#me an jade on that bts shit

[sailoryooons]

Obsidian | One | myg (m)

☾ Pairing: Yoongi x f. reader

☾ Summary: You remember everything. The first time you radiated at garnet, feeling the power of the jewel rushing through you. Remember the energy pulsing at your command. And you certainly remember the face of the man who ruined your life. Then there’s Min Yoongi, the Chaotic who is the key to your revenge.

☾ Word Count: 10,012

☾ Genre: Urban fantasy, criminal/syndicate, strangers to lovers, angst, eventual smut

☾ Rating: 18+ Minors are strictly prohibited from engaging and reading this content. It contains explicit content and any minors discovered reading or engaging with this work will be blocked immediately. 

☾ Warnings: Graphic depiction of death and body dismemberment, a lot of blood, Yoongi is brutally wounded/gutted, near-death experience, traumatic loss of parents, mention of suicide (not actual, but metaphorical), this is pretty blood and gory but not gratuitous? Death of a koi fish rip Agust the I. 

☾ Published: April 22, 2023

☾ A/N: Don’t ask me to explain myself. I have no idea what I’m doing and my Aries moon is in full control of me and working me like a robot. This is a series or something I don’t know. I have no plans and no thoughts, just brain rot. Inspired by Jade City by Fonda Lee, the movie Colombiana, the movie Scarface and by my fuck it we ball attitude about writing what I want when I think of it. Also please note that the order of first and last names will be done in Western fashion in this, as this story does not exist anywhere real-world-adjacent and thus, will be first name > last name.❀ Disclaimer: All members of BTS are faces and name claims for this story. This is entirely a work of fiction and by no means is meant to be a projection, judgment or representation of real-life people. Any scenarios or representations of the people and places mentioned in works are not representative of real-life scenarios.

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An emerald Radiant walks into the bar and makes a mess. It sounds like a punchline, but you never hear the end of the joke. Only the hook and the line. No sinker. 

Before he arrives and messes everything up is important, though. 

-

Market Town is a mess. Each side of the road has storefronts with open doors, neon and holographic signage blinking on and off with the shitty pulse from the electricity grid. In front of them on the side walks and spilling into the street are the stall vendors, ever-changing and ever-moving sales carts, tables, boxes and people hawking their wares, fruits and trinkets at the hundreds of people who writhe through the market. 

It smells terrible. You keep to yourself, all the stink of bodies and rotting fruit and the sizzling fat of meat making your head dizzy no matter which way you navigate. Market Town stretches an entire district, street after street of stores and people and things and it feels like it never ends, the stench of humanity clinging to you like a second skin.

Water crashes down on a man selling lab-grade jewels to a wary-looking mother and daughter. They flinch away from the seller as he sputters and screams, soaked in sweat and whatever liquid has been tossed out an apartment window from above. He cranes his neck up to locate whoever tossed the water - or more likely, piss - out of the window, but he has hundreds of options to choose from from the apartment building that towers behind him. You grimace and step further into the middle of the street. Most of the apartments in Market Town have years worth of failing plumbing, and you have no desire to be showered with piss and shit. 

It’s too early in the evening for the lights of the neon advertisements glittering in the air above your head to cast a blinding light on your eyes. Their glow is not yet painted on the surge of people coming and going, but you know by sundown Market Town will be a watercolor of holographic and neon advertisements courtesy of Roanoke Insurance, Jend Cosmetics, and Jura Jura Coffee: Best Brew In Diade. 

At least Market Town has sensible advertisements. It isn’t the vibrant horror of naked figures bent over, or the bloody holograph of a man having his brains blown out. Crimson District has no shortage of unique and salacious advertising and the money its businesses generate make the lights and the glow much harder to ignore, even in the daylight. It’s part of why you prefer to scrounge around Market Town like a mangrove rat. 

Well, and it’s what you can afford. 

Namjoon’s work stall floats around Market Town. Usually, you can find him tucked between Margot’s fruit stand and Len’s divination table. Namjoon likes to nibble on Margot’s sweet strawberries in exchange for fixing the till on Margot’s stand, and Len is an okay stall neighbor when he isn’t so drunk that he’s trying to convince you that the end is near and the world will be swallowed in garnet and obsidian. 

That sounds lovely, you always tell him.

Prepare for the end, Len always answers. 

The sweet smell of tangerines reaches you through the sizzling smell of frying meat a few stalls over. It’s better than the rank stink  of flowers wafting from a stall a few carts over, your head dizzy with the fragrance as you approach Namjoon, Margot and Len.

Margot’s fruit always smells better than any other food set out across tables and bins on the street. You’re pretty sure it has to do with the pretty, green citrine jewel that he keeps tucked away and out of sight and away from any wandering eyes. 

You can’t blame him. Even though citrine isn’t high on the Jewel Caste, Market Town is primarily made up of Nulls. They certainly can’t radiate with jewels, but they sell them at a high price to those desperate enough to feel the power of a Radiant. Some even promise to sell jewels that make Radiants Caste Drop to a new, darker and more powerful color. 

Only an untrained Radiant would think a Caste Drop is possible through a rock. It’s stupid, really. Anyone who wears or buys jewels openly in Market Town is asking to be robbed and gutted. You’ve even seen as light as a diamond caste get murdered here. 

A kindly young man stands in front of Namjoon’s stand. It’s really just a wooden table with a bunch of trinkets, clocks with too many dials, little holographic action figures jumping into different poses, and other wares that run on technology or small engineering. Namjoon prides himself on being the best tinkerer, though you’re willing to bet he’s a lot smarter than that. 

Namjoon himself isn’t much older than the man at his table, gesturing to a watch as Namjoon leans over it. Namjoon’s brown hair has grown long, shoved back by a black, cotton strip he has tied around his head to keep it out of the way. He’s dressed in a dirty shirt and canvas overalls, a little bit of grease on his arms. His glasses slide down his nose, lenses fogged with the humidity that collects in Market Town and makes it rot. 

A fly buzzes toward you from Margot’s stand. He has his back turned to you, placing little white pricing stickers on his green melons. He's a little portly and very short - especially when Namjoon stands and shakes his customer’s hand. Namjoon is taller than most people, and much broader, his shoulders wide and arms thick, suggesting that he did something else before he became a tinkerer in Market Town. 

You don’t know what, though. You can sense the peridot he has hidden in the soles of his boots and the fingertips of his work gloves, giving him power to radiate as he works on his little devices and mending broken objects for people. But you’ve never asked. 

Asking questions is the first step to murder in these parts. 

When his customer leaves, Namjoon turns to you and blinks his brown eyes at you owlishly, magnetized by his prescription lenses. He’s handsome - a little too handsome by Market Town standards - and he smiles at you, a dimple popping up in his cheek. 

“I finally fixed this device for you,” Namjoon says by way of greeting. He digs around in his overall pockets and produces a tiny, silver device that looks like a bullet. “The little battery inside was fried. I put in a new one and replaced the copper plating on the starter. Your wires were totally corroded and-”

“How much?” you ask, a little exasperated. Namjoon will go on forever if you let him, and you need to get to Montana. “I only asked for the battery to be looked at, Joon.” 

“No cost. It was a fun little device to look at. Kind of dangerous, though, no?”

“You can’t not charge me. I told you to stop giving people their shit for free.”

His cheeks turn cherry as he scratches the back of his neck. “Fine, what about five nil?” You toss the coins on the table and he passes you the device. “It’s a mini shatterwave, right? The high-pitched frequency scatters the frequency of Radiants?” 

You give him an annoyed look. “Yes.” 

“Who made it? It’s a fascinating device.” 

Instead of answering Namjoon’s question, you pocket the little bullet  and toss another five nil on the table. “For silence,” you tell him firmly. 

He wants to ask another question. You can see it in his face. Namjoon is always asking you questions about the things you bring to him and ask him for. It isn’t his job to ask questions, especially as freely as he asks them. But Namjoon operates like someone who has no idea that he’s tucked away in the most dangerous market in the Crown Cities. 

Nothing Namjoon does is that of someone low born. He’s too polite, gives out too many handouts, and lets his curiosity get the best of him. Lets his clients become friends. You’re fond of him as much as someone of your position is allowed to be - maybe even a little more - but Namjoon is a danger to himself, no matter how often you keep steering him back in the right direction. 

“You!” Len leans over Namjoon’s table, his glassy green eyes wide, pupils dilated. His hair is white as salt and sticks up in multiple directions, looking as though he may have been electrocuted and never recovered. He points one knobby finger at you. “The world will end in garnet and obsidian.” 

“That sounds lovely, Len.” 

You predict the next words. Have heard him say it dozens of times. “Obsidian.” 

Len surprises you. That has yet to be a response in your little game of prophecy, and you open your mouth to indulge and ask him what he means when something tingles at the back of your neck. 

You pause and glance to the side where Margot is dealing with a customer arguing about the price of squash. A soft breeze rustles the canvas topper to Margot’s stand, carrying the scent of tangerine with it. Something is buzzing at the back of your neck, and your gaze slowly drifts from Margot to a man passing by the cart. 

This is someone who blends in. His clothes are plain: his pants are ripped at the knees and scuffed at the bottom, his white t-shirt clinging to his chest in places where he’s sweating through. He has a floral shirt pulled over, open and fluttering in the balmy breezy of the market.

Nothing about him is remarkable, except that he’s beautiful. Perhaps not on the first glance, but when you blink and focus, it feels like you’re seeing him for the first time. You have no idea how upon first glance you thought he could ever blend in.

He has a round face, glowing and pale like the moon. Inky hair that is a little bit dirty, a few wavy pieces falling over cat-sharp eyes. He smirks as he walks, and though he isn’t looking at you, he seems smug about something. You’re not sure what, but as he passes you, you feel that tingle again. 

Your eyes dart to all of the places you look for jewels first. Hands, ears, neck, and wrists. Nothing, there’s no jewel on him. You can’t sense a frequency about him that makes sense - he doesn’t fit anywhere on the caste that makes sense to you, but it’s definitely a Radiant-adjacent sensation. He’s on the caste, but you don’t know where.

Most Radiants feel like a dull buzz. When they have jewels, it’s more like an itch that you want to scratch. There is always an attraction for a Radiant to use jewels, even if they don’t belong to them. This feeling isn’t that, it’s more invasive and sharp, not like anything you’ve felt from diamond caste to onyx caste.

When he gets a few yards away, the feeling begins to fade. You start to turn away but he tosses something up and the air and catches it. You narrow your eyes and he does it again, realizing he’s tossing a tangerine up and down. 

A tangerine that he stole. 

“Hey!” you bark at him, making several people turn in your direction, including Namjoon and Margot. The man doesn’t pause, tossing his tangerine in the air again. “Hey motherfucker! You have to pay for that tangerine!”

That catches his attention. He turns and looks at you over his shoulder, eyes round and mouth parted in surprise. A few people turn to look at where you’re shouting, but you mostly go ignored. Thieves are common here and most people don’t bother to yell at them anymore. 

The man pauses for a moment. His gaze darts between you, Margot who is coming around his cart behind you with a knife, and the ripe little tangerine in his hand. He looks at you again, dark eyes glittering. For a second, the two of you are connected, strung together by an unlikely moment between strangers. Then he does the damndest thing: he grins. 

And then he’s running down the street, floral shirt snapping in the wind as he dashes headfirst into the crowd. 

Like the idiot you are, you take off after him. Suddenly, you are the number one security measure of Margot’s fruit stand, a man who has never given you a fucking discount in your life. You have no idea why you’re running after this tangerine thief, but you feel energy surge through you as you do, dodging people and bodies and things as you tear after him. 

The tangerine thief is quick on his feet but you’re fast too, the emerald jewel hidden in your boot sending energy through you. You only radiate a little - not enough to draw too much attention, but enough to not lose sight of his red shirt flapping as he takes a corner and leaps over a stall. 

He’s a Radiant, you realize. You suspected when you felt him walk behind you, but the ease at which he vaults a market stall much taller than him gives it away. He isn’t worried about hiding his status from you, which can mean a couple of things. 

You don’t consider any of them, going around the stall instead of over. The emerald in your shoe is more than enough to send you several meters in the air, but you like to play your cards close. Don’t like to flash power unless you absolutely have to.

In a market full of Nulls, you prefer to blend in. Unjeweled is safer, especially in Market Town full of thieves and cut throats for naive or unsuspecting Radiants.

Just as you catch sight of your thief again, there’s a loud snap in the market. You look up, seeing a two story stall made from dry-rotted driftwood splinter. There’s a single second where you’re watching the top of the stall holding fresh rain water and it’s crashing down onto the market floor. 

Screams ring out as alarmed market goers are startled by the sudden deluge. You just barely throw up a shield of concentrated energy. Water splits once it hits you, a river breaking around a boulder. Chaos ensues, the stall owner screaming her head off and wailing about the precious rainwater she collected to bless with her divine spiritual energy and sell, while shoppers and other stall owners alike are furious about their now soaking persons and wares. 

Dropping your shield, you shoulder through the crowd. Now the smell of garbage is wet and pungent, clinging to bodies as you shove through the mess, looking for any sign of the pretty boy and his stolen tangerine. 

It’s a mass of colors and people, lanes between stalls and the crowd opening and closing. The movement of Market Town flexes like a living thing, shifting and writhing, a hungry serpent sliding through the streets. 

“Fuck,” you growl. It was a well placed distraction and perfect aim, using his power to snap the beam of the stand. 

With a sigh, you look down at your watch and curse. You’re going to be late to work. Again. All because you chased down a thief for a fruit salesman that doesn’t even like you.  

But that tingle. That sense of awareness that pricked the back of your neck, sharp and lethal. You think about it as you speed walk to the outskirts of Market Town where the edge of the Night Sphinx territory borders the loosely carved strip of streets that belong to the Green Dragons.

The lane of pockmarked pavement between the left and right sides of the street is the only place in Diade where two families of the Armory share such close property. Though the Salib and Park families are friendly enough, it still doesn’t do well to mix too much among Armory families outside of official business.

As soon as you hit the corner, you keep your eye on the other side of the street. It’s lined with clubs and bars and gambling dens that belong to the Night Sphinx organization. A few patrons loiter on the street, but it’s mostly members with sphinx tattoos, brooches or emblems stitched to their clothing to state their association.

The sun is sinking toward its final goodbye, rays of gold light cut in half by the towering buildings of Civ just a few miles away. It’s a beautiful sight, a shot straight down to the lower elevation of the giant buildings turned burnish gold by the sunset. 

Even from a distance, the commercial district of the city is imposing, its steel teeth biting upward at a colored sky. You wonder what it must be like to live in that world. To work or live in one of the Civ towers. You imagine you’d have your own little office with a desk and a private window to look out at the world. So high up near the clouds, a god of civilization. 

A group of Green Dragons pour out of the door of Montana and onto the sidewalk. It draws your attention away from the shining, ever-golden Civ to the flickering neon sign above a banged-up metal door. It looks like the lock is busted again and you make a note to tell Burro. Not that he’ll get it fixed. It’s not worth the nil to fix anything in Montana, including the mangrove rat infestation brought in by one of the liquor shipments from Blows.

Inside the bar is no better. Sticky floors, wobbling tables with chipped wood and scratched lacquer coating, a single bar with broken stools pulled up to the edge. There are a few holoscreens flickering above the colorful bottles that line the bar, sometimes interrupted by Jungkook’s tattooed hand reaching for bottles.  

Montana is rarely busy. It’s a new acquisition fronted by the Green Dragons, though the building isn’t new and neither is the bar. It had been closed for almost fifteen years, a rotted hole of a used-to-be-bar until Jimin opened it up again. He doesn’t intend for it to be a popular place to drink as much as he needs it for Green Dragons operations, but he fixed it up a bit. 

As you round the bar to throw your shit in the office, a mangrove rat scurries by your feet, making you screech and jump. Jungkook lifts his head, round eyes sweeping back and forth for danger, hands cocked and fists half-clenched. He catches sight of the rat scurrying into one of the holes in the side of the wall and scowls before nodding in greeting.

So maybe Jimin hadn’t fixed up the bar that much. 

If Jungkook is irritated by your tardiness, he doesn’t say anything. You’re just as pleased as you are displeased to discover that Burro isn’t in the bar at all. You suspect he’s down the block wasted in the Green Garter. Instead of asking, you immediately get to helping Jungkook maintain the system behind the bar, which is mostly cleaning vigorously at all times to fight the grime that seems to inch up on the place every hour. 

Working with Jungkook is your favorite. He’s a quiet kid with a guarded expression and soft eyes. You don’t ask him much about how he got here or why. Jimin seems to show him the same reverence as when he first found you, so it’s safe to assume that Jungkook is a stray like you. 

Even without jewels, Jungkook is tall and broad, his arms thick and strong enough to lift kegs one-armed over his shoulder. You’ve seen him go from quiet and unassuming behind the bar to throwing a jeweled Radiant across the street. You know he has your back. Despite the fact that his eyes sometimes drift to where your emerald is hidden. It’s the only evidence that you have that he’s frequency sensitive, like you.

Jungkook’s energy vibrates somewhere on the light colors. Maybe jade or rose, it’s hard to place him because he wears no jewels. 

The sound of some sporting event on the holoscreen buzzes behind you. The murmur of voices is soothing as you work, scrubbing a stain on the bartop you don’t remember being there yesterday. A quick sweep tells you that it’s the usual crowd this evening: Daro who is a smoky jewel sitting at a booth with Rollins and Gia, both emeralds; twins Rin and Maki sitting at the bar with their sharp, matching gazes vibrating at amethyst, and Bolero who doesn’t run with the Green Dragons but has become a regular, the only Null in the building. 

Bolero signals for another drink, grey eyes following you. He’s dancer-thin and his face is sharp like a hawk, grey eyes even sharper. He’s always in a long, red trench coat no matter how boiling hot it is. You think you’re going to see him keel over and have a heatstroke one day, but he never does. Just strolls in, pushing his long, dark hair out of his face before sitting down wordlessly at the bar. 

You pour him a whiskey neat and slide it over to him. He hums a thank you and turns his attention back to the screen flickering behind you. Bolero never talks, but you don’t mind him. The Radiants ignore him, though they hadn’t at first. You still see Rollins sporting a ropey scar on his hand from learning how much bullying Bolero would take.

Apparently, it was very little. 

Most places would have had the Null killed and dragged out for the city sanitation to collect in their once-a-week pickups. To Radiants, anyone who doesn’t have power, who can’t radiate on the same frequency as a jewel, is beneath them. Powerless. Ant, meet boot. 

Radiants, you’ve learned, are certainly powerful but not quite intelligent. 

“Where’s the asshole?” you ask Jungkook as you close the dishwasher with your hip. Three hours in and no Burro in sight. Not that you’re complaining, but as the manager, he’s usually expected to be around in the event that someone important drops by for business. 

Jungkook shrugs, dubious. “How should I know?”

“He can’t keep leaving you alone.”

“I’m not a kid.” You give him a look and his cheeks go pink. “I’m twenty-two, you know?”

“A child. A mere infant. Baby.”

“Ugh.” 

“Anway,” you clarify, throwing a rag over your shoulder. “It’s not right. If someone comes in here for Green Dragons shit and Burro isn’t around, you’re gonna be fucked.” 

“I can service them just fine.” 

“Yeah? Where’s the stash?” 

Jungkook smirks and leans against the bar. He’s dressed in dirty pants and a t-shirt he’s patched holes on several times already. His arms flex as he crosses them, cocking his head to the side. His hair is so much longer than it used to be - now it’s wavy and falling into his eyes, sticking to the sweaty skin of his forehead. You want to offer him a haircut, but you don’t want to baby him further. 

“It’s in the grate underneath the desk in Burro’s office.” 

“Great, and then they’ll flay you alive for not answering in their weird little code phrase.” Jungkook’s smirk falls off his face and you shake your head. “Exactly. Just because you know things doesn’t mean you know all of them, Jungkook.”

“Whatever.” 

Jungkook pushes off of the counter and distracts himself by sullenly adjusting the bottles on the bar. You snort and turn back to trying to pry the sparking plug of the freezer out from the outlet to move power sources. Eventually, you feel Jungkook’s presence at your side, making you crane your neck up to look at him.

“So what is the code phrase?” he asks, pout prominent. You roll your eyes and straighten just as the door opens to the bar. 

The door swings open with such force that it smacks the wall behind it, doorknob cracking. It draws the attention of the bar, everyone turning in their seats to see the man standing at the entrance. He’s mid-size with wild, blue hair and there’s a messy tattoo of a black cat on his arm. Your eyes narrow and the bar stills at the violent entrance of a Night Sphinx member in front of you, panting and staring directly at Bolero, the only person not looking at the door. 

“Can I help you?” you ask, looking back and forth between them.

The Night Sphinx is angry and his energy snaps around him, a crackle in the air. You don’t have to sense the emeralds on him to know where he’s at on the Jewel Caste. He has a single ring on his finger and two modest earrings, not polished jewels but still emeralds all the same. 

For a second, the man doesn’t say anything. He just stares at Bolero in a red rage, face purpling with the way he’s panting, fists clenched at his sides. You think he might just pass out, but then he’s pointing a finger at the Null sitting at your bar, sipping whiskey.

“You motherfucker!” His voice is garbled and slurred with liquor. “You fucked my wife!”

“Oh for jewels sake,” Maki grunts, turning away and sharing a roll of her eyes with her twin. “Take him outside and kick his ass then. He’s a Null.” 

If being sold out by Maki bothers Bolero, he doesn’t show it. He simply sits there in his heavy trench coat, eyes fixed on the game on the holoscreen. This seems to enrage the man at the door even further. He ignores Maki’s advice and storms into the bar, gathering energy as he goes. The chairs and tables he walks by rattle and slide away from him, the pulse of energy flowing through him as he radiates disturbing them. 

No one in the bar moves. Jungkook is transfixed and confused, eyes wide. The Green Dragons in the bar watch with mild interest. Bolero isn’t one of them, and the bar isn’t important enough to pick a fight with one of Salib's men over a Null.

But you’re not looking forward to the cleanup, and you don’t want to explain to Jimin how you did nothing while some Night Sphinx came in and fucked up a patron. 

As your hand slides to the small, bullet-shaped device Namjoon fixed for you, Bolero moves. It’s almost too fast to follow the fluid way he stands and spins from the chair. His foot slips under the stool, using the toe of his boot to hook it behind the stool’s leg and he kicks. 

The stool flies at the Radiant. He’s a little drunk and slow, but he’s still a Radiant and he reacts with enough clarity to pulse with the jewels on his hand and earrings once, sending a shield of energy around him. The stool shatters against the invisible wall, leaving the intruder unharmed. 

Bolero is still fast for a Null though, already flipping a round table over to duck behind it as the Night Sphinx sends a green bolt of energy right at Bolero. It hits the table and singes it, cracking it in half. It’s loud as thunder, your yell going ignored as the two of them wreck the left side of the bar. 

This is the ignorance of the Radiants. They don’t care about how destructive they are, storming into places and letting others take damage as they make demands and use force when they want. 

Grabbing the scatterwave in your pocket. Bolero is dodging and waving blasts of energy from the man who chases him around the bar, blowing tables and chairs to bits. The other members of the Green Dragons have moved out of the warpath, collected near a booth on the far end of the bar, watching and jeering as Bolero doges a slice of concentrated energy that would have taken his head off.

“Fuckers,” you mutter. 

Palming the device you press the top of the scatterwave. The device is small but it lets out a high-pitched sound when activated, sharp enough to disrupt frequencies within a small radius. Its target is the darker colors on the caste, its high frequency enough of a distraction and disruption for Radiants that it makes it harder to radiate.  

The reaction is instantaneous. You feel nausea roll through your stomach and your world spins. It’s an earth-shattering noise, your ears vibrating with the force of the whistle. Your vision is blurry but you stumble toward where the two men are fighting, the Radiant bent over with his hands on his ears screaming from the force of the shatterwave. 

Bolero is unaffected. He has no frequency to scatter and he takes the shot, leaping at the struggling Radiant with a snarl on his face. 

“Not in here!” you screech. “He’s a Salib, you cannot kill him in Park territory. Go somewhere else! Bolero, please!” 

Bolero looks at you once, grey eyes full of fire. He has the intruder by the shirt collar, fisted tight as the man continues to thrash against the sound of your device. You think for a split second that Bolero is going to drag him out of the bar and do what you ask. He turns to look at the door, considering it. 

He decides not to. A knife appears in his hand and you yell as he stabs downward. You can’t hear the fleshy sound as Bolero sinks the blade in over the wailing of the device in your hand. He hits right between the ribs and up, a solid jab directly to the heart. The Radiant jerks in Bolero’s arms, his death twitch violent as he fists Bolero’s shirt, eyes wide, face aghast. Then he goes limp, sagging as a ragged breath leaves him. 

No one moves. Bolero holds the dead man in his arms, panting and looking down at him. They are so close, Bolero’s face right over the man’s and if you didn’t know any better, you might think they were lovers. Bolero slowly crouches down, suddenly gentle as he lays the dead body on the ground, hands hovering over him. 

You press the top of the shatterwave and it goes silent as it can with the high-pitched ring in your ears as you try to recover. You’re a little unsteady on your feet, pressing your hand against the bartop to keep your balance. A sharp pain behind your eyes signals an oncoming headache.

“What the fuck?” your voice sounds foreign and strained in the ringing quiet. “Are you fucking serious?”

Bolero rises, pulling the bloody knife with him. He wipes it on his pants and flips it in his fingers artfully. Familiar with blades, you note. He half turns to you and glances around the destroyed section of Monatna before he looks back at you and shrugs.

“Maybe you didn’t notice, but he was trying to kill me.”

“I don’t give a fuck. You kill people outside of this bar. You aren’t permitted to kill here.”

“Montana doesn’t protect its patrons?”

“Montana protects Green Dragons,” you clarify with a hiss.

You feel your fingers twitch. The familiar urge to radiate rises. It’s a natural instinct, to want to reach for the power that is right there on the edge of your mind all the time. You feel the emerald in your shoe. You imagine it beckons you, wiggling its fingers, begging to be used. 

You ignore it, pointing a finger at Bolero. “You fucked up and you know it. What the fuck am I supposed to do with a dead Night Sphynix?”

“Tell the Salib’s he attacked first.”

“You’re a Null asshole, it doesn’t matter that he attacked you first. You’re not fucking one of us.”

Something passes over Bolero’s face when you say it. Offense, you think. It’s there and gone so fast that you think you imagine it. You only feel a little guilty that he thinks you mean not a Radiant. You really mean not one of the Green Dragons but it doesn’t matter, in the end. 

He pulls his phone out. “My boss will pay for the damage and deal with the Salibs.”

“Unless your boss is Jimin fucking Park, that doesn’t really matter.” 

Bolero holds the phone up to his ear. You watch as he smirks a bit, shrugging. “Nah, but don’t worry about it.” 

“Oh I’m fucking worried about it,” you snarl. Jungkook is watching wordlessly, mouth parted slightly. “Call Jimin,” you bark at him, making him flinch. You immediately soften your voice. “Sorry, just - call Jimin.”

With a bow of his head, Jungkook grabs the phone and dials.

Jungkook starts murmuring quietly when Jimin - or an assistant, more like - answers the phone while you let yourself into the back and lock the backdoor for security before returning to the front. Bolero is sitting at the bar waiting, the dead Night Sphinx behind him. Red is beginning to pool around him, almost black against the dirty floor of the bar.

Heading to the door, you throw Gia a look. “Watch the bar,” you grunt. “Unlike you did when that fuck stick walked in here and ripped the place apart.”

She looks down her nose at you, eyes narrowed. Gia is terrifyingly beautiful, standing nearly a foot taller than you and built with wiry muscle. Her silky, black hair is braided out of her face, elegant and carved like one of the glass angels sold in the art district. Her eyes are the same color as her jewels, a stunning emerald that flashes in annoyance at your command. 

Gia nods once instead of arguing. The other Green Dragons behind her have the decency to look ashamed. While they aren’t heavies dedicated to protecting the Park family assets, they are low-level lackeys who could have prevented half the bar from being blown to bits by a Radiant. Especially the two amethyst caste twins who look at the wall blankly realizing what's going to happen now. 

Instead of stopping the Night Sphinx, they all stood there with drunk stares and half-tilted grins. Jimin won’t like it and they know it. It doesn’t matter that Montana isn’t an integral operation to the Green Dragons. It’s about pride and respect. The fact that a drunk, emerald caste man under the flag of the Salib family stumbled into Jimin’s bar, destroyed the place and then was killed by a Null is going to set Jimin off.

So you find a target to direct his anger at. 

Burro is slouched down on a leather couch at the Green Garter, exactly where you expect him. He doesn’t see you coming, the scattered green and white lights from the stage refracting and splitting into dozens of beams shining in his eyes as he stares at the topless woman on stage. There’s hardly anyone in the club and only a few people look startled when you grab him by the collar and yank him from the booth.

Security at the door and near the strange straighten up. The girl on stage keeps moving, lithe movements carrying her  away from where you lift Burro up, fingers digging into his shirt enough to rip. He smells like grain alcohol and sweat, the stubble on his face indicating that he may have slept in the club.

It wouldn’t be the first time.

“Come on,” you snarl at him, shooting daggers as one of the security guards steps in your direction. You let yourself radiate just a little, enough to give out a steady hum that even the lightest on the Jewel Caste can feel the sensation of an emerald jewel. He backs off immediately despite the fact that you can see and sense the amethyst pieces drilled into his pale knuckles. 

But there are two things that stop him: emerald is close enough to amethyst that a good Radiant can fuck up someone who is only a little darker than them on the Caste, and you’re a Radiant under the protection of the Park family, specifically Jimin, who owns the club. 

As much as it annoys the man whose job is to protect the dancers and the patrons, if you want to beat the shit out of Burro on the shitty green carpet in front of everyone, he has to allow it. You’re one of Jimin’s favorite little Radiants and everyone knows it, especially on this strip of road. 

No one stops you as you drag Burro out of the bar. His feet slide on the stained carpet, trying to find purchase as he yanks at your hand, shouting obscenities at you with his reeking breath. Your grip is iron, and you throw him as hard as you can once you’re back onto the sidewalk. He hits the ground hard, shoulder cracking against the street. 

Burro yells and rolls over, curling into himself. You fight the urge to kick him a few times, your wrath waiting like a coiled snake to strike out and punish him for being such a burden to deal with. You leave him in a fetal position, storming back into the bar to throw a couple of nill on the table for the drinks and a heavy sum more on the stage for the girl’s trouble. She winks at you, pretty enough to make you flush and spin on your heel to get back outside where Burro is still laying on the ground. 

Most of the time, you don’t bother. Burro is technically your manager and your superior. He’s an asshole and a waste of the Green Dragon's salary, which is why Jimin stuck him behind the bar, a punishment as much as a favor to Burro’s father who is a mid-ranking heavy in the Park family’s retinue. It’s as good as his son is willing to get for an emerald caste who is lazy and spends most of his days gambling, ogling at naked bodies, or wasted in a booth with Rollins. 

Even so, most days you let him yell at you. Throw curses your way. Drone about how shitty of a bartender you are - which is true - like a gnat that won’t leave. He’s harmless on good days, annoying on bad days, and he’s too afraid to retaliate in rare moments like this when you shove him into his ill-fitting role. 

“Get up,” you spit at him. You have the urge to crush his fingers that are spread out on the sidewalk. You think the loud crunch beneath your boot might be satisfying. You don’t, though. “Bolero just killed a Night Sphinx in the bar.”

“Swhwat?” 

You growl as he slurs, slowly pushing himself to his feet. You think he might have been handsome once. He has the making for it, but his days knocking back grain alcohol have weathered him. You see the early signs of Alloy addiction all over his face, scabs picked raw, leaving behind dark scarring, the track marks in his arms when he wears short sleeves.  

Raucous noise reaches you from a group of Night Sphinxes watching your exchange. Their laughter and whistles echo across the street, backed by the loud hum of shitty neon and the now very bright and flickering holographic display ads spinning in windows. This is a nice show for them, you’re sure. Everyone on this edge of Market Town has seen Burro get his shit kicked, though usually not by you.

“Get up, you’re embarrassing yourself.” You start marching back to Montana. “You’re needed at the bar. You know, the place you manage.” 

He mutters something behind you as he manages to get to his feet, tilted and tripping. You don’t catch what he says, eyes fixed on the sleek car that sits parked right in front of the door at Montana.

The road here isn’t really built for cars. It’s full of cracked faultlines and potholes, but Jimin has opted for a sharp-looking SUV with green LEDs running down the side and a little metal dragon on the grill. Not his personal car, but a business class that is no doubt reinforced with bulletproof windows and shatterwave tech. 

There are four men standing around the car, dressed in pressed suits, each with a dragon brooch pinned to the front. They nod when you walk by and you keep your eyes low, feeling the different colors as you pass by: amethyst, sapphire, emerald. They have jewels drilled into their knuckles and some of their teeth, earrings of polished stone, and necklaces set with their respective caste colors. 

Walking around with that much power is safe enough for them, but it makes your skin itch. Thinking of all that energy just waiting to be tapped into, waiting for them to radiate. The urge to reach for the power just a few feet away lessens as you walk inside of Montana. 

Inside is a vision. Jimin’s loyal group of Green Dragons sit together in a booth, silent and heads down. Maki glances up for a split second as you come through the door, anger twitching on her face before she looks back down at the table in resolute silence, her curtain of black hair hiding her scowl. 

Good. She could have used her fucking amethyst to wipe the now dead man from the map and not suffered a consequence under Jimin’s protection. And yet there you are, walking slowly toward the scene of the crime. 

Jungkook is standing behind the bar chewing on his lip, hands linked behind his back as he watches the two men in front of him conversing. Bolero smokes a cigarette on the same stool he was on earlier, eyes fixated on the holo once again. The dead man is still very dead, Jimin’s men spread out around the bar to assess the damage.

Jimin is one of the two men speaking at the bar in front of Jungkook. Jimin’s dressed sharply in black dress pants and a matching black, tailored jacket with emerald buttons and a beautiful dragon broach set with emeralds and jade. His arms are crossed as he listens passively, dark hair slicked back. There’s a single dangling earring in one ear, a teardrop diamond at the end.

Jimin Park is one of the most beautiful men you’ve ever seen. He reminds you of a dangerous jungle cat. His eyes are sharp, shadowed by a full-fan of dark lashes, cheeks round and soft in contrast to his elegant jawline. He smiles at something the man he’s talking to says, full lips rosebud pink.

Your eyes drift to the man talking to Jimin and before you can think twice about interrupting them, you’re yelling, “You!” 

Both of the men jerk their heads in your direction. Jimin’s brows shoot up and he shakes his head as if to ask what the fuck? But you’re too distracted by the other man, who grins at you as soon as he realizes who you are, adjusting his floral shirt as he turns to face you head on. 

You get a better look at him now and you’re angry to discover that he is still just as stunning as he was in the middle of the Market Town stalls. His hair is pushed back out of his face more, eyes twinkling as they drag up and down your frame. He wiggles his fingers at you in a wave. 

“You can’t just steal tangerines!” you bark at him suddenly. 

“What?” Jimin asks. He frowns and looks between the two of you. “I’m sorry, do you know one another?” The man says ‘no’ at the exact same time you say ‘sort of’ which makes Jimin’s jaw tick, patience waning. “Well? Which is it?” 

“Seen her once,” the man admits. “But I don’t know her. She chased me through the streets of Market Town today like a lunatic. I think she took one look at me and fell in love.”

Your jaw drops. “You stole fruit from Margot’s fruit stand motherfucker! It had nothing to do with your good looks.” 

“So you admit I’m good-looking!”

A failed attempt at a response comes sputtering out of you. You stop and start your sentences multiple times, trying to come up with a wicked riposte to his ridiculous insinuation that you think he’s attractive. Which you do, especially when he gives you a full, shit-eating gummy grin. 

“Enough,” Jimin snaps in your direction. “Wait with Jungkook, I’ll deal with you later. And don’t interrupt me again, got it?” 

You bow deeply at the command.  You feel hot all over, an unpleasant mix of shame and something else that you can’t place for “Yes sir. I apologize for my outburst.” 

Jimin turns away from you and back to the tangerine thief, leaving you to rush behind the bar to stand next to Jungkook while you stare at the two of them.  

You have no idea who this man is. You’ve never seen him in the bar with Bolero, though it’s possible he’s come in when you’re not working. It isn’t likely, since there’s only one additional bartender besides you and Jungkook, but you can’t possibly imagine how this man is important enough to look Jimin in the eye when he speaks.

Jungkook gives you a head tilt and doe eyes. You shake your head, opting instead to study the object of your irritation rather than explaining. He doesn’t ask any questions but you can see the way he shifts back and forth, unsure of where to focus his energy. 

As one of the family members in the city’s Armory, Jimin is one of the highest-ranking citizens in Diade. Though the Green Dragons are on the bottom of the totem in the Armory, Jimin ranks higher than most of the city by being the son of his family’s leader. 

The man speaking to Jimin looks at him directly in the eyes as an equal. He is a hairsbreadth taller, but his gaze and tone are steady and respectful. There is no air of superiority between the two of them, making you wonder where exactly this smug man falls on the spectrum of city authority. 

Each face of the Armory is familiar to you: the Parks, the Manobals, the Salibs, the Achilleos’ and the Kims. This man belongs to none of them and yet Jimin listens to him calmly, nodding his head at whatever the man is saying. Jimin’s arms are looped behind his back and he is poised as ever, even making a joke or two as they exchange words in hushed tones. 

In Diade, the ruling family syndicates are the ultimate power. Jimin’s family owns the territory to the southeast, the Salib’s directly to the north, the Manobals to the west. You stick to Park territory only, always mindful of where each Armory boundary lies. 

Despite Jimin’s favoritism, you’re not a high-ranking member of the Park family’s Green Dragons. Jimin thinks you’re useful enough though, and has a soft heart for strays. Jungkook is proof enough of that as you are, two little sources of information and loyalty in his personal pocket. 

You work for Jimin, not his mother. 

The respect that Jimin shows the tangerine thief leads to a few possibilities of who he could be. Under the rule of the Armory, there are other smaller and less organized gangs. The Circles are not particularly powerful and still concede to the Armory, but they range from loose bands of idiots and thieves to highly organized factions. There are dozens of Circles in the city, but only a few are powerful enough to earn a smile from Jimin Park, the prince of the Green Dragons. 

Chewing your lip, your mind runs through a list of possible Circles this man could rank high enough in to matter. White Fang has always worked with the Green Dragons well. Their members can sometimes be found hanging out in Montana with tight if not overly polite smiles while they conduct business. While White Fang answers to all of the families of the Armory as a collective governing body, they are particularly fond of the Parks. 

There is little chance that the tangerine thief belongs to the Midnight Sun. As the largest and most powerful Circle, they are only allied to the Kim family. Dangerous for any Circle to declare allyship to only a single governing body, but the Kim family sits at the top of the food chain. Being protected by Yujun and his son Seokjin have its strengths.  

Your vision blurs when you think of the Kim family. Seokjin’s beautiful smile, the way his inky eyes glitter. He remains the most eternal person you’ve ever laid eyes on, and one of the most charming. Funny, smooth talking, intelligent. 

But Seokjin is a snake. A beautiful thing that can fool you into a false sense of security before striking and sinking his fangs in deep.  

Nausea unfurls in your stomach at the thought of him. You blink a few times, willing away the memories of him and his high-pitched laughter and anything else to do with him. Jimin shakes the man’s hand in front of you. It draws your attention to where their hands meet. Jimin’s hand is small and delicate in the large hand of the tangerine thief. A man who was raised with privilege and a man you suspect made his own. 

“I’ll be back,” Jimin calls. You realize he’s talking to you and you bow. He turns his attention to the group of his gang members sitting at the table, waiting for their punishment. He whistles at them, calling them like dogs. “With me.” 

You can’t help but feel a little smug as they jump up, tangled over one another to get out of the booth as fast as possible to follow Jimin toward the front door. None of them look at you or Jungkook, chins tucked to their chest and eyes on the floor. At least they’re good dogs who know when they’re going to be punished. 

“Hello again.” 

The tangerine thief is leaning on the bar. Up close, he smells like sandalwood and a hint of sea salt. It isn’t unpleasant, but you grimace all the same. There are bracelets on his wrist, but no jewels. The prickling, needle-like sensation comes back, right at the back of your neck.

“Jungkook, can you start cleaning up?” You ask. He nods and dashes away, giving the stranger a single nervous glance as he joins the security members of Jimin’s team cleaning up. 

They pick up the body and carry him through the bag on Jungkook’s guidance, dripping blood the entire way. Bolero doesn’t even glance as they pass him, still transfixed by the holoscreen. 

“Why did you use a shatterwave?”

Your eyes drift back to the man in front of you. Up close, you notice that his skin is flawless. He has a shine and glow to him of a healthy Radiant, and yet you’re not sure how to place him on the caste. You know he’s a radiant from his escape methods in Market Town, but you’ve never had this much trouble placing someone on the caste. “What?” 

“The shatterwave. Had to hurt you too, I imagine.” 

“Well no one else was going to do anything,” you answer, skirting his assertion that you’re a Radiant. “It didn’t hurt that bad. I’m a Light Radiant.” 

He raises his brows. “Oh, you’re a liar.” 

“About some things, sure. I can’t take on an emerald caste, though. So I used a shatterwave.” 

“There’s an emerald in your boot.” 

You grit your teeth. He doesn’t make sense. The needling feeling only increases as he cocks his head, scanning you from head to toe. His pout turns into a smirk and there’s something heated in his gaze that makes you squirm as you shift back and forth on your feet, trying to place him. 

Sensing jewel frequencies outside of the jewel you radiate most with is difficult. Energy is a fickle thing, and though you can feel the buzz of every color of jewel around you, most Radiants can’t. They can only sense what jewel they vibrate on the same frequency as, though trained Radiants can sense their assigned jewel and lighter. 

This puts the tangerine thief at emerald or darker. If he can sense the emerald in your shoe, it means he can use it. Unless he is a rare case like you and Jungkook, who are frequency sensitive. But he doesn’t feel like emerald and he doesn’t feel like he sits darker at garnet and onyx. 

You shiver remembering what onyx feels like, an oppressive and demanding thing.  

“It wouldn’t be the first time I lied,” you offer. You can keep skirting the topic of the emerald in your shoe, but he already knows it's there. 

He chuckles. It’s raspy and soft as a whisper. There’s no doubt he’s used to the effect he has on people. It reminds you a little of Seokjin and you feel skittish.

“No, I’m sure you are quite the liar.” He leans in a little bit. “I’m Agust, by the way.” 

Schooling your features is hard. Out of all of the Circles that crossed your mind that he could belong to, you never considered Black Lotus. It makes sense, you suppose, that Bolero belongs to the Black Lotus. It’s one of the few Circles in the city that not only accept Nulls in their ranks, but encourage it. A little oasis for Radiants and Nulls alike to claw their way to the top from the bottom of the barrel. 

My boss will pay for the damage and deal with the Salibs. You think of Bolero’s comment, realizing why he was so confident. His boss is the leader of the Black Lotus, a chaotic thorn in the Armory’s side who walks around the Crown Cities undermining authority where he can. 

Agust smiles, pride bleeding through when you recognize his name. He’s a little notorious for the destruction of three Circles associated with the Kim family and for donating thousands of nil to squatters in Blows. A violent killer with a soft spot for charity. Strange, and not quite as heroic as some seem to think it is. 

Instead of saying anything, you busy yourself with folding rags, feeling the way of his gaze. Agust is pretty with a soft edge to his face and a charming grin. There’s a confidence about him that draws the eye, and yet he can blend in just like he did at Margot’s fruit stand. He is both sides of the moon, light and dark, switching whenever it suits him. 

Again, he reminds you of Seokjin and your heart squeezes as you take a step away from him.

“Well, I hope you have a great evening, Agust.” It's dismal. Polite, but an end to the conversation nevertheless.  

He isn’t swayed. “What, no name?”

“Do you need it?”

“I’d like it. Is it as pretty as you are?”

“Your flattery isn’t welcome here.” 

“Then what is?”

You glare. “The money for Margot’s tangerine.” 

Agust chuckles again and shrugs. You expect him to walk away or volley back with a riposte but he doesn’t. Instead, he reaches into his pocket and pulls out the nil that Margot is owed and sets them on the counter, the silver coins clinking against the wood. He leans against the bar again, hand cupping his chin as he looks up at you.

“This cover me?” 

You swipe the coins off the bar and sniff. “I suppose.” 

“I like you. How about I call you Montana, hmm? Since you won’t give me a name, I’ll make one for you.”

Instead of looking at him directly, you busy yourself with moving around the syrup bottles in their plastic bin. “You don’t have to call me anything.” 

“Or Garnet?”

For a second, you stare at your hands before slowly dragging your gaze to him where he watches you, feline-eyes glittering. That pinprick feeling returns sharper than ever. You’re a mouse caught under the watchful gaze of a hungry cat. 

There are only a handful of people in the world that knows you sit on the second darkest color of the Jewel Caste. One of them is outside giving his gang members the lashing of a lifetime, one of them is sitting in a luxurious home in Aria and the other is no doubt watching cameras on the casino floor of Kaiju. 

Sweat gathers on the back of your neck. You think about the first time you radiated at garnet, the power so raw and rich that you were almost drunk on it. You were just a kid, untrained in how to syphon energy that volatile. You’d become sick right after, taking too much too fast and completely unaware of how to channel all that energy.

The Kim’s had helped you find a way. And then used it to their advantage, a little girl with no one else to count on with all that power just waiting to be directed. 

You refused to ever be used for your place on the Jewel Caste ever again. 

“Say it again,” you murmur, voice low. Your hands open and close and you feel the emerald surge in your boot. Agust is either onyx or frequency sensitive, but it doesn’t matter. You’ve gone head to head with darker than you before. “I dare you.”

To your surprise, his smile is sad this time. There’s a moment you think you see understanding. Compassion. Something soft. Then it’s gone and he gives you a brief nod before pushing away from the bar, running a hand through his hair. You don’t move, muscles locked and primed to lash out, to grind him to dust if you have to. You don’t have a garnet, but you don’t need it. You can do just as much damage with an emerald, regardless of whatever color he is. 

“Put the claws away, your secret is safe with me.” He nods to the pool of blood on the floor. “You have my apologies for the mess. Black Lotus will handle the fallout. Tell Bolero if any of those Night Sphinx fucks give you any trouble. You have my word I’ll pay my debt.”

“What debt?” 

He jerks his thumb at Bolero. “You saved his worthless ass.” You don’t disagree but you say nothing. He lingers for a second, looking you up and down. Something passes his face that makes your heart speed up a little. “I mean it. Call if you need.”

“I won't.” 

He grins. “Bye, Montana.” 

When Agust turns to leave, Bolero gets up and goes with him. When the door shuts, it’s just you and the sound of Jungkook and Jimin’s men putting the bar back together. 

No one can hear how loud your heart thunders. 

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THE JEWEL CASTE (from least to most powerful)

Light Caste

Diamond Citrine Aquamarine Jade Rose

Mid Caste

Peridot Topaz Turquoise Ruby Smokey

Dark Caste

Emerald Amethyst Sapphire Garnet Onyx

THE CHAOTIC CASTE (in general, from least to most powerful)

Opal Quartz Tourmaline Carnelian  Obsidian 

GLOSSARY

Alloy - A drug that allows radiants to lift frequency for a temporary amount of time and meld with a jewel they cannot normally radiate with.  Caste Drop - When someone drops a color on the Jewel Caste and vibrates at a higher frequency  Circle - Lower gangs who are not in the Armory Dark Radiant - Those who vibrate at the low-colors and high frequencies Jewel Caste - The order of least to most powerful vibrational jewel frequencies  Light Radiant - Those who vibrate at the lighter colors and lower frequencies  Mid Radiant - Those who vibrate at the mid-colors and medium frequencies Null - Those who don’t vibrate at the same frequency as the jewels and cannot radiate Radiant - Those who vibrate at the same frequency as the jewels and thus can radiate Shatterwave - A type of device that lets out high-frequency sounds to shatter Radiant frequencies in a certain radius Unjeweled - A radiant who doesn’t have any jewels on them to help radiate

[eoieopda]

well, holy shit, this blog has officially existed for one (1) year!

as most of you are aware, i started this tumblr a week or so after finding out about bts. at that point, my life was falling apart, and the only thing i could think of to do was write about it — so i did. i dumped the current state of my life into lacuna, and all of the sudden, there were people here, giving a shit about what i wrote. people that, for the most part, are still here. people that are now friends, who i talk to every single day.

and fuck, do i adore y’all.

i’m really proud of how far this blog has come in the last year and of the growth i’ve seen in myself since starting it. i hope to look back in november 2024 and feel the same way, so i’m creating a time capsule for future jade (below the cut).

in the meantime, thank you, thank you, thank you to any/everyone who has ever given a shit about this blog. you mean more to me than i can say.

here’s to another year of being super normal about stuff 💘

year one stats:

90 fics posted for three groups (bts, svt, skz)

40k words (and counting) poured into wips that haven’t yet been posted

most popular fic: darksided

personal favorite bts fic: foresight

personal favorite svt fic: tidal.

fic i’m proudest of: aphelion

most popular drabble: the one where jungkook has to sleep on the couch

personal favorite bts drabble: the one where hoseok plays with fire

personal favorite svt drabble: the one with mingyu and the twin bed

personal favorite skz drabble: the one with chan and the promotion

wip i’m most excited for: force quit (skz) + hindsight (bts — darksided epilogue)

five k-pop concerts attended (via livestream)

[absolutebl]

Hi P’ABL! I saw the post earlier about branded pairs taking someone out of the story and just wanted to add my two cents, since you and I seem to be somewhat aligned on liking them (at least story/show wise). For me personally, another reason I like the pair system is I’m not worried about them being as uncomfortable!

I know the system has flaws, to put it mildly, but with the rise of pairs like EarthMix, FirstKhaotung, and even OhmNanon, it’s so nice to know that they were friends first, so they most likely could communicate better on boundaries while acting. I know they are all professionals, but something I always worry about with a lot of higher heat shows is the actors feeling pressured to do more than they are comfortable with (this isn’t unique to BL, either). When the actors are paired, and especially when they’re friends prior to being paired, I worry less that they were coerced into doing high heat they aren’t prepared for. It’s probably my anxiety that makes me worried about that more than usual.

Do you think the pair system could ever be moved to more of a healthy dynamic? On paper, the idea of pairing two actors who are comfortable with each other, good actors, with guaranteed chemistry seems amazing for actors and production companies alike. However I know there’s a lot of shit that happens in the background that makes it a lot more complex than that.

Hum, I think a lot about the 1950s Hollywood studio system with pair branding.

Do you think the pair system could ever be moved to more of a healthy dynamic?

Maybe? I mean it isn't the 1950s anymore, so evolution may go differently. (Much as humans love their repeated patterns.)

On paper, the idea of pairing two actors who are comfortable with each other, good actors, with guaranteed chemistry seems amazing for actors and production companies alike.

Yes.... on paper.

But never forget actors act.

It's what they, presumably, do best. I'm not saying any of these friendships we see between pairs are faked or forced, but I am saying that what WE see is performative.

Yes ALWAYS. On the v-live, on those bts cuts, on that reality TV show.

Also, please remember, actors tend to be narcissists - so how they behave around friendship, and notions of it, is different than many ordinary people. Their egos are both fixed, unmoored, and mercurial. Fixed because they are grounded in talent and beauty, unmoored because they often suffer from imposter syndrome (over one or both of those first 2 aspects), and mercurial because they take on other personalities so easily. Mimicry is their job, after all.

Maybe I'm jaded. But when I say never date an actor, I REALLY mean it. I mean I've plenty of celebrity-type friends, but they are a different kind of friend that requires a different kind of maintenance. They are TONS of fun to be around, but would I call them for help in times of need? Never. They aren't... how to put this nicely?... dependable.

Now when and how does the performance become the person, or the friendship? That's a fascinating question to examine.

You could watch 2017's Method, a KBL-ish movie that sort of tackles this. But it's emotionally rough going.

Since celebrities are notoriously difficult to study, psychologically speaking, we may never have actual data on this one. So in an awfully meta way I suppose we have to turn our attention back to fiction for the discussion.

(Never did I think there would come a time where I would recommend Method. Huh.)

[bangtannism]

https://www.tumblr.com/magicshop-pjm1/752681568282329089/weak-afimagine-letting-idiots-like-this-bully?source=share

This is simply never going to stop is it? Imagine getting mad over a meme? Loosing your shit over a freakin meme?? Jesus Christ. Hope atleast jkkrs are talking about jikook cause at this rate no baby armys are going to know about the beautiful bond jikook share cause there's no one in fandom to share it even lol. Call me hater but this fandom is a lost case. I don't expect it to get better at all. One day everyone is gonna pay for the way they let vile tkkrs get away with alot and even then this fandom will only go "shippers need to dye" but won't call out tkkrs. I'll wait for the day when the fandom itself pays for it and best believe they will.

😭 There is some really strange double standards in this fandom for sure and it's really unfortunate. It didn't always used to be like this — sure, there was the ocassional shipper fued, but not such widespread dislike toward anything even remotely related to jikook. I think it's everyone's responsibility to call shit out within the fandom or otherwise we are all just as bad as the worst among us. For some reason though, many people capitulate to the bullies. I'm not necesarrily judging anyone for deleting their posts or whatnot so they don't have to deal with the hate and negative attention, but it's ridiculous that it's gotten to this point and more people need to be proactive about stepping in when this stuff happens.

I do think it's unfair to pin all the blame on how this fandom is on tkkrs, 'cause lord knows there's bad apples in every subsection. Specifically would like to call out jikookers who feel the need to go talk shit in other shippers inboxes. I don't care how annoying you find them, if you don't want tkkrs or other shippers bothering you, also don't bother them. But I digress. I do think that a section of tkkrs has gotten away with bad behavior for so long that they feel justified in what they do and it's only gotten worse over time (just like a lot of solo behavior has). And when ARMY do call things out, like you said, it's directed at all shippers, which is both unfair and not useful.

I don't want to be so jaded as to think the fandom can never change, but I understand why you'd feel that way. Honestly, I'm holding out hope to see how things play out when BTS are all together again. And hopefully as the group matures and starts being more open about stuff like dating, it'll get rid of the worst offenders.

And not to be That Person who shits on social media trends, but all the recent push for short form content like reels, tiktoks, etc is not helping anything either. I mean I have personally seen so much misinfo and out of context clips being shared this way, which makes Certain Folks extra loud (even though they're wrong lol).

Basically, this fandom is a fucking mess and I hope your future outlook on it is wrong for all our sakes. 🥲💜

[beautifulpersonpeach]

The mess of Jin’s enlisment news leak seems to have set the tone for all of their enlistments. I can’t help but expect fuckery all throughout their services, bpp :( the disrespect! When will the media ever give celebrities, especially BTS, a break? And even with Jin’s weverse post, my expectations is set so low that ‘fans’ will actually listen to him. :(

**

Hi Anon,

Lol, is this a mess?

Maybe I'm jaded, but the military and media are just doing to BTS what they've been doing to BTS for the last 10+ months. This mess did not set any tone that hadn't been set since 2019. Is it disgusting? Yes. But these are vultures who think though Jin and BTS have done nothing wrong and just minded their business, because they are celebrities they should be awarded no decency.

These journalists aren't the only people who think so. You see shades of this sort of entitlement everywhere even in fan spaces.

ARMYs have a tendency to overreact though, or like any group of people, to act first and think later. Because if the point is to respect his privacy and allow him enjoy whatever time he has left before enlistment with his family/friends quietly, then a lot of people should be exercising more restraint right now. First of all, I'm not saying anger isn't justified, but this is not news that has been fully confirmed and there is precedent for enlistment dates changing within the window. Secondly, Jin isn't the first person to have his enlistment date leaked (though he seems to be the only idol in his current cohort that this is happening to), but spreading this news in outrage only worsens it.

I don't expect any better from either the military leaking this information or the Korean journalists paying for it to publish to their base. I think this is one of those things that feels very hurtful for fans because it all feels so wrong (and it is), but I also think the reality of this leak is that Jin is still very fine. He, more than anyone, likely expects shit like this. I mean, he's been a member of BTS for 10 years and believe me when I say, they've seen the media, government, and all the adults in the room, act much much worse whenever they're concerned. When I said vultures above, I meant it.

Jin is fine and will be. I'm not saying that to calm you down or change your mind, I'm saying that because this is still the reality as I see it. Leak or not.

[serenheist]

What Taehyung is like in a relationship/ Taehyung as a boyfriend Tarot reading

How long does it take him to get into a relationship? & Does he prefer long or short term relationships 8 of cups, queen of swords, 10 of pentacles 9 of pentacles reversed, 4 of cups

Ffs the queen of swords always pops up. Anyway yeah I don’t see him getting into anything quickly. He could’ve in the past but I think past relationships left him drained af and feeling alienated. I think he has a shit ton of walls up and is a lot more no nonsense now. It’s probably intimidating and more blunt to others because he wants to get to the heart of why someone is trying to get with him since so many people try to pull the same shit and fuck around with him like he’s dumb. He does not settle for anything other than what he wants. If he can’t find “the one” then he legit just rather be alone. It looks like he’s now more focused on building a Legacy though and something serious and long term so he has no desire to just jump into something with anyone. He basically would wait it out and get to know them long before deciding he trusts them enough and feels comfortable enough to show his emotions and not be so aloof.

I feel like he’d be the type to not show much interest at first because he really needs to scope the person out. So the person probably wouldn’t even know he actually likes them. Actually he could be a little too jaded and bored to the point of turning away everyone even though he does want a relationship. But in his mind there’s too many people being carbon copies and trying to swindle him for his money bruh for real all of bts are having this problem like damn it keeps reoccurring. Idk why it seems like there’s people also trying to use money to get with him like they’re rich and they think he’ll just want someone loaded. Like dude he’s already rich so that doesn’t work and to him them having a ton of money means Jack shit when they have the personality of a damn rock.

Past & present love life 10 of swords, 2 of pentacles present: the hermit, 5 of wands

Past love life: welp. Do I really need to explain the 10 of swords. I think actually that he had all this past trauma and shit from relationships and even other shit he still hasn’t dealt with but there was no time to even process that because he had to get back to work and act like he was fine. I think he’s the type of person that buries himself in his career when he experiences traumatic stuff that he doesn’t want to deal with. And of course it’s easier when you’re busy 24/7 anyway. This relationship betrayed him in every way tbh but maybe it was a catalyst for better things to come though he still might not see this right now. Present: I don’t see him in a relationship now currently cause the hermit but also being a major arcana it’s like he’s really in a life stage right now where he just wants to be alone because there’s so much conflict going on and he’s feeling anxious and having all these negative pessimistic thoughts that he just needs time to himself. I don’t think he very optimistic about his love life right now he’s lost a lot of hope. Things are too chaotic elsewhere to focus on romance.

What is he like in a relationship? the chariot, ace of cup, Unicorn, fae 61, solus 13, vanth, the sun reversed, anger and chains 29, justice, 2 of swords reversed, 3 of cups reversed, avenoir 1, princess of pentacles,ta’om the poet 29, ace of swords, Thanatos

What is he like in a relationship? When he’s in a relationship he really puts all his focus on that person and will go above and beyond for them. There’s a kind of masculine and feminine balance in him in the sense that he’s ready to be the go getter and take charge but there’s also a vulnerable energy and overflowing emotions. He works hard to take care of his person and make the relationship work . The only downside is he could possibly be too smothering to his partner or come on too strongly because of past shit and maybe too clingy for some people since in a relationship he really shows his softer side and he’s not as aloof as he is to others. He loves to have little house parties with his partner and have friends and family over with a ton of food and music.

For date ideas he’s down for anything but especially something “magical” maybe literally some place like Disneyland or pagan festival like beltane? That’s specific af but there’s a medieval type of energy and nature spirits and shit, he wants to do stuff he hasn’t done before and that might even be outside his comfort zone since G. Hobyah card is all about imaginary fears and getting past them. The best qualities he has in a relationship is the ability to help his partner stand on their own 2 feet but also recognizes that you can’t do everything on your own so he’s the type of person who would go above and beyond and connect you to the right people or situations. He’s always there when his partner really needs them and will make sure to put time aside.

His worst quality is that I don’t think he knows how to express his anger in a healthy way. I think with the sun reversed next to anger and chains it’s more like he doesn’t know how to fully show it it’s kinda repressed but his emotions under the exterior are a hot mess and there’s a big need for stability. It’s like being too stubborn to admit when you mess up and petty shit cause it hurts his ego. But I don’t think it’s super bad considering the justice card I used to represent his communication style. I feel that even if he gets mad af he gets over things really quickly and one minute he’s be angry and 10 minutes later he’ll be asking you what you want for dinner like wtf.

When he likes someone he’s not going to jump in and immediately go approach them. I see him instead watching them intently from afar lol he’s very cautious and like gathering everything he can on that person. Dude’s a 1st class stalker. Jk But the thing is the person wont even know he is interested in them because he keeps a serious face as a kind of mask but on the inside he’s like a giddy kid. Ta’om is known for looking serious and thoughtful but is actually very playful and slightly mischievous. I think Taehyung is definitely one to start off as friends and slowly get to know someone rather than just start dating because he really wants to know that person well to see how real they are and if they’re just putting up a front.

He’s not attracted to new shiny things that are perfect he’s able to see the beauty in all things even in difficulty. After he’s been friends with them for awhile and knows if that person like him back, that’s when he’d actually make a move. He finds a lot of satisfaction in doing services for others until they’re completed so it makes me think his love language (giving) is acts of service but with the ace of swords is pretty obvious his Receiving love language is words of affirmation but moreso he appreciates when someone is blunt and honest and not just saying stuff to make him feel better cause then it’s just insincere.

What is his ideal type? the ageless, the star, the singer of healing 10, el shaddai, protection 26, ram, the maestro, fae 41, the sage 19, king of cups reversed, himself 17, danu, death reversed, obsession

His type: this person seems to have had some messed up stuff happen to them in their past. Even when others were horrible to them they still kept their dignity and chose to still give to others instead of give in to bitterness and despair. It’s like the Phoenix where no matter how many times they metaphorically die, they can still rise up even better than before. I think they’re able to help heal others because they’ve been through the trauma themselves but they know how to be honest and blunt without being overly mean about it. They have a kid of tough exterior though I think from years of negativity from people that’s made them strong but also a little distant from people and they need a lot of time to themselves to recharge and get away from peoples bs. Honestly this seems a lot like Taehyung too lol I think he wants someone who’s been through similar traumas.

The ram keeps calling out to me that I think this persons way of showing love is a little aggressive but that’s what Taehyung likes in someone tbh. It’s not like actually showing love it’s hard to explain. It’s more so you know when someone tries to act like sarcastic and shit to hide the fact that they like someone? Idk why it reminds me of toph from avatar the last airbender where she just punches people to show affection it’s kinda like that. Cause they’re not good at being really vulnerable. They put on this brave face and are pretty good at it to the point where you won’t notice that they’re jealous seeing you hang out with someone else. But this person is really independent like I’m not joking lmao and a go getter they don’t rely on anyone really. And don’t give a fuck who you are.

There’s 2 healing cards and honestly why is this person so similar to Taehyung lol this person is great at helping or healing others but again has to realize it’s okay to also get help for yourself. They think maybe that they’re fine on their own and they don’t like relying on others for help because people disappoint you and it’s easier to just do it yourself. But they’re really good at giving advice and are lot nicer than their exterior let’s on. Bruh the star card makes my mind keep playing that I’m gonna be a star song by twice lmao stop. I think this person actually is a star or is working up to it cause they have huge plans. This isn’t someone just wanting a mundane job I think they’re gonna go big.

Especially paired with the ram talking about they go for big dreams and huge successes. This person won’t stop until they accomplish their dreams they really don’t care what others say and will go to the extremes to get there. I see they have a lot of talents anyway but some people were like saying negative shit that their dreams are impossible but they’re learning to set boundaries with other people and it’s more of a just move in silence energy. Also usually I don’t say zodiac signs but since it’s a major arcana it might play some significance but Aquarius might be prominent in their chart (nvm I just remembered Taehyung has venus in Aquarius so duh you dumbass it wouldn’t be that out there to think he’d be drawn to Aquarius qualities).

I wonder if this person is into astrology though given all the glyphs. I think this is someone Taehyung has been trying to manifest and call in too like wishing on a star for a looooong time and maybe thought it wouldn’t come but boy does the universe have a surprise for you. They really are future oriented thinkers and know a lot about spirituality I think that a big part of who they are I really don’t think they’d be completely atheist or not care about spiritual topics. They give a lot without much thought in return and can talk about anything with openness and honesty. With Taehyung they’d teach him everything under the sun. He likes when he can share all this knowledge especially about weirder topics with someone who isn’t going to dismiss him. I see them really encouraging him to try new things and show him things he never knew were possible. They treat him like he finally belongs somewhere in the world.

This shit is kinda spooky because both the maestro guy and illbe the retriever are holding orbs/a little white ball close to them and they speak of the same thing. This person really protects Taehyungs hopes and dreams. Also they themselves obviously represent a dream that Taehyung thought was long gone and impossible. I think it can be taken literally too lol to mean that when Taehyung is being forgetful af. This person is that type of person who has your keys already when you think you lost them. They’re really the more responsible one in the relationship lmao helping him to be more organized and get his life together. The next set of cards I used to represent what his biggest turn ons are. This isn’t in a sexual way though lmao I meant the qualities he likes the most in his ideal type. Already I noticed how all the cards are facing straight ahead and looking right at you so it makes me think this person has some intense ass eye contact and looks intimidating and they got a rbf.

With the king of cups reversed I don’t think they’re actually these heartless cold bitches and that Taehyung is turned on by that because the sage card is upright and talks about the same shit but this is a person definitely who looks colder but is actually kind on the inside. He kinda likes people who look cold like that but are actually sweethearts. This person is not one of those super lovey-dovey people or uses pet names and babytalk like “my sweet baby Taehyung” whatever I think they find it very cringe. They have some trauma from when they were kids where they felt as if they aren’t allowed to act very emotional because people will think they’re weak and take advantage of them (this is just their beliefs about themselves) they instead act very macho or tough again lol like Toph from ATLA idk why I keep thinking of her but there’s like a kinda tomboy energy but they’re really not heartless they just need the right person to feel comfortable around and need to work on opening up emotionally.

There’s so much masculine and yang energy but then at the end you see this motherhood figure so it again really makes me think it’s a front and this person is so nurturing and that’s what really draw Taehyung to them. He loves the most that this person knows so much about the most random things and esoteric topics. They value tradition and stability but they also understand the need for growth and change they’re the perfect balance. Communication is really a big thing for Taehyung it’s a reoccurring theme in this. Someone who is very good at communicating and are action oriented. They say what they mean and mean what they say. It’s very important that they are their own unique individual self and have their own goals and skills and hobbies.

This person is probably a powerful manifester too and sets their intentions and goes after them. They have so much power and confidence also with the himself card they could be a dancer or love dance since he’s a dancer faerie they’re very much into creative shit. They seem very natural and not the type who got work done or wears too much makeup idk there’s like a wild energy lol like this bitch is from the damn forest. If someone attacked Taehyung this person would literally drop kick someone even if the person was bigger than them. Danu card is always protective and nurturing but ferocious if you mess with their person. Like “idc what you do to me but if you touch my guy I’ll end you”.

Now onto what Taehyung’s biggest turn offs in general are: death reversed and obsessed card lol oh god bro I am fucking done. His biggest turn off is when someone makes him the center of their universe. I mean this in the extreme way like “omg you’re my one and only we’re meant to be I think about you 5000 times a day and have an entire closet with all your pictures and I document your entire life” 👀 and he’s like uhh can you get a damn hobby? (That doesn’t involve me) Cause imagine someone’s entire life revolves around you. It’s sweet at first I guess? Lmaoo then it’s just creepy and like they have no life or personality without you. Death reversed is like something is plaguing you and following you around, pestering and annoying you. He must’ve experienced this shit irl lmao if it’s this strong with a major arcana to come up as a turn off. Cause major arcana are big ass life lessons. Like they thought he wouldn’t know they were secretly obsessed with his ass and used other people like his friends to get closer to him but I’m telling you Taehyungs intuition is something else and he always knows when people are some obsessed crazies. This is exactly why he’s so cautious now because of bs like that he can’t trust anyone. Like please stop acting like Jodi Arias and have some self respect.

[saintqueer]

I feel like H didn't want to tour but he didn't really have a choice and he's not happy with how things are turning out. The stage feels very empty/cold to me, the setlist is definitely missing sth and I agree with you that he probably would've liked to 'cement' his queerness a little more after all the het bs and him basically not being seen since 2020, which opened a lot of doors for younger fans to forget who he actually is. It must be frustrating af to be as out as he could've possibly been on ths last tour and to make basically a thousand steps back from then. With the additional obvious tension bts (sorry I'm still hung up on the brit speech with 'everyone who has my back') it just doesn't really seem like he's having fun right now (or has had basically since dwd began filming). I just hope things will get better for him (and he'll be able to call out toxic fans)

yeah i pretty much agree with everything here. the fact that he wore a Pink Floyd's The Wall shirt just a week or two before it started which is a rock opera album about a jaded rockstar who is being forced to tour when he doesn't want to says...a lot. harry LOVES tour, we know this, which makes it all the more sad.

the first show being turned into a stunt fest and him seeing firsthand his change in fanbase...fucking devastating man. i think he is tired and done and thought he'd be out by now. and i think his team has been fucking him over for a while and i think tumblr doesn't want to say it because the Azoffs were the ones who were meant to save harry. and it's also uncomfortable as we got used to louis being the "more trapped" one and it feels strange as hell for it to almost seem like louis is waiting on harry's situation to end his shit instead of the other way around. which makes the lyric change that maybe goes something like "he's golden, i'm sorry(?) he's hoping that someday i could be open" all the more poignant and, honestly, disturbing.

[vrishchikawrites]

I think you might be the first person I've seen who's simply said they don't jive with XY due to canon events. I've seen too many fanon takes on XY and how misunderstood he was which tend to completely ignore the mass killings of innocent people or even what he did to Song Lan or Xingchen.

I find Modern AUs very hard to read because WWX's and LWJ's characters always feel a little skewed but weirdly enough I can read about XY because I simply cannot whitewash his canon actions.

There's also the take the XY and WWX are similar people that I've never completely understood. Because XY is an angry character. He's angry at the world, at the people, and enjoys causing harm, even to those who would try to help him. and the fanon says WWX would be the same if he kept living on the streets and I don't see it. I feel like at his most violent he would be like a Jason Todd character. Someone who would murder and be a vigilante.

Bt the kicker is the opposite actually. The fandom says that WWX would turn out like XY because these two characters are so alike but I don't see the reverse happening. XY would have never born Madam Yu's abuse or Fangmain's half-hearted support or JC's love/hate. He'd probably murder Jiangli himself considering Xingchen in canon. He also would not save the Wens or go that far.

WWX is a hero. He is good. and I don't see how the fandom substitutes him so easily for a serial killer who did unspeakable acts of cruelty and death for his own amusement.

Um- Hiya, anon, you introduced me to things about this fandom I wasn't really aware of.

People compare WWX to XY??

*takes deep breath* oookay.

So I watch a lot of true crime documentaries. And, I happen to have studied in psychology in college. (not criminal psychology, mind, but still). A bad background doesn't necessarily make a killer. It can be a factor, but even people raised in perfectly normal households tend to become s*rial k*llers.

In the case of XY, his actions are so overthetop, his reaction to insanely vindictive, that you have to assume that something beyond his background drove him. Living on the street doesn't make children killers. It can be a factor, you can't lay blame on the circumstances alone otherwise we'd have billions of people just murdering others.

Remember, this guy broke XXC's spirit. His soul was shattered. Not a single character in MDZS is as twisted as he is.

Comparing XY to WWX means people aren't looking beyond the surface. Arguably, WWX's background is also bad. He is jaded in many ways and it shows in how ruthless he can be when provoked. But from the very beginning, we see his character's capacity for kindness and compassion.

A simple example: when JC threatens wwx with dogs during that first night at the Lotus Pier. WWX's response is to run away, not complain about JC to his parents. When they're forced to explain themselves, WWX doesn't blame JC. That is a nine year old child, chased out of a home he has just been offered after living for years on the street, threatened by a thing he most fears, and he acts compassionately.

Street children are very smart. They're sharper, wilder, and more ruthlessly practical than children raised in homes. WWX, when he entered Lotus Pier, wasn't like that. He lived for years on the street and forgot all of that when he was safe.

XY chose to do everything he did. He made a conscious choice to kill ruthlessly, to torment a good man, kill harmless priests/monks (of all things), trick someone and make them kill their best friend.

This level of maliciousness... it doesn't just pop up due to bad circumstances. There's a mental/character component you must factor in. I'm not saying XY didn't suffer, I'm saying that his circumstances aren't an excuse.

In character, WWX and XY are night and day. They may have cunning and playful personalities, both XY doesn't have the kindness and compassion that's the very essence of WWX's character.

I keep saying this: WWX very first instinct is to protect. He leans very naturally towards compassion. It comes up again and again and again in the series. He goes through horrible shit as a child and as an adult but till the very end, he isn't resentful or hateful.

There is absolutely NO WAY WWX being left on the streets would turn him into something similar to XY.

Now, if XY was raised in a more nurturing environment, would he be better? Likely, yes. Could he still snap and murder people for kicks? Likely, yes.

Can I imagine WWX ever acting like XY? No. This guy survived experimental surgery, childhood abuse, torture, being tossed into hell on earth, war, betrayal, another stint in hell on earth, mental torment, death, and resurrection. And his response to all of that BS was to shrug, say whatever, marry the prettiest cultivator of their generation, and spend time teaching kids.

I have absolutely nothing against people who like XY and believe he can be saved. I believe he can be.

But let's not fool ourselves into believing he and WWX are alike or would react similarly to the same triggers.

[bts-reacts]

Can I please have something for bts dating a chubbier gal, with a pudgyish stomach and large, strong thighs? I'm a heavy gal, taller and stronger than some my class (not taller than bts) I love playing tennis, hockey, softball, soccer and football. I have a lung condition that made it near impossible for me to do much, allowing me to get chubby, but it's way better now and I'm still a plumper than I'd like, but not to bad! Idc if you do reactions or whatever! I'd just like something, thank you!

Namjoon

Would not care in the slightest. Big, small, short, tall. If he’s into you, he’s into you. He’d assure you every now and then if you voiced any sort of insecurities, but he wouldn’t constantly gas you up. Kinda like, “Yes, I agree I’m the luckiest man in the world to date you.” 

So! much! body! positivity! this boy would compliment you every five seconds if he could just to make you feel better and more confident in yourself

Yoongi

Weight? What weight? Literally doesn’t give a fuck. Would go in between hyping you up and being annoyed at having to hype you up should you need it. He loves you for you and doesn’t see why you see yourself as anything less than and would hope to see you be very confident in yourself.

anyone who said anything about your weight would get a throat punch, no questions asked. he isn’t letting anyone talk you down

Jin

My god. I just had the dirtiest thoughts while thinking of him with a thicker girl…why? I don’t know, I just see him really being into this body type and would definitely let you do whatever you pleased with him because got damn…I gotta move onto the other members before I lose it with him.

(admin jade here to save the Jin reaction XD) 

kisses on your tummy and your thighs all the time - body worship would be a big thing for him to make you feel more confident. he’d love to cook for you, knowing you’d always eat what he made for you, so he’d always make sure to cook you healthy foods and feed you!

Hoseok

Doesn’t give a shit what you look like. Would constantly shower you in affection to shut out any sort of doubts you have and will want to make it so you see yourself in his eyes.

your personal hype man! every time you enter the room he’d fall down and pretend to be killed by your good looks! everywhere you went he’d have his arms out like !! that’s my girlfriend!! look how pretty she is!! everyone compliment her!!

Taehyung

Hell yeah, we love a thick and confident person. So long as you owned it and didn’t give a shit what other people thought, this wouldn’t exactly be an issue because, like the others, he’s with you for a reason regardless of looks.

like the others, Tae would be verbal in his support of you, but I think he’d be more cuddly with you to show you he wasn’t gonna shy away from your weight. Skinship would be big with him, always having his hand on you at like all times.

Jimin

Seeing as how he used to deal with weight issues of his own, to the point of passing out, he’d be sympathetic to your feelings, should you have any negative emotions or thoughts about your circumstances. He’d constantly reassure you in small ways without looking too obvious with things like, “Were you always this good looking or have I been blind?” Just small little compliments and cringey flirting to get your mind off of it. I can see him being hella into a thicker girl, especially them thighs if you know what I mean…

given his own experiences, he’d be very understanding about you wanting to continue losing weight, but he’d 100% make sure you’re doing it in a healthy way, and he’d support you all the way, making sure you kept up healthy habits, even exercising with you

Jungkook

So long as you were “healthy” (meaning not a healthy weight, but moreso feeling healthy as in not getting sick or injuring yourself) he’d support you. He’d see your muscley physique as means for some sort of friendly competition so don’t be surprised if he offers a bit of a wrestling match.

I can see skinship being a big thing with Jungkook too, since he’s a super cuddly baby he’d probably wrap around you whenever you’re sitting or laying down, giving you little massages or kisses or compliments, whatever you need. but yeah, don’t be surprised to hear frequent offers to accompany him to the gym, he’d be super into getting you to a weight you want to be at, he’d like to make youre you’re doing everything you should be doing, and he loves to be your little helper!

-KS & Jade! (MAINLY JADE CUZ THEYRE AMAZING)

[eoieopda]

jade! requests are close but that applies to headcanons too? sorry if i didnt understand..

if you are accepting headcanons i NEED BTS as sugar daddys YES GIVE THAT DILF VIBES

so, drabble requests are closed, but headcanons are fun + quick + require minimal brain juice, lol.

i feel like yoongi and jungkook sought out a sugar baby for the companionship, genuinely. they want someone to spend time with and they’re absolutely down to give whatever they need to in order to keep their sugar baby around. they strike me as the most likely to uhhhhh fall in love, completely misunderstand the assignment, wind up in quite the pickle.

hoseok, taehyung, and seokjin want to spoil the shit out of someone. it’s giving caretaker from an authentic place but it’s also giving them a hard-on to know that everything their sugar baby is draped in was something they provided. kinda sweet, kinda stupid hot.

namjoon and jimin have major big dick findom™️ energy. they love the flex of handing over their black cards and watching their sugar baby’s eyes go wide, love the power trip of having someone so needy for them. i think they’re the most likely to stick to the terms — which are def also sexual — and keep it transactional. tbh, i wouldn’t be surprised if they’ve got hoes (affectionate) in every area code.

[reversecreek]

lily for magda (thinking about figs feeling evil), tulip for cricket, marigold for ziggy, chrysanthemum for bradley, belladonna for nyla

lily :   how does your muse view their mother ?  

magda doesn’t know a lot abt her mum. she knows vague snippets n details bt they’re all very elusive. it’s kind of a tricky subject where her mum’s concerned bc when she was younger she’d come up w all these assumptions abt how her mum was n who she’d be if she were with her but the rational part of magda was like..... u don’t know any of this. ur literally making things up. it’s kind of hard for a kid to have that vital person missing from their life n to resist the urge to fill in the blanks with their own projections so the space feels less empty. it’s like having a tooth missing n ur tongue always going back to poke at the spot in ur gum. there’s a constant reminder of loss in that. magda knows her mum liked to sing bc her dad said once she’d always sing to her belly when she was pregnant. this is a lot of the reason why magda has always cared so much abt music bc she took this fact in her fist n grasped it tight n never let go n in a way grew parts of herself around it. it’s like............. i feel like her mum dying in childbirth gave her lots of issues when it comes to her identity n like. who she is n who she wants to be.......... bc of magda’s issues w her dad i feel like she got into this habit growing up of rly putting who her mum could have been on a pedestal n basing everything around that.... she’d be like I’m More Like Her (a belief which was only accelerated bc her dad would drunkenly say she looked so much like her) n cling onto that so she liked herself more bc the other option was her dad who she loves but he’s also an incredibly flawed person n they hv a complicated relationship...... i think as she’s gotten older she’s realised her mum cld very well have been that way too n putting people on pedestals isn’t the way to go about things but. idk. as a kid she was kind of obsessed w this idea of her n this idea that her mum being gone was the beginning n end of everything wrong in her life. for the most part now magda accepts she never knew her n sometimes even feels stupid for grieving her at all bc she never knew her to grieve in the first place but. there’s a tiny part of magda tht still hangs on to the comfort of what she could have had n it’s obvious by the fact she still keeps a photograph of her folded up in her pillow. she loves the mum she made up in her head n she wishes she got to meet her. there’s this sense tht maybe then she wouldn’t feel like this culmination of missing parts more than a person if she’d had that in her life. sighs n lks away holding my dyed black emo bang.....

tulip :   how does your muse view people in general ?  

cricket is like. the strangest little anomaly of a person FGHKSFGHSFKGH bc like. u would rly think that after everything he’s been thru he would just have this absolutely jaded view of people and life in general and i wouldn’t even......... blame him for it if he did like. i’d understand completely bc he’s experienced A Lot of bad stuff. n yet somehow he just.... idk. i think i wrote in a reply once this comparison of cricket n a cockroach in the sense that they have this incredibly reinforced exoskeleton n even if they’re stomped flat they can keep living n bounce back from it n that’s very him but it’s more specifically the hope inside him. he has this little candle lit that good things can still happen midst all of the terrible things n i genuinely can’t see it snuffing out at any point even tho sometimes he might want it to. sometimes i think he even gets into these frames of mind where it jst infuriates the fk out of him bc in his head he’s like why do u even think good shit can happen when u have sm overwhelming evidence to the contrary but then he’s also like. look u can dwell on the bad or u can notice the way the light falls thru the leaves in the trees and u can think to urself inside ur head as u listen to someone u love talking abt something that makes them happy ‘hey this feeling is nice n there’s a dozen others like it’. idk. against all odds he’s an optimist. he has tinnitus in his left ear n sometimes he pretends the ringing is angels trying to talk to him. he likes to search for the silver linings in things to make them bearable n that’s how he gets by. obviously he knows there’s evil in the world n that a lot of people can be shit bc he has firsthand experience w that but he also believes there are people to serve as the antithesis to that n he wants to focus on them bc like. why give bad stuff the time of day. not necessarily always a positive coping mechanism (if u bottle up bad feelings n thoughts they leak thru one way or another aka his overwhelming anxiety) but like.... i think there’s a lot of bravery in that n i respect him for it i won’t lie. he cld have become very bitter bt instead he’s like that quote that’s like 'the gentleness that comes, not from the absence of violence, but despite the abundance of it'. suddenly slaps his little anxious rump (supportive) (affectionate)

marigold :   is your muse prone to jealousy ?  how might they handle envious feelings ?  

it’s hard to say w ziggy............... i feel like he doesn’t want to think he’s prone to jealousy bc he’s like i’m literally a god wdym i simply wld never give a fk bc i know i’m above all else................. but like. do u actually believe that ziggy. do u. FKGJHKSJGHFGSHFGKSHGKFHG. he’s good at convincing himself at least........... has me fooled too most of the time. bt. thinks abt this.............. i feel like he doesn’t tend to get jealous over ppl he hooks up w a lot of the time bt there’s definitely a few select ppl he might.......... n then he doesn’t rly know what that feeling is bc he’s so unused to feeling it so he’s like wtf why am i so fking pissed off over the thought of this person fking that person? like literally doesn’t even. connect the dots n make the logical conclusion bc it jst seems so bizarre n nonsensical to him. rly is awful at working out his own feelings like. he cld just suddenly explode one day n have to smash a bunch of shit in a junkyard n after his chest is heaving n he has all this broken stuff around him n he’s just like yo wtf was that man forreal lmfaoooooooooo..... like he just doesn’t even get how his own emotions work it’s tragic n it’s men for u. w anxious feelings he represses them a lot he doesn’t rly understand what they r or know how to recognise them........... i honestly feel like he has a lot of anxiety surrounding his mum esp w her dating n like some of the guys they’ve both had to deal w that she’s dated in the past.......... i doubt he processes that healthily or expresses it healthily either..... probably contributes to the tensions between him n his mum they hv a lot of underlying issues that come out in the form of bickering n petty disagreements...... probably a huge contributor to him acting out so terribly in high skl was just all this pent up worried energy with no means of making sense of itself or like. place to go. like shaking a coke bottle over n over n finally having to crack the lid n let it fizz on something. i also think he probably swallowed a lot of jealousy growing up whenever other kids had gd relationships w their fathers or parents in general probably ws kind of like lmfaooooo yo why don’t mine love me like that. in his head...... so ya. i think he copes w anxious feelings by acting out n also fucking if we’re being honest......... it helps him let off steam <3 king of clapping cheeks ig....

chrysanthemum :   how does your muse express romantic love ?  how do they feel about love as a concept ?  

bradley is kind of hard to read romantically like from an outside perspective but slides on my thin rimmed spectacles n picks up my scalpel to delve right in to the nitty gritty of her brain... omg... that sounded... kind of scary actually but. it’s ok. basically settles in. bradley struggles to verbalise her feelings in this regard but also in a general sense honestly.... like she’s spent a lifetime having any vulnerable or negative feeling shut down....... her dad’s the type of personality where it’s like... u can’t win. even tho he’s narcissistic n thinks he’s a god if u compliment him or express affection he’ll act pleased but there’ll also be this register in his eyes where he thinks less of u for it. so this rly had a domino effect in bradley’s emotional expression in all grounds of life...... romance is probably the most frivolous concept to tony so bradley definitely internalised some of these views n wld feel stupid for ever taking anything seriously in that regard or rly investing herself..... she also just. idk. love has only ever left bite marks in bradley’s world so she’d kind of like ‘why wld i ever expose my tender spots n open myself up to someone just so they can sink their teeth in’. i will say tho that like. despite that she can in rare instances develop those feelings n it’s always like..... quite a struggle for her when she does. she doesn’t rly understand it or how to deal w it. she finds talking about it hard n she feels childish or weak in the eyes of whoever knows how she’s feeling. it takes a long time n a lot of work to earn it bt bradley in love is like. ur the only person on the planet who knows how gentle she can b. she’d literally like. touch the face of this one guy i wrote her being in love w when he was sad so gently it was shocking it ws like a love tht deep unlocked a whole other part of her she didn’t know existed. sex is a big part of her love expression jst like. a lot of it. so much. JHGSFKHGSFGKHFKGSHG let’s get it.......... she’s a ride or die n doesn’t do anything in halves. she has a nasty habit of pushing good things away n also wld probably do this to protect the other person bc her world is a never ending shit show with her father’s presence in every room even when he isn’t physically there. she wldn’t wna subject someone she loved to the danger of that bc she hates it enough herself so. idk. smiles w hand on hip. love isn’t something bradley thinks is on the menu fr her bc she’s only ever known it to be hard or mean n why bother trying when that’s the case. it feels like there’s always small print attached tht will hurt her in the end n nothing is free or genuine. very doomed outlook on love in general tbh.

belladonna :   how does your muse respond to silence ?   do they take comfort in soundlessness ,   or seek to fill the void with noise ?  

nyla honestly doesn’t mind silence at all........ they always wake up rly early in the morning no matter what time they went to bed. it’s like someone programmed an oven timer into their brain n often when they wake up at 6am or something they’ll go on walks around irving tottering in their own little world which is quite a quiet experience in itself when the rest of the world’s asleep........... always off on impromptu adventures they came up w on the spot.......... sometimes they get lost in their own train of thought too so they just randomly fall silent bc they’re having a whole conversation w themselves inside their head or like. writing a whole children’s story abt an iguana in a trench coat floating in a hot air balloon smoking a little vintage pipe all the way to peru. honestly for every 1 thing nyla says there’s about 4987295749572592745 things they don’t say tht are x100 times stranger n more nonsensical they sort of let it all drift thru their head like an open sieve for the most part. having said tht i think in order to sleep at night they probably need some sort of white noise or smthn................. it’s handy living in a beach house bc they just leave the window open to let the ocean gush bt sometimes if they’ve snuck into like. mido’s bed fr the night or someone’s bed idk the sound of them breathing works too................. they used to always sleep w bob ross playing on loop n that was rly comforting to them esp bc he reminds them a lot of their dad w his calming voice n energy.............. sometimes they’d have taken smthn n they’d literally hallucinate it as their dad instead of bob ross n this happened so many times in a row fr a period of time tht when they finally watched it sober they were like wtf since when did they recast my dad in this show...... KJHFGSHFGKSHFKGH but also. frowns... bit sad considering. 

[sundaywonder]

the lost song : yoonmin

Getting ready to start fresh in life, physical education professor Park Jimin is just waiting to migrate to Australia with his daughter and girlfriend. Everything gets topsy-turvy when world-class music producer Min Yoongi—and also his secret ex-boyfriend—comes back home to South Korea to marry his it-girl fiancé. If that wasn’t bad enough for Jimin, Yoongi invites him to the wedding. It gets worse; it leaves him no choice but accept it to avoid spilling the beans.

Although the worst happened back then, it’s not enough for their forsaken what-ifs and unsaid feelings from making itself clear. The situation makes Jimin realize how jaded he was without Yoongi all the years they were apart—and vice versa. As they slowly pick up the broken pieces of the past, reality hits hard back at them again. There are two choices: to give up on love and live in the present or to run away and never look back.

Genre: Romance, Adult Fiction, Melodrama, Erotica

Fandom: BTS, BLACKPINK, Red Velvet, IU

Pairing: Suga & Jimin, Jimin & Rosé, Suga & Jennie, IU & Jungkook, Wendy & j-hope

Rating: M or R-18 — contains sensitive themes, strong language and graphic depiction of sexual activity

Status: Ongoing — 6/12

Link: Wattpad, ao3

Excerpt: The Flower Bloomed — 10 Years Ago

Yoongi, 20

I hurriedly go down the stairs while vigorously drying my head with a towel. I knew I would oversleep. Aside from being a deep sleeper, I’m also not used to waking up as early as 7 a.m. Nine is still pretty early if you’d ask me. The cool air last night made everything even worse. I shouldn’t have opened the windows.

Good thing my grandma heard Aunt Hyeja yelling outside our house. If she didn’t, I wouldn’t have even noticed that her and our other neighbors’ missed calls and text messages.

“Make sure none of the kids get injured, okay? We don’t have money for their hospital bills if ever,” reminds grandma as she followed me down. I don’t hear and comprehend what she said until five seconds later.

“Got it. Bye.” When I get out of our gate, I immediately see Aunt Hyeja who was waiting for me outside.

“We’ll get going, Auntie Dooshim!” exclaims Aunt Hyeja.

“Alright, have a safe trip!”

“I’m so sorry, Auntie. I really am.” She walks so briskly that I have a hard time catching up with her. Regardless, I feel like that’s how should it be; I must walk maybe two or three steps behind her after what I’ve done.

“Don’t think about it anymore. The kids are already in there. You know our numbers so contact us immediately if anything goes wrong. There’s a ton of food on the table so feed yourselves when you get hungry. Don’t leave at least one of them unattended. Never attend to the gate if it’s a stranger and refrain from telling them that an adult is not present—oh, how old are you again?”

“Twenty.”

“My bad. It slipped my mind that you’re already an adult. Anyway, did you understand everything clearly?” I just nod. Aunt Hyeja doesn’t seem to be mad but it’s fairly obvious that she’s already dying to leave. I discreetly peek at her watch which says 7:15 a.m. I can’t help but shake my head. I reminded myself endless times to do well in this babysitting gig but I still ended up ruining the first thing about it. There must be something really wrong with me.

After arriving in front of the home of my best friends, brothers Seokjin and Taehyung, she tells me, “Also, your Aunt Misun told me that Jimin won’t be able to attend the excursion because he’s sick. He’s going to be home alone today so I told him that he can contact you if he needs anything.”

I gulped as soon as I heard Jimin’s name and forced myself to act nonchalant. “W-what happened to him?” It was definitely hard to do so.

“He has fever,” she replied. “Don’t you guys get more written projects in lieu of not attending out-of-the-classroom activities?”

“Yes.”

“So, does it mean you like completing paperworks instead of attending trips and such?” I just let out a fake chuckle and nodded. I’m sure it wouldn’t sit with her when I say that I don’t like socializing and going to places with a lot of people. Aunt Hyeja is a social butterfly and—I don’t want to sound like I’m judging her (but maybe I am)—she’s not exactly the type of person to bother understand things deeper if it doesn’t concern her. Besides, it’s lengthy and we’re not that close for me to open up to her. An awkward giggle is probably better than an explanation.

The Kims already left when I entered and all the four kids were sleeping on the sofa in the living room, not even noticing my entrance. I decide to just sit on the floor and watch TV in low volume. My body is asking for me to sleep so badly that pinching myself isn’t working anymore. A faint regret is starting to form in my chest but I cut it out immediately.

After getting bored of the morning makjang drama that I forced myself to watch, I turn around to check on them. Jingoo—a cousin of Seokjin and Taehyung, as well as Namjoon who is also a cousin of the two—is already up but still lying on his stomach while silently watching the drama with me. Our eyes meet but he doesn’t say a word and just shifts his eyes back at the screen.

“Have you eaten breakfast yet?” I ask. Jingoo just nods. “What did you eat?”

“Seaweed rice balls and jeon.”

“Tell me when you’re hungry.” He just nods once again.

Our conversation awakens Taejoon, Chanbin and Yeongyu. Unlike Jingoo, they wanted to eat so I prepared the food that was left for us. Being alone with these kids who I barely know suddenly makes me feel weird for some reason. It’s probably because I don’t have any experience in babysitting. So far, it’s an alright deal. The money is good and you practically get paid to stay at home.

I leave them and go back to the living room, sitting beside Jingoo’s feet who hasn’t moved an inch ever since he woke up. “Where did they go?” He asks, not moving his eyes from the screen.

“A trip.”

“Event aunt and uncle? I thought it was a school trip.”

I let out a sigh and close my eyes. Some sort of hot energy constantly forms in my head the longer I talk to this kid.  “I don’t know why. Ask them when they come back later.”

It got rowdy when they started to play. This is way worse than I imagined. Toy cars and guns are all over the place and I need to remind them every two to three minutes that they shouldn’t be shooting bullets on the TV screen, as well as the vases and figurines. None of my words seem to get to their tiny heads.

I take back what I said. I don’t want to this ever again. I wasn’t like this when I was a kid. Even my friends. We weren’t anything like this. Not even close. We were well-liked by the neighborhood in general because of that.

Out of the blue, my phone suddenly vibrated. My heart almost dropped on the floor when I read Jimin’s name on the screen.

[JIMIN :)

1 NEW MESSAGE]

All of a sudden, my heart started to pound like it wanted to get out of my chest. I took a deep breath before flipping my phone and pressing View.

[JIMIN :)

Hey, can I go there? It’s getting a little boring here.]

[ME (draft)

Of course! Bring what you need!]

I delete it before I could even think twice. I cringed at what I just typed.

[ME (draft)

Okay, but it’s a little loud here]

Maybe not. He might end up not going if I say that.

[ME

Sure]

[JIMIN :)

I’ll bring ramen]

[ME (draft)

Okay]

I press the end call button and just fold my phone instead. I immediately go to the bathroom and wash my face with soap and water. I run my wet hands through my hair as well. Just as I got out, someone knocked on the door.

“Don’t shoot on anything!” I yell before walking out the door.

“Hey,” greets Jimin as soon as I open the gate. Unlike his usual self, the gloomy aura surrounding him can be clearly felt. His face and shoulders seem wretched as well.

“Are you alright? You look so pale.”

“Trying to be.”

“Stay in Seokjin’s or Taehyung’s room if you want to get some rest. It’s a little rowdy in the living room.”

“Thanks. I’ll go text him.”

As soon as I hear Seokjin’s bedroom door close, I make an announcement to the kids. “Jimin’s sick. Don’t make any loud noises from now on.” It did subside but only for a short while. “You kids, anyone who makes loud noises will not get to eat lunch.” They stop playing tok look at me with a weird expression on their faces, as if they’ve never heard someone say such a thing to them before. A hint of fear can also be seen. I fucked up again, didn’t I?

Unlike what I said, I started to prepare lunch when the clock hit noon. The kids gathered at the table and chowed down as soon as the food was ready. Meanwhile, I got my own food and ate in the living room.

[ME (draft)

Hey, lunch is ready. Can you go down here?]

[ME

Lunch is ready, feel free to eat here.]

[JIMIN :)

What’s for lunch?]

[ME

Pork belly, barbecue, dumplings, rice and kimchi]

[JIMIN :)

Damn, will go there ASAP]

I wipe the droplets of sweat on my forehead. My breath keeps on running as if they are trying to get away from something… or someone. I don’t know. I don’t even want to think about this. It only makes me go crazier and crazier. Even my well-trained emotional suppression skills are barely working. Helpless, hopeless—that’s what I am.

“Hey!”

“Shit!” I hold to my chest in shock and turn around. “I-it’s you.”

“Yes, it’s me. You okay? You’re deep in your thoughts that you didn’t even notice me pass in front of you,” asks Jimin.

I shake my head. “I just zoned out.”

“Shit!” Taejoon mimicks while the other three laugh.

“Shit!” Chanbin and Yeongyu repeat in unison which makes them laugh even harder.

“Are you kids an adult to say that?” I ask.

“Shit!” The three exclaim, not even bothering to answer me.

Suddenly, I hear Jimin giggle softly—making me look back at him. “So, you can already laugh. Feeling better now?”

He just nods with a faint smile and takes a spoonful of kimchi stew. “Mmm, delicious. Did you cook?”

“Nope, one their parents probably.”

Neither of us talked after that; I just pretended the focus on my food while his eyes wandered around the place. Even though it feels like I need to say something, not a single word’s coming to my mind. My mouth is left agape from the urge to speak but not knowing what to say. For some reason, it seems to me that he’s feeling the same way. But how can I know for sure?

The kids come back to the living room not long after they have finished eating. I couldn’t thank the heavens enough; this is the only time today that I’ve actually become happy about their presence. Before they can even settle on their seats, I stand up to play the first Disney DVD my hand landed on: The Incredibles.

Jimin passes behind me so I look at him. He’s bringing my dirty plate with him to the kitchen. “Hey, s-sorry. You didn’t have to.”

He looks back and says, “Huh?”

“The plate.”

“Psh. It’s nothing.”

I follow him to the sink where he’s silently washing the dishes. He almost looks like he’s zoned out and submerged in his deep thoughts.

“Hey!” I jokingly yell from his back.

“Sh—!” He accidentally loses his grip on the plate he’s holding. It falls back to the sink, causing a small chip on the edge. “Oh, no…”

“I’m so sorry,” I say as I try to catch my breath. The plate looks expensive with all those blue Chinese prints. It most definitely came from an expensive dinnerware collection and Mrs. Kim would kill me if she sees this. I might have to babysit for nine or ten more times just to pay for the damage.

“Don’t worry about it. It was an accident.”

“But it looks expensive!”

“I was the one who lost grip on it, what are you being so worried about?” Jimin says with a faint giggle. I’m not buying it; he doesn’t sound amused at all. “Also, wanna watch?” He nonchalantly asks.

“This?” I ask back, pointing at the TV.

He just shakes his head. “Seokjin has a big collection up there.” I just looked blankly at him, deliberately making it obvious that I need more details to get what he’s saying. “Sola Aoi, Asami Yuma, Haruna Hana and so much more. We have everything we need up there!” I feel my whole body suddenly heat up upon hearing what he just said and my legs seem like they want to give up on me. “Hey, you okay?”

“Th-the kids…”

He takes a peek at them. “They’re already asleep.”

I look back at the kids and close my eyes in panic. Images of him being half-naked while beating off instantly flash in my mind. I vigorously shake my head along those thoughts. I can’t count how many times I saw him naked in the past. We even used to take a bath together along with the other guys when were younger. But this time everything’s different, especially to me, and it sucks big time. “Okay, then…”

He opens the dish dryer and puts all the now-squeaky clean plates, glasses, spoons and forks. “Don’t be so nervous. They’ll probably stay asleep until twilight or something.”

“Maybe,” I replied to him even if his words just seemed to bounce against my head. Naked. Naked. Naked. My mind just doesn’t seem to get tired about this goddamn word and keeps asking for more. Now, even the way he looks and smiles at me is starting to mean something else.

Jimin grabs my arm and pulls me until we reach Seokjin’s room. Before I could even react, the door was already locked and his pants and underwear were on the floor. My manhood starts to throb and harden as soon as my eyes lands on his half-naked body. He’s grown much bigger and thicker ever since I last saw him. That was a few years ago—same situation as now but with Hoseok and Taehyung, minus the feelings. To stop myself from completely breaking down out of panic and ruining everything for good, including our friendship, I just turn my head at a random teddy bear on Seokjin’s bed.

I sit beside him on the carpet and before also taking off my short pants and underwear. A strange kind of electricity seemed to charge on my body when I saw him look at my manhood. His mouth slightly gaped but he immediately closed it and focused on operating the DVD player. Since the tapes weren’t labeled, we don’t know what those contained. Jimin chooses just whatever. The video begins, and we see Sola Aoi who was wearing a provocative nurse uniform enter the hospital room where the middle-aged male patient was in.

I lean on the bed to relax and force myself to focus on the film. Jimin’s already starting to touch himself. He looks back at me with an unexplainable expression in his eyes. It’s been a while since I did this with them but I’m sure we didn’t look at each other while beating off, or maybe I’m just forcing weird meanings. At this point, I can’t even trust myself anymore.

I couldn’t help but start to actually beat off as soon as Sola started to moan. All of us in our group likes her the most for how irresistible she sounds when she’s getting fucked. It makes the film feel like 5D.

The film already ended but neither of us reached climax yet. When I was almost there, I stopped. I don’t know why but I felt like I needed to do so. As I try to catch my breath, I watch him while he did his business.

To my surprise, Jimin also stops and joins me in leaning on the bed, panting hard. He looked at me straight in the eyes, then his gaze dropped on my lips. “They look dry…”

Before I even knew it, our lips were all over each other and his tongue has successfully penetrated my mouth. Jimin’s hands start to explore inside my shirt before pulling it off of me. He removes his own next. My hands are frozen on his groin in disbelief. Everything seems like a dream but all of these are a hundred percent real.

“Jimin…” I mindlessly say.

“Do whatever you want to do to me.” He grabs my hand and places it on top of his manhood. “Don’t hold back.”

I pull his head and kiss him hard before pushing him down. Only God and I know how much he looks good with nothing on but his golden rolo chain necklace. “As long as you let me, I won’t.”

—

If you’re reading until here, thank you so much! The Wattpad and ao3 links where you can read the whole story are available above.

[beetlemancy]

Anon again: Thank you!! I appreciate you taking the time to answer me because I am kind of active in the community but very very new. I did know your opinions but being new I just wanted to know whether those recent posts held any weight. I want to be socially responsible with my media consumption and I was worried there was something I was missing, given I have seen specific call outs for certain cast members (Travis, Laura, Sam, and Liam) recently. Thanks again!!

Anon pt2: you don’t have to post this but for context the call out posts were as follows: Travis actively supports the military, Laura voiced a black character?, Sam did brown face??, and Liam is fake woke/virtual signaling (or something along those lines). Obviously I can find out information about this for myself but I have seen more anti-CR stuff lately which prompted my ask.

As with everything, I suggest you do your own reading on those topics, and any topic that comes up in regards to the media you watch. Below is simply my opinion. Note: this gets long.

Travis does support the military - but not as an institution. He has family in the military. He supports the soldiers. He works with Operation Supply Drop and I’d encourage you to look into OSD specifically. Whether you agree with the idea that we should even have a military or not, you cannot deny that our veterans and soldiers are given the short end of the stick. We cannot just abandon them because helping them might be viewed as giving money to the military. I have so many military vets in my disability groups. The VA is awful because it has no funding (I know good people who work at the VA too, but they just cannot help everyone like they’d want to). Programs like OSD are genuinely helpful to a lot of hurting folk and the people who shit on Travis and CR for promoting and helping them out have clearly never actually sat down and talked to a vet or a soldier before. 

Laura and many many other voice actors have voiced people of color in various shows. Yes, this is a legit problem. However, obviously as with most things, the problem is nuanced. The fault mainly lies with the VO industry as a whole, in that actors actually have very little control over what they do. There was a whole strike about this very topic (though the strike covered other issues in the industry as well). In the case of Laura, for instance, she was never told what her character would look like until after the fact. And that is super common in the industry. One of the things they tried to get in the strike was more transparency so that actors could make the decisions themselves whether to voice characters or not - not just based on race or culture but also based on type of work (stressful screaming vs chill dialogue) and whether the content of the game itself was something they wanted their name attached to. 

Sam’s blackface scandal is extremely old news. That’s not to say it isn’t important to note, and in fact Sam made a point to note it again back in 2018. I know people who can’t watch CR because of it, even after his apology, and that’s fine because its not my place to judge others for how they react to that kind of thing. However I know a lot of people who read his apology and the circumstances surrounding it and decided to forgive. To some people, the fact that he was asked to do so by will.i.am changes the situation. To others, it doesn’t. To some the fact that he apologized and has clearly worked to improve his behavior matters, to others it doesn’t. You have to decide that for yourself. You can read Sam’s letter HERE. 

Now. Regarding Liam. * sigh * I think, and again this is my opinion, that you cannot proclaim someone you do not know as ‘fake woke.’ I think there are parts of this fandom that have it out for Liam because of a whole bunch of gross reasons, many of which I’ve spoken about before. He is sensitive and a man - that makes people uncomfy. He plays a lot of women characters and tends to embody them in both personality and body language - that makes people uncomfy. He fully embraces the bi energy (this is not to say whether he himself is or not) - that makes a lot of people uncomfy (and angry). He loves theatre and loves to explore the human condition, warts and all - that makes people super uncomfy. Now. There are people who thinks he’s homophobic. Do you know why? Its because his bi character ended up with a woman instead of a man. That is biphobia, no matter how they twist it. Bi people being “allowed” to be bi and not ‘pick the right side’ in the LG (not BT, lets be real) community IS revolutionary because its so very hated. 

Another reason they say he’s homophobic is because of the jokes he is often involved in - some gay men in the fandom believe that joking about sex is him ‘making fun’ of gay relationships. As a bi enby, I disagree, and I read many of the jokes he himself makes as the kind of humor I use among my own friends. I think there is a definite disconnect between bi vs LG humor and I’m not entirely sure who would be considered in the ‘right’ on that. However, when LG people in the fandom claim that he cannot talk about gay relationships because he is cishet? They cannot know that. That is an assumption they are making. When LG fans say that he alone is responsible for this issue and not -literally every single member of CR- ? I have to question whether its really the issue and not just that they still hate Liam for deigning to make a bi character bi instead of gay.

Another thing re: Liam. Aside from Marisha, he is the one I see the most hate about. People on Twitter and Tumblr both have legit uttered death threats about him if he doesn’t do exactly what they want his characters to do in the game. Usually this is about shipping. I have seen people claim that they WISH he was ‘like vic mignogna’ so they’d have a reason to hate him more. I’ve seen a certain group of people and one in particular say they have ‘dirt’ on him but refuse to say what the dirt is - and yet continually bring up that it exists, but that they just cannot say. Why would you incessantly bring up information you possess just to say that you cannot divulge such information? 

Legit issues about CR that is attached to Liam is the whitewashing issue. Some say that only Liam is responsible here because he controls all the art. I would say that we actually don’t know that for sure. He is ‘Art Dad’ and clearly has some pull. I do think that CR should address this issue, but I’m not sure they can legally do what the fandom wants them to do, which is “call-out” artists by name and denounce them. Now, this too is more nuanced than the fandom makes out because its often way more about colorism vs whitewashing. Many people do not draw Beau as white, but they do draw her as much lighter skin tones than her original art. Colorism is a real problem, but white allies tend to go about talking about it wrong or making smaller things a bigger deal when POC would really rather talk about something more important to them. It was these same white allies that tore Mica Burton apart on Twitter because she liked and enjoyed a drawing of Reani, her own character, that was a few shades lighter than the drawing she herself had brought in, even after she had said that she appreciated the variety of skin tones due to seeing herself in each of them. On the topic of whitewashing/colorism in the fandom, I personally tend to wait to hear from POC over the masses of white allies.

The CR fandom is very big for a niche thing like DnD. As such, there are many many corners of the fandom that can get really jaded, really dark, and really up their own ass in regards to the discourse. There are legitimate issues in the fandom and with CR as a whole. Nothing is perfect, nothing ever will be perfect, and people should absolutely do what they can to do better and to ask their media to do better. That being said, there are also people who think that if you don’t do something exactly like they want, then you’re Problematic by default. There are also members of this fandom who have an active vendetta against certain cast members and will use any opportunity to co-opt legit issues in order to shore up their false arguments. These people are only using the real issues and it becomes clear pretty quickly that they don’t actually give a shit about the people they say they are trying to speak up for. 

There is also some fandom drama that has occurred ONLY in fandom and has absolutely nothing to do with CR other than the fact that the people involved happen to be CR fans. Certain people in the fandom think that CR should arbitrate this issue and involve themselves, call out the individuals responsible, etc. This is, I believe, a GROSS misconception of what CR’s role is and asking way too much of a source of entertainment. The fact that CR has not involved themselves in this issue has led certain members of this fandom to claim that CR is homophobic. I would caution that most callouts of CR as homophobic are directly linked to this first issue, and also a callback to the Vaxleth drama from campaign one, and is incontrovertibly tied to bi and enby-phobia and a seriously sick misunderstanding of the responsibilities a show has versus the responsibility individuals have as viewers of said show. 

That’s it for now. I could go way more in depth on this problems, but I’m tired of typing. Suffice it to say, its easy to make a list of things Problematic with CR, but once you actually delve into each topic hopefully you’ll realize how complicated and filled with nuance and Different Opinions going on back from the first episode of Campaign One... Listing problems without actually addressing them head-on isn’t a good way to deal with the problems that are true anyway, let alone tell them from the false ones. 

[nightskyhoseok]

Éternel: Wings of Fire [BTS Dragon!AU]

Pairings: BTS x OC Genre: Fantasy, Angst, Drama Warnings: Graphic Violence, Heavy Language, Angst, Smut, lowkey hate it but lowkey proud of it at the same time???

YouTube

CHAPTER ONE: THE WAY IT HAS TO BE

Chapters 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 

Word Count: 8.9K

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As my eyes slowly peeled open, I began to feel the warmth of the sun's rays falling onto my skin. My sight had quickly adjusted to focus on the brightness of the pastel sunset plastered across the sky, thin clouds trailing along the soft hue above. I groaned and diverted my gaze, moving my head to the side to avoid the sunlight only to feel the blades of grass tickling the skin on my cheeks. My head turned for itself and I saw two people lying just a couple feet away from me. I propped myself up on my elbows only to fall back onto the ground again due to the sharp pain shooting through my shoulder and back. 

Standing up slowly, I observed my surroundings to see a total of seven familiar people lying scattered around the area. Seven very familiar people. Ignoring the pain rushing through my body, I cursed under my breath and rushed over to the person closest to me.

“Jin? Jin!” I gasped, dropping down to Seokjin’s limp body, vigorously shaking him. “Come on, come on.” Only a few seconds passed when he suddenly jolted up, his breath heavy and scattered. With a soft sigh I dropped my chin to my chest in relief, thanking the heavens that he was alive.

“Maya? What… what happened?” Seokjin questioned after finally catching his breath. 

“I don't kn-” I quickly cut myself off with a soft gasp as I recognized the environment around us, a huge castle standing strongly before us, the aura surrounding me all too familiar. “Oh my gods.”

“What? What's wrong?” 

“Nothing.” I looked around to see six of my other friends lying in the grass, limbs sprawled and bodies appearing lifeless. “Help me wake them up.”

Seokjin nodded and stood up, rushing over to Jungkook to tap his cheek a couple of times, causing him to abruptly jerk awake. I moved over to Namjoon who was lying on his side. I checked for his heartbeat, and once I made sure he was actually alive and breathing, I lightly shook him. His eyes shot open and he sat up, moaning as he held his head. "Maya, what's going on?" Namjoon inquired. "Where are we?" "Shh, don't stress about that now. Are you okay? Are you hurt?" I asked. He responded with a low grunt as he clutched his side, but he declined my help and gently pushed my hand away when I attempted to look at whatever he was hiding.

"I'm fine," He said as his breathing began to regulate. "Okay. I need you to wake Hoseok up." "He's with us too?" "All eight of us are together. Now, please, go help him. I'll get Yoongi." He nodded and stood up quickly, jogging over to Hoseok, who was already awake, but obviously freaking out. I crawled over to Yoongi and hurriedly shook his body, but he didn't react in the slightest. I tried everything in my power to wake him up, but he laid still and motionless, barely breathing.

“Shit, you're bleeding,” I heard Namjoon curse.

“He's not waking up,” I said, desperation filling my voice. I clutched onto Yoongi’s shirt as tears spilled down my face, landing on the soft skin of his arm. His eyes suddenly shot open and he sat up, his hand reaching up to the back of my neck with his nails creating crescent shaped dents in my skin.

“Maya- agh!” He winced as he grabbed his thigh and pulled it close to his chest, and that's when the rest of us realized he was bleeding heavily. I gasped and pulled his leg out to attempt to stop the bleeding, but he resisted due to the pain.

“Yoongi, stop moving!” I practically yelled, and that's when everything went silent - until a loud roar erupted from the distance, following thumps as whatever was causing the noise neared closer to us. The boys completely froze, but being the only one knowing what to expect, I gently let go of Yoongi and arose to my feet, walking forward to the cluster of trees leading into a forest of which the noise was coming from.

“What are you doing?!” Jimin shouted as he began to run towards me, but he stopped dead in his tracks once the source of the noise emerged from the forest.

A dragon. 

Thick, black scales covered its body. Its jade eyes pierced into our souls, as if it were trying to evaluate us one by one. It was quite intimidating to say the least, but as soon as it saw me, it purred and happily ran over to me, nudging its head against my body.

“Hey. It's okay, bud. I'm okay,” I whispered, softly running my fingers across the dragon’s rough, dark scales. Of course, I was extremely happy to see my dragon again, but at this point, I knew there was no hiding from the boys anymore. I turned around to face them, but they were surprisingly calm - even Yoongi, despite his heavily bleeding leg. They were all in too much shock to notice anything else happening around them, including one of my servants running through the gates beside us, gasping at my injury once she was close enough to see the extremity of it. 

“Mistress! Come, This One must get you cleaned up,” D’Vorah said, her crystallized eyes scanning over my covered injury as she gently pulled at my opposite arm, her yellow, chitinous hide chafing against my soft skin. When she looked up, she had realized that we were not alone, and I could already predict her course of action. She growled and jutted out her four extensive stingers from her back, proceeding to bury the two bottom ones into the ground and point the two top ones towards the boys. At the same time, her withered and delicate bug-like wings sprouted from her back, supporting her body that was now elevated.

“D’Vorah, no. They are with me,” I told her, moving to stand in front of her so that her stingers were just mere inches away from my face. Her expression softened and she pulled her stingers from the ground, retracting both them and her wings into her back.

“You are hurt, Mistress. Come, This One will tend to your injuries,” She insisted, extending her arm out to me.

“No, I'll take care of myself later. Yoongi is my priority.” My eyes wandered over to him, who was still lying in the grass, blood slowly seeping out of his open wound. I quickly walked over to him and dug my arms under his arms while Jungkook took his legs, lifting him up so we could carry him inside. We hurriedly carried him up the stairs, into the castle, and through the long, empty hallways, eventually laying him down on one of the beds in the infirmary as the boys and D’Vorah followed me. “D’Vorah, you may go.”

“Are you certain, Mistress?” She asked, unsure.

“Yes, we’ll be alright.” She bowed and exited the room, leaving just me and the boys. I was scattered. I was disoriented. I was a mess. As I searched for a small glass vial, I continuously knocked over other supplies. However, the boys were kind enough to help me put them back where they belonged. As soon as my eyes landed on the small vial full of a clear, glittering liquid, I snatched it out of the wire stand and opened it up, simultaneously picking up an eyedropper beside me as I made my way back to Yoongi. I was ready for this, but all I needed was a little cooperation from the mint-haired boy.

“Maya-” Namjoon tried to speak, but I had cut him off - unintentionally of course.

“Yoongi, I'm going to need to take off your jeans.”

“Is this your excuse to finally get laid?” He chuckled in a stiff tone.

“How can you even be joking at a time like this?” I huffed and rolled my eyes as I quickly unbuttoned his jeans and tugged them down so his thighs were exposed. I grabbed the vial and dipped the tip of the eyedropper into the liquid, sucking just a few drops in, then taking it out and applying it to Yoongi’s wound. He hissed in pain as the skin began to regenerate rapidly, the liquid spreading to close up the wound in just mere seconds like he had never been injured in the first place.

I had expected questions to start plummeting in, but there was only silence. After dressing Yoongi, I placed the supplies back where they belonged, proceeding to take out a small ceramic cup and a few natural herbs, after putting on a cup of water to heat up in the kettle.

“How… how did you do that?” Yoongi stammered.

“It's complicated.” I mentally slapped myself for answering his question so vaguely, but I wanted to have to slowly break it to them instead of just throwing it right at them.

“Maya, where are we?” Taehyung questioned, looking around the room to inspect every little tool and gadget laying around.

“Tae, this is where I grew up.”

“In… in a castle?” Jimin voiced, trying to make sense out of the whole situation as I crushed a few plump berries with the stone pestle in my grasp. Silence overtook the room for a few moments, but I eventually broke it as I realized I had finished with the medicine. I poured the water and herbal mixture into the cup and stirred it for a few seconds before handing it to Yoongi.

“Here, this will make you feel better.” I could tell his eyes were full of reluctance and fear, but I knew that deep down, he trusted me with his life. He slowly took the cup and took a sip, only for him to immediately spit it out. “I'm sorry, I know it's bitter.” My voice was unexpectedly assuring, and I didn't realize its effect until Yoongi downed the medicine without hesitation. I took the cup and began to clean it out when Yoongi decided to speak up.

“What was that?” He asked, a slight tone of disgust in his tired voice. I simply shook my head and ignored his question. “Maya, what's happening?” His soft voice made my arms weak, urging me to gently set down the cup and turn to face them. This was it. I couldn’t hide the truth any longer.

“I'm not who you think I am.”

“Noona…” Jungkook began, but I interrupted him with urgency.

“No, don't. I need you to listen to me.” I took a deep breath, flashing my eyes up to meet theirs, not even taking a moment to blink, as I wanted this to be as sincere and personal as possible. “Right now, we’re in The Embrace, a series of islands within a different realm, known as The Claim. I'm the ruler of The Embrace, and there are thousands of dragons living here under my name for safety and protection from the other areas in the realm. Only certain people are allowed here, and others aren't allowed to leave once they've come here. It’s for our safety and protection, and since I can't make any exceptions, that means you boys have to stay here too…”

I could feel my eyes welling up with tears, but I continued to speak, even though I knew I was silently crying at this point. I had to get everything out.

“I mean, it isn't too bad here in my opinion. We've got everything you'd have in the normal world. Running water, AC, heating, working pipes, electricity, Wi-Fi, modern food… you get the idea.” My tears were overflowing, and though I couldn't hold them back, I just wiped them on my sleeve and kept talking. “You don't know how sorry I am to have to put you through this. I don't even know why we’re here, but I can't do anything about it. I would take you back home, but I'd have to wipe your memory, and I haven't found a way to do that without getting rid of everything else. I'm so sorry, this is my fault, I-” Before I could finish my sentence, Yoongi had me enveloped in his arms, holding me tightly as I tried to hold back my sobs.

“It's okay,” He whispered, practically making me burst at the seams. I sobbed into his chest as he gently embraced me, and eventually, the others joined in to comfort me. A few minutes passed, and I had finally calmed down. Everyone pulled away from each other, and I apologized under my breath, hoping that no one would hear.

“Don't apologize. You said even you don’t know why we’re here. It's not your fault,” Seokjin consoled with a soft smile. I nodded slowly in agreement and he wiped away the rest of my tears before speaking up. “We’ll stay, right guys?” The others nodded immediately in approval with reassuring smiles. 

“I have to admit, it'll be hard to stay away from family and friends…” Taehyung said truthfully.

“I'm sorry,” I apologized, feeling just as bad as I was a minute ago.

“No, no, it's okay. Really.” The room was tense for a moment, so I decided to ease up the tension by speaking up.

“Um, so, I guess if you have any questions you can ask me now,” I mumbled, shyly scratching behind my ear with my fingernails.

“Well, first of all, shouldn't we put some of that glittery stuff on your shoulder? You're still hurt,”  Yoongi suggested, going to grab the same vial and eyedropper I had just set down.

“I'm fine, really-”

“Maya, you're hurt. Just let me do this.” I sighed and turned my back to him, pulling my shirt down to provide access to the wound, allowing Yoongi to squeeze out a drop of the liquid onto my wound, eliciting a hiss from me as the skin quickly worked to repair itself. As Yoongi placed the supplies back where they belonged, Jimin took the chance to ask a question.

“What is that stuff anyways?” He asked curiously.

“They're tears of an extremely rare dragon. They can cure anything, from broken bones to certain diseases, but they're hard to obtain,” I explained. 

“So what do you use for smaller injuries?” Namjoon asked. 

“Like what?”

“Well…” He shyly lifted up the hem of his shirt to reveal a small but still moderately bad cut on his side. 

“Joon, why didn't you say something?” I stepped over to him and placed my hand over his wound, focusing my energy until a soft violet light began emitting from my palm, healing his laceration in a quick minute. 

“Shit, man,” He laughed in amazement as he looked down, with no wound or scar in sight. “You're amazing.”

“Ah, I'm not that special.”

“Are you royalty?” Jungkook asked me bluntly.

“Jungkook-ah, don't be rude,” Hoseok scolded.

“Oh, sorry, Noona. I got a little excited.” A soft shade of pink spread across his puffy cheeks, and I smiled in response.

“I am,” I verified.

“A princess?” Jimin guessed.

“A queen.”

“Wahhh! Our little cutie is a queen!” Seokjin screamed, picking me up and spinning me around in his arms.

“Jin, stop!” I giggled as he set me down.

“Does anyone else live here?” Yoongi asked.

“Yes. I have four servants: D’Vorah, Mileena, Tashi, and Luthais. My other friends Sam, Hyunae, Minjun, and Fawn are also with me.”

“There's other Korean people?” Namjoon asked, a bit of relief in his deep voice.

“Yes. Everyone on this island speaks Korean, English, and Draconian.”

“Draconian?”

“It's my native tongue, the language of the dragons.”

“Maya, not to be rude, but do you actually have any space for us?” Seokjin questioned politely. I smiled and made my way over to the door, signaling for the boys to follow me as I spoke.

“This castle wasn't built for nothing. Come with me.” I led them upstairs and around the vast, royal halls, pointing out the rooms we were passing by as well, in case they ever wanted to go check them out. I opened the door to a spare bedroom and took Jungkook’s hand, tugging him inside. “This will be your room, Kook.”

“The entire thing?” He gawked, taking in the golden color scheme, every corner and every piece of furniture dazzling with rich embellishments. The chandelier’s diamonds sparkled in the glistening light, giving the maknae his true golden look. 

“Yes, it's all-” Jungkook excitedly cut off my sentence with a breath-quenching hug, spinning me around wildly as I begged for him to stop before either of us got too dizzy.

“Thank you, Noona.” 

“You're very welcome, sweetheart.” His cheeks quickly turned a bright shade of pink. He jumped on the bed, after hugging me one last time, and curled his body underneath the blankets. I turned off the lights as I gripped the doorknob tightly, pulling the door in slowly. “Rest up, Kook.” 

The rest of the boys continued down the hallway to be led to their rooms until only Yoongi and I were left alone, roaming around the halls. An awkward silence took over us. To my surprise, instead of stopping when we came to his room, he kept walking forward. 

“Yoongi? Your room is right here.” He turned his head over his shoulder to look at me with a sly smile.

“I know, but I wanted to stay around you for a little more,” He said.

“Am I hearing you correctly? The Min Yoongi doesn't want to sleep? What has the world come to…” I joked, walking towards him, eliciting a fake laugh from him as he sharply flicked my forehead. I winced from the sudden impact and pushed his shoulder with annoyance, a playful smile spreading across both of our faces.

“I'm still a little confused about all of this.”

“Like what?”

“I mean, how were you able to keep this hidden for so long? Didn't it get tiring?”

“Yes, it did, but it was for my own safety - and yours too. I couldn't let you find out about this, but now…” My eyes fell to the ground in guilt.

“It's okay. None of this is your fault, sugar.” I was a bit taken aback by his sudden use of my nickname. My head slowly rose so our eyes met. I smiled but the silence returned and lingered in the air for a few moments when Yoongi decided to speak up again, breaking the awkward tension surrounding us as he began to walk forward, my body automatically trailing beside him.

“So, that black dragon we saw earlier, is that yours?”  He asked.

“Mhm. His name is Toothless. Do you want to meet him?” Although he nodded hesitantly, I eagerly grabbed his hand and pulled him to a nearby balcony, where a marble platform connected to the floors beneath our feet, elegant glass double-doors separating the two. I pushed open the doors and led him outside. Understandably, he was terrified, considering that we were thousands of feet in the air, even though there were railings on both our left and right to prevent us from falling off. I pulled out a slim silver whistle and blew it, which echoed throughout the mountains. 

“Your dragon seems pretty close to you.” Yoongi spoke, discreetly pulling his hand away.

“I’ve been with him ever since I was a kid. He’s a Night Fury, the fastest species known.”

“Wow. I-” Before he could finish his sentence, Toothless suddenly landed in front of us with a loud thud, causing both me and Yoongi to fall over, our foreheads clashing together. “Damn, sorry.” 

“No, it's fine.” A long pause finally pulled us both into the realization that Yoongi was positioned on top of me, his hands either side of my head. He awkwardly cleared his throat and stood up, pulling me up as well. As soon as I got to my feet, Toothless rubbed up against my body and purred loudly, my hands immediately attracting to his black, scaly body. “Hey, bud. I missed you.” 

“Hey, what happened to his tail?” Yoongi observed, pointing to his two tail fins, one of which was replaced by a makeshift leather fin.

“Oh, that. I found him when he was wounded from a fight. At first, he couldn't fly without me, but that little contraption lets him fly freely."

“You made this?” He asked as he knelt beside the leather fin, raising it with his palms. I nodded shyly, but my smile returned as Toothless nudged my body with affection. I nearly flinched once I shifted my eyes back to Yoongi due to his intense stare and wide grin.

“What?”

“You're amazing…” After such a confusing and short statement, he stayed silent for a moment, an awkward tension filling the air. 

“Yoongi, you're staring.”

“Oh, sorry,” He mumbled, looking away, a shade of red painted on his cheeks. 

The dark slender dragon took this empty moment of time as an opportunity to bond with Yoongi. Toothless chittered and dug his way under Yoongi’s arm, earning a small giggle from the mint-haired boy. Whining, he rolled over and smiled, his toothless mouth being displayed to match Yoongi’s signature gummy smile. Yoongi laughed, but was quickly cut off when the dragon playfully pounced on him, his pupils fuller than the moon.

“Aish, he’s a playful one.” 

“Come on, bud. Get off him,” I laughed, prying him off of Yoongi. “So, you wanna go for a ride?” I asked rhetorically as I quickly ran inside to grab something, leaving Yoongi behind with Toothless.

“What do you me-” Before he could even finish his sentence, I had returned, a leather saddle in my arms. As I began to latch his saddle on, Yoongi stood off to the side, a glint of curiosity and fear in his milky brown eyes. I adjusted the last strap and stepped back to Yoongi, extending my hand out. Although he was reluctant, he enveloped his hand in mine and allowed me to lead him onto Toothless’ back. I climbed on afterwards and sat in front of him, my back facing his chest. I turned my head over my shoulder to look at Yoongi after he hooked his feet in the stirrups.

“You ready?”

“I guess so.”

“Hold on tight.” I slid my hand down to Toothless’ shoulder and gave him a little pat, prompting him to gently spread out his wings and lift himself into the air. As expected, Yoongi immediately gripped at my waist, snaking his arms further around my body as we flew higher into the air, and came to a steady glide. “Hey, you can look up now.” I teased as he slowly moved his face out of the crook of my neck and opened his eyes to see the beginning sunset, hundreds of miles of land spread underneath us with dragons sprouting from every corner, all jovial and safe. Bundles of trees hid tiny hatchlings playing and running in the forests below, their mother chasing after them with a wide grin and perked spines. The silhouette of a gargantuan beast overlooking the mountains stood out from the soft and serene colors of the sky.

“This is…” Yoongi gawked, unable to gather the rest of his words, and before I could speak, the feeling of his hands roughly gripping my waist messed with my ability to speak as well. I froze in place for a moment, peeking over my shoulder to look at him, and then his hands, hoping he’d get the message.

“Yoongi-ah, your hands-“

“Oh! Sorry.” He mumbled, fumbling to find somewhere else to put his hands. 

“I-It’s fine. Just try to loosen up a bit.”

Toothless continued to carry us around the island, practically giving Yoongi a grand tour from a different perspective he never could have dreamed of. Eventually, the pale-haired boy spoke up, startling me slightly in the process.

“I have to admit, this is pretty cool. It’s amazing. He’s amazing,” He smiled, gently patting Toothless’ side with praise. As the deafening silence returned, I quickly thought of an idea and tapped Toothless in excitement, whispering for him to fly upwards on my command. 

“Yoongi, you may wanna hold on,” I advised. “Let’s go, bud.”

“Wait, wha- Maya!” Yoongi had cut himself off and held onto me for dear life as Toothless began to climb up into the clouds, flapping his large wings in powerful bursts as we rose further up, and eventually above cloud level, where a whole other world was waiting for us. Just as we broke through the thick clouds, Yoongi had dared himself to look up, yet when he did, he didn’t regret his decision. Dozens of silver and white dragons pranced and perched along the clouds, the sunset's rays reflecting off of their scales, producing an odd but gorgeous array of colors into the skies. It was just as incredible as the view on the ground.

As intended, we were nearing closer to the castle, and my focus fixed on a particular silver dragon, isolated away from the others, resting on top of a cloud. Toothless must have known what my intention was as he flew closer to the dragon and called out, only briefly catching the loner’s attention. It turned away, quite obviously shy. I sighed then whistled sharply, which caught and kept the dragon’s attention. Dapples of silver swirled around its ruff as it tilted its snout towards me. I gestured for it to follow Toothless, and it obeyed, diving alongside us until we reached the front gates of the castle.

I slid off of Toothless and helped Yoongi get off after, then guided him over to the shy silver dragon. With our hands still clasped together, I moved behind him and nudged him slightly forward to the creature, and although hesitant, he obliged and walked slowly along with me. 

“Hold out your hand,” I said suddenly, causing Yoongi to snap his head back in confusion.

“What?” He questioned, clearly afraid but slightly intrigued.

“Trust me.”

The dragon bowed its head as Yoongi moved forwards, the two nearing closer until his hand was mere inches away from the dragon's snout. Slowly, I guided Yoongi’s hand to its snout and gently pressed his palm against its scales, a warm purr emitting from its throat. I felt the boy’s body relax and removed my hand from his, leaving him with my hand still on the dragon's snout. The ends of his mouth turned upwards almost immediately, and a sense of euphoria took over what seemed to be the entire island. His gummy smile soon made an appearance as the dragon moved closer to sniff his snowy hair.

“He likes you,” I smiled, walking over to the dragon to give him a pat on the shoulder.

“Does he have a name?” Yoongi questioned, still entranced by the dragon’s grace and beauty.

“Aenaes.”

“Strange…” 

“He could say the same for you, Yoongs.” The dragon stepped back, allowing for Yoongi to step closer to me, not even attempting to disconnect his eyes with mine until a shrill-like scream rang throughout the air and instantaneously drew us away from each other.

“Unnie! I can’t believe you’re back!” A young girl shrieked as she and another young man flew down on their dragons to land and come running over to us. 

“Hyunae!” I laughed in glee, but it was cut short as the girl proceeded to pick me up and squeeze me tightly. She was small, but she could definitely pack a punch. I practically had to beg her to let go before she suffocated me. As she set me down, the other man picked me up again and swayed from side to side roughly, causing me to burst into a fit of giggles, eventually his own joining in. “It is so good to see you, Minjun.”

“I missed you,” Minjun whispered so that only I could hear him, eventually pulling away from me. “What are you doing back so early?”

“Well, it’s kind of hard to explain-“

“Wait, is that Suga? From BTS? Am I dreaming?” Hyunae gasped, pointing her finger to a very stiff and uncomfortable Yoongi.

“Yes, he’s here with all of the other members. They’ll be with us from now on.”

“Waahh, this is the best day ever!” Suddenly she jumped onto him, hugging him tightly, his eyes wandering over to me with a look that was a clear cry for help. 

I laughed at Yoongi’s suffering then leaned over to Minjun and whispered in his ear.

“By the way, don’t mention to the boys that they’ll be getting their own dragons just yet. They need time.”

Hyunae squealed again and pulled away, still freaking out over her idol that was standing in front of her, in the flesh.

“Sorry, she’s excited. She’s a big fan of BTS… as you can probably see.” I muttered the last part so nobody could hear what I was saying. “Don’t get off duty though, Hyunae, you still have to finish your surveillance with Minjun!”

“Oh, right! Sorry, unnie. Come on Jun-Jun, I’ll race you!” She quickly mounted her dragon, not even hesitating to take off into the sky, leaving Minjun behind, slightly irritated. 

“For god’s sake, Hyunae! Don’t you have any respect?!” Minjun yelled, quickly mounting his dragon to follow after her. It was only until they were out of our view when Yoongi decided to break the silence.

“How old is that girl?” He asked, almost with a tone of disgust.

“She’s only 15, it’s a part of being young,” I sighed.

“She’s 15?”

“Five years ago, I rescued her from a slave trade in the Northern Markets of The Claim.”

“Oh, I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be, she’s found a new life.” I smiled at him, and he smiled back. “She’s like a daughter to me - ironic, isn’t it?”

“What do you mean?”

“I never told you I can’t have kids?”

“No, I don’t think you’ve ever brought it up.” Defined eyebrows arched imperiously as he put a hand on his hip. He looked stiff and his eyes were blank, as if holding back a certain emotion. 

“Well, now you know. Come on, we should go. It’s getting late and tonight’s a full moon.”

“What’s so bad about a full moon?”

“You really don’t wanna know.” I grabbed his hand and led him inside the castle after dismissing Aenaes and Toothless so they could roam freely for the night, giving his saddle to D’Vorah to put back while we roamed the halls. Inside, the rest of the boys were chatting away in the kitchen, all of them working, cutting vegetables and seasoning dishes. As Yoongi and I made our entrance into the room, they all froze in place, and, being the clumsy guy that he is, Namjoon dropped the glass he was holding in his hand, shards flying and scattering all over the tile floor.

“Really, hyung?” Jungkook huffed, crossing his arms like a disappointed mother. 

“I didn’t expect them to come in so suddenly!” Namjoon whined, causing all of us to erupt into laughter. 

“Don’t worry, the dragons tend to break everything they see too,” I consoled.

“Hyung would blend in perfectly with them,” Taehyung muttered, earning a smack from the eldest boy.

“We were going to cook you a surprise dinner. It’s the least we could do,” Seokjin said as he began to clean up the shattered mess that Namjoon had inevitably created.

“Oh no, I should be the one doing this. After all, you guys have to put up with this,” I said apologetically.

“Well, we’re almost done. Mind helping out?”

I assisted them with the preparation of the rest of the food, and when the meal was finished, all eight of us carried the numerous amount of dishes to the dining room, setting them down on the long, wooden table. As if on cue, Hyunae and Minjun walked into the room, returning from surveillance, stomachs rumbling and mouths drooling.

“Wow! Who made this?” Hyunae exclaimed, and the seven boys proudly raised their hands, at least until Jin quickly swatted Yoongi’s hand down, causing him to hold back a stiffened laugh. “Thank you so much!”

“Yes, thank you,” Minjun added, bowing deeply along with the younger girl.

Everyone took their seats and began to dine into the food, while simultaneously conversing with one another. Eventually, a short girl with platinum blonde hair entered the room, halting everyone’s conversations and averting their attention to her.

“Maya, you’re back,” She smiled, taking the empty seat beside Hyunae. 

“Hi, Samantha. I see you’ve gotten taller,” I joked, the dining hall echoing with everyone’s laughter. As I began to take a sip of my water, Minjun spoke to the boys.

“So, I heard Maya is going to give you all dragons,” He said in a quite monotonous tone, causing me to choke on my water and cough it up as Seokjin comfortingly patted my back until my breath steadied again.

“Minjun, I specifically told you not to say anything about-“

“Jungkook, right?” He said innocently, pointing to the youngest boy, who looked utterly confused and lost at the moment. “You look like you could train a Monstrous Nightmare. Maybe even a Red-Eyed Ravager! Those things are absolutely vicious, let me tell you-“

“Minjun!”

“What? You don’t think I should warn them of the dangers they’re exposed to if they’re gonna live here? I think they have the right to know what could happen to them-“

“Em pleni!” I yelled, pushing back my chair as I slammed my palms against the table, a familiar sting returning to my eyes, which was not exactly my main concern at that moment. “Dison laik son swima op ona rein.”

With a defeated huff, Minjun smoothly stood up and left the room without another word, leaving the dining room with complete, utter silence. Before the boys could turn their heads to me, I covered my face with my hand and began to leave the room when I felt someone gently grab my wrist, a soft voice following:

“Why are you hiding your face?” 

“Yoongi, don’t,” I pleaded, and he unexpectedly yanked my hands away, but I was quick enough to shut my eyes as tight as I could. As his hands traveled up to cup my cheeks, I pressed my palms against his chest, desperately trying to make him give up. 

“What are you hiding?” He asked, his voice gentle yet concerned.

“You guys will get freaked out.”

“Noona, we won’t,” Jungkook spoke in the most reassuring voice he could muster up.

“God, you’re impossible,” I sighed and muttered under my breath as I slowly fluttered my eyelids open, the boys simultaneously exclaiming in admiration and surprise at my glowing white eyes. 

“Woah! Are those real?” Taehyung asked excitedly, quickly rising from his seat along with the others to take a closer look - even Hyunae joined in, despite the many times she’s seen my secret, haunting eyes.

“They’re gorgeous,” Yoongi commented, the heat flushing to my cheeks as his gaze intensified.

“I think hyung meant to say ‘you’re gor-‘“ Namjoon teased, but he was quickly shut up by a kick to the shin from a very agitated Yoongi.

“Maya, why do your eyes… you know?” Jimin questioned shyly, purposefully avoiding eye contact with me from the sheer, overwhelming intimidation I was sending off.

“Chim, please don’t be scared. It’s just me. They usually turn white when I get frustrated or scared,” I explained with a soft smile.

“I’d be damn furious just looking at that bratty kid again,” Yoongi commented in a bitter tone.

“Well, Yoongs, that kid is actually 29, so maybe you’ll have to hold back on your personal feelings and be a little bit nicer to him,” I sighed, an obvious disappointment covering Yoongi’s face as he realized he’d have to call Minjun ‘hyung.’ “I gotta say though, he’s acting strange.”

“Is what he said true?” Namjoon asked, taking me aback by his question. “About us getting dragons?”

I opened my mouth to speak, yet no sound escaped, as I wasn’t even sure what the answer was yet. Yes, it was common for newcomers to get their own dragon to tame, but it was different for the boys. Their hearts were forgiving and nurturing, and I honestly didn’t think they had the right heart to handle this kind of stuff. I was practically heartless compared to them.

“I-It’s true - but I wanted you to settle in first. I just thought it’d only be right to let you guys have a dragon of your own. It’s a stupid idea, I’m sorry-“ I began to speak, but Hoseok was quick to cut me off.

“Hey, I think it’s a good idea. Don’t put yourself down so much,” He said with a gentle, reassuring grin that shined brighter than the sun. “But maybe we should start off small so I don’t get a heart attack right away.”

The group laughed at Hobi’s comments, lifting the room’s depressing mood to a more bright, cheerful one. Suddenly, I had an idea that I knew the boys would agree to.

“Hey, how about we go for a swim? I’ve got an indoor pool on the other side of this floor,” I suggested, and as expected, the boys did indeed agree, rushing to eat and clean up the leftovers. While Hyunae decided to go upstairs to her room to study, I led the boys to the pool, which once it came into sight, the younger ones began to strip and jump in without hesitation, the others following quickly, with the exception of Yoongi, who stood beside me unfazed by his members’ actions. “Oh my god, guys! I have swim shorts you could’ve used.” I covered my eyes and jokingly looked away in disgust.

“Come on, where’s the fun in that?” Seokjin laughed as he and Jungkook swam to the deeper end.

“Hyung! Why don’t you come in?” Taehyung said, his boxy grin appearing.

“Too much effort,” Yoongi simply retorted and began to walk towards the sofa sectional in the corner. I took this moment to focus my attention on the pool water, and flipped my hand towards the ceiling, slowly raising it as my fingers curled, the water quickly deforming and splitting into a messy sphere floating in the air. I moved my hand so that the sphere followed my movements and was positioned right above Yoongi. Just prior to reaching the corner, I opened my hand and the sphere of water instantly broke, soaking him completely.

“Holy shit!” Jungkook yelled in excitement, clapping his hands like a little child. As I faced the other boys in the pool to do a couple bows, Namjoon spoke up, pointing to Yoongi, who was frozen still but clearly waiting for the right moment to move.

“Maya, you better run,” He advised, and as soon as I turned my head to look at Yoongi, he was standing right in front of me. He lifted me up bridal style and hovered my body over the water, threatening to throw me in. I screamed and clung onto his wet, white t-shirt, my eyes traveling down to see a faint outline of his abs, heat intensely rushing to my cheeks at the sight. 

“Yoongi, please don’t! I’m sorry, I swear! Please-“ I cried out helplessly.

“Cute, she’s begging~” He cooed in an oddly seductive voice. As a simple but clever way to tease me, he pretended to drop me by quickly letting go and catching me before I hit the water, making me scream and hold onto him even tighter.

“Fuck, Yoongi! Please!” 

“Hmph, you’re no fun.” He quickly set me down, giving me a sense of safety. Without allowing me to even take a single breath, he grabbed my waist and jumped into the pool, dragging me along with him. I broke away from his grasp and surfaced up above the water, Yoongi following shortly after, not that I even cared as I began to attack him.

“Asshole!”

“Hey, don’t curse!” Seokjin scolded.

“My island, my rules, sweetheart.” I lifted my hand out from the water and flicked my finger upwards, causing a tentacle-like stream of water to spike up and strike Jin’s back, shortly dissolving afterwards. He yelped and rubbed the stricken area to soothe the sudden vicious contact, the rest of us laughing at his reaction.

“How do you even do that?” The elder boy pouted, automatically drawing me closer to him to embrace him and apologize, making sure he was alright.

“It’s something I like to call waterbending.”

“You are incredible,” Yoongi giggled.

“Ah, I wouldn’t go that far.”

“Maya! Catch!” Hoseok shouted from behind me. However, as soon as I turned around, an inflated beach ball hit me in the face, almost as if karma was calling my name.

“Motherfu-“

“Attack!” Taehyung screamed as he dunked me underneath the water, the others quickly joining in to grab at my flailing limbs. Every time I tried to rise up from underwater, one of the boys pushed me back down. After what seemed like hours and hours, they finally stopped and I was able to rise up and breathe properly.

“And that, my friend, is what we call karma,” Seokjin gushed innocently as I eventually regained my breath.

“Maya, I wanted to ask if your parents are here. I’d love to meet them,” Namjoon said, smiling, however his smile dropped as he saw my expression darken at the mention of my parents.

“They… aren’t with me anymore.”

“Shit, I’m sorry, I-“

“No, it’s okay. You should know about them. It’s just been so long since I’ve talked about them.”

“You don’t have to talk about it, Noona,” Jungkook consoled.

“Yeah, we don’t want to pry,” Jimin added.

“It’s alright. My father passed away shortly after I was pronounced as the ruler of The Embrace. He made a deal with my enemy, that if he sacrificed himself to them, they’d leave us alone. He wanted to make me queen as soon as possible. I was only 12 years old,” I said, speaking as clear and slow as I could to prevent myself from tearing up. “He was executed that day, but the enemy kept their promise. It’s been seven years and there hasn’t been any sign of them.”

“I’m so sorry,” Taehyung whispered, placing his hand on my shoulder for comfort. “What about your mother?”

“Oh, I’ve never met my mother. She left the Embrace a few weeks after I was born. I don’t even remember her name…” 

“Hey, sugar, you don’t have to say anything else,” Yoongi stated, moving closer to embrace me, to which I happily accepted, wrapping my arms around his figure as his arms snaked around my waist. Eventually, when the depressing mood subsided, we got back to messing around in the water and playing with each other. We were having so much fun, I didn’t even notice how late it had gotten.

We left the pool, wrapped ourselves in warm towels, and I sent each of the boys to their rooms, where a fresh pile of clothes was waiting for them, which was generously chosen by my servants Mileena and D’Vorah. I went to my room to change, and Yoongi waited for me to walk him back. However, Yoongi asked for me to stand by, and quickly went inside his room, stepping back out within a minute wearing a black sweater, sleeves lined with red and black stripes, along with ripped skinny jeans, the same outfit that had been laid out on his bed.

We stood there facing each other, standing awkwardly without saying a word or making eye contact. I opened my mouth to speak, but Yoongi was faster and unintentionally cut me off.

“Hey, can we just stay together for a little longer?” He said suddenly, his words coming out more like a beg rather than a request.

“Yeah, of course. Is everything okay?” I asked, notably concerned as I gently grabbed his arm to get his attention.

“I just…” He sighed and looked away, leaving me with a heavy feeling of guilt. No doubt about it, he was probably broken inside, having to stay away from friends and family to live a whole new life. Without saying anything, I grabbed his hand and pulled him to my room, and to the connecting balcony, where a perfect view of the night sky was awaiting us. 

I sat down close to the edge, our hands still clasped together as he slowly sat beside me, inching closer to me as the moon finally began to reach its peak. Although I hesitated, I rested my head on his shoulder, moving up against him so his arm was draped around my shoulder, resting comfortably as he held me close. Minutes passed in silence, the overbearing beauty of the dark shades painting the sky speaking for us.

“It’s beautiful, isn’t it?” I whispered, looking up to admire the sky, outlines of dragons soaring against the twinkling stars. Yoongi simply nodded and hummed in agreement, the deafening silence returning shortly. I glanced at him quickly, his eyes fixed on the distant stars.

“I still can’t believe this all existed, and we never even knew about it,” Yoongi suddenly said with a sigh.

“I’m sorry, but it was for good reason, though. If people in Earthrealm learned that this place exists, we’d all probably be caged in a zoo or taken into a science lab for experiments.”

“That’s why we decided to stay. It was clear that going back would just harm you.”

“Thank you, Yoongi,” I said sincerely, looking up as his obsidian orbs connected with mine.

“No problem, sugar,” He smiled, ruffling my hair lightly, his gummy smile creeping onto his lips.

“When are you going to stop calling me that?” I quietly laughed as flashbacks of our first meeting came to my mind.

I remember how embarrassed he was when he knocked open a sugar container onto me while I was kneeling beside him in the baking aisle, looking for a bag of chocolate chips on the bottom shelves. He was so cute when he was flustered, blushing like crazy and apologizing over and over again. He even tried to brush all the little specks of sugar out of my hair, and even though I told him it was fine, he insisted on paying for my stuff to make up for his clumsy act. After helping me with my bags back to my car, he asked for my phone and quickly typed something in my notes, then handed it back to me as he walked off with a wave. I’ll never forget how wide I had grinned at his few, sweet words.

My name’s Yoongi. Text me sometime, sugar. 

I still can’t believe my quirky nickname came from such an embarrassing but memorable moment for the both of us. Now we look back on it and just laugh it off as if it was destined to be.

“Yah! Are you even listening to me?” Yoongi’s voice snapped me back into reality.

“Huh? What, oh sorry,” I sputtered, shaking my head as my mind finally wandered back to me.

“Were you daydreaming about me?” He teased, poking at my shoulder.

“What? No! God, you’re an idiot,” I groaned, swatting his hand away.

“Don’t lie to me.”

“I’m not, dumbass.”

“Hmm, I might just have to tickle the truth out of you.” He suddenly began to ruthlessly attack my sides with his fingers, causing me to squeal and stand up to evade his attacks, yet his hands kept following. I giggled and pushed his hands away, running away from him as he chased after me. With all of this excitement, I didn’t notice that I was nearing towards the edge of the platform, and when I did, I was too late, frantically trying to balance myself. Luckily, Yoongi was quick to catch me by my waist and pull me back away from the edge protectively, one of his hands traveling up to my cheek as worry overtook his dark, loving eyes. “Are you okay?” 

“Yeah, thank you,” I mumbled as he pulled me closer, pushing my head so I was now burying my face in his chest, his chin resting atop my head.

“God, you scared me. You almost got yourself killed.”

“I would’ve been fine, Yoongi.”

“Come on, let’s go inside.” With that, he gently grabbed my wrist and led me into my bedroom, which connected directly to the platform that was previously underneath our feet not too long ago. He was about to let go of me and exit the room, but I gently pulled him back, looking at him straight in the eyes.

“Is there anything else you wanted to know or ask for?”

“Uh, well… me and some of the others left their phones back in the dorm, and I was wondering if you could possibly get them.”

“Of course. I can send a retriever to collect them and be back by tomorrow morning. I could even tell them to get your laptop so you can still work on your music here.”

“Seriously? Thank you!” The smile on Yoongi’s lips was wider and brighter than any other smile I had ever seen. He suddenly threw his arms around me and lightly pecked my cheek, but quickly pulled away once he realized what he had done. “Ah, I-I’m sorry, I got excited.”

“It’s okay, Yoongs. You should go get some rest.” He nodded and left the room after hugging me one last time, leaving me alone with my overwhelming thoughts. 

I sighed and fell onto my bed, not even making an effort to clean myself up. Pulling the vanilla scented blankets over myself, I let my eyes close, but sleep wasn’t able to come to me. My mind was busy running hundreds and hundreds of miles, filled with concerns and questions about the new future I inevitably brought to the boys. 

They were innocent and untroubled, despite their heavy schedule and constant pressure from companies and the media. Here, they were free, but the emotional toll could be more grave than it was when they had normal lives. 

With them living here, the world just got a whole lot bigger. I recited the skills and protocols they’d have to learn to be able to survive, and that’s when I realized what was in store for me. I’d have to teach them how to fight, how to fly, how to survive - but I didn’t even know myself if they had the heart to follow in my steps. They’d even eventually have to learn how to-

My thoughts were quickly cut off by a soft knock on my door. I propped myself up on my forearms and quickly fixed my hair, calling out to the person standing outside, their shadow seeping through the bottom opening of the closed door.

“Yes?” I yawned, shifting my eyes to the balcony doors when I realized how late it had gotten, the bright stars shimmering against the utter darkness of the sky. The person outside spoke.

“Maya, it’s Yoongi.”

“Oh, come in.”

The door slowly creaked open, and lo and behold, Yoongi stepped into the room, his tousled hair and pouty lips making him look irresistibly adorable, the white sheet wrapped around his body only adding to his softness. He closed the door behind him and adjusted the sheet as I spoke up to ask him what was bothering him.

“I can’t sleep,” He mumbled, rubbing his half-lidded eyes with his sweaty palms.

“Well, what do you want me to do about that?” I teased, but immediately recognized my mistake as I remembered how impossible it was to deal with Yoongi when he was grumpy - which was almost always when he was tired.

“Cute. Now move over.” Before I could say anything to protest, he threw his sheet over me and climbed onto the bed, crawling over me and collapsing beside me, pulling the sheet back over him, along with a good portion of my blanket I was previously covered with. I groaned and tugged it back, leaving him with only the sheet. As I was just beginning to fall asleep, I felt a shift in weight on the bed and realized that Yoongi had moved closer to me, his chest pressing against my back and his breath tickling the skin on my neck. “It’s cold.”

“Take some of my blanket and go to sleep,” I whined, throwing half of my blanket over to his side. Even with the extra warmth, Yoongi moved closer and slid his arms around my waist from behind, pulling me into his curled figure. I could feel the heat rushing to my cheeks, but I couldn’t bring myself to tell him off, and before I knew it, my eyes had closed and I had fallen fast asleep in his arms. 

───✱*.｡:｡✱*.:｡✧*.｡✰*.:｡✧*.｡:｡*.｡✱ ───

Masterlist • YouTube • Instagram

[eoieopda]

blog info

⇢ how tf do i pronounce your username?

oy-OPE-da. it’s the romanized version of 어이없다, which is one of my favorite korean words. listen to hoshi scream it here.

⇢ why do you have a problem with minors and ageless blogs?

i discussed this here. as of summer 2023, i am no longer blocking ageless blogs and am instead ignoring their interactions unless and until i have some reason to believe they're an adult. see here for some ways that i (and other creators) approach this.

⇢ can i request to be tagged for new stories or new parts?

i don't do fic-specific tags (with the exception of force quit) because it's a massive hassle. instead, i have permanent taglists which include fics/chapters + drabbles:

multi (for all of the groups listed below)

bts

seventeen

stray kids

ateez

⇢ can i tag you in xyz?

i track #eoieopda archive (and also #eoieopdaarchive because some people use that instead). i don't like to be tagged outright in fics if:

i didn't sign up for a taglist or otherwise consent to be tagged

i didn't beta it or have anything to do with its creation, and/or

we don't know/talk to each other (because i can't vouch for whatever it is you've tagged me in — or you, personally — and don't want to be explicitly linked to it).

⇢ when is xyz being posted/updated?

when i have the brain juice and time and i want to 😌

⇢ why is xyz on hiatus/discontinued?

likely because i, icarus, have flown too close to the sun. sometimes, the idea part of my brain moves faster than the follow-through part; and i need to take a silly little break before i’m able to pick up a story. sometimes, i lose interest entirely and will then remove something from my masterlist + make it very clear that a series is discontinued.

personal

⇢ your real name was leaked — can i call you that?

it doesn't bother me if people use my govt. name when they talk to/about me! my whole tagging system uses my nickname (jade) because my actual name wasn't supposed to get out, so that's (primarily) how i'm going to refer to myself on here.

⇢ you said you were adopted —can you tell me xyz about this entire process, what you know of your birth parents, what you remember about korea, etc.?

no thanks! i know very little about the whole thing because i was literally 18 months old. i've also had experiences on here where users' entire communication with me has been to ask/talk about these things, which is icky at best and fetishistic at worst (whether or not it's intentional).

⇢ i’m not korean — can i call you unnie/noona/hyung?

i don’t have a problem with this, and i actually find it pretty cute. keep in mind that my opinion here isn’t universal amongst koreans; and i did not grow up in my own culture, so koreans that did are entitled to feel differently.

⇢ can i come into your inbox and ask very invasive questions about your personal life and/or spew racist garbage and/or erase your identity and/or tokenize you?

thanks for checking — absolutely not! playing stupid games will win you stupid prizes (aka being blocked and/or reported).

⇢ i’m confused by your pronouns — which should i use?

my gender identity is essentially the ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ emoticon at this point, so i use both she/her and they/them. and by that, i mean: pls don’t stick to one or the other (exclusively she, exclusively they) because i am not exclusively either.

i’m comfy with almost all “gendered” terms (sis, bro, dude, girlie, sir, ma’am, gworl, etc.) because i think gender is fake, lol. i do not vibe with “queen”, though, and i don’t know why. #kingjade

⇢ is it cool if i pop into your ask box with random thoughts, memes, tiktoks, non-k-pop stuff, etc.?

hell yeah, brother! let’s be friends.

⇢ you talk so much and it’s clogging up my dash — what do?

check my tag index here and filter shit to your heart's content!

requests (read the rules here before submitting)

⇢ who will you write for?

bts, seventeen, stray kids, and ateez.

i don't write for han jisung, kim seungmin, yang jeongin, or choi jongho as a personal preference. i adore them, but i don't see them in a romantic and/or sexual light.

⇢ are there any requests you won’t take?

i’m open to trying most kinks, dynamics, and AUs, depending on what's being requested of me (and the weather, what i ate for breakfast, the lunar phase, etc.) i'm down with poly!member x reader; and member x reader x member (etc.) dynamics, but i don't currently write strictly member x member.

hard passes:

non-con

anything involving minors

harry potter AUs

⇢ did you get my request? are you done yet?

pleeeeaaaaaaaaseeeee don’t. i did get your request. i’m a full-time attorney with fibromyalgia & ADHD and therefore cannot make any promises that my brain and/or body and/or schedule will allow me to finish things quickly.

i don’t complete every request i receive! sometimes, the requests are too similar to what i’ve done already, they don’t spark anything for me, etc. i reserve the right to pick and choose what i spend my time on.

rev. 12/9/23

[savemygrades]

do you have any tips for how to study efficiently?

Hiya!

Thanks for the ask! I’m glad you said ‘efficiently’ because I’ve seen so many study tips on here which may seem cute but aren’t very efficient.

First of, everyone works differently, so the best thing to do is to try out a variety of techniques and see what works best for you.

At the start of your study period, you need to ask yourself what exactly you want to gain from this session. Is it memorising a big chunk of information? Or is it understanding a tricky maths question? Or perhaps you need to finish up a 2000 word essay on ancient philosophers? You would need to take a different approach on how you would tackle each of these different assignments.

Memory:

In terms of memorising I would recommend Quizlet. If it’s learning vocab, Memrise works really well too. The key with memorising is repetition. So the more you go over something, the better it would stick in your memory. Try using spaced repetition. So after going over a topic, briefly revisit it again 3 days later, then revisit it again a week later, then revisit it again 5 weeks later and so forth.  In reviewing the topic, you’re reinforcing it into your brain. Maybe use a tracker or a calendar to remind yourself when to revisit each topic. 

“Blurting”:

I don’t know if you know who Unjaded Jade is, but she’s a study YouTuber who came up with this technique called blurting. Blurting essentially involves you getting a blank piece of paper, and you “blurting” out any knowledge you have of a topic or sub-topic on to that page, without the aid of your notes or textbooks. I really like this technique- as it clearly shows you what you know and what you don’t know.

Practise questions

Familiarise yourself with the exam structure and technique by answering practise questions as soon as you can. That way you can see your areas of weakness. Sometimes you may know a topic inside out, but you just can’t seem to able to interpret what a question wants you to write. I know I have this currently with A level biology, but I’m slowly understanding them weirdly worded questions!

Getting the motivation and endurance to actually study:

Sometimes you know what works for you, but you just can’t be asked to do it. I know I have this problem. To combat this, you need to try and make ‘studying’ actually something you enjoy. Now this is going to be different for everyone but this is what I do to brighten up my study sessions:

- I put lofi music or bts instrumentals in the background (that way the words won’t distract me)

-Coffee or tea (not for the caffeine but I just like the cosy feel I get from them)

-comfy clothes (a must)

-a tidy study area (otherwise I just get distracted and I’d feel icky)

-write a prioritised to-do list at the beginning of the day (that way I always feel like I have my shit together)

- during exam season I made my self a study timetable (not only did this ensure I can break up the tasks I need to do efficiently, but it also meant that I didn’t get too caught up with school and that I had some time for relaxation, I literally scheduled in Netflix time lol)

-sometimes I watch mini-study with me videos or I would look under the studyblr tag on Tumblr to feel inspired 

Finally just as a small tip: don’t study for hours on end without breaks. Your brain would not be able to absorb all the information. I usually study for 40 minutes then I take a 20-minute break.  

+++ also, you don’t need to make fancy notes with fancy calligraphy - those actually take a lot of time to do, so a lot of your time would be wasted, when you could have spent the same amount of time doing practise questions and understanding what you need to focus on.

Good luck with your studies :))