last of us games, including the remaster as the creator, neil druckmann is a zionist. the second game is based off of the israeli occupation in palestine and you can learn more about that here.

“Dude you are not wearing those to the party tonight!” Your roommate Seline scoffs looking you up and down as you stand in your underwear looking through your clothes in an attempt to find something semi-decent for your first party of the year. You’ve got on a plain white bra and a pair of white hanes panties that sit high up on your waist. 

You turn back to look at her with an annoyed sneer on your face, “They’re called underwear for a reason, they’ll be under my clothes, where no one can see them. I doubt it’ll make a difference, I’m not exactly trying to get laid tonight, especially not by any of those guys.”

“Wearing granny panties at any time besides your time of the month is just…wrong! There’s no way those are comfortable, like seriously I see you pick your wedgie like 20 times a day, just grow up and switch to thongs already.” Your cheeks heat up with embarrassment and you slip on a black skort that stops at your mid thigh before turning back to face your roommate. 

“I do not pick that many wedgies, stop being so dramatic! A thong would just be worse, I don’t want a string up my ass all day…” You retort.

“So instead of a string you want that itchy fabric to bunch up and give you a cottontail? Got it…this is why you haven’t gotten laid yet…” Seline says, side eyeing you.

“I really don’t need this right now, I’m wearing my comfortable and reliable panties and you can have fun telling a frat guy to stop pulling on your thong strings when he’s had too much to drink.”

“My thong is getting taken off by a frat guy tonight, not pulled up, honey. Now hurry up and get dressed so we can go, maybe if you pick the right top someone can look past your choice in underwear,” Seline chuckles.

You roll your eyes playfully and decide on a cropped white tank top, you slip on a pair of black heeled boots and a light wash denim jacket to finish off the look. You want to look alright just in case, you haven’t had the best luck romantically and definitely not sexually since arriving at school. You’ve made out with a few girls at parties but due to your own nerves you haven’t done anything past feeling them up and trying to not cum immediately when their hand is on your thigh. You swear you got more action from your high school bully…

“Come on, if you make me even later than we already are then I’m gonna lose it!” Your roommate commands as you grab your bag from off your bed. You’re not exactly the party type and you sure as hell weren’t in high school, then again you never got a chance to go to parties in high school thanks to Ellie fucking Williams for making you a pariah. You still have no clue what you did to the girl for her to target you as viciously as you did, you barely knew her…maybe she wanted to establish dominance when she arrived in Jackson, sure being the new kid can be tough but it doesn’t exactly call for you to make someone miserable everyday of their life. It started with a shoulder check in the hallway and escalated to you having to budget out having to replace panties on an almost weekly basis due to the waistband ripping wedgies Ellie loved to dish out. 

College was a fresh start for you, a way to escape your past as ‘Wedgie Girl’ and to finally make some friends…but thanks to your busy class schedule and your social awkwardness it’s proven harder than you expected. Your roommate Seline was kind enough to introduce you to some of her friends and you’re pleading with whatever forces are out in the universe that some of them will be there tonight to hang with you when your roommate abandons you for some dick from a sweet, but ultimately brainless frat boy. 

“Do you know if anyone we know is gonna be at the party?” You ask Seline, nervously playing with the hem of your skirt as you both walk the path to the nearby frat house. 

“Uh, I think Taylor mentioned she might be there…I’m not sure when though. But hey, if she’s not I’m sure you’ll find someone to spend your night with if I disappear,” She smiles, nudging your arm with her shoulder playfully. 

“More like when you disappear…”

“Hey! I don’t always disappear!” Seline scoffs.

“If there’s dick from a himbo you do,” you retort.

“Can you blame me? They’re always the sweetest in and out of bed, I can’t help that I like a dumb guy who will actually take care of me after we fuck instead of some asshole who’ll just take my panties after!” On multiple occasions freshman year Seline had some of her favorite pairs stolen by business majors, it was truly unfortunate. 

“Dude I swear to god I’m on a mission to get your panties back tonight, you know I love stealing shit from frat guys. I’m gonna steal your panties back,” you joke to Seline.

“I don’t want them back, they’re probably crusted with cum by now!” Seline laughs.

“Oh my god! Why would you put that image in my head, jesus christ!”

“Sorry, sorry!” Seline is out of breath as she apologizes. 

You reach the lawn of the frat house and you and Seline look at one another.

“If you plan to hookup with someone and stay at their place, text me and share your location, deal?” You say to Seline, making sure to establish a plan for tonight.

“Deal. Same goes for you, babe,” she smirks.

“We both know I won’t be hooking up with anyone but the optimism is appreciated, Seline.”

Seline laughs and throws her arm around your waist as you walk into the party, music playing loudly, the house filled with college students with drinks in their hands. 

You comb the crowd to look for anyone you may recognize but you’re unsuccessful, you frown and pull yourself closer to Seline for comfort. You cup her ear, “I don’t see Taylor yet.” 

“Let me text her and see when she’ll be here,” Seline responds as she pulls out her phone and pulls up Taylor’s contact, she shoots her a text and while she waits on a response y’all go into the kitchen to find something to drink. 

You separate from Seline and look around at all your options, you decide to just grab a Whiteclaw, ignoring how douchey it makes you feel to be seen drinking one. You crack it open and take a sip as Seline pours herself a shot. You lean against the counter as people come up to greet Seline, you feel out of place at this party but you try to ignore the feeling and take another sip.

“Hey, is it okay if I go with them?” Seline motions to the two girls standing where she just was, “I don’t want to leave you alone but we’ve been meaning to catch up for awhile y’know?”

You sigh and bite the inside of your cheek, “Yeah…it’s okay. Go catch up,” you give her a fake smile and in response she gives you a real one.

“I appreciate it, I’m sorry. If you need anything just text me, okay?” 

“Got it. Go have fun for me,” you smile.

Seline gives you a quick hug and turns to the other girls, walking off to the backyard together.

You stay where you are in the kitchen, bobbing your head to the music and mostly aimlessly scrolling on your phone when people watching gets boring. You’re broken out of your trance by a familiar laugh, “Holy shit…you actually made it out of Jackson? I’m shocked, truly.” Even if you hadn’t looked up you’d know exactly who was talking to you. Standing in front of you, a beer in hand, is Ellie Williams. 

You gasp softly and take a long swig from your drink, “I-You-”

“I didn’t know you went here, how’d you even get in?” Ellie asks, taking a step towards you. You can smell the woodsy cologne that’s been her signature scent since high school, she’s wearing a dark green flannel over a black tank top and a pair of black jeans. 

“I-I’m smart…I guess…” You manage to say. You regret it instantly, face heating up when you realize how stupid you sound. 

“Mhm, yeah of course…” She steps closer to you, setting her hand next to your hip on your counter, trapping you slightly as she gets in your personal space, “You know,” she chuckles, “Your roommate is a real dick for letting you leave the dorm like this…”

“What? What’s wrong with what I’m wearing?” You ask, instantly regressing back to the insecure high schooler you were just two years ago.

Ellie smirks, wetting her lips with her tongue, “Nothing, I’m just fucking with you, loser. You’re just as easy to mess with as you were in highschool…” 

You look down, avoiding eye contact, and shrink into yourself, “Why…why are you doing this? We’re not in highschool anymore, Ellie. I mean…who even bullies people in college?”

Ellie doesn’t appreciate your attempt to stand up for yourself, “Someone who sees a loser in desperate need of help…you still wear granny panties?” She bites her lip as she watches your face contort into an embarrassed look.

“I…I don’t know what you’re talking about…” You wrap your arms around yourself, trying to self soothe. 

Ellie pauses for a minute, turning around to scope out the house. She grabs your wrist and starts to pull you along with her.

“Hey! What do you think you’re doing?!” You yell, trying to tug your wrist out of her grip, it’s a futile attempt as she’s always been much stronger than you. 

“Shut up,” Ellie commands, continuing to pull you along with her to the upstairs of the house. The partygoers hanging out on the staircase pay you no mind, continuing their conversations without a care in the world. Ellie pulls you down a hallway, opening one of the doors and pushing you inside, causing you to fall to your knees. Ellie locks the door as you scramble to your feet, mostly out of fear of what substances could be on this carpet.

Ellie turns around to face you, “Take your skirt off.”

Your eyebrows furrow in confusion, “What?”

“Are you stupid? Take your goddamn skirt off,” Ellie sneers.

“What? Why? I-I’m not taking off my skirt for you! And I’m not wearing granny panties!” 

“Then lift up your skirt and prove it. You’ve got a little cottontail poking out of the back of your skirt by the way…nice hanes,” She laughs and pushes you back, causing you to stumble.

“You’re a sadistic bitch!” You exclaim, backing up away from her.

Ellie walks towards you, backing you against a wall, “I think you meant sexy, but that’s alright sweetheart I still understand you.” Ellie grabs you by your shoulders and spins you around, using her arm to pin you against the wall, your face feeling squished against the plaster. She grabs the bottom of your skirt and pulls it up, groaning in disappointment when she realizes you’re wearing a skort. “Fuckin prude,” she mutters before grabbing the waistband of your skort and yanking it down, exposing your white hanes to her.

“Hey! What the fuc-” 

Ellie cuts you off, “Sorry did I tell you to speak?”

“N-No but-”

Ellie cuts you off again by grabbing you by the back of your head and shoving your face even harder against the wall, causing you to whine in pain. “You speak when I tell you to speak, until then shut your goddamn mouth before I gag you.” Ellie slaps your ass and chuckles when you yelp. “Do you still want to stand here and deny that this borderline geriatric pair of panties are granny panties? Huh? I mean, this sure as shit ain’t a thong, but if you’re really so deep in denial I guess I could be generous and turn it into one for you, honey.”

Before you can even think about protesting Ellie grabs your waistband and pulls it up teasingly slow, your eyes go wide as you’re transported back to highschool by the feeling of the cotton fabric sliding against your skin and situating itself between your cheeks. As the fabric begins to sink into your folds you’re transported back to a memory of Ellie giving you a wedgie in the locker room during senior year.

“Shut up and take it, loser! It’s your fault for pissing me off today!” Ellie whisper-yelled as she pulled the front of your panties violently, tears welled up in your eyes as the baby pink fabric was forced into the folds of your cunt.

“Stop! Come on, you really don’t have to do thi-”

Ellie cuts you off with another harsh tug of your panties, your mouth falls open as a sharp pain shoots up your ass. You try to reach back and tug your waistband away from Ellie but she’s quick to pin your wrists against your back, using her body weight to help pin you against the wall. “Don’t you fucking dare! You’re so goddamn defiant, I miss the helpless loser you were in highschool, this was so much easier back then. You knew how to shut up and take it.”

Ellie shoves her leg between your thighs and lets go of your waistband, she uses her now free hand to remove her belt and restrain your wrists with it. “There. Now you have no choice but to take it,” she laughs. You try to squirm out of her grasp but with her thigh pressed against your cunt all it does is make your face heat up and make you hold back a moan of pleasure. Ellie continues to hold you against the wall as she grabs your waistband again, “Ready for me, wedgie girl?” Ellie smirks as she starts to pull your waistband again, pulling harder than before, almost lifting you off the ground with her first pull.

You choke on nothing as she uses your old nickname, feeling you with even more shame as your brain floods with countless memories of your public humiliation at her hands. Your eyes screw shut as you feel the threads snapping against your skin, the painful friction against your most sensitive parts sends pained moans from your lips. 

“P-Please…h-hurts so bad,” you whimper, tears forming in your eyes as you rest your forehead against the wall.

“It’s supposed to, dumbass. I bet you like it though, don’t you? It’s the most attention your little virgin cunt has ever gotten, huh?” Ellie snickers. 

“I-I’m not a virgin!” You reply.

“Bullshit. I doubt you’ve even had an orgasm…poor thing, bet your poor little pussy just leaks from the slightest attention…I could breathe on it and you’d cum. It’s a miracle you haven’t cum yet, I’m pratically fucking you with these,” Ellie pulls harder, getting you onto your toes to emphasize her point. Ellie giggles, “You know what, you’re not a virgin I’ve already fucked you with your panties.”

You mewl with embarrassment which sends Ellie into a fit of laughter, once she calms herself she lets go of your waistband. You sigh in relief as you think she’ll let you go but once you feel her grasp on your leg holes your eyes go wide. You’re not getting off that easy. 

“You know what, let me rip these and I’ll give you a pity orgasm, how does that sound, loser?”

“No, come on! Ellie don’t rip these!” You plead.

“Oh come on, nerd. I’ve already stretched them out, they’re unwearable, just let me have my fun,” Ellie begins to lift you by the leg holes of your panties. You cry out in pain, your legs kicking out of instinct as you feel the fabric of your panties pulled back and through your cunt, the fabric scraping against your cunt in such a way that causes you to begin to cry.

“Can’t believe you’re already crying, you went fucking soft on me, nerd. Guess I gotta do this everyday and build your tolerance back up,” she says in a patronizing tone. 

“No, no, no, please…Ellie…” Your breath is ragged as she continues to split your ass with your panties, showing no mercy as she bounces you, the sound of threads ripping fills the room.

“Oh come on, baby, you can take it. Don’t tap out now, you’re so close,” Ellie coos, snaking one of her hands around to grab the front of your panties and begins pulling from the front too. You scream in pain and she lets go and begins to scold you, “Shut the fuck up! Are you trying to get caught? You want everyone to see you getting fucked with your panties?” 

You sniffle, “N-No…”

“Then shut. the. fuck. up. and take it. Got it, slut?” She questions.

“Got it…”

Ellie resumes and you bite your lip to hold back your pained noises as she bounces you by the front and back of your panties, making you feel like you’re being split in half. You can’t remember the last time you were in this much pain and you hate how soaked it gets you, a wide wet patch is very visible in the gusset of your panties. It doesn’t take many more pulls for the panties to finally rip, you moan loudly in pain and pleasure as you feel the fabric rip against your cunt. Ellie is quick to grab you by your waist, old hand holding the ripped pair of panties as she helps you to the floor. You sit against the wall and catch your breath, looking up at Ellie completely wrecked. Your mascara is smudged beneath your eyes and you have red marks on your hips. 

Ellie squats down to your level, “You okay?” She asks softly, reaching towards you to trace the marks on your hips. Her gentleness confuses you, when she bullied you in high school she would’ve just let you fall to the floor and leave you to deal with the aftermath.

“I-I think so…” You mumble.

She reaches up and cups your cheek, “Can I finger you?” She looks down at your red puffy cunt, licking her lips as she imagines you mewling for her as she stuffs your cunt. 

“I…No one has ever…y’know…touched me like that before…” You explain shamefully.

“I wanna make you cum, loser. Wanna feel your cunt clench around my fingers.”

You look up at Ellie with glassy eyes, whining at the thought, “Why?”

Ellie looks down, her cheeks turning red, “Because I think you’re hot…and I’ve been wanting this for years…”

“You have?” You ask, brows furrowed as you scan her face for any hint of a lie.

“Yeah…I…I like how you sound when I torture your pretty pussy, wanna make it feel good this time, wanna reward you for how you took that wedgie.”

You think it over for a minute before you nod, “I want your fingers inside of me, please.”

“You want it on the bed, baby girl?” She asks, nodding her head towards the bed of whatever poor boys room you two have only just begun to desecrate. 

“Yeah. Can you untie me too please,” you ask softly, lifting your restrained hands behind your back.

“Oh shit, I forgot I even did that. Let me get that off you,” Ellie helps turn you around and removes the belt restraining your hands and slips it back onto her jeans. She takes your wrists in her hands to check for marks, “They should only be a little sore…I’d wear long sleeves till the marks go away unless you feel like coming up with a story about how they got like that.”

You nod and let her help you onto the bed, you wince in pain as you sit on the bed, the soreness in your ass already kicking in.

Ellie tilts her head and leans towards you, looking down at your lips, “Can I kiss you?”

You nod, wetting your lips with your tongue. She leans in and presses her lips to yours, kissing you softer than you could’ve ever imagined from her. There’s a masochistic part of you that had always had a crush on Ellie, you had dreams of her fingering you, eating you out, hell even taking you on dates. But you had never imagined she’d really kiss you, especially not like this. You kiss her back and are quick to deepen the kiss, Ellie smirks against your lips at your eagerness and pulls you into her lap, spreading your legs and cupping your cunt. She uses you gasping at the sudden contact to slip her tongue into your mouth and you moan into her mouth once she starts to massage your clit. Your body feels like it’s on fire and you beg the universe to not let you cum before she can even get her fingers inside of you. 

She pulls away from your lips, a trail of saliva still connecting them as she moves her mouth down to your neck. She presses a kiss below your ear and whispers, “Gonna take off your shirt baby, wanna suck those pretty tits.”

That alone is enough to make you grip her hair tightly and whine. You help her remove your shirt and she’s quick to remove your bra as well, beginning to trail kisses down your neck. “You’re so fucking pretty, got perfect tits…for a loser…” She snickers. 

This time it doesn’t feel malicious, it makes your clit twitch and your breath hitch. 

“You like when I’m mean to you, don’t you? Bet you’d go home after school everyday and play with that pretty pussy of yours and think about what I did to you…Bet it got you wet once I got everyone calling you wedgie girl…” Ellie smirks at you, admiring the embarrassed expression on your face.

“Shut up…” You giggle.

She smiles and starts to leave hickeys on your neck and collarbones, drawing whines and whimpers out of you with ease. She pulls back to admire her work, “I’d suggest you invest in a turtleneck, sweetheart,” she chuckles.

“Shit…what’s my roommate gonna say?” You mutter, brushing your hair out of your face as you try and think of an excuse to give Seline.

“Are you with her or something?” Ellie asks.

You shake your head no, “God no…she just knows I haven’t done anything like this before…never came back to our dorm with a hickey before either.”

“You’re so innocent it’s fucking adorable,” Ellie says, leaning forward and kissing you again. She pulls away and leans down to press kisses to your tits, nibbling slightly here and there, making you whine once she takes one of your nipples into her mouth, tweaking the other with her hand. “Fuck…Ellie…” you whine, tilting your head back as she worships your tits.

She trails a hand down to your cunt, slapping it lightly, making you yelp. She laughs softly and presses her ring and middle finger against your folds, swiping up some of your slick and bringing her fingers up to her mouth to taste you. She takes her fingers into her mouth and sucks your slick off, moaning at the taste, “You taste as good as you look, sweet girl.”

She leans forward to kiss you and slowly slips two fingers inside of you, you gasp against her lips and buck your hips forward. “Oh fuck…”

“I haven’t even started baby,” she laughs. She begins to pump her fingers in and out of your cunt, whispering praises to you as she brushes her thumb against your cunt. She bites her lip as you whine her name, reaching out to grip the bed sheets. “You’re so tight, bet you’ve been needing this huh…”

“Y-Yes mommy, needed it so bad,” you mumble, too engrossed in your own pleasure to truly realize the words leaving your lips. 

Ellie stops and tilts her head, looking at you with her jaw dropped, “Did you…did you just call me mommy?”

“Fuck…I-I’m so sorry, it just sli-” Ellie cuts you off by resuming her pace, speeding up her movements quickly to make you fall apart.

“Tell mommy how fucking good it feels,” Ellie commands. 

You’re quick to follow her orders, muttering pathetically about how good she’s making you feel. “Mommy…I fucking…I’m so close, need to…”

“Need to cum, don’t you pretty girl? Gonna make you cum, gonna make my pretty baby make a mess all over my lap.” Ellie curves her fingers inside you, hitting right where you need until it sends you over the edge. You let out a string of moans as you collapse forward onto Ellie, burying your face in her neck and you moan incoherently. Ellie works you through your orgasm, rubbing your back whispering praises as you come down. She sucks your juices off her fingers, continuing to rub your back and praise you as you catch your breath.

“Fuck…thank you…” You whisper, your head still buried in the crook of her neck.

Ellie smiles and pulls you close to her, “Anytime, loser.”

You roll your eyes and giggle, the word no longer feels hurtful but instead playful. Ellie pulls you off her lap and grabs your ripped panties off the floor, using them to clean you up. “These are coming home with me,” Ellie says, holding the ripped fabric up in front of your face.

You try to snatch them away from her but she’s quicker than you, stuffing them in her back pocket. “Nuh uh, these are mine now, loser. Need something to help me get off when I think about this again.”

She helps you redress and tries to help fix your hair and smudged makeup, it’s all futile thanks to the hickeys she decorated your neck and collarbones with. “You know it’s pretty dark out there, I doubt anyone will notice,” Ellie says, motioning to your hickeys.

You roll your eyes and give her a look that says ‘really?’ “Ellie, these are impossible to miss, my roommate is never gonna let me live it down.”

“I can’t help that I’m so good at humiliating you,” Ellie giggles, wrapping her arms around your waist, nuzzling her face into your neck.

“Shut up and take me back to my dorm,” you say playfully, nudging her with your head.

“Round two?” She asks hopefully.

“I’ll consider it…”

[sometimesvaguelyfunny]

Sorry for the long text, but I need to get this out of my system. The memes and reactions were fun, but it’s time to get a little serious.

No one wants to protect kids, everyone wants to be the kind of person that protects kids.

Epstein, Dan Schneider, R Kelly, Woody Allen, Roman Polanski, “allegedly” Drake - all have been an “open secret” for years. And have been protected by their network and business deals and whoever spoke about it got out of the industry or the bullet. Society is very happy to “catch predators” - most men daydream of murdering a bad guy to “protect women and children”. But violence is fun and apparently when your skin is on the line “protecting” is lowered in priority. Also every conversation about fixing the trauma afterwards or helping victims is shunned - just look at those who missed the meaning of “Mother I Sober”. I refuse to believe everyone in Ovo is a pedo, but I’m sure many of those people see this shit as “he is weird with girls but he is a very nice guy” or “the girls looked okay with it” or even “don’t bit the hand that feeds u”. This is why women choose the bear, because no one has a bear on payroll, no one is afraid of the bear’s lawyer or the bear’s network or that angering the bear will end their careers. I get that policemen will ignore it if your pockets are greased, but damn do we really need to do Sun Tzu mind games to send these rotten pedos in the cell?? This is not about Kendrick because he is one man, who probably just got the mole too, but about all those who knew everything and said nothing for years.

ALSO MORE IMPORTANTLY everyone wants to protect kids until they are palestinians bombed in Gaza. CHILDREN ARE BOMBED RIGHT NOW. Because this issue keeps going on and the only diss against zionists is signed by Macklemore. And a diss is nice and all, but it’s limited activism. Again people will dance to songs discussing politics and have the meaning fly over them. It’s not something I wrote about much but I went to protests. Apparently popular opinion is that only the “crazy” people still join. Apparently “normal” people don’t try to protect children too much, it gets cringe after x protests. Apparently protecting children has an emotional warranty until it starts being bad for your optics.

I’ve worked with refugee kids and people would call me a “saint” for doing the work, but accuse me of being woke when I actually got ideas - the thing that inevitably happens when you do the work. almost like protecting children is more than a cute ego stroke. Apparently children are only worth protecting as far as your college applications appreciate it, nothing more afterwards.

My point is - we should start really protecting kids. All kids. And maybe people would want to have kids again if we didn’t feel like we live in which no one is bothered to really protect kids.

[altrodent]

Bathroom Confessions

Pairing: Steve Harrington x Reader

Genre/Warnings: Mentions of drugs, injections, blood, injuries, OD, and sick. Use of Y/N. Mentions of Steve x Nancy

Summary: After escaping from the grasp of evil Russians, Steve has some confessing to do after a high-induced sick

(A/N): This one isn’t my favorite, but I’m trying to make as many fics as I can before I hit another block. I hope you enjoy! 🩷

In this moment, you were one of the “Scoops-Troop” that wasn’t drugged and beat up by Russians. Currently you were forced, per usual, to babysit the kids. Also known as “let your friends wander while you have to take responsibility.” You didn’t mind though, knowing you got to see at least a tiny bit of “Back To The Future” for free. Dustin kept looking at the entrance of the theater, worried. “They’re fine, Dustin, they’re adults” you said, “Yeah, they’re high adults, and we’re not entirely clear right now” Erica rolled her eyes “I’m sure they’re fine”

Meanwhile, in the decently clean movie theatre restroom, Robin and Steve had gotten too distracted by the moving lights, and had gotten way too sick. After puking up whatever was left in their bodies, they weakly rested on the floor of their separate stalls. Robin ran a hand through her hair, before finally speaking “Have you… ever been in love?” Steve sighs “I was… I think I still am.” Robin taps her foot on the floor “Are you still in love with Nancy?” Steve scoffs “No.” Robin tilted her head “Why not?”Steve purses his lips “I think I found someone better for me…” The blonde’s interest peaks “Oh?” Steve smiles to himself “and it’s crazy, ‘cause I’ve known them for so long, but the way they make me feel is the same way Dustin said I should.” Steve plays with a certain bracelet this special someone had made for him wink wink.

“Ever since Dustin got back from camp, all he’s been telling me was ‘You gotta find your Suzie, you gotta find your Suzie’-“ Robin cuts in “Wait- who’s Suzie?” Steve groans “His little camp girlfriend I guess? To be honest, I don’t even think she’s real. That’s not the point though, you know, the point is… the person I like is someone I would talk to almost everyday. They were there even when I was a huge douche… they were there even when I was with Nancy.” Pressing his hand into the side of his head, Steve thought aloud “I think the only thing that stopped me from telling them was popularity… ‘maybe Tommy H would’ve thought I was weird’, it’s just- just stupid, you know?” Robins face grimaced, trying to figure out who Steve’s talking about, and praying it’s not herself. “Just, this summer, getting closer to them has made me laugh harder than I’ve laughed in years. Smile more than I’ve smiled in so so so so long.” Actively cringing, Robin starts to believe that he is actually talking about her“They’re just cool, you know? They’re just super tough on the outside, but usually always super annoyed to the point it’s almost cute”

After a long slur of silence, Steve knocks in the stall wall “Robin?” Followed by more silence “Did you OD in there?” She sits up a bit “No… I am still alive.” Steve slides under the stall wall, making his way into the other opened stall. “The floor is disgusting” said Robin, “Well, I am already covered in blood and vomit so…” He nods to himself “Well, what do you think?” She looks at him confused “About?” He rests his hand on his knee“The person” Robin turns tense “They sound awesome” His confidence grows “They are super awesome, how about the guy?” She smiles “I think he’s on drugs and isn’t thinking straight” he shrugs “Well I think he’s thinking more clearly than usual” Robins smile faded “He’s not… Look, he doesn’t even know them. And if he really knew them like- like really knew them, he wouldn’t even want to be their friend” He leans forward against his knees “Uh- yeah I think he would, cause he knows them pretty damn well” Robin interrupts “Steve look- it shocked me to my core but I like you, I really like you, but I’m not like your friends.” Steve’s brows furrow “And I’m not like Nancy wheeler-” “What? Yeah- I know, that’s why I like you too Robin but- what are you talking about?” Robin rolls her eyes “I know you’re talking about me, Steve” Steve shakes his head, eyes widened with shock “What?!” Robin sits up a bit “Steve, I don’t romantically like men” Steve waves his hands in her face “Robin! It’s not you! You don’t need to tell me what you’re into also, I really don’t mind what you’re into.”

Robins eyes look like they’re about to explode out of her head “It’s not me- then who is it? You spent your entire summer with them, you’ve known them for a while, you didn’t think your friends would like them- oh… it’s (Y/N).” “Yes!!” “Oh my god this changes everything.” Steve face palms. Robin stands up “I mean I could tell but, you know- wait you haven’t told them yet?” Steve nods with an annoyed look on his face “No, I haven’t told them yet.” Robin blinks slowly “I swear, it feels like you guys are already in a relationship, I’m surprised they aren’t in here now looking for you.” Steve’s brow lifts “What do you mean?” Robin kneels down in front of Steve and shakes his shoulders “Earth to dummy! They like you too!” Steve shakes his head “No they don’t… do they?” Robin rolls her eyes and walks out of the bathroom. “Do they?!” Steve yells before Robin exits. Steve slowly gets up and heads out, to only be met with you checking up on Robin.

You almost immediately get distracted by Steve, what’s not to get lost in? His beautiful eyes, his luxurious hair… Robin catches your and Steve’s eye contact and makes it her turn to check on Dustin and Erica. Robin mouthing ‘tell her!’ To Steve when she passes you. Steve clears his throat as you step up to him “god, those Russians really did a number on you, huh?” You chuckle softly as Steve puts his hands on his hips “oh, ha ha, you weren’t even there, you were with the two idiots running around.” You roll your eyes “We did kinda save your asses though, so I guess we’re even.” Steve shrugs, cheeks warming. “Come on, zombie, let’s get you cleaned up.” You take him by the arm and drag him into the bathroom, you begin to dampen a towel before he speaks “for what it worth… I’m glad you’re okay.” You pause for a second, you and Steve have always been buddy-buddy, and would always make playful jabs at each other, but the way he said it was so caring so genuine, it really touched you. You smile at him, looking into his eyes “I’m glad you’re okay, I mean, you were the one who got quite literally tortured” you let out an exhausted laugh. Steve sighs, “They basically ruined my best feature too…” he tuts looking at his bruised and bloodied face in the mirror.

You turn his head back to you as you begin to gently clean his face “I don’t think it’s that bad, you still look just as good as before.” Steve delicately gazes down at you as you clean him up “So you think I look good?” He raises a brow, a cheeky smirk appearing on his face. Rolling your eyes, you wash out the bloody rag. “Don’t make me repeat myself, Harrington, I’m being nice right now, it’s a rare occasion!” He chuckles softly “Whatever you say, baby” your cheeks turn a bright red, as you look at Steve befuddled. He laughs softly “Oh, ha-ha, very funny Steve.” He puts his hands up in defense “What did I do? Just calling you what you are.” Your mouth drops in shock “You’re so rude, Harrington” you give him a slight glare. “yeah, I’m rude, I know. You’re my baby though…” Steve smiles warmly, “I feel like you don’t know what that sounds like.” As you cleaned his face, he gently took your hand, putting the rag on the counter “I know what it sounds like… and I have been somewhat encouraged to admit something.” You tilt your head, “(Y/N) I’ve known you for years now, and honestly? The years I’ve spent with you have been the best years of my life.” He moves closer, his hand still in yours. “If I had died today, by the hands of a cruel Russian, I would’ve never gotten to tell you how I truly feel. And I won’t let myself get so close to that possibility that I might never get to tell you how I really feel.”

Currently, the only thing you can hear is Steve’s sultry voice, and your rapid heart beat. “Steve…?” His eyes well with tears. “I love you (Y/N) and the thought of me never being able to tell you is actual hell.” You look at him in disbelief, of course, you’ve felt the same for so long. “Steve I…” you smile softly before he slowly gets on one knee “Please, (Y/N)… tell me how you really- and I mean really feel.” You smile brightly and hug him almost knocking him onto the floor “Steve, you have no idea how long I’ve been waiting for you to tell me those words…” he pulls back slightly. “Do… do you feel the same?” He asked with a gleam of hope in his eyes. “Duh, Harrington…” you giggle softly wiping tears of joy off your face “I love you so damn much…” Steve chuckles, smiling brightly as he hugs you tighter than he ever has before. After a moment of your embrace, Steve pulls back, looking into your eyes, then at your lips. Without hesitation he leans in, and locks his lips with yours. Your lips melt with his, as he leans against the bathroom wall, pulling you closer to him. Enjoying the embrace, Steve pulls back and just nuzzles into your shoulder warmly. “I love you so much (Y/N)…” Running a hand through his hair, you respond “I love you so much, Stevie” Steve looks up at you, his well bruised face shining in the bright bathroom lights, happy that he can now rightfully call you his own.

[ankmankpank]

Aaron Z. x baby sis!reader

Tw: cussing and a sunburn maybe?? Nothing else, 4*town playing basketball shirtless as fuck. Ur not even a baby, just 4. I don’t have the talent to write and it’s maybe cringe at some places. I mean, I just had the idea and rlly wanted to do something with it, i don’t even care if it’s not well written. (I’m gonna kms)

4*TOWN was a world famous boy band , we know that. But they were also human, which meant they had their families too.

And you, you were one of the members' little sister, Aaron Z.’s! He was 18 years older than you, which meant that you were 4 now, babe.

And your parents had to leave for a summer vacation, so they gave you to Aaron Z. for the summer who lived with the other members of 4*TOWN by second. To make work easier, or who knows why. Which meant, you lived with them too now.

But the thing was, Z. haven’t met you since your birth. Your parents never treated him well, except than buying him everything he needed since they were mad rich. It’s not like they treat you any better, you’re just a kid and you don’t really care how strict they are. How much does reputation matter for them. How much they expect from you, or how much they expected from Z. before the band took off and he decided to leave.

He wanted to get you out of there, but he couldn’t. And it’s not like he wanted to go back anyway.

So, this is how is it now.

It was a waaarm, warm afternoon and the boys were playing basketball outside on their court in the garden. And none of them would really leave you unsupervised(except T.), so you were sitting at one of the benches next to the court with two horse toys in your little hands, which were given to you by Jesse after Z. had a speech to him about not knowing what the fuck to do with a kid. It wasn’t like he didn’t want you there, he did! He was glad that he could finally meet you properly and that you were finally out of that hell of a sadly huge house that he was forced to grow up in, it’s just.. he was scared that he will fuck this up.

But like, playing with horsies and having zero problems in the world at all wasn’t so entertaining to you at the moment.

So you shifted your attention towards the boys. And maybe you didn’t pay attention to this detail at all, but fangirls would go mad crazy to see them like this. Shirtless, moving and jumping around, and sweat dripping off them as they playfully teased each other and T. sometimes started play fighting with Robaire. Truly a sight, too bad you didn’t care at all.

BOOOOOOOOORING, you wanted to go to an amusement park, the beach, a funeral just to wander off halfway into it and scare some birds! Just let something happen already.

“What’s up, Sweetcheeks?” FUCK AARON T. SCARED YOU.

T. chuckled at the way you jumped slightly as he sat down next to you on the bench, drying his face and sweaty body with a towel while he drank from his bottle. The five bottles and the towels were next to you on the ridiculously huge bench, you even thought about doing bowling with them, if you’d know how to do that.

“It’s hot.” You whined. “I’m bored.” You continued. “And I’m tired without even moving. How are you still alive?” You were swinging your feet as you talked, the two horses now on the bench on the other side of you.

But like, really. Did being shirtless help? Or it was the moving? He’s fit and you’re not? He’s 22? He was weird.

“I’m okay, Little Z. This is just a quick break then we’re back at it again.” T. told you as he closed the bottle and put it back at it’s place, taking a look at the others still playing before looking back at you. “But you need to be careful when it’s hot like this, baby. Do you need anything?”

“No I don’t.” You shook your little head. You didn’t think you did, but not like you wanted to do anything right now.

“Oh yes you do.” Walked Aaron Z. over to the two of you, patting T.’s shoulder to tell him that he can go now.

With that, T. and Z. switched places, now Z. sitting next to you, taking the tube of sunscreen next to the bottles before putting you into his lap with a quiet. “C’mere.”

“But I already have sunscreen on!”

“But you need more.” Z.’s expression stayed the usual I-wouldn’t-care-if-there-was-a-bomb-on-my-back face, popping open the small tube and applying some to the tip of his fingers. He pushed your hair back with one hand and he applied it to your puffy face with the other, happy that you’re not complaining while he’s putting it on.

You put your tongue out a little, angry that it was a defeat. “But the sunscreen is warm now! It was out in the sun too! Didn’t it get a sunburn?”

“Don’t be stupid and let me finish.”

By those words, people would think he didn’t care. But he did. His fingers were soft, gentle, as if he was afraid that he’d break you any moment. Z. was careful to apply it everywhere where the sun reached you. When he was finished, he took his bottle to pour some water into his palm before getting your scalp wet with it.

And the water was sooo cold it was SO good!

Just a moment after him finally drinking, which he thought could wait after he made sure you’re all safe from the sun, Z. scratched you behind your ear. The paparazzi would eat this moment up.

“Don’t you need sunscreen?” You asked him, pouting that he applied yours perfectly, so you couldn’t even slip out of his hands because of the slippery sunscreen. No, he had to do it perfectly.

“No.”

“Then can you put sunscreen on my horsies too? Or can I put it on for them?” You asked him, eyes shining as you pointed to the two horses next to the two of you on the bench.

A few seconds of silence went by, and your big brother sighed. But then he grabbed the tube of sunscreen off the bench, and started applying it on the horse toys’ ears, one by one.

“Thank you!” You chirped as you stood up on his lap, quickly hugging his neck before you climbed out of his lap, back to your place.

They were always surprised how bubbly you were. How cute, oh my god. Look at you! You were always smiling, you loved every bug, every flower and everyone with no break at all! Tae was an absolute sweetheart to you and Z. was… Z., but you still treated them the same!

Not caring if Z. didn’t hug back sometimes.

With that, he was gone. Back on the game, with T. clinging into his neck like you did before, whining that how much he missed him and they were totally going to lose.

They all looked so sweaty and hot. It was weird how they weren't even thinking about how much they sweat, or that they were shirtless. That's the difference between boys and girls, boys can just do whatever they want without caring.

You envied them. Not for the fame or something like that, no.

For being boys, being older than you, being free when around each other, having fun.

You had fun too, but there was something different about boys being boys. Their personalities. The way that Z. looked like he’s going to hit his head into the wall until there’s a dent in his forehead every time T. decided to have a conversation. You liked watching them.

But you quickly got bored of this thought chain too.

You got off the bench and ran off into the big garden of the mansion, taking your horse toys with you. Your little legs ran off, your small hands holding the horse toys while you ran. The grass was soft beneath your feet, and you felt the sun on your puffy little face.

You didn't know where you were walking, but you went deeper and deeper into the huge garden while your big brother played with the others and laughed at each other. They were still yelling and swearing at each other, like they always do. They were nice to be around, you just couldn’t focus on something for more than 30 minutes.

You found yourself in a very quiet place. It was so calm and peaceful.

You were so busy playing with the grass, dirt, mud and flowers and bugs. It was like this little place belonged just to you, that you didn’t notice that sun was starting to go down, creating the most beautiful colors as it settled in the west. You had your bug friends named one by one, the rock castle you built just for them, their personalities and connections, you didn’t need anything else!

Well, maybe except another round of sunscreen. You didn’t know how long you were out in the sun, but you had fun. Had fun, it’s just that your face felt hot. And legs. And it had a funny feeling with it.

Mhm, shit.

Aaron Z.-1

You-0

You stayed longer than you should have. You knew that.

You won at having fun, but definitely lost at being scolded.

The sky was now a weak blue and pink color, the sun was about to set and it was so calm and peaceful just being outside in the garden by yourself. You didn’t care about your sunburn, but that wouldn’t stop your big brother from getting very, very angry once he saw you.

“There you are.”

You turned around as you heard your big brother’s voice, he found you! Hi Z.!!

"How long were you here?" He said sternly, not even giving you the time to explain as he quickly walked towards you. Just to notice that you were basically swimming in dirt, and.. was that a bug crawling on your arm?

“Umm.. since you put sunscreen on me and my horses.” You smiled, dusting off your dirty hands on your little overall. Tae chose your clothes for today, you thought he had a good taste! Even though that good taste, you already ruined it with the mud, so you didn’t stand up from the grass. You loved sitting in it!

He groaned, knowing that you definitely did get a sunburn.

“It’s been 5 hours. You’ve been out here with no protection from the sun. Have you seen your face?” He said, pointing towards your face as he crouched down to your level.

His hands slowly approached your cheeks, as he brushed your face, feeling how hot it was. Fuuuck.

“No, but it does hurt though..” You mumbled, patting your little arms with your little hands. “And my arm does too..” And it was hot. And it felt bad.

You realized now how burned you were by the sun. That was not good.

"Show me your shoulders and back," your big brother said with concern as he took off your overall and pulled down your undershirt slightly, to check your back and shoulders.

"This is not good. At all. Get up." He frowned, his eyes softening up for a moment. Then he sighed. He lifted you up effortlessly and carried you. You saw him doing all typa sports before, but it was so cool that how easy he could carry you!

You were always amazed by him.

He was going straight to Jesse with you. He knew that you liked talking to Jesse, and he also knew that Jesse enjoyed your company too. He knew how to deal with kids of course, so Z. often asked for advice from him.

“Mmhmhm.” You groaned. You didn’t want to go inside, you wanted to stay out to play. Though, your skin hurt and you felt hot and tired so you didn’t complain. Not like you really had the energy to. So, you laid your puffy cheek on his collarbone, not caring that it hurt, you didn’t rest your little heavy head for hours. And you pretty much needed that.

He probably didn’t know how to express it, but he really did feel bad for you. He really did care and most of all, he loved you. A lot. This was new to him too and he wanted to do it right, and even he didn’t know, Z. did it the best. He was the best.

[ahundredtimesover]

Missing our plm couple extra today. Wonder what they’re doing 🫶🏼

I’ve had this on my drafts for a while and decided to finish it with the image of long-haired and glasses JK in mind. It sort of sets up the stage for the The Fight as well. I hope you enjoy 🥰

Title: Please Love Me Bonus 06 - I tell you everything.

WC: 4,421

Tags/Warnings: suggestive

Series Masterlist

Five minutes. Jungkook’s phone pings.

No 10.

Or maybe 15 sorry hun I’m still packing up but also it’s the last day of class so everyone’s chatting it up oh you can come in if you want! Another ping. 

Jungkook laughs at your run-on sentences and knows you’ll be cringing at them later. But he’s also imagining you looking a little stressed, trying to multitask between fixing your tools and saying your goodbyes to your classmates. 

He turns off the engine and exits the car. It’s when he gets another message - Kook, can you come? I need help with my things 🥺 - that he jogs the block to the art studio and makes a left to the hallway where your class is. 

He looks around, in awe of how the decor at the west wing quickly changes. In the half year that you’ve been enrolled in your drawing class, he’s visited you a few times and each time, the art pieces hanging on the wall have been different. He’d spied a few of yours, too, and he’d spent too much time just admiring your work and imagining what inspired you or what you were thinking, something he always asked you about later on. 

But one other thing he likes to do when he picks you up is peek through the half-wall window and not-so-creepily watch you work on your piece - focused eyes surrounded by your soft features, with only a look of determination mixed with pure passion for the craft. You did say you’ve come to love drawing after all. 

It’s through his visits that your classmates have come to know him, too - that first time, one asked if he was the nude art model and another yelled they wished he was. Jungkook didn’t miss your slightly embarrassed and flushed face when you finally claimed him as your husband. The room melted into a puddle, with oohs and ahhs reverberating through the walls when he greeted you with a forehead kiss and picked up your things as he often does. 

Jungkook does all those again today. He sees one of your pieces and imagines what you were thinking of as you painted the sky green, then he turns to the room where the sound of applause catches his attention. But then his smile - the one he’s been sporting since this afternoon when he got to free up his evening so he could attend your event with you tonight - fades, his eyebrows furrowing and a pout forming on his face. 

He’s familiarized himself with all your classmates and colleagues, and that half-naked man with firm pectorals and large biceps and chiseled jaw and sharp nose is definitely not one of them. 

Back inside, you’re busy putting away all your pencils giggling at the light banter between your classmates. You’d asked Jungkook to help you with some of your things and you know he’s probably waiting outside.  

Before your gaze wanders outside, you look around the room and meet deep-set, hazelnut eyes - intense and paralyzing as they bore into you. You’re quite surprised, and as you zip up your bag, you accidentally hit your easel. You shut your eyes as reflex, ready for it to make that sound as it hits the floor. 

But it doesn’t.

“You nervous or something?” 

The man’s voice is deep. It’s familiar, and as you look up, you know why it is. 

He’s putting in place the easel that you almost knocked over. He’s got a smirk on, and you wonder if your flushed form has anything to do with it. You didn’t really expect that the man whose backside you were drawing just minutes ago would be speaking to you. The models for your nude drawing class don’t exactly interact with the artists - it’s kind of weird to do that when strangers have basically seen every part of you. 

But he’s here in front of you with a twinkle in his eyes that have now softened, and you’re only able to shake your head. Sure, he's handsome, but he’s also still half-naked - you’re not exactly sure how to process that outside of your drawing bubble.

“You’re rushing, then?” He asks.

“Uh, sort of?” You chuckle, relaxing a little as you try to focus on just his face.

“That’s a shame. I heard that Mrs. Yang’s treating your class to dinner and she invited me. I was really hoping I’d see you there,” he replies.

“Oh? I’ve got an event tonight. Is there something you wanted to tell me?”

“Sort of,” he chuckles now. “I’ve modeled for some of her other classes and no one draws me quite like you do. They seem so real and so intimate. Mrs. Yang said I could personally ask you if I could bring home your drawings of me. I like how you’re able to capture the—”

He’s cut off by the sound of a throat clearing and Jungkook turning you towards him with a deep kiss on your lips, his hand gripping your waist tightly as he lingers on your skin.

“Hey, babe,” he says.

“Kook,” you blink up at him, surprised again by the desperation in his actions. “Hi,” you recover, smiling at his presence despite the scowl on his face. 

“You ready to go?” He sounds in a hurry, uninterested.

“Yeah, I was just talking to Samuel. He was asking for my drawings of him.”

“Is he now?” Jungkook arches an eyebrow and crosses his arms. He looks up and down the man in question who still has a smirk on his face.

“I am,” Samuel replies, assessing your husband from head to toe just the same. “___ draws me so beautifully. Her pieces make the hours-long process of posing nude all worth it. She’s got an amazing eye, among other things.” 

If you didn’t really care much for him earlier, now, you don’t care much for him at all. You want to tell him off for how shameless he’s being, but the selfish and silly part of you wants to know how your husband would react and well, follow up that sudden kiss he gave you to get your attention.

“She does,” Jungkook replies. “She’s obviously talented but she’s also had some practice. I mean, I’m her muse when it comes to this… nude drawing thing and yeah, I know all about posing for so long being worth it.”

Jungkook gives you a naughty smile and you know exactly what he’s thinking about. “It’s quite the gift when you’re married to an artist, you know?”

“Ah, you’re married, I see,” Samuel hums, glancing at your left hand that’s now sporting the ring that you remove every time you draw or paint.  “That’s good. For both of you. Not for me but yeah, I shouldn’t be surprised,” he turns to you, chuckling now, realizing at how stupid he seemed. “But can I still keep the artwork, if that’s okay and not weird for your husband?”

“Her work, her choice,” Jungkook responds. 

“Sure, if it’s as nice as you say it,” you shrug, not minding much. It’s always a compliment when your model reacts that way to your final output. “You can just ask Mrs. Yang for them.”

“It is, I truly mean it,” Samuel smiles more genuinely this time. “And yes, I’ll choose the best one, although that might be difficult. They’re all great.”

“Thank you, Samuel,” you grin, not interested to keep this on. “I’ll get going now. It was a pleasure.”

“It was. I hope to see you around,” he smirks again, and you don’t miss the scowl that graces your husband’s face once more.

You wave goodbye to your classmates and tell them you’ll catch up with them another time. It’s when you exit the building that you turn to Jungkook, his frowned expression turning into a pout. 

“What was that, Mr. Jeon?” You giggle. 

“What?” He’s defensive, even as he takes your hand and leads you down the street. 

“Don’t think I didn’t know what you were doing with that kiss and head-to-toe look and hidden meanings in your words, hmm? Are you threatened?”

You’re teasing, a rarity for you because Jungkook does get quite jealous and you’ve never wanted to push him, but something about him in his work attire, rolled up sleeves with tattoos exposed and all that makes you want to just try. He looks tough like this, especially with his hair that he’s growing out, but the glasses he’s been wearing more frequently just makes him adorable. It’s a kind of sexy that you’ve been enjoying lately. 

“Just never seen him before,” he shrugs. “And he was obviously flirting with you. Like, ‘you’ve got a great eye among other things’? What the fuck does that mean?!”

“Yeah, I thought he was just being friendly until that,” you laugh. “He’s modeled just 3 times including today. He’s apparently an artist, too, so he knows a lot about forms and stuff. So that’s kind of nice, being complimented like that.”

“Hmm, probably. You also couldn’t stop looking at him.”

“Hey!” You nudge Jungkook. “It’s only because his body is so overwhelming, you know?”

“And what about mine?” He frowns.

“Perfect - just the way I like it,” you turn towards him, stopping him in his tracks so he could look at you and see the love in your eyes. “You, my dear husband, are the most handsome and sexiest being in this world, with or without clothes, and I absolutely adore every inch of you, every ridge and every dip and every beauty mark and every scar.”

You cup his cheeks and feel them rise to his eyes as he can’t help but smile at your words. 

“No need to worry, okay?” You assure. “Classes are over and I’m satisfied with my nude drawing abilities already, especially with the muse I’ve got.” You wink, liking how he blushes. He takes your hand and lovingly kisses it before kissing your forehead. 

“Hmm, might want to draw me again soon so that this is the only nude body you’ll remember,” he winks. 

“Oh trust me, this is the only nude body I remember,” you respond, resting your palms on his chest.

He takes the opportunity to pull you closer, his warm breath tingling your skin. “Good. I’ll keep reminding you though, maybe tonight? Or right when we get home?” He hums in satisfaction and kisses your lips.

You giggle in his hold. “Kook, we’re in public,” you remind him, as an old woman chuckles as she passes by you both. 

“I don’t care,” he huffs.

“I do,” you answer, though your words don’t have a bite in them.

“You didn’t answer my question,” he arches a brow.

“Do I need to?” You tease, tracing his defined pecs underneath his silk polo as you bite your lip.

“Fuck, let’s go.”

You arrive at the grand estate of Mr. Lee that’s right at the edge of the city. It took a while to get here, as you and Jungkook took too much time feeling each other up before you actually got dressed, but it was something you didn’t mind. He gets riled up when he gets jealous, and you’d shyly told him it was quite a turn on. You would’ve passed up on this event if it wasn’t so important to you, and he understood. He promised to continue what you’d both started after, though, and that really got you smiling. 

The mansion is buzzing. Clanking sounds of champagne flutes, soft munching of canapés, and laughter and conversations fill the grand room and the hallways nearby. There are many familiar people - and not because you know them from the art world, you know them because of your family and Jungkook’s. Those present in the viewing of Mr. Lee’s private art collection are big names in the business and entertainment industry, after all. But they’re here by personal invitation and their appreciation of art, including you.

It’s a twice a year event, and you’re lucky that one of Mr. Lee’s granddaughters is currently your student in the weekly art class for children that you’ve been teaching for the past few months. Her mother befriended you and was kind enough to invite you tonight, and you couldn’t be happier, especially when Jungkook messaged you earlier that he was able to free up his evening to accompany you here. You’ve been busy with various projects on top of the classes you take and conduct, and you wanted to spend time with your husband, even if half the time you’d be gushing about the pieces anyway, something he said he wouldn’t mind at all.

You find your way to look at a contemporary piece, telling Jungkook about the artist, when someone calls your name. You turn to the side and see a familiar face. 

“Chi-won,” you smile. “It’s good to see you here.”

You return the hug that the man gives you and introduce your husband.

“You, too, although I figured you’d be here,” he grins. “You’re why I got invited in the first place. I heard you recommended the tattoo shop to Mr. Lee’s daughter. She came a few weeks ago and found out I collect art, too, and she invited me tonight. So thank you.”

“Ah, that’s wonderful,” you chirp. “She said her friends aren’t into the arts so she gives the invitations to even acquaintances whom she thinks would appreciate it. I’m glad you get to witness this, too. It’s amazing, isn’t it?”

Jungkook zones out a little once you and your friend start talking about the artists whose works are displayed in the estate. Somehow, art talk is only interesting to him when it’s you who’s talking, so he lets his mind wander a bit until he hears the words that sort of knock him out.

“Loving the tattoo, by the way. It looks really great now that it’s healed,” the man says. 

Saying it’s great means he’s looking at it, and looking at it means he’s got his eyes on the colored ink painted on the valley between your breasts. Much as Jungkook adores the low-cut neckline of your wine-colored satin dress, that obviously also means that other people get a peek at it, too. The tattoo is beautiful - it’s his birth flower, after all, and he feels blessed everyday that you got it because of him, and that he gets to marvel at it every single day. He just doesn’t like the thought of others having that opportunity, too.

“Thank you,” you gush. “You’ve got amazing people at the shop, and that’s because of you. I really love it, and so does my husband. Right, Kook?”

You turn to him and Jungkook manages a curt nod and an almost-whisper of “of course.” Is… is he the man who put this on you?

You and Chi-won say your goodbyes as he heads to the other wing, and you turn to Jungkook with his curious look mixed with a tinge of nervousness.

“He’s a tattoo artist at the shop where I got the flower done,” you say, realizing what your statement could imply once Jungkook’s eyes widen.

“Oh! He didn’t tattoo me, Kook. He just owns the shop,” you explain, not wanting your husband to worry that another man got to see your bare chest. Jungkook’s face relaxes and you hear his sigh of relief. “I told you I’d get a woman to do it even if you didn’t ask for it. I don’t exactly want to expose my body to another man, you know?”

“Just me, huh?” Jungkook shyly smiles now. 

“Of course, honey. No one else.” You kiss his nose and like how his eyes close and how his features soften at the act.

You both continue the tour around the mansion. There’s an entire area dedicated to all the pieces - paintings, sculptures, mixed media art - and you gush at each one. Somehow Jungkook feels like it’s just you and him in your own little bubble. Even with the people you greet every once in a while, you choose to experience the collection with just him, even if you know he doesn’t understand half of the things you’re explaining - he’s said he likes just hearing the tone of your voice and the way your eyes crinkle when you talk about the things that make you happy.

Unfortunately, he has to burst that, as he takes an important work call and excuses himself. It takes 15 minutes but when he returns, there you are with yet another man gushing over you, it seems like, as the tall man with incredibly strong features and perfect hair shows you photos from his phone and laughs along with you.

Jungkook stands there, not wanting to burst the bubble you have with another person who gets you, in that sense - someone who gets your art, your world, your passion, and who gets to respond to you with more than just “ah, that’s cool,” the way he does. So he lets you have your moment, your space. He’ll step in in a while, he tells himself.

“Why is it that every time I see you in one of these things, you’ve always got that look on your face as you watch your wife socialize with another man from afar?”

Jungkook knows the voice before he even turns to the side and finds Kim Namjoon, your brother’s close friend and a staple in these events as an art collector himself. He’s become familiar to Jungkook, too, finding him during the times when he’s stuck on his spot as he chooses to observe you from afar. Because the man’s right - this happens more frequently than Jungkook likes to admit.

“It comes with marrying a talented and beautiful woman, I guess,” Jungkook chuckles. “I’m used to it.”

“Well, it’s her world and she stands out,” Namjoon responds.

“She stands out anywhere, actually, with anyone,” Jungkook responds, letting the thought settle in before he continues. “The man’s this big shot executive and a single dad. His 5-year old is in her art class and the kid adores her so I don’t blame the guy for admiring my wife. She’s great with kids.”

“Is it really admiration, though? Looks like he’s just showing off his son to her,” Namjoon observes, as the man holds up his phone to show you various photos to both of your delight. You’re laughing along with the man, smiling as he shows more.

“Yeah? I mean, look at the way he looks at her,” Jungkook responds.

He should be used to it by now. You have a comforting charm about you, and if he wasn’t a stuck up teenager, he would’ve realized that very early on. But no; he’d shut you out and only got to see just how good it is to be around you once he’d married you.

Your students in art class are a testament to that - it’s no wonder you were asked to add another schedule because the kids enjoy your sessions that much. Their parents are a testament to that as well. Even strangers are. But it hits differently, as he sees how the man softly watches you laugh and coo at his own son. There’s a certain glow on your face when it comes to children - Jungkook won’t blame anyone for finding that beautiful. 

“Hmm, it’s nothing compared to the way she looks at you, though,” Namjoon says. “You’d be laughing or something, or socializing when you’re in your world, and she’d be looking at you with the brightest stars in her eyes.”

Jungkook looks at the older man with questioning eyes. 

“I’ve been to some of your family’s galas, Jungkook. She hangs with me sometimes when you’re off to do your duties, and it always made me smile how adoringly she looked at you, whether up close or from afar.”

“That’s, uh… that’s nice to know,” Jungkook hums, feeling his heartbeat quicken. 

“And it shouldn’t be news to you anymore. She may be catching a lot of people’s attention but at the end of day, all she wants is you.”

And right on cue, you look around and find him, your soft eyes asking if he’s okay. Jungkook nods - to you and to Namjoon’s suggestion of going over to you. 

“Hey, hun,” you take his hand as he gets closer. “This is Woobin, Sunoo’s dad. He was just showing me photos of them painting the new playroom.” You turn to the other man. “This is Jungkook, my husband.”

“Hi,” Jungkook shakes Woobin’s hand. “So you’re the father of the famous Sunoo. It’s nice to meet you.”

“Ah, so she’s talked about him,” Woobin chuckles. “And yes, I am. My son adores your wife, as many of the kids and their parents surely do.”

“___ talks about the kids at her class all the time,” Jungkook smiles, realizing it now. “They just make her so happy.”

Despite your busy schedule full of your own classes and the ones you run, on top of your actual job at the art firm and being an artist yourself, you’re devoid of any stress once you start talking about your students. You know what they like to paint or draw, know how to help them improve, and have so many ideas to make them appreciate art even more. It’s no wonder they love you as much as they do.

“Ah, that’s no surprise. I’m just glad my son got to enroll in her class. I heard it’s tough to get into it now since she’s in demand,” Woobin states. “But it was nice to meet you, Jungkook, and nice to see you again, ___. Sunoo will be happy to know I saw you tonight.”

You and Jungkook bid him goodbye and you turn to your husband, smiling sweetly at him. 

“I’ve seen everything tonight,” you inform him. “Another round of desserts and then we can go?”

“Sure, but I’m suddenly craving for churros and ice cream,” he responds.

“Hmm, let’s go to McDonald’s, then.”

“Alright, but uh, are you cold? Do you want to put this on?”

Jungkook removes his coat and offers it to you, and though you know the breeze outside is manageable, you take it, somehow wanting him much closer tonight. You also know that perhaps it’s your low neckline that he’s a bit wary of. 

“Sure, Kook. Thank you.”

You lean on Jungkook’s shoulder and hum in satisfaction over the strawberry-flavored sundae. “Hmm, this is almost just as good as the desserts at the event.”

“Babe, McDonald’s is always just as good or better than anything,” Jungkook says with a half-full mouth. “It’s truly amazing.”

“It is. Somehow it cleanses our palette of rich-people stuff, doesn’t it?” You laugh and he joins you. It’s something that sparked your bond in the beginning, after all, and that hasn’t changed. 

“Yeah, but it’s also just my happy food, you know? Grease, sweets, unhealthy stuff… delicious.”

“Happy food, huh? Did something upset you tonight? Or maybe someone?” You ask, wanting to know if him stepping away while you spoke with Woobin has something to do with it. 

“Not really. Woobin didn’t cross a line,” Jungkook says, an admission that he knows what you’re talking about. “I mean, he was looking at you like a man with a crush, though, and I can’t blame him but he knew his boundaries. Good for him.”

“Of course he does, Kook. He knows I have a husband.”

“Yes, after you told him you couldn’t have coffee with him when he asked you out, which means that he was interested and he probably still is, like that nude model who was definitely into you.”

You turn to look at him who’s busy with his sundae but clearly bothered, but not enough to be angry. You’ve always been honest with him, the way he’d always been honest about the women at the Clubhouse who’d thrown themselves at him after one of his soccer games. You’ve always trusted each other, and you’re just glad that that’s always been enough to not have any miscommunication or arguments because of it.

“Ah, Samuel. Yeah, that was new.”

“Oh? He’s never hinted on a crush? Dude was looking at you like you were all he could see,” Jungkook shakes his head. 

“Yeah, then you came in with a kiss and swept me off my feet,” you teasingly roll your eyes. “How romantic.”

“Sorry, it was just reflex,” he explains. 

“I know, but you have nothing to worry about, okay? I tell you everything. Maybe not the mundane interactions or insignificant things that I easily forget but the important ones.”

“I know,” he says, smiling at you. “And you know I tell you everything, too.”

“You do,” you smile back. “But thank you for making it tonight. You’ve been so busy and I’m just glad I got to be with you.”

“Anything for you, babe. You’ve been so busy, too, and honestly, I didn’t mind moving the meeting with my father since I wasn’t really ready. Plus, all I had to say was that I was accompanying you to an art event and he let me go. You’re a spoiled daughter-in-law, you know that?”

You laugh at his teasing and the fact that your husband had the gall to ask his own father and boss to move a meeting for you. 

“I am, actually. And now it benefits you, too!”

“It benefits both of us,” he corrects. “But tonight was good. I mean, I kinda had to ward off certain men but I didn’t mind. It was still a fun one.”

“It was,” you hum, basking in his boyish smile and the twinkle in his eyes. Something comes alive inside you when he looks at you this way, and amidst the midnight buzzing of a McDonald’s in the city, you move closer and kiss his lips, gentle but wanting, and you feel him smile even wider against you.

“Babe, we’re in public,” he teases, and much as he likes to do that, he also enjoys it when you get a little flustered even when you mouth that you ‘don’t care.’

You peck his cheek and pull him, and as you walk to the car with his coat over your shoulder, as you talk about the art collection all the way home, and as you share a bath and then lie bare underneath the covers with your tangled limbs, Jungkook only knows this - this is your world, and in the one you both share, you’re the only two people who matter.

Series Masterlist

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[what-gs-watching]

"You guys are like a dead married couple on acid."

Y’ALL, I watched Dead Boy Detectives. Which really, should come as no surprise. Because of the whole Neil Gamain thing. But also because that kind of weird is right up my alley.

I have to say, I’m absolutely loving this trend of teen-shows-with-absolutely-wild-shit-happening. This was not a thing when I was younger, and I thoroughly appreciate it. Why did I only have Dawson’s Creek and Sabrina the Teenage Witch and fucking Boy Meets World? Don’t get me wrong, I love all of those but what I really would have benefited from was teen drama with fucked up situations. Gen Z is kind of lucky I guess? (LOL jk except for the entire state of the world, but at least they get good shows…)

Wherein two teenaged ghosts form a detective agency to help solve cases for other ghosts that would otherwise go ignored, while running from death lest they be forced into the afterlife and separated, making friends with a psychic and other humans along the way. 

The thing is, you gotta let go with this show. It gets INCREDIBLY weird and you have to roll with it. Edwin’s death by accidental satanic sacrifice? Sure. Crystal the psychic purposely letting a demon possess her? Okay yeah. A supernatural entity that controls all cats in a small town, ridiculously named the Cat King? Harder to swallow, but I guess. A literal crow that gets turned into a boy who loves astrology? Confusing but, go on.  Incredibly aggressive and vulgar sprites eventually locked up in a jar? Actually, that’s hilarious I’m good with that. 

Truly, it’s absurd. And surprisingly violent. But also, and again no surprise, I was all about the underlying subtext between Edwin, who died in 1916, and his relationship with Charles, who died in 1989. I will always get behind a decades long ‘will they won’t they’ even if it’s between ghosts. Because I’m a fucking sucker for boys maybe being in love. And the entire trope in general. I love love, gang, even if it’s surrounded by horrible things happening. Maybe even more, if it is? I’m not sure what that says about me, but I’m WITH it. 

Also there is a TON going on in this show, they cover an incredible amount in 8 episodes. I always appreciate shows that can carry an overall storyline and smaller ones in a good balance. Monster of the week slash lore smushed together is always so satisfying. 

I’ve seen some reviews talking about the acting being less than stellar but like, they’re supposed to be kids. Everything is dramatic to kids. Who cares? They carried it as best as they could, and there isn’t anything really that stuck out to me as absolutely cringe worthy. Yeah they look older than they’re meant to but again, who cares. Let go, people. 

AND how excited was I to see the actress that played Rowena in Supernatural as the Night Nurse? Absolutely perfect choice. If they get another season I can’t wait to see her relationship with the boys grow. 

Thinking about it, maybe I like teen dramas that are absolutely not grounded in reality because it’s easier to stomach the allegories they want you to, that way. Edwin learns to confront his feelings, both about Charles and with the kid that inadvertently caused his death. Crystal struggles with her memory and the person she used to be versus the person she wants to be. Niko has to figure out how to have friends again after becoming a shut-in. Charles struggles with memories from his life and feeling powerless, choosing to paper a happy face over it instead. Jenny has to confront her distrust of literally everyone and her fear of love (even if that went  horribly wrong). 

I don’t want to be beaten over the head with life lessons (I still haven’t finished Dawson’s Creek, it’s just too much to take sometimes) but I WILL absorb them while characters fight off horrible witches and try to defeat sea monsters. Ya girl clearly needs to be tricked into learning things. Don’t we all? Isn’t it better that way?  

I mean, you’re still getting force fed those slightly saccharine sentiments, for sure, but it’s easier  to swallow.  Gimme a little bit of spice with that sweet, please. 

The point is: this show is adorable. Can a show that’s about ghosts and witches and general supernatural fuckery be adorable? I don’t care, it totally is. And it slightly quenched my unending Good Omens thirst for like, a minute, and that’s obviously incredibly hard to do. 

So, I’m here for it. Gimme more Dead Boys.

[imbestforyou]

fireworks

pairing: jj maybank x reader (she/her)

summary: you meet jj at a fourth of july kegger and watch the fireworks together

approx. reading time: around four minutes

warnings: drinking, smoking, keggers, really short, not edited very well

note: this is awful but whatever thanks for being patient with me 😭 (also i struggle with sticking to past-tense and/or present-tense so if you see mistakes pls ignore)

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you never drinked or smoked. it was something you promised yourself when you were younger. seeing your parents absolutely ruin their lives over it, made you never want to try it. therefore you never went to parties, cause really what would you do with a bunch of drunk, high, and horny teenagers?

“come on, it’ll be really fun! and maybe you’ll meet someone cute there, you never know!” ashley pressures.

you cringe at the thought, “what would i even do all night anyways?”

“idk.. mingle! come on! it’s summertime and you’ve done nothing but be in bed by 8:30. i promise after this no more parties.” before you can continue arguing with her she starts going through your closet, finding something for you to wear. by the time you had to leave you were dressed in a white top with blue accents and jean shorts.

being fully surrounded by teenagers you didn’t know made you uncomfortable. and all you could think about was that everybody could probably tell. ashley mumbles something about a drink and a cute guy so after she leaves, you walk away from the log you two were sitting at and instead sit down next to a tree a little farther away from the kegger. you sit on your phone for what felt like hours before getting up to go find ashley, who is also your ride.

but as your getting up someone bumps into you and you feel liquid spill all over your white shirt.

“oh my god!” you look down at your shirt, complete ruined and stained.

“shit- i’m so sorry” you look up to see a blonde haired boy with an empty red solo cup in his hands. behind him you hear three teens snickering in the back and watch as they run away.

“is that beer?” you ask irritated. he starts chuckling at your question.

“i mean do you see the color? what else would it be?” he drops the solo cup on the ground before reaching in his pockets for napkins.

“very funny.” you glare at him.

you pause for a minute before continuing, “honestly it’s okay, i just want to get home and forget i even came here in the first place.” you go to grab your purse and your almost dead phone.

“the fireworks haven’t started yet though.” he says taking out a cigarette and lighting it.

“i don’t care. and sorry but can you not smoke near me.” you air out the smoke that’s in front of your nose.

“why? are you asthma- asthmathatic- uh.” he stutters trying to find the right word.

you laugh at the blonde’s attempt at saying the word. “asthmatic?” he nods. “well then no i’m not i just don’t like people smoking near me.”

“is that why you’ve been sitting by this tree for the last three hours on your phone instead of actually talking to people?” he teases.

“are you stalking me? that’s a little weird- um sorry i didn’t catch your name.”

“jj.” he takes his hand out so you can shake it.

you accept it, “y/n.”

“so are you from here? i’ve never seen you around.” he throws his cigarette in the nearest trash can as you continue walking out the kegger. he follows close behind you.

you clutch your purse closer to you as you walk to keep it from falling, “no actually, i live in maine but my grandparents are from here and i wanted to get away for the summer.”

“maine wow, so what do you do up there? it’s up.. right?” he’s walking close next to you now, a couple feet away from the scene you both had come from.

you laugh at his lack of knowledge, “yeah yea- it’s up from outer banks. close to new hampshire, massachusetts you know. but honestly when i’m over there i don’t do much. i just go to school get home and the cycle repeats.”

“hmm. so how do you know audrey, if you’re not from around here?”

“you really are a stalker huh?” you tease him.

he shakes his head smiling at me, “i’m just observant is all.”

“she’s a family friend i guess. this is my first time here since i was like three so i don’t know many people.”

“well now you know me.”

“yeah, i guess i do.” he stops walking after a couple seconds of silence.

“i know i caught ya on your way out but we could still go watch the fireworks together.” he takes his hands through his hair and with the streetlight hitting his face this is the first time you’ve had a good look at him. and you blush a little at the invite and maybe also cause he’s cute.

you sigh, “yeah yeah, that’d be fun.”

[nightgoodomens]

do you really believe that they are poly? what I see looks more like david and Michael are the couple. d&gt look staged, calculated. like there's effort to include her as something other than his ex. sorry Anna, but you look like the 'date' the studio set up.

I don’t think it’s like that tbf. It’s very difficult to tell what the exact arrangement is and we will never know, let’s be honest. Below I’m going a little bit into my thoughts regarding GT/DT based on the stuff I’ve learned recently here so please don’t read if it makes you uncomfortable. I know it’s a sensitive subject and frankly I’m unsure of a lot myself when it comes to them so it’s mostly wondering really and trying to look at a few facts.

I can’t make my mind up regarding GT. I will always acknowledge the nice stuff she does but I can’t ignore the questionable things either. Ironically this should technically make me fairly objective I guess...

GT and DT are a weird mix. GT put a lot of work into creating a brand out of their marriage over the years and when you read about how it all began it makes sense why because there was a lot of dirt to cover. There is also the issue of her whole thing being DT because she didn’t accomplish anything on her own no matter how much money DT has put into everything she has ever tried over the years and it’s still going on (I just wish I didn’t need to suffer from that - sorry but she really can’t act). But creating a brand out of their marriage, a whole perfect image, is her biggest accomplishment. Girl should have went into PR.

Do I feel pure love out of their relationship? Not exactly. He often appears irritated. Her posts are usually focused on showing that she scored him and eg when she had him take a pic of them with her lying behind him with her holding his award and writing “mine”… really? That’s how you celebrate your man’s accomplishment? Especially compared to how much he was beaming with his boyfriend that night and how MS celebrated him… It was a harsh difference. More recently DT did BAFTAs and it’s her looking at camera with him on the side “Look the cool guy is into me! This is about me!”. I just… eh not my style. Gives me the cringe. Gives me an attitude of a woman who’s jealous of her man’s accomplishments when her only one is scoring him and she wants to show off to young fans and make it about her every time. Why it’s never purely about him? Im not even going into the PR kiss and articles.

It’s sad really.

I don’t know how much *real* love there is between them and how much an arrangement that worked out for them for many years. So I guess fondness has grown too? Acceptance? Maybe actual love developed? Everyone screams “kids” but it’s really not that difficult to make them, just in case anyone wonders. Especially when alcohol is involved which she let everyone know herself.

Maybe it did develop into true love. I don’t see it but that doesn’t mean I’m right. Maybe it’s a mix of PR and love.

Her job did change recently with DT changing the arrangement though because MS is now involved. The rumour is that their marriage has always been open which doesn’t surprise me, especially since she wasn’t seemingly against MS/DT since the beginning but I do wonder how it feels when it’s not just fucking around and actual genuine love that develops between the man you perhaps never had the real deal with and now he found it with someone else.

I don’t think she’s going anywhere. She’d never support MS/DT if that was the case. So that’s where the poly idea is coming from - it’s DT and GT and separately DT and MS. Nothing else. I think it was once more of a marriage plus a romance on the side but now it’s two “marriages” hence the change in narrative since December.

Those are my thoughts and guesses. Maybe I’m completely wrong. I really don’t know. The one thing I know though is that things are never as pure as a celebrity is trying to force you to believe and a lot of work has been put into creating a brand out of GT/DT.

And that’s always for a reason.

[dangans-ur-ronpas]

Chapter 10

Byakuya does not get to go to bed :/

SEE HERE FOR GENERAL WARNINGS AND FIC SUMMARY

Some pre-chapter notes:

headcanoning Chihiro as transmasc here!

Byakuya throwing up death flags

This one was so much fun to write...Chihiro you are so everything to me...

beta read by @moonlighttogami!

Content warning tags: I don't think any apply here actually?

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There’s someone outside his door as he approaches, however.

He feels a vein beginning to jump in his temple as he registers who it is. Fujisaki, the programmer, was apparently more persistent than he originally gave credit, and is hovering at the entrance of his room. She fidgets as she notices their approach, and hesitates a moment before speaking up. “Um…”

“Didn’t I make it clear that I’m not interested?” He says flatly. She cringes at that, but surprisingly, doesn’t run off this time. It seems that she had grown a spine since they last spoke. “Listen. I don’t care for women like you, especially not ones that are as fragile as paper.”

“I-I’m not here for anything like that!” She yelps, face pinking. “That…can we talk? Please? In secret?”

“You’re really going to ask that now?” He raises an eyebrow at her, unimpressed, and she colors further. “Are you that stupid?”

“Byakuya,” Makoto nudges him with his elbow. His voice is soft, careful. “Maybe you should hear her out, okay? I don’t think she would’ve come up to you if it wasn’t important.”

“I can’t imagine what she has to say that could be important to me.” He scoffs back. But Makoto elbows him again, and he sighs. “Fine. Let’s go to the bathhouse; I’ll hear you out there.”

Fujisaki turns between him, then to Makoto, as if about to ask something, but he turns and begins walking away, and hears her footsteps hurrying after him. Makoto is walking beside her, saying something with intention to comfort.

“He’s really not that bad,” he’s saying, in a tragically awful attempt at a hushed whisper. “He just doesn’t like hanging out with people.”

“I-it’s okay,” Fujisaki murmurs back, equally terrible at moderating her volume. “I don’t mind it, it’s actually part of why I need to talk to him…”

What the hell are they talking about, he thinks. He still isn’t wholly convinced that this isn’t Fujisaki’s attempt at a misplaced high-school romance, and frankly he’s not interested in having to deal with such a thing a second time in one night. But Makoto had urged him to consider it, at least, and now here they were.

In the bathhouse, he takes a seat on one of the benches, crossing one leg over the other and waiting imperiously, for Fujisaki to explain herself. The girl trembles, shaking like a leaf, until he snaps. “Well? Or did you just call me here to waste my time.”

“N-no! It’s, well…” She hesitates, and he clicks his tongue, annoyed. At once, he can hear sniffling. “U-um…”

“If you cry, I’m leaving.”

“I’m not! M’not, just- give me a moment.” There’s another sniffle, and she scrubs hastily at her eyes. “Okay. Um, Byakuya…I think I know your secret.”

There is a pause as he digests those words. But he frowns, eyes narrowing - how had she done that? Had she managed to see the contents of his envelope when Fukawa was peeking at it? “...Explain.”

“Your secret…it’s your eyes, r-right? You can’t see.” She says it slowly, cautiously, and he simultaneously feels himself relax and tense at the same time. “I-I noticed it before the motive announcement! Um, sorry…”

He doesn’t reply for a moment. To be honest, it was a relief - so it wasn’t the contents of the envelope that she knew about, but rather, his eyes - but it was also just as much a danger. Now, it was Makoto, Kirigiri, and Fujisaki who knew of his condition. “How did you realize it?”

As if bolstered by the confirmation, she perks up. “It was when you were reading! Um, during mealtimes, you’d usually have a book or something…but it was weird how you were reading it.” She taps a finger to her chin, remembering. “It was…I pay a lot of attention to how people’s pupils move, because I was working on a program before we came here that could allow people to enter a virtual world, and part of that involved tracking eye-movement, but we don’t have any equipment that could let me continue code development so I just found myself watching people’s eyes for research-”

“Stop blathering. What’s your point.”

“R-right! Um, the point is…your eyes weren’t moving like someone else’s would when they read. Rather than reading…it was like you were trying to pretend to read? Your pupils kept moving back and forth at different intervals.” Without thinking, he reaches up to touch his eyes, but catches himself, and instead adjusts his glasses. “Like…you were forgetting that you were reading, almost? When I talked to Kirigiri, she said that she suspected it too.”

“Is that why the both of you came to see me in the library the other day?”

“Y-yeah, I…I wanted to help.” There’s a determined edge to her voice, and she straightens up, confident. “Um, I was tinkering with the e-handbooks a little before the last trial, and I found out that there’s a function that can read out the apps and settings and stuff out loud…and, since there’s a camera on the handbooks, I’m pretty sure I can rig it to read other text out loud, too. Like a text-to-voice function.”

“Really?” He stands up, and grabs her shoulders. If that was true…it meant he could read things on his own. Have some semblance of control over his surroundings that didn’t rely on anyone else.

Granted, he did have Makoto read to him nearly the whole day today as they went through files, but it wasn’t necessarily the best experience for either of them. Makoto read too slowly at some points, or had difficulty with certain words, and after only a few hours had requested a break for the sake of his throat. The progress they made was less than optimal.

“U-um…” She wobbles on her heels. “P-please…”

He suddenly realizes that he must have been shaking her, and hastily let's go. “...My apologies. I got ahead of myself.” He fixes his glasses again, his sleeve cuffs, and tries to calm the small outburst of excitement. It was unbecoming of him, but…this was possibly the best news he’d received since coming here. “But please, elaborate. How would you do this?”

“Th-that’s okay…” Her face is blazing red. “Um, it’s…with this.”

She turns to the flat wall of green tiles behind her, and he belatedly realizes that it’s actually lockers. She unlocks one, and withdraws a laptop - the same one that Kyoko had found in the library - except now, as she opens the lid, it hums quietly with life.

“Hello, Master!”

Makoto gasps as a small, tinny voice chimes from the computer’s speakers. Byakuya can’t make out anything on screen beyond a vague, green glow. “What is this?”

“I-it’s a program…specifically, it’s an AI.” She sets it down on a bench, crouching in front of it. “Um, I’ve named it Alter Ego…Kyoko asked me to see if I could hack into the school network, b-but the firewall is really complex, and it’d take me a long time. A-and, I…I don’t know how long I’ll last here, so…I thought I’d make an AI that could learn and do it without me.”

To say that it’d be easier to create a fully-functioning AI in a course of a few days than to hack into a network was something that only an Ultimate-level computer programmer could say. ”That’s insane.” Byakuya says bluntly, but he can’t help but raise a hand to hide his grin spreading across his face. “Well done.”

“E-eh! Ah, th-thank you…”

Makoto keeps looking between him, then Fujisaki, then the computer, as if in disbelief. “Wait, but…how does this relate to the handbooks?”

“R-right!” She pulls her own handbook out of her pocket. “Um, I tested with my own already, and there hasn’t been anything bad yet…but you can put your own apps onto the handbooks. I…I can put a version of Alter Ego in your handbook that can read text out loud, or describe pictures, and stuff. It wouldn’t be nearly as robust as Alter Ego in the computer, but-”

“That’s perfect.” If he were a lesser man, he might’ve hugged Fujisaki for this. As it is, he claps a hand on her shoulder, nearly knocking her over with his enthusiasm. “Then, shall we get started?”

“W-wait a moment!”

Makoto grabs his arm as he’s pulling his handbook out of his pocket, nearly causing him to drop the thing. At once, he jerks his arm back, lips curling in annoyance. “What do you think you’re doing?”

Makoto stumbles backwards, thrown off. “Sorry-I just-” His face was pink, oddly enough, and he stammers incoherently for a moment. “Um…there was a rule added recently! Where we can’t lend handbooks out to each other, so…so we should be careful, right?”

He grits his teeth, crossing his arms and looking away. But as much as he hates to admit it, Makoto is right; in his excitement, he was forgetting to practice caution. If that was all it took to sway him now, he may as well step down from heir this instant.

“...If I stay here with the handbook, it should be fine.” He says, finally. “But, that does raise a different point. Surely, you’re not doing this for free. What do you really want?”

Whatever it is, as long as it wasn’t at the cost of his life, he was sure he could provide it, or, he could have Makoto help him. Fujisaki seemed smart, and likely wouldn’t ask for anything that was impossible. The girl squirms, rocking back and forth on her heels.

“It…has to do with my secret.” She says, haltingly. “Um, you see, I…I’m not…a girl.”

There’s a quiet pause as the words hang in the air. Byakuya takes a moment to process them, but for the first time in recent memory, he finds himself at a loss for words. “...Okay?”

Apparently, that wasn’t the expected reaction. “I-I’m being serious! I’m really a boy, even though I look like this-” Fujisaki tries to stand too suddenly, and slips, crashing into the ground. “Ow!”

“Makoto, help h - Fujisaki, up.” He pulls his glasses off to rub at the bridge of his nose, suddenly exhausted. “Just…explain yourself.”

It’s a story told with stutters and the occasional sniffle, but it’s not an extraordinary one in Byakuya’s opinion. It’s pitiable, certainly, and to some degree he can understand the need to conceal one’s self for the sake of personal safety and peace. But when the story is over, he can’t help the exasperated sigh that leaves him. “So is that all?”

Fujisaki nods jerkily. During his recounting, he had come close to tears no less than three times by Byakuya’s estimate, but his fists are clenched tightly at his sides. “I don’t care if you tell the others,” He says, with about as much resolution behind his teeth as a man being threatened with torture. “I was planning to tell everyone anyway. But I’m sick of how-how weak I am, and I want to change that!”

It’s an honorable reason, he supposes. He glances at Makoto, who seems dumbfounded by the whole thing, leaning against the wall of lockers. For someone who lived an average, middle-class life without such concerns, this sort of thing must be way over his head.

“Your identity is your business.” Byakuya sighs. “I still fail to see what this has to do with your offer to me.”

“Because…because you’re so strong compared to me.” Fujisaki says this in a hushed voice, face blazing again. “You never really back down to anyone, and you’re always standing up for yourself, even in front of really scary people, and- and even though you’re blind, you don’t let it get to you at all, and it’s just- it’s so- so cool.” He shakes his head, and stands up straight, turning to Byakuya. “I…I want to be strong like you.”

For a moment Byakuya wonders if this really was just a long-winded, complex confession. He’s not sure if he’s relieved or even more bemused by the reality of it. “So, in return for putting Alter Ego on my handbook, you want me to teach you to be strong?” 

Fujisaki nods eagerly.

That’s impossible, is his automatic response. He just barely keeps it locked behind his teeth. But strength - or whatever Fujisaki was mistaking for strength from him - wasn’t something that he could teach.

If he really was strong, things would be different. He wouldn’t need to follow the whims and rules established by people below him. He wouldn’t need to have Makoto follow him around, reading for him like a child. He wouldn’t lose himself to panic, freezing up in dark hallways, or grow desperate enough to try using his own body as a bargaining chip. He was not strong, not right now; he was flawed, desperate, and terribly, constantly afraid.

“...I can’t help you.” He says at last. “What you are describing as ‘strength’ isn’t something that can be taught. I only became this way because I had to, or else everything that I was would have become meaningless.” The inheritance game for his family had been an ugly one, and one that needed him to cast away meaningless sentiments. It had been painful, but the results were clear; he was victorious, while some of his siblings had suffered fates worse than death. 

Fujisaki visibly deflates, but then perks up as he continues. “You’re already strong enough, from what I can tell. You’re smart enough to recognize someone’s fallacies and prepare an appropriate set of negotiations, and you have the willpower and resolve to confess your secret to others. Those things aren’t exactly commonplace, and can be considered strengths in and of themselves.” He pauses, considering. “The only thing you’re really lacking is confidence…and for that, I can advise you, I suppose.” 

At these words, Fujisaki makes as if to say something, before Byakuya cuts him off. “However, it will come at a price.”

“A…price?”

In lieu of a response, he lifts his handbook with a smile. “Put Alter Ego on this, first, and then we’ll talk.”

__

An hour later, he’s sitting on the bench with his handbook open on his lap, a cord running between the little device and Fujisaki’s laptop.

In the end, this was the easiest workaround they could find around Monokuma’s rule on handbook possession. Fujisaki is crouched on the gorund beside him, fingers flying over the keyboard. His eyes are wide with focus, and pressed so close to the screen that his face was tinged green.

Makoto was gone. Byakuya had sent him away, despite his protests. He doubted Fujisaki’s physical capabilities in staging a murder anyways, and the prize was worth the risk. And also because the few attempts at conversation that Makoto had made were quickly shut down by the programmer, who sternly and politely requested that any outside distractions be shut out. Now, the room was almost completely quiet, the silence broken only by the soft gurgling of pipes or the whirring of the computer’s fans.

It leaves him with time to think. To mull over the events of the day. From the reveal of the second motive, to Fukawa’s actions, and Fujisaki’s offer; overall, he had lost one thing, but gained another. All things considered, it was an acceptable outcome.

There was an issue still, however. His secret - he still did not know what it was that Monokuma enclosed in that envelope, still crumpled and tucked in his inner pocket, poking at his chest. He could use Alter Ego’s text-to-speech function, but that would mean allowing that information to become data, something that the AI itself had explained when introducing itself to Byakuya earlier, at the start of the download.

“The more you use me, the more I learn, and it’ll let me do more than just hack the firewall.” The program had Fujisaki’s voice, albeit brighter and steadier, as it explained its own terms of usage. “But if you want, I can opt out of using certain information. For anything you don’t want me to remember, please let me know beforehand.”

Alter Ego had chirped this with an oddly human tone of confidence, but he found it hard to believe its words - in an enclosed space where information sources were scarce, what was stopping it from doing so anyways?

…Maybe I’m being too paranoid. He covers his eyes with a hand. Here he was, isolated in a room with no cameras, allowing Fujisaki to tinker with his handbook. Wasn't he getting too worried about the wrong thing?

“Done!”

He jerks his head up. Fujisaki has his arms raised in triumph. “I did it! Take a look at your handbook now.”

He looks down, and it still looks the same. The brightness is turned down, so he can make out individual shapes easier, but the words were still otherwise illegible to him. He taps at one of the navigation buttons several times in quick succession -

“School Regulations. Student Profile. Settings.” A robotic voice chirrups from the speaker, and he nearly drops it in surprise. “Applications. Date and time.”

“You can use the navigation buttons to swap between the tabs…and it’ll say out loud what tab you’re on.” Fujisaki explains, as he gathers up the cord. “You can also change the volume output with those buttons on the side. If you select a tab, it’ll read out what’s in it…um, it might be easier to figure it out by working with it yourself, though.”

“Show me how to use the text-to-speech first.”

He tests the function with a poster on the wall. After a moment of held-breath silence - 

“‘Rules of the bathhouse.’”  Alter Ego’s voice, more human-like than the automatic one of the handbook, is even and monotone through the tiny speakers. “‘Do not run or horseplay. Clean up after yourselves. And most importantly, practice safety and respect!’“

Byakuya barely manages to contain the palpable elation that threatens to break his composure. As it is, he humors Fujisaki’s giddy, tentative offer of a high-five, a grin threatening to split his face.

“I don’t offer praise freely, you know.” He says, closing the handbook and tucking it, safely, preciously, into his breast pocket. “But if you happen to be in the market for a job once we’re out of here, feel free to keep me in mind.”

As if that would ever happen. Based on what he’s seen, his work was unparalleled, and there were probably countless companies falling over themselves waiting for him to graduate. But Fujisaki laughs, and nods.

“Sure, I’ll put you on the list.” He replies with a smile, and the cheekiness of his words is not lost on Byakuya. To go from timid and trembling to this in the span of evening…

It seemed that he was going to be just fine.

< previous - from start - next >

[chaifootsteps]

Hello! Something I really don’t understand about Vivziepop and her fans is WHY they seem to care so much about criticism? And also WHY she seems to consistently need to justify her creative decisions on Twitter.

Like. I’ll be honest I can’t imagine the amount of criticism her art gets and if I were in her shoes I’d probably have some feelings about it.

That said, I’m an artist too, and while on a MUCH SMALLER scale, I’ve had my art and stories criticized. I’ve also had my art made fun of on kiwi farms and called cringe but. Like yeah it was a little mean but at the end of the day I didn’t really care that much. People can think whatever they want, sometimes their criticism is constructive and I can use it and sometimes I disagree. That’s just part of being a creative.

So I was really shocked to see her arguing with people about character design (especially beelzebub) and writing choices she made with random people on Twitter.

I have never seen any cartoon show runner go on social media to defend or justify their creative choices. I genuinely cannot figure out why Viv does this and wanted to ask if you could think of any reason? Maybe a weird question but idk man it baffles me to my core sometimes.

Because Vivzie is an egotistical abuser with a paper-thin ego. She's good at art and manipulating people and that's about all she's good at...she's not a talented writer, she's not witty, she's not smart, and she's not kind. I think she needs to be told that she's as brilliant as she thinks she is in her own delusions.

[higgity-diggity-dummy]

These Strings That Bind Us

first chapter; previous chapter

So this is the first chapter of this fic that I’ve posted since a few of my irl friends have started following me and now they get to see the crazed fanfiction maniac I am and I don’t know if they’re ready.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

chapter 3:

Nico scanned the room he was left in. He knew logically that he was safe. That he was allowed to be… gay. And that the people that just overheard his conversation with Percy likely didn’t hate him for it.

They probably do hate you though. Even you can’t like yourself.

He just… didn’t like that knowledge to be floating around. 

It was then, after observing all the sleeping and uninterested patients that he saw the face of a particular blonde peering through a corner. 

“Hey. Sunshine. I see you.” Nico said trying to mask his worry. 

How long had he been there?

Will exhaled a laugh. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to… stalk…? I was going to check up on you but you were talking with Percy and I did to want to interrupt.”

“How much did you overhear?” Nico asked, deciding to cut to the point. 

Will turned pinker. “Nothing! I swear I wasn’t trying to listen into your conversation. I was just watching,” he said getting redder. “I mean-! I wasn’t like ‘watching’ watching. But I was also not listening. I was just waiting for an opening is all. So I could check up on you. Because that’s what I’m here to do right now. Check up on you that is.”

Will snapped his mouth shut, trying to stop the word-vomit from getting worse. He had a flight-or-flight look in his eyes, as if how Nico responded would be the deciding factor in how this interaction went. He wished Will hadn’t stopped. He couldn’t pin down the exact reason why he liked hearing that incoherent mess of speech, but he did. It took a bit longer for him to realize that while he was brain was occupied by the rambling of the boy across from him, it was too full to waste energy on worrying. 

Nico tried -really tried- to think of something comforting or cringe-reducing to say but he could help it when a laugh slipped out. 

And another. And one more. And five seconds later he was miserably failing to stifle his giggles with his left hand. 

“Wha-“ Will started. “What is it? Are you ok?Did one of my siblings but you on laughing gas or something? It was Kayla wasn’t it?!”

This made Nico laugh even harder. “Oh gods no. You’re just really weird. In a good way. You kept on saying more and it made it get worse and worse.” He laughed again. “Thank you for that. Holy hades I needed a good laugh.”

Will didn’t even flinch when Nico described his little speech as pathetic. If anything, it seemed to make him more confident. Composed. “Well I’m glad you feel joy at my expense,” he said rolling his eyes. “And you have a pretty laugh too. I like hearing it.” He smiled at Nico, his gaze moving to the glow between them. 

Oh right. 

Stop getting comfortable. Especially with him. 

Nico shifted in his seat, moving so his arms are crossed with his left ring-finger covered by his arm. He failed to avert his gaze from Will’s disappointed eyes. 

See? Even if it weren’t wrong, you could never be with him. You fail everybody, and Will is no different. 

A few beats of silence. 

“So uh… checkup?” Nico suggested. 

“Yes! Right. Let me just…” he trailed off. Something about clipboards and procedures that Nico did not have to energy nor interest to pay attention to. 

Will got the information he needed. Apparently a lot of Nico’s story was already in the documents.

“Like I said: I know your history,” Will stated with faux-intimidation. Nico rolled his eyes. 

When they got to the physical checkup Nico started getting jittery. He felt awkward saying something to Will about it, but he really didn’t like being touched so much. Especially because Will’s hands were so… methodical. It was bringing him back. 

To the times of your torment? Good. Revel in it. In the feeling of pain. Relive it all. Maybe if you look tortured enough somebody will even pity you. Why do you think you want that so badly? You know how hard it is to be yourself. Trying to share that burden with somebody else is plain selfish. 

Will noticed. Probably. He didn’t point it out, but he tried to lighten the mood, albeit with terrible references to things Nico did not have the current cultural knowledge to understand. 

Something about Nico being “Mr. Perfectly Fine” when asked about he was feeling. Or responding to Nico’s remarks about his werewolf scratches with saying, “oh! ‘Tis but a flesh wound I see!” (He seemed really proud of himself with that one). And he kept calling Nico a “padawan”?  What even was that?

Yet, despite the utter confusion that had overtaken Nico, it was a good distraction. Will had or hadn’t brought a laugh out of him a couple of times. Nico was or was not starting to feel a lot more comfortable, especially with Will around. 

And the string they shared absolutely was not glowing more warmly with each passing moment they spent together.  Of course not. Never. 

~~~

After that checkup, Nico offered to help around the infirmary. He did this, of course, hoping that his complete lack of any medical knowledge and “aura of death” would be enough for Will to refuse the offer.

He did not. 

Figures. 

What Will did do however, was introduce anyone and everyone imaginable to Nico. Whether that be random patients, his siblings, his Roman siblings that he (being the social-magnet-golden-retriever that he was) had gotten close with after the war, or some poor soul that happened to be within the vicinity of the two of them. It was weird. Nico didn’t know how to feel. Nobody had treated him like a person they could show others to. He was usually hidden away. Chose to keep himself hidden away. 

Nico was starting to like being seen though. It helped that Will was there too. Unlocking the prison of isolation Nico had made for himself and dragging him into interactions when they were in the middle of filing paperwork. When he introduced Nico to a new person, he almost sounded proud. Like knowing Nico was something they could envy about Will. 

“Oh hey [person] have you met my friend Nico?” Will would say. “Yeah he’s the coolest kid in camp! Go on Nico say hi,” pride radiating from his voice. “We met a few days ago when he almost stabbed me haha. He really saved my skin out there. Even if he was seconds away from passing out while doing it.”

Nico would never admit it, but he kind of liked the attention Will was giving him. It was as if Will’s words of affirmation were able to fight off the self-doubt demons would otherwise occupy much of Nico’s thoughts. 

Not only that, but he also liked meeting people. 

Yes. Him. Nico di Angelo. The son of Hades. Well known social recluse. Enjoying the communion of others. 

Was that new? He thought he was an introvert to the core. The idea of people was supposed to make him want to hide under a rock a perish. Was it just that he was so much of a social outcast that he fooled himself into thinking that?

Dear gods, he was not going to spend the time going down that rabbit hole any further. 

Nico felt a tug on his string finger. Will had started doing that in order to touch Nico without touching him. Nico hadn’t decided yet how he felt about it. Well, his heart obviously had, but he’s choosing to ignore that stubborn organ in all matters pertaining to Will. He looked up, slowly bringing himself back to reality. 

Back to the storage/office room they were (as Will had put it) “chillin’” in. Back to the smell of antiseptic spray and old files. Back to the blonde idiot staring into his soul, seemingly trying to solve a puzzle. 

“…what?” Nico broke the silence. 

Will stared for a beat longer. “You were staring off into space for a while. Are you ok?”

He thought for a moment too long. 

“Yes,” was the response Nico decided on. 

Will stared even deeper with a curious look. “…ok… sure. What were you thinking about then?”

Nico was just about to bark out a basic response of “oh nothing”, or something like that, but he stopped himself. He didn’t need to hold himself back. Not when Will was looking at him in that eager and open way that he does. 

“I was thinking about how much in my life has changed,” since you entered into it, “in the past few days.”

Maybe he didn’t say the whole truth, but Will was enough to make him no outright lie. 

“Really?” Will backed off some, face turning from questioning frown to genuine smile. “How so?”

Oh. So this was gonna be some cheesy heart-to-heart, was it? Nico was not opposed to that idea. He looked back up at Will’s bright expectant eyes. 

He actually rather liked the idea.

He talked to Will. He was trying to keep it short (Will was always busy) but the more he talked, the more they kept talking. And talking. And talking. Somehow they moved from life the last few days to life in the past few years. Family, in all possible definitions of the word. Friends, in all their shades, hues, and complexities. Enemies, in all their surprising humanity. 

Will’s voice changed depending on what he was saying. He slurred together his words when they were talking about old interests. He would pause or stutter when they transitioned to deep topics, and slowed down when they got comfortable there. His voice got all jittery and slightly more high pitched when he was excited about something. 

And the way he listened… the way it felt like he hung onto every word Nico said like it was written in scripture…

Nico kept wondering when Will would leave. He would find some excuse about having to check up on a patient, or outright say he didn’t want to stay there. 

Wouldn’t want to stay with you. Why would anyone want to spend time with you. You’re boring him and he will leave you—

But Will hasn’t left. How long has they been there? They sat down on a nearby desk a while ago. Will was still with him. 

Will, talking about his mom and how much he misses her. Will, listening to Nico’s stories of his childhood in Italy. Will, leaning into the beats of silence that would occasionally fall between them with a rare comfort. Will, inching closer to Nico with each passing second. Will, making their string glow impossibly brighter with the effect he had on Nico. Will, coiling the string around his fingers until there was no space between his and Nico’s hands. Will, cutting himself off mid-sentence just to graze Nico’s hand. 

Will. Will. Will. 

How long had it been? It was dark outside. Not that Nico cared. In the moment all that Nico cared about was right by his side, chatting animatedly, listening with care, leaning against Nico as he got more tired. Nico couldn’t imagine falling asleep now. His heart was beating so fast one would think he was about to be killed by some monster. 

For some reason this moment felt more important than any of those past life-or-death experiences. He was safe. Nobody was in danger. But all those times he was fighting to live. Now he’s living to be alive. 

With Will. 

He looked over at the boy now resting on his shoulder and smiles. His mouth slightly open and he’s just barely snoring. It’s adorable. Nico’s heart warms with affection. 

Affection. He liked using that word in this moment. He smiled. 

He liked using that word for Will. 

~~~

The Apollo Cabin did not cut him any slack when he brought a sleeping Will back in a bridal carry late into the night.

~~~

“Hey! It’s Mr. Perfectly Fine!” Will exclaimed to his siblings when Nico had entered the infirmary office. 

Nico had caught a glimpse of Will hunched over his desk, with an exhausted expression written on his face just as Nico had walked in. It seemed like he was talking to his siblings, Kayla and Austin, about how he can “totally handle all this work” and that he’s “not burnt out”. They however, were willing to drop that conversation to snicker at Nico regarding whatever it was Will had just said. 

“Seriously? You have no other jokes,” Nico retorted. “What is that referencing? I’m convinced you’re making it up at this point.”

“Oh please, at this point it’s your fault for not being a part of the Taylor Nation,” Kayla chimed in. 

“I’ve been here for two days!”

Kayla crossed her arms. “That’s two whole days of Taylor Swift that you could have been listening to.”

Nico rolled his eyes and looked to Austin, the one person left who hadn’t taken a side against him.

“What?” He responded. “They’re right. All the effort you’ve made to avoid Taylor Swift is really some Kanye behavior.”

Nico hated his past self. Why did he decide to start hanging out with the Apollo Cabin? They were one mess of snarky comebacks joined together by their obsession over various musicians. 

“I’ve been helping out! Would you really rather have me be wasting oxygen while listening to Swift?” Nico asked the cohesive mass. 

“Yes!” They all shouted in (a partially harmonized) unison. 

Nico groaned and sat on the chair he had placed next to Will’s desk the last time he was in this office. He’s only been here for three days and yet he has a spot for him. Next to Will. 

The siblings talked about some infirmary stuff. Work schedules, post-war stuff, some new Roman ailments they learned about. Nico tuned it out, picking at his hangnails. 

Some time later, the door Nico had just come through slammed open with an uninterested Drew Tanaka on the other end. 

“Hey shitheads! I need drugs!” She said. 

Nico raised an eyebrow at her and turned to look at Will, hoping he would translate. 

Without looking up from his desk, Will rolled his eyes and said, “Sweet baby Zeus, can’t you just say ibuprofen like a normal person?”

He pushed back on his chair to get up, but Kayla pushed him right back. 

“Nuh-uh. I’ve got this. You stay here and take a break with your,” she looked at Nico, “dude-best-friend.” She winked at him.  

She headed out the door, with Drew on her heels. 

The three left in the room looked at each other. A silent conversation played out between Will and Austin that lasted for much longer than a silent conversation has any right to last. Nico was glad to not be involved in it, whatever it was. 

Austin sighed. “I guess I’ll go with them to make sure they don’t blow anything up.” 

“Again,” Will added. 

With a quick finger-gun-snap to his brother, Austin left. 

The door creaked it as it closed. 

“Wait,” Nico put his elbows on the desk. “How many explosions have they caused?” He thought for a second. “How do they even cause explosions to happen?”

He waits for a second more. Will is writing something down. Nico probably shouldn’t have interrupted by talking. He needed to be more conscious about his actions. Especially now that he is friends with Will. What was it Kayla said? “Dude-best-friend”? Yeah. He needed to be a better dude-best-friend. Not that they were “best friends”. It was probably just some slang or something. If they were even considered to be best-

Thunk. 

Will face-planted onto his desk. 

“Shit.” How long had he been working? “Are you ok?” 

Will held up a hand to give a thumbs-up before dropping it back down to his desk. Will started snoring. 

Nico knew there was a right way to react to this. Will probably had the answer for him. But Nico couldn’t find it in himself to do anything but stare. Stare and think. Like he was moving in slow motion but the rest of the world wasn’t kind enough to take note.

Was this normal for Will? Did he just collapse at his desk from time to time? No. He was always preaching his gospel of “taking care of yourself” and whatnot. This had to be a one-off thing. 

He’s probably fine, right? Sure, he’s probably a little bit burnt out, but it’s not life and death or anything. 

Yeah good idea. Bury your problems. Maybe one day you’ll share a grave with them.

How could he even think like that? “Not life and death,” so many things are not life and death but they are still worth worrying about. 

Nico is a terrible friend. He needs to be worrying more about Will. Will needs help. 

And how the hell do you expect to help him? Name one time you weren’t a burden to somebody. Every time you try to do something it fails. Just stop. 

Gods. He was pathetic. His friend was passed out in front of him, and he was standing there, frozen. He should do something. He needed to do something. He just. He- he had to-

You always let people down. You’re too pitiful to help anyone. 

No! He could help! 

Will laid there fully unaware of the warfare happening in Nico’s mind. Someone looking in would likely find his state of rest to look peaceful. He was just a tired kid doctor in a tiny room filled with papers and files. 

Outside that room was a couple of teenagers bickering about ibuprofen and explosives. It was a conversation severely lacking in context for the onlookers not in said conversation. 

Even further beyond there were children doing dangerous and mundane activities. Somewhere a kid first encountered a monster. A man proposed to his girlfriend to the joy of an entire restaurant. A man proposed to his boyfriend to the shock, disgust, and joy of a small park. A child wrote a letter that never got read to her father fighting in a war. A species that was never discovered went extinct. A group of teenagers got high on the roof of a parking lot. A tired mother decided to quit smoking for the third time that year. A grandparent met their first grandson. 

And back in that small room with too much paper and a sleeping boy, a damaged kid sees nothing but the worst of it. 

Nico’s mind is a tunnel with no light at the end; flashing horrors crowding it out and letting no logic or hope in. 

This was life-or-death. If Nico didn’t do something, he would be responsible for whatever happened to Will. 

Will would know what to do. If Nico just knew Will better. If he just payed a bit more attention while Will worked. He must have been a terrible friend, having not cared enough to know how to handle this. 

Finally, something you’re right about. 

Gods! How could he even be drowning in this self pity now? Will needed help. He needed… caffeine? An intervention? He needed something and Nico needed to help. He could help. He needed to help. He needed-

His hand met a warmth. He looked down to see his and Will’s hands touching. Nico didn’t know when he started reaching for his hand. He let it sit there for a few beats of tense, heavy, warm silence. 

His fingers moved without his consent to gently coil their string. 

People say that, for soulmates, strings are able to pass emotions. The way one touches their string and the feeling they have while holding it are felt by the person on the other side. 

Nico could… send some comfort? The thoughts would have made him laugh in any other circumstance. Him. Being the bringer of comfort. But in this instance, he could. There wasn’t anything else he coulddo. 

No you cannot. You will lead yourself to heartbreak. 

Will groaned. Nico flinched. 

His hand twitched to reach out. To let Will know that “I’m here”. That “you can talk to me”. 

You can’t do that. 

He couldn’t do that though. 

You don’t know how to comfort people. 

He didn’t even know how to comfort people. 

Just look in front of you, you let this happen under your watch. 

He’d let this happen. 

And here you are thinking to yourself instead of doing anything. 

Gods! He just needed to focus. Think of some solution.

Just think! Just think! Just think! Just-

A door opened and Nico’s throat dropped, feeling like he had been caught doing something he shouldn’t have done. Which was stupid. He knew that. 

He uselessly held his hands up and backed up, turning to the door. His body was frozen as thoughts of the thousands of ways the next few seconds could go all competed for his attention. He was a deer in the headlights, weakly looking past the person who was on the other end of the door. They looked at the scene in the room and raised an eyebrow.

“Nico? What happened?” Austin asked. 

Austin! Thank the gods! He can-

“Help.” Nico creaked. “I don’t know what happened. Will, he…” Nico cut himself off. His throat was so choked up it was barely letting him say anything. It hurt. He didn’t realize he was this close to tears. 

Fucking baby. 

Austin rushed to his brother’s side and after a few moments sighed a breath of relief. “He’s fine. Just exhausted.” He took a few moments to give Nico a worried look. “Are you fine?”

Nico couldn’t respond. His body was still in fight-or-flight mode. He could only hear the pounding of his heartbeat, so strong it was like it was coming directly from his ears. There was to much happening. He just needed to calm down. He also had to respond. He had to look normal. He had to help with- 

“Everything is fine.” The mantra he repeated in his mind. “He’s just exhausted. He’s ok. I’m ok.” 

No you’re not. No he’s not. 

Austin just confirmed that there was nothing to worry about.

You just don’t care enough about Will to keep worrying for him. 

“I’m ok,” he finally responded, voice even more shaky. 

Austin made a doubtful look and walked over to a shelf, pulling out some ball. He handed it to Nico, placing it in a hand he had not realized was shaking until then. He squeezed it and it was cushiony, but firm. 

“Breathe with me,” Austin said simply. 

And they breathed together. Slowly in.  Holding it. Slowly out. Holding it. 

After a minute or so he asked “would you mind if I brought Kayla here too?”

Shrugging, Nico lied. “I don’t mind. I’m fine really.” Although he didn’t know why he was still trying. 

“No, you’re not.”

Austin steps out of the room and sticks his head out the door, peering down the corridor. “Kayla!”

Nico heard a muffled, “What?! I’m busy!”

Again shouting back, “Just come over here please!”

Some shuffling. Some footsteps. “What’s up?”

Austin stepped aside and let her view the scene. Her eyes softened and she walked over towards where Nico stayed standing. 

“Oh Gods Nico, what’s wrong?” She asked him. 

He tried for a dry laugh. “Nononono I’m fine. I was just a little-“ he choked. He hopelessly tried to steady his voice. “Just a little worried for Will is all.”

Kayla’s eyes immediately went wide with panic at the mention of his brother’s name. “What happened? Is he ok?” She looked over to his desk. 

Austin stepped up to his sister, putting a hand on her arm. “He’s alright Kay. Just a little exhausted,” he said. They looked like they were having a silent conversation for a moment after that ended when they both looked back at Nico. 

“Do you want to sit and talk for a bit?” Austin eventually asked. 

“It doesn’t have to be about anything important,” Kayla added. “Or anything at all. Like, if you need silence with company we got you. Or silence without company. Or company without silence. Or any other combination. Or some other secret option. Or-“

“Company without silence is just the first choice you said,” Austin interrupted

Kayla thought for a second. “It is, isn’t it? It feels like there should be more combinations of those words though.”

“No company with no silence.”

“Ok but does that actually make any sense? Unless you talk to yourself professionally you wouldn’t be alone and without silence.”

“I would say that I can be alone without silence. I’m an interesting guy, I have fun talking to myself.”

“Yeah well, you’re just lonely so-“

A laugh escaped from Nico. They both looked at him. 

“Sorry,” he said, for once with a steady voice. “The way you guys talk to each other is really funny to watch.” It reminded him of how he was with Bianca when they were younger. They used to argue all the time, sometimes escalating into screaming matches. Their mother would always step in and say something wise and meaningful that completely went over Nico and his sister’s heads. If Bianca were both alive now, would it be like this? Would their arguments not be out of malice but sibling love? What would that have looked like with them?

Kayla rested an arm on her brother’s shoulder as he looked at her with fake disgust. “We are, aren’t we?” She asked him. 

“I really don’t think you’re ‘funny’. If anything funny looking.”

Kayla walked over to a circular table and sat down. “Oh please. I’m the hottest sibling. No contest.”

Austin followed her, taking a seat for himself. “If that’s what you want to believe, I will let you continue living with that lie.”

Kayla scoffed and looked back at Nico. “Wanna join the order of the round table?”

Yes. 

“I uh… Are you sure it won’t get in the way of,” he waved his hand around at the general vicinity, “infirmary duties?”

“Not really,” Austin answers. “We did rounds this morning and everybody just needs more time to heal with the meds and magic,” which he embellished with spirit fingers, “and we already gave them their afternoon doses. Unless there’s some random emergency-“

“Or Drew comes back demanding drugs again,” Kayla added. 

“Or that, then we’re just chilling.”

Nico wanted to say yes.

Don’t fool yourself kid. They don’t want you there. You’re just being a burden. They seem to be having a great time without-

Nico squeezed the ball. He moved to the table. He smiled and they smiled back. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Author’s Note:

thank you so much for reading!! To that one person who commented on my last fic saying they needed more: thank you specificially. And I’m sorry specifically for you because the wait for the next one is going to be worse than a cartoon hiatus. Tho I’m actually going to be spending that time writing instead of feeling guilty for not writing to that’s a win. also I have an Ao3 now so that’s cool

[the-roo-too]

maybe! -> 0.2 psyche

-what do you mean a cat adopted you? and what is wrong with this weird bunch who took you?

warnings: witches; a coven; sakura struggles with one single spell; reader is eunchae’s grandchild for like a split second 🤠

you were stuck with the little black kitten on your lap for the past hour. after magically appearing in your apartment, the girl- chaewon apparently- made you go to her car. after forcing you to sit in the back with the cat, she started the car and you haven’t heard from her since. she ignored your every attempt on starting a conversation so far.

“so, what’s their name? the cat i mean.” you asked after a couple more minutes of silence. the driver glanced at you before speaking. 

“we call him potato.”

“oh god, really? i don’t know if that’s weird or cute.” you said, laughing at the kitten who snuggled in your hold as if knowing you spoke of him.

“it’s eunchae’s cat. she named him.” added quietly the driver.

“jeez, why so defensive?” no answer came from her.

“…just go to sleep. it’s still a long drive to our dorm.” she muttered at last. tired, as you were woken up quite weirdly, you let sleep overcome you as suggested. the low humming of the car and the warm kitten on your lap made it easy.

when you wake up, you’re magically laying on a couch with the little black cat sleeping soundly on your lap. you pet his head lightly as the animal purrs. although he’s the reason you’re in this mess, he’s really a cutie.

“potato likes you.” you almost shriek at the sudden voice, but manage to calm yourself and only turn your head so fast you almost get a whiplash. another unfamiliar face stands in front of you, she’s noticeably younger than chaewon. she stares at you with this big, curious eyes, you almost feel like a fish in a child’s aquarium.

“y-yeah, um, he’s cute?”

“he is! he’s the cutest! that’s why he gets what he wants.” the girl visibly brightens as she speaks of the kitten. she surprises you when she suddenly picks him up from your lap- interrupting his blissful slumber- and starts hogging him to her chest while making baby sounds.

what surprises you even more is how the cat doesn’t seem affected at all- he meows in protest when he’s snatched, and proceeds to cuddle into the girl. it’s a cute sight, although quite confusing.

“uh, who are you? and where is chaewon-?”

“my bad! i’m eunchae and this spoiled little cutie right there-“ she caresses his head with a weird smile. “-is mine! we lost him after kkura failed that teleportation spell, i wonder how she did that? even i could do it after like the third-“

“hold on, spell? what harry potter fanclub is this?”

“oh, chaewon didn’t tell you? you’ve been snatched by a coven!”

“coven

/ˈkʌvɪn/

noun

a group or meeting of witches.”

after a little (and loud) rant from you about ‘what coven’s and ‘how coven’s and more ‘why coven’s, the girl manages to get you to calm down and sit semi-peacefully on the couch. she gets potato to snuggle on your lap, also somewhat calming your nerves. with a broad smile eunchae fills you in that she did not in fact study at hogwart’s (shame, really), she won’t burn you in a big oven and most importantly, she doesn’t live in a gingerbread house. the last part is probably the most disappointing one.

but eunchae does in fact have a wand- she shows you it and it’s really pretty?- she does wear a pointy hat but only on thursdays (apparently another one of them likes to practice weather spells on thursdays so it often rains in the dorm) and she does know how to fly on a broom. by her word, the old method is really cringe now as people woul see just how many witches are there if they all used brooms to travel- she ranted about that for whole five minutes. instead, they use normal communication to ‘go with the flow’.

eunchae promises to show you how she flies one day, though.

then there comes the topic of the cat. or well, how it apparently adopted you? when asked about the matter, eunchae nods happily and pets the kitten’s head. to your obvious confusion she answers that it’s pretty common for witches to have a spiritual connection with particular animals. and she has this thing with potato. which makes it weird to some extent, as she sees him as her child, and by adopting you, he makes you her grandchild?

after figuring that eunchae is younger than you, you decide to drop the ‘adopted’ part and keep the title as ‘potato’s friend’. it sounds better that way. eunchae agrees and the kitten does too- after being smothered with love by the young witch.

speaking of, when she’s done making the deal with the cat, she turns to look at you with a murderous gaze. you don’t even get to question her before she speaks.

“by the way, he’s lactose intolerant.”

apparently, everyone on this planet knew most cats are lactose intolerant except you. to save some of your honour, isn’t that a witch’s cat? shouldn’t he magically tolerate lactose and stuff? your argument earned you a slap to the neck from eunchae. at least she didn’t look mad anymore.

“eunchae, stop bullying your grandchild.” chaewon suddenly appears at your side. or maybe she was standing there the whole time?

“unnie! ah, we established that she’s potato’s friend/slave-“

“when did we talk about me being a slave?”

“-because she’s older than me and it would be weird, you know!” eunchae lookes unbothered about your comment to the ‘slave’ part, while chaewon smilies lightly at the younger girl, enjoying the chaos.

“yea, it would be weird. but again, many things are weird here, no?” eunchae nods her head at the older girl and trots away. potato soon jumps down from your lap and follows his owner.

“i hope she didn’t tell you we eat kids for lunch or something. that happened once.”

chaewon murmur as she sits herself next to you. with a shake of your head, you turn to ask the girl.

“so, when can i go back?”

“what do you mean?” you look at her as if it’s the most ridiculous question she could ask (it is).

“home? when can i go back to my apartment?” you precise this time and a look of confusion flashes on her face.

“no, i understand. just, you thought you’re going back? now that you know all that coven stuff?” as she asks this, she watches you as if you’d grown a second head.

“what?”

“wasn’t that obvious?”

“no? i can’t just- you kidnap me like it’s nothing just because some cat said he likes me! what about my life?”

“well, stepping into the dorm you got a mana print that you do not know how to hide. so unless you wanna be hunted down by some priest, i’d recommend staying here.”

apparently done with the conversation, chaewon leaves you, stomping her feet as she walks away.

[potatosapien5]

okay so this is specifically about the fnaf movie but also any other movie that applies. I just really need to write this out. the thing is, when people say “it’s okay to like a bad movie” or “why can’t you just accept that you can like a bad movie” it’s not the comfort that they think it is. It’s actually really hurtful. the thing is, I DON’T think the fnaf movie is a bad movie. Is it perfect? Fuck no. Does the plot have pretty big problems? Yes, of course! But the thing is, it’s clear to me that it was made with love and appreciation for the characters. Their relationships feel genuine to me. I don’t find the animatronic scenes to be cringey, and if they are, I think it’s a heartfelt kind of cringe. I think that Blumhouse set out to make a specific kind of movie, and, overall, they succeeded at that. you don’t have to agree with me. You can believe that it is bad. But that’s your opinion, and saying that I should just accept that I “like a bad movie” is misunderstanding MY opinion at best. I have criticisms of the movie, I think there are things it could’ve improved upon, elements it could have made better. I do think, despite loving THAT scene, it did cause an abrupt tone shift, one that would understandably turn people off from it. But that doesn’t make the scene itself bad. The elements that someone else may dislike, and consider bad, are elements I consider GOOD. I don’t like these elements ironically. plus some of the criticisms have just felt weird to me. One person said that the acting felt off, especially for the kids, like Abby. I don’t understand that. Abby felt very realistic to me, as someone who knows several children and has a younger sibling. Maybe I’m wrong about that, but I definitely wouldn’t say the acting in the movie was bad, I think that just doesn’t make sense. It wasn’t the best in the world, but it definitely wasn’t bad. And many of the things people criticized I just… didn’t find to be flaws. It isn’t that I like the movie DESPITE these things, it’s that I don’t see these things as detracting from the movie. They add to it, and not just in a funny, ironic way. In the end, I think this movie was made with a lot of care and love, and I think that shows. And I think it has many amazing qualities, despite its shortcomings. So no, I’m not just going to accept that I like a “bad” movie. I believe that I like a good movie, a flawed, but good movie. This isn’t to say that people have to think it was good, they don't. But they need to accept that I think it was good. I, and so many other fans. I’m sure some people would disagree with me, and say they do like it ironically, or because it’s funny, or because it’s bad. And that’s fine. But if I’m not going to tell you that you’re wrong, then you can’t tell me I’m wrong. Media isn’t objective. Opinions and feelings are different, but opinions aren’t absolute truth. So people who think the fnaf movie, or any commonly hated movie, is good, that’s real. Your interpretation of the media is valid, just as valid as anyone else’s. So you don’t have to say you just like a bad movie. You can like a movie people think is bad, because you think it’s good.

[dungeons-and-dictions]

It’s Analysis Friday about precisely why Hazbin Hotel is such a stand out.

But first - this is probably my last Hazbin Hotel-related analysis until the next season; give me asks during this long dry spell!

Why on this specific topic? Because I’m tired.

Y’all.

Listen.

I’m all for subjectivity. People can just like or dislike things regardless of quality. Heck, I know Helluva Boss is part of the Hazbin world, but it gives me too much cringe and vicarious embarrassment to handle.

(Yeah, I’m weird. I know)

But I keep hearing people say Hazbin Hotel is mid or just relying on hype.

Those are fighting words!

We are getting quality on par with Disney movies for a tv series!

That’s crazy! Let’s break it down.

Musical numbers

Talented singers play the main crew. Stephanie Beatrix plays Mirabel Madrigal, Kimiko plays Izzy, etc.

There were 2 songs per episode! And because it is truly perfect for a musical, we even get thematic reprises and callbacks!

Does anyone recall when similar things have happened in animation? MLP:FiM had a glorious episode that was ALL musical with a reprise. That’s all I have at this scale outside of Disney.

Characters

I’ve always known Vivzie to put thought into her work, and this shines through so well in Hazbin.

Lucifer’s depression is similar to my own

Angel’s gradual changes and struggles are realistic

Charlie’s breed of passion is the same as mine in my career

Alastor’s extremely manipulative yet we all love him

Velvette had one of the best formal character intros I’ve seen in a long time

Hazbin Hotel works really hard to get away from stereotypes, and dives in past superficial traits.

Also, we get things like Valentino sounding like he’s squeaking because moths squeak. We don’t need these things!

Animation

You know what else we don’t need?

Airplane arms!

Complicated dance moves!

Cute leg swishies with cuter sound effects?

Every second you see is 10+ frames traditionally. (Idk the studio’s technical details). That’s wild to add in these complicated extra details! And they flow so nicely! This level of quality for 2D (and honestly 3D too most of the time) is unheard of in the West nowadays.

And on that, western adult animated shows typically are so poorly made, especially in the art. Even the few I have seen that have okay stories to tell absolutely stink in terms of visuals and movement.

Story

Yeah, this is the biggest weakness Hazbin Hotel has, no doubt. The story is actually an incredible premise, and truly done pretty well within the awful time constraints. I think everyone is valid in saying it was far too fast! Hopefully we get more (or longer) episodes in upcoming seasons.

But at the same time, this is also the nature of musicals. If you think this is fast, don’t watch the Les Miserables musical where everyone only sings. Idk why, but singing the entire time makes everything seem like you’re in a race car on autopilot.

Don’t forget; the symbolism just drips out of the screen in this show. The fact that I could still do more analyses even now is a testament to that with all the content I have done since it aired. Vivienne goes hard on the details.

But put yourself in Vivzie’s shoes. You do the impossible, shot for the moon while hoping for maybe the top of a 5-story building, and you were offered the stars. Your project has been a part of who you are before you even went to university, and a major company gives you a way to bring it to life? Why wouldn’t you settle for this good of a deal?

Innovation

People do not bring up often enough that Vivienne broke a glass ceiling separate from that of gender. She showed that YouTube animations can be taken seriously, and even be aired.

In this age, the Saturday morning cartoon blocks I grew up with no longer exist. There were tons of great shows, and I could talk with other kids about it. Nestled within these weekends were shows that ran short pilot episodes for potential series. The last time I saw one was Adventure Time’s pilot.

It’s been a whiiiiiiile.

So having a cutesy little indie pilot animation amongst thousands on YouTube be such high quality and get a mainstream platform? Spindlehorse made history!

Moreso, Helluva Boss is also demonstrating the capacity of indie studios like never before - and what may pave the way for the future of animation too.

Out of all the animated series running on YouTube, Glitch is the only creator who does 3D that I am aware of. Even Glitch’s work has only started within the past few years, ie after Vivienne managed the impossible.

So please, stop complaining about subjective parts so much. Hazbin Hotel objectively has some of the highest craftsmanship in western animation.

We are blessed that Vivienne’s dream has come true in such a glorious manner. When I discovered her back in 2012, I couldn’t have guessed the pilot would be so successful, nor that it would change what was possible for animation!