#old web is about taking inspiration from each other!!!

[aloftmelevar]

i'm not a DNI person but actually do not fw me if you're like this

[dangermousie]

A danmei lover's biased and incomplete het web novel rec list

@mercipourleslivres thanks for inspiring me!

When it comes to Chinese web novels, I mainly read danmei. I tend not to care too much for OP heroine with a hero who dotes on her for no reason as she fights with 14 year olds narratives, nor inner courtyard fights. BUT!!! There are some het web novels I like and so here is my biased and incomplete rec list. Most of these don't have OP heroines, and very little to none courtyard fights.

Before I start, my favorite het web novel authors are: Gong Xinwen, Mo Shu Bai, Peng Lai Ke, and Jiu Lu Fei Xiang. I have yet to read anything bad by them.

Anyway, rec list:

1000 Miles of Bright Moonlight - one of my ultimate favorites, this would make such an epic drama! A smart as hell heroine, a hero who is a monk and a warrior (but also terminally?) ill and such a vivid world and amazing secondary characters (heroine’s brother is possibly my favorite supporting character of all time) and so much angst and happy ending. This has an amazing romance but it’s not romance-centric if it makes sense - ML doesn’t appear for a while. But once he does, it’s worth it!

Accompanying the Phoenix - the one that just got adapted into The Legend of Shen Li, this is high adventure and cottage core and funny and tragic and powerful ML being putty in the hands of capable FL and just EVERYTHING.

Apocalypse Arrival - Gong Xinwen’s novels are made just for me. Her heroines are always powerful as fuck and rescue abused MLs. In this novel, our heroine who lives in the post-apocalyptic world, wakes up right before that apocalypse happens. She forms a survival crew and also rescues ML who has miraculous blood and has been drained of it and is now hunted after the rescue for it. SO GOOD!!!

Black Moonlight Holds the BE Script - so fucked up, so good, with monster hero who learns to love and be human and heroine who learns to love and be human (but from the other side, her tower of perfection.) Much better than the drama which I did enjoy.

The Blue Whisper - the drama was so-so, but the novel is a bona fide angst masterpiece, which really delves into what it feels like to be imprisoned or to love.

Counterattack of the Cannon Fodder Chambermaid - I remember starting this and loving the realistic feel and the heroine and wanting to stab the hero and @mercipourleslivres telling me to be patient. She was right, by the end I was on board with both the hero (who was abused and is rather autistic-coded) and the OTP. Anyway, heroine is a servant who was a concubine in the last life and got killed as part of a rich family’s harem intrigues. In this life, she just wants to keep her head down but her life gets derailed anyway. She gets sold away and eventually made a servant in the household of an exiled prince who takes a fancy to her and she endures it because what choice does she have? All she wanted was to serve out her term and become a small time merchant. This is quite realistic about lack of options for women, especially lower class women or upper class male attitudes (ML is never vicious or mean to FL but it does not initially occur to him to wonder if she fancies him or enjoys being his concubine or w/e.) It is a DELIGHTFUL slow burn tho as they grow to love each other and grow together and become one of the most wholesome cnovel couples out there.

Dandere General and His Lord - hi there, Gong Xinwen! God, I love this one. Heroine transmigrates from modern world into a brutal slave-holding world at war (think something like Warring States era.) Our heroine transmigrates into the body of a noblewoman who just hung herself. When she comes to, she discovers that woman’s twin brother was the ruler of a city poisoned by a rival claimant and the besieging army of said claimant is about to take the city and original occupant of the body and the rest of the family chose suicide as a way to avoid dishonor. Our heroine refuses, schemes with advisors to pass as the brother and rally the troops. Once the invaders are defeated, she keeps on the masquerade and rides off to one of the never-ending wars “she” is summoned to. Our hero couldn’t be farther from this. A slave and a son of a slave, he’s escaped a horrific, starving childhood during which he narrowly avoided being murdered or raped, and ended up in the army. When the story opens, he distinguished himself in battle and as a reward, he and a few of his fellow slave warriors are invited to a banquet, where they are given some alcohol and to be playthings of any nobles who want them. One of them does not survive this but ML is lucky - heroine feels terrible and so “claims” him for herself. Instead she just tends to his wounds and sends him back. She does not fancy him or anything, she is just a human being with a conscience. And the story goes from there.

Demon King's Repayment - another delicious Gong Xinwen tale with a powerful ML dedicated to capable FL. This one is a great fantasy plot (I keep imagining it as an animated series) and a sprawling cast of amazing secondaries (and secondary OTPs - there is, I swear, an OTP that is Dong Hua x Feng Jiu done thru GXW lens) to boot.

Doomed to Be Cannon Fodder - I hesitated to put this one on the list because by the end I was not keen on how misogynistic novel got to original female lead but it was one of my earliest novels and I loved it for 90% and it’s fucking hilarious at times. Heroine transmigrates as bit villainess into a novel, all she wants is not to die, but her new attitude of “pls stay away” catches the attention of her terrifying general husband. Honestly, imo still worth it.

Dreamer in the Spring Boudoir - my n1 novel on this list, smart and fierce and don’t really read this for romance because it does not start until really late, but ice cold heroine x ice cold hero both of equal brains and ruthlessness is everything. I went from loathing the ML to finding him fascinating to adoring him (and yet he softened around the edges only for FL, he never became “nice”) and loved FL throughout; secondaries are epic. If you read only one non-danmei web novel, make it this one.

The Emperor’s Beloved Ugly Girl - my n2 novel on this list. Our heroine is the unlucky laundry maid A’Chou. She is a di daughter of an upperclass family but her family got destroyed in one of the political upheavals of the time and A’Chou, only a small child at the time, was the only survivor and was made an enslaved laundry maid. Due to various events, at the start of the novel she is a laundry maid in a minister’s household and the minister’s beloved daughter is having a fit because she’s supposed to marry the former Crown Prince which may have been great a few years back but Crown Prince had since been deposed, tortured, imprisoned and now is living in the middle of nowhere under conditions that are too meager to be called house arrest. And he’s seriously crippled too. Understandably, the young lady doesn’t want to marry him! She’d rather kill herself and so she does. And so, a desperate plan is hatched - why don’t we pretend the laundry maid is the di daughter of the minister’s household and send her off? And so A’Chu is sent as the bride. She arrives to discover a broke, seriously injured man on the verge of death…and we go from there. This is so gorgeous and tender and slow in just the right way and like AAAAAA! Secondary OTPs (one of which is MM) are also epic.

Futu Tower - the drama (Unchained Love) was a mess but the novel is such a lovely, dark exploration of coming back to life, for the ML from his dark revenge-strewn path and for heroine from not being allowed wishes of her own. She is a tribute bride, he’s a (fake) eunuch, they are both servants who use themselves to achieve goals and find peace and happiness together.

The Grand Princess - a tale where both members of the OTP reincarnate as their younger selves after killing each other in their 50s, and get a new start, this is smart and slow and so good in portraying old souls in young bodies. Their rediscovery of not just each other but themselves and their passion for living is just AAAAAA!

Heroine Saves Gentleman - Gong Xinwen novel so we have a tough martial artist lady saving a very upper class scholar and it goes from there. If elegant gorgeous ML being saved and protected (and lovingly dommed) by awesome FL is your bag, pls come right in.

Husband Be a Gentleman - schemer meet schemer. He’s an idle prince she’s perfect daughter, in reality both are wolves out for blood. Mmmm. Very OTP gets together early and is us against the world.

I’ll Be the Male Lead’s Sister in Law - one of my all time favorite novels. Heroine is made to marry a disabled nephew of the emperor. He used to be a victorious god of war but went mad and now is basically locked away and kept as a beast. GOD I LOVE THIS NOVEL SO MUCHHHHH! So much hurt/comfort and awesome OTP and after he eventually recovers, all he wants to do is to fight and murder things and dote on wifey. MMM. He’s honestly one of my fave MLs.

I Married a Disabled Tyrant After Transmigrating - if you have a Florence Nightingale complex, this is for you. Heroine wakes up as tribute bride to an almost dead dragon lord and slowly nurses him back to life as his rivals try to murder him. They are both utter adorable babies!

Let the Villain Go - another Gong Xinwen novel, this and Apocalypse Arrivals are AUs of each other. Heroine is surviving in the apocalypse, ML is the “bugbear” of the world but in reality just reacting to all abuse and torture and after she accidentally saves him, devotes himself. Fun fun fun!

Long Wind Crossing - Amazing ML and FL who grow together, clever plot, arranged marriage to love etc etc. Oh, and one point he feeds her his blood to keep her alive, what’s not to love? (Adapted into Chang Feng Du/Destined)

Lost You Forever - this is a short but delicately wistful tale of trauma and loss and love, wrapped in a high fantasy setting but so relatable despite it.

Love In Another Life: My Gentle Tyrant - so so fucked up in the best way! ML cannot live with OR without heroine. It opens on them banging in jail night before her execution (ordered by him) with corpses of men he killed for trying to defile her cooling nearby. If you want healthy relationships with respectful boundaries, gentle and considerate male leads who are modern men in period clothes, OP heroines who have everyone help them and are OP to the max, fluff and wholesomeness, that is about the worst book for you.If you want complexity, dysfunction, darkness, pain and an absolutely lyrical even if fucked up story, come right IN!!!!I am so fucking in love with the melancholy heroine, with ruthless psycho hero and the endless regret and devotion and paaaaain!

The Marquis Is Innocent - our heroine is a beautiful woman married to a warlord who hates her family. (Yes, this was gonna be The Prisoner of Beauty until SZE tax scandal.) Except she's a transmigrator from the future who knows how it ended last time around and has no interest to end up this tragically. This is in my top 5 - FL is smart but believably so (and doesn't have super battle powers) and ML is a believable period warlord. The way their relationship develops so gradually and the way his character changes so gradually as well (and the way they slowly fall in love, her slower than him) is just amazing. It is such a smart, nuanced, gorgeous slow burn. With some gonzo sex scenes :P

Mulberry Song - you like tragic endings? Come right IN! This is short and heartbreaking and wistful and very what-if.

Nightfall (Ever Night) - so long but also so smart and unusual and bloody and tho it’s not primarily a romance, you will never see another ML who loves his FL as much as Ning Que does his Sang Sang. 

Offering Salted Fish to Master - in some ways, this novel is a mess, but I am recommending it because this is a rare example of "nope he's 100% a villain and murderdude and odd, but he does love the heroine" that the author commits to.

Pihanjin - yet another awesome PLK novel, this is once again, like with Marquis, a ruthless man and a beautiful woman getting a second chance on a second go-around. FL is a lot more wounded this time around though. If you LOVE watching ML grovel and slowly, gradually win FL over, this one is for you.

Princess Agents - a dark tale with an incredibly competent and militarily powerful/ruthless heroine and two terrifying men who love her (but neither is as terrifying as she is.) There is an OTP switch halfway through that shockingly makes sense and it's just SO SO GOOOOOOOD

Rebirth of the Malicious Empress of Military Lineage - this is probably the one “typical” novel on this list, heroine is reborn as her youngest self and gets revenge on those who wronged her last time around. It is really really well-written and heroine is competent, hero is doting and powerful etc. It’s not a trope I tend to love but I do when it’s done THIS well.

Rebirth of the Tyrant’s Pet: Regent Prince is Too Fierce: Borgias cnovel style! Our heroine was empress in last life and put her husband on the throne tho he did not love her. However, he had her executed and had his half-brother carry out the orders and heroine died horrifically. She opens her eyes and she’s a little girl again. The OTP this time around is heroine and half-brother executioner. Why do I love it? Heroine is smart and tough but also this is a rare rebirth novel where heroine does NOT decide to seek revenge for past life wrongs because they haven’t happened yet! In fact, she sees ML abused and stands up for him because he’s a kid and no kid should be mistreated and this go around he hasn’t done anything wrong. She also gets and likes her former life husband. Anyway, this is fakecest galore because she’s supposed to be their half-sister and while she knows (from past life) she is not, they do not and fall for her anyway. ML is especially gonzo, at one point carving chunks of his flesh to save her. He’s feral and unhinged and she’s the one person he worships because she protected him and like - it’s all awesome. (I love secondary ML too.)

Reborn to Love Lord Qiansui - yes, this is a eunuch novel! If you like gender tropes reversals, this one is for you. Heroine is a tough martial artist, hero is a smart as hell and powerful eunuch. A real eunuch. Heroine finds out she owes him her life and decides to protect him. This is a total delight and an awesome love story between two really scarred people. And yes, there is sex - heroine literally reads manuals on pegging :P

Return of the Swallow - so freaking long! But really good. Heroine is neither transmigrator nor reincarnator, just a smart period woman. She is a lost family daughter taken back in. Her father is a minister in a dying empire (father-daughter relationship is one of the best things in this novel), her OTP is enemy general, and the smartness and the awesomeness of this all knows no bounds.

Seven Unfortunate Lifetimes - probably the wackiest JLFX novel I read, this is quite different from Love You Seven Times drama that was adapted from it. Our deity protagonists go through a bunch of lives figuring out they fancy each other. It's light like a souffle but just as delicious.

To Be a Virtuous Wife - some people prefer 8 treasures trousseau but I never warmed up to that one. This one is so good, with smart people (who actually enjoy sex, a ratity) and a perfect mix of plot and romance.

Transmigrator Meets Reincarnator - my very first web novel. A lot lighter than a lot of the ones on this list but a total delight. Heroine transmigrates into a novel as the heroine; she has no interest in drama or chasing true love, she just wants to live a nice life with her nice husband. Too bad for her, her husband has reincarnated into his younger self and remembers how she betrayed him, so is not interested. This one is funny and light and romance doesn’t start till late on but a total delight!

Wishing You Eternal Happiness - this is tied with Dreamer as my favorite het web novel ever though it couldn’t be more different from Dreamer, with its hard-edged and hard-souled protagonists ruthlessly cleaving their way to the world and, eventually, each other, its smart cynical air. Except in one thing - the world of Wishing is just as bloody and dark. Its two protagonists are gentle, deeply wounded souls who may find salvation in each other but even something as basic as safety almost seems out of reach.

Jliafu, our heroine, is neither a modern-day transmigrator, nor some exotic princess or demoness. She is very much a period woman of her time, from a weathy merchant clan, whose beauty is her curse. You can tell the novel’s tone from that utterly bleak opening chapter where she, a favorite concubine of a capricious dying emperor, is ordered to be buried alive with him and is not even given the “grace” of white silk but slowly suffocates in the coffin, scrabbling at the lid. There is no grand threats of vengeance on her part, not dramatic opera events. Just despair and death. The whole introductory chapter is haunted by emotional ghosts - the empress’ unrequited love for the monster on the imperial bed (turning into desire for Jiafu’s suffering after he dies), the emperor slowly dying in his prime after waging too many wars, and his fear of being haunted by Pei Youan, a brilliant if sickly minister who died of illness long ago on one of imperial campaigns. There is no triumph for anyone, only loss.

When she wakes up as still a young woman, all she wants is to escape the same fate. There are no plans for power or revenge, only a desire for survival. And so she latches on asking for help from Pei Youan, the only man in her past go-around who showed any consideration and desire and ability to protect her, though he barely knew her. Pei Youan is probably my favorite het web novel ML. Despite his brains and ability, he drifts through life. In modern terms, he clearly has depression. One of the biggest, best joys of the novel is watching these two very good, very quiet, very wounded people discover happiness and love with each other. I sort of want to cry just thinking about it, tbh.

The Yandere Came During the Night - a bit of fluff that’s oddly delightful. Heroine is reborn as a (fake) sister of ML, she hurts her legs saving him and the “siblings” form a bond that ends up in fakecest delight. They are both smart and efficient and he becomes a sexy marquis etc.

[bailey-dreamfoot]

‼️‼️THE GRAMPA SQUAD COMIC IS DONE‼️‼️

Ok so, wee explanation + headcannons under the cut.

Ok so assuming you've stuck around for my insane ramblings, heres the gist:

This comic is very much inspired by Factual Fantasy's Comics about Marsh, Natquick, and Calico Jack. And while my personal head cannon does share in the idea of the group working together- I thought it would be hilariously fun to include Inkling, and tbh it focuses more on him than the others anyway.

In the show, inkling doesn't really get out much. There are really only a few episodes where he has a significant role, and even less when he actually participates in missions outside of *insert knowledgeable insight*.

I believe this is for 2 reasons:

He just prefers the comfortable vibe of his library. The book-worm role fits his personality well - enjoying studying or cataloging species alongside Shellington - and he likes spending time with the Vegimals.

His Mobility issues. While he can very easily traverse the watery environments in the base show- in a&b, he doesn't really show much interest in exploring the land until he's told an old friend was the one in need of help. He has the ability, its just difficult- and he knows his limitations.

Inkling has his hover chair, that allows him to move around the octopod relatively easily. However - in the Min episode - they make it a point that he cant take it with him on land, or use it over rough terrain.

My version of Inkling uses an actual wheelchair, so I thought it'd be a neat idea that after that adventure- he'd want to try joining missions more often. And to deal with said mobility issues and limitations- say they got specialized tires for his wheelchair- so he could go join up on land missions more often.

After going on a few more missions with the other Octonauts, he hears about Octoagents Calico Jack, and Professor Natquick joining up with Ranger Marsh to help out in the Everglades- you best bet he jumped at the opportunity to tag along. Think of all the species he could ad to his personal catalogue. They might even discover a few new ones! Leaving the Octopod for so long after being basically the one constant to the place was a bit scary sure - and the other Octonauts were certainly emotional ab him leaving (especially Barnacles) - but maybe a change of scenery would do him good.

Sooo He does that! Professor Inkling meets up with the others on a dock near Marsh's Ranger station and get to work! One of the coolest things they did was collecting egg samples and catching an adult specimen of a newly discovered trapdoor spider! the Pine Rockland Trapdoor. Marsh Has a nursery where he cares for tons of snakes, lizards, insects and birds to make sure they have the best chance for survival. Thats where these eggs are going- to hatch in safety and then be released back into the ecosystem. On top of that, they take samples of the adults venom for study, and inkling is sure to make a detailed report of the arachnid in his many journals brought along with him!

As you may expect, Kwazzi takes after his grandad in his fear of spiders. Jack has seen worse, but It doesnt make it any easier to be close to them. Natquick on the other hand- In all his time in the arctic hes never seen anything as freaky as a spider bigger than a quarter.

Aaand that's it! I'm hoping to do some more comics with the lads in the future, although probably not as detailed as this one. It took more than 2 weeks- please.

Also, I find it kinda goofy that the panels get more detailed as you go along. Thats what happens when the first and last panel were made almost a month apart from each other. 💚

Also also- yes I did do actual research for the animals in the last comic. It was going to be a funnel web spider they're researching, but then I looked it up and found out Funnelwebs don't live in the Everglades. :']

[immaturityofthomasastruc]

Hope Morphin Q&A

About a few months ago, I got a message from a surprising source: @hmrphin/Hope Morphin.

In case you don't know, Hope Morphin is a model and makeup artist who the character of Marc was based on. I also made a post about how their friendship with Astruc had ended thanks to the Rising Sun Flag controversy, which they had actually read one day. We talked a little, and they told me to message them on their Instagram to confirm that this is the real Hope.

They said they'd be down to answer some questions, I came up with a few, and I got their permission to post this on my account. So, without further ado, as Sid the Science Kid once said, let's go get some answers.

Question: When did you and Thomas first get to know each other, and how?

Answer: It was years ago, when the series premiered on TFOU. There were a lot of people complaining on twitter that the characters of the show were in 3D instead of in 2D, and I answered one of Thomas' tweets saying that characters' butts looked better in 3D rather than in 2D (yeah, I had a terrible sense of humor back then, glad I don't do that anymore) and he answered "yeah we could say that lol". Then, it became a running gag between us on the web, and we met for the first time at a french convention called Japan Tours, the 2015 one. So yeah, I think it was when I was... 20/21 years old, something like that.

Question: It's okay. We've all been cringe at some point in their lives. Did you two meet up again after the convention?

Answer: Yup. In fact, after the convention, he sent me a friend request on Facebook. Then, we chatted for a bit and he asked me if I wanted to be a model for him, and I met him for the second time during that model session.

Question: How did Thomas approach you about creating a character in his show based on you?

Answer: So, it was after I modeled for him. It happened after S1 has ended, so when we were chatting, he asked me which one was my favorite character. I answered Nathaniel, because at this time I felt quite close to this one (we love the angsty artist boy lmao). He told me that he didn't understand people liking Nath because he found it was a very empty character aha, but then he told me that they were searching for inspiration to create a boyfriend for him. He told me he wanted the persons to be happy that he got a boyfriend and that they would “stop bothering him with Nathaniel”, and as he wanted to take inspiration on someone looking androgynous he thought I was a good inspiration, so I accepted.

Question: Interesting story. Didn't know Nathaniel was so popular before Season 2. Did you have any input in the creation of Marc in terms of stuff like his design or personality?

Answer: Yeah he rather was, I remember a lot of people wanted to see more of him ehe. Not at all, I even though that he was joking on the moment, then one day he sent me Marc's characters sheet. I had the same haircut back in the day. Also, I was always wearing armor rings and I was wearing those kind of rings when I had this conversation with him, and he told me that Marc was going to have one of those as his miraculous. I was also still writing a lot back in the days, so I guess he still did took some stuff there and there in my personality to create him.

Question: You mean this design?

Answer: Yup! I was wearing only black sooo yeah the red and rainbow wasn't in my wardrobe aha.

Question: Do you know why they made the design rainbow themed?

Answer: Nah, he didn't told me :/ My guess is to make him more LGBT+ themed...

Question: Okay, sorry. Next question: What are your thoughts on Marc as a character? What do you think of his relationship with Nathaniel and his respective villain and hero forms, Reverser and Rooster Bold?

Answer: To be honest, when he first appeared, I really liked him. I thought he had a lot of potential as a character, his villain form was really cool and I really liked the ideas behind him, and I liked the relationship that he got with Nathaniel, from enemies to associates ehe. But after that... meh. There wasn't nothing much on the LGBT+ relationship with Nathaniel (we had to wait until the end of season 5 to see them hold hands... wow), and I didn't really find myself anymore in his character. I liked the design of his hero form and I liked the concept of his power, but like the other heroes that appeared during this episode, we didn't see Rooster Bold that much and I think that doesn't really make him feel appealing. I have the feeling that Marc and many other side characters could be way more develop in very cool subthemes but this is never really done in the series. Instead, now, they are just the characters getting out a whiteboard and giving terrible ideas to Marinette for her to date Adrien =="

Question: Just for fun, do you have any personal headcanons for Marc?

Answer: Well of course ehe, I have ton of those :D

Mmmh... For example, I think he is a dog person, that he's also fond of fashion such as Marinette but that he just don't have the patience to learn how to draw and how to design clothes... Also have the headcanon that him and Nath often meet at one of their places to do some little workshops together to work on their series and on tons of other projects :D

Got also tons of headcanon for future!Marc, such as him being a model for lgbt+ brands and Nath designing his clothes, I would love to see this shy patootie being at the front of the spotlight ehe, full of confidence and all :D There's tons of ideas to have with this character, I remember when I saw lots of artists drawing him with alternate clothes back in the day, such as shishitsunari or hazy (will try to find them back but it's been a while lol). I wish those clothing styles would be canon, with Marc rocking those kind of genderless clothes.

Links to fanart of Marc with different outfits: (https://www.deviantart.com/hazydayclouds/art/72918-756895643) and (https://ladyofacat.tumblr.com/post/176231424098/rises-from-the-underworld-marc-is-perfect-i-want)

Question: This one's a little tough, so if you don't want to answer, that's perfectly fine. What exactly went down before Thomas blocked you? Did you have any conversation online or in real life regarding the use of the Rising Sun Flag in "Ephemeral", or did Thomas just block you with no warning?

Answer: Honestly ? Blocked me without any warning. We were talking less and less, and, since I have affective dependancy, I had the feeling that I said / done something wrong. He was often answering only when I was defending him on social medias during these times. But we didn't have any harsh conversation from what I recall. So, I did the tweet about ephemeral, pointing out the use of the rising sun flag, and, well, maybe he had a plugin on twitter that blocked everyone using the term "flag", and maybe it blocked me automatically. The thing is : he has my number, he has my address (well, my old address now, lol). He had many ways to tell me this was a misunderstanding and that he didn't want to block me. He didn't call me, didn't send me any text after that to talk about it, so he clearly didn't want to make anything to sort out the problem. To this day, he still hasn't send me any message to talk about it. He commented on some of my facebook posts I did last year (I posted some makeups I did for my school) just saying it was cool, so... Yeah, not the type of friend I want to keep. I still have him as a friend on FB if I ever get the guts to try to send him a message to tell him everything that was wrong towards me and towards other people, but I clearly have other things to deal with lately.

Question: So he blocked you and didn't say anything else?

Answer: Yup, exactly, blocked me and didn't say anything else :/ After years of supporting him lmao.

Question: I'm really sorry to hear that. And you still haven't heard from him after all this time?

Answer: Well, apart from some comments he made on my facebook posts (I posted my makeup from my makeup school and he commented "very nice!") nothing at all. But honestly I'm not too bothered by that. I heard new stuff that he did prior and I really don't think it's a good idea that I interact with him again. I keep him in my facebook friends because maybe one day I'll send him a message to try to confront him, telling him that he had a very terrible behavior towards me and other people... But not today, I have other stuff to deal with.

Question: Despite everything that's happened between you and Thomas, do you still keep up with Miraculous Ladybug? If so, what do you think of it?

Answer:

Well, I've kept up with it because I still have lots of friends who are watching it (for example Octolady, Kogenta and Candy...), and they help me keep a little hype.

So I watched the episodes... There are some stuff that I like. There's good LGBT+ representation, and I like seeing an international known cartoon doing that (especially a french one since we have lots of far-right rising lately).

But honestly, I don't have the same hype as before. At the beginning, I was hyped because S1 looked awesome and had lots of cool fights, lots of wholesome characters and all, but the animation problems and differences are really making me bothered. Also, I have the feeling there's a lot of characters who could be more elaborated and who aren't, and... That's kinda sad, because there's a lot of topics that could be explored thanks to them and not just brushed off in one episode.

Plus, to be honest, I didn't really like the ending of S5. And I don't like the idea of it going on for seasons and seasons and seasons, milked until there's nothing more for it. The fewer the better in my mind...

I also seen the movie and didn't really liked it. Too much fanservice and didn't really made sense. The animation was nice, though.

Honestly, I love the writing team, they are wholesome people and they are doing their best for this show, but people like Thomas and Zag are the kind of people I don't want to support anymore. So yeah... To sum it up : still watching it from afar to see if nice stuff is happening, been pleased with some little stuff, displeased with a lot more, but I don't think I'll keep watching it both because I'm not that hyped up anymore and because I don't want to support anymore these 2 people. I supported Thomas too much before, was too attached to him and was a terrible person towards fans who didn't deserved it because I was too blind, so yeah, won't happen anymore.

Still, I'm glad there's still some people who are fans of Marc and who felt helped thanks to this character. I really hope he will have a better representation in the future (clear relationship with Nath, maybe even some trans / non-binary representation ?) in order to inspire young people.

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I'd like to personally thank Hope for being willing to answer my questions, and I highly reccommend giving their Instagram a follow.

[fordtato]

This ask is just be rambling about how bill and ford are probably just platonic, I say this as a queer person myself, if old men and triangles wanna make out they can I’m all for it

I’ve always seen Ford & Bill’s relationship as platonic, and now knowing the context of the book of bill, I think it really makes me believe they were just friends

Them just being friends shows that this can happen within any context not just relationships, you can find a friend and think you both appreciate each other and find out they’re the worst human imaginable and you regret and hate yourself for ever seeing anything in them worth liking

I also see Ford as aro/ace in some compasity so that probably also makes me think they’re friends

If Alex were to come out and say they were dating I wouldn’t care, good for them, I just think it holds more meaning if they were just friends

In conclusion, they were two dudes chillin in a hot tub, 5ft apart cuz they’re not gay

I mean, I'm fine with that interpretation. I think they used a lot of romance-coded language in the book ("will-they-wont-they," "one thing led to another," "Mabel saying Bill was like "a needy ex," Ford wondering if Bill was "off inspiring some other scientist," etc.) so I definitely am not sure what conclusion the book wants us to have.

I know that in my interview with Alex Hirsch last year (from around the time he was writing The Book of Bill), he specified that Ford's relationship with Bill was specifically not friendship, but something more "complex, and fucked up." I don't think he inherently meant that it was romantic, because he didn't come out and say it was.

Also this isn't me arguing that it must have been romantic, because like - I think people will read the book and come to their own conclusions and that's fine. Even if Alex literally tweeted out "they were boyfriends" tomorrow, I would still encourage people to reject that if they wanted to, because who cares what Alex says - he's just some guy!

Literally take from the book what you wanna takeaway from it. Wanna say this is a meaningful example of an abusive friendship? Have fun! Wanna say this is a personally relatable experience with abusive romance? Have fun! Wanna say the pages aren't even real? Have fun! Nobody on this accursed webbed site, including myself, is the arbiter of The Correct Interpretation.

[dairy-farmer]

Trigger Warning: Rape, underage, forced pregnancy, and forced 'incest'.

So, backstory/inspiration, there's this explicit sex (eroge) computer game that came out in 2006 and is highly, highly controversial. It's called Rapelay and the 'plot' is that you play as a chikan (train molester) who gets caught but manages to get off because he's related to an important figure and proceeds to take his revenge on the teenager who caught him as well as her young sister and mother. You can find more about it here if you're interested: (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/RapeLay)

Anyway! On to the Batman stuff!!❤️❤️

A highly controversial eroge game is discovered/released on the deep Web called Rape Robin. The player character (PC) is a goon caught up in a bust by Batman and Co. and plots his (sexual) revenge; First Robin, then Nightwing, then Red Hood, and finishing off with Red Robin.

The PC is a meta with a paralyzing touch, which is how he captures the Robins, different scenarios for each hero, and since the game uses anime style character models they don't look like the real deal obviously but the Creator still took some liberties: Robin is modeled after when he first arrived and was still a cute 10-year-old shota and is made white with brown eyes, Nightwing is given green eyes and one of those anime womb tattoos as a tramp stamp, Red Hood is a redhead and has lots of aesthetically pleasing scars (the Lazarus pit means Jason actually has the fewest scars in the family), and Red Robin is trans. The game also assumes/states that they are all blood-related. The game uses stock sound effects, interspersed with actual lines from the Bats which were obviously lifted from onlookers videos from battles (Luckily, a lot of fighting sounds also sound sexual) so there are lots of gasps and screams and pained sounds and such.

Robin's section involves luring him away from Nightwing before paralyzing him and taking him somewhere else. It emphasize a 'break the haughty' feel, forcing the proud and arrogant Robin to choke on your cock before fucking him.

Nightwing is lured in by playing a recording of Robin crying. He's tired up shibari style to accentuate his flexibility, and fucked in front of/on top of Robin.

Red Hood is caught the same way (with a comment from the PC about how any child crying would have probably worked). PC gets to tit fuck Hood's pecs and cum on his face before forcing him over a table or something and hitting it from the back.

Red Robin is caught trying to rescue the others. The creator decided on the domino RR costume instead of the cowl. PC Discovers that RR is a 'girl' (there are some complaints that that is transphobic, making him 'really a girl' instead of just a trans man. Others helpful point out that the game involves raping a child and that there may be bigger issues than the creators transphobia). RR is a virgin and the PC makes a big deal over stealing RR's first time.

Damian, Dick, and Jason all have copies hidden really really well on their closed system computers -even though they were all incredibly furious and raging about the game at first- because after beating (it to) the 'main story', bonus modes unlock including pregnancy mode for Red Robin (it has some bonus dialogue and switches his character model to a pregnant one), taking the bats to various Gotham landmarks to fuck, little costumes and accessories like cat ears or different era Robin costumes and different cosplay outfits, and 'Humiliation Mode' which most people refer to as 'Forced Incest Mode', which let's players 'force' the Robins to fuck. (Robin can only be used to penetrate RR because the creator thought 'it would look silly for Robin to top Nightwing or Hood').

Dick, Jason, and Damian all getting off to the idea of fucking and even impregnating Tim. Tim may or may not be aware of the games existence, and he definitely doesn't know that his brothers all have a copy 😔. And who knows, maybe playing a game won't be enough forever and one of them may try to make it a reality (at least the Tim fucking bit❤️).

~🦇❤️

dicktim, jaytim, damitim

!!!!!!!! the way dick, jason, and damian would play at denouncing and rolling their eyes at the game but absolutely all play it for tim's route, when an extended copy gets made they're the first to preorder. they absolutely use the game to fulfill the desperate shameful fantasies they have about tim ❤️

[theresattrpgforthat]

I found a goth speakeasy/coffee shop by my school that does a Thursday tabletop night where you can bring and run your own games and I was wondering if you had any recommendations for games you'd feel comfterble running with a table of strangers / mostly strangers? Thank you!!

THEME: Games to Run with Strangers.

Hello friend, fall comes upon us and I finally get around to answering your ask. Thank you so much for your patience! I’d definitely recommend bringing some safety tools to any of these games, since you’re playing them with strangers. That being said, I tried to pick games that were easy to pick up and quick to learn considering you’d probably want each session to be a standalone one.

I often run games with groups of people who don't know each-other beforehand, and I'd recommend allowing silliness to blossom when possible, even if you're running a spooky game. Let’s see what we can find!

Wizardry and Bureaucracy, by Oh Little Moth.

You are a member of the National Parks Service. You and your team would do just about anything to protect your national park. Also, you’re wizards. But all the magic in the world can’t save you from the slog of paperwork you have to endure as a civil servant. Your mission is to preserve your park and all creatures living in it, promote a love of nature and the environment, and also keep park visitors from seeing through the curtain separating the magical from the mundane.

Like most Lasers and Feelings games, this has quite a bit packed into one page. Easy character generation, a standard list of gear, an introduction where you collaboratively design your park, and the classic Lasers and Feelings mechanic that makes you automatically better at one thing and worse at another. The game is also set up to be raucously silly. This game includes the very good piece of GM advice that I adore for improv: ask questions and build on the answers. You don’t have to come up with the entire story yourself! Give your players the chance to tell you how exactly magic interacts with the local National Park.

The Children of Saturn, by Dan John Crowler.

The people of Petrikstein are tormented by a blood craving beast prowling the night. Players take the roles of parish appointed investigators on a mission to find and slay this alleged Vampyr, before it claims even more lives. Will they be able to find out the truth in web of lies, myths, and fear fueled superstitions? Play to find out!

The Children of Saturn is a neat little game that combines the Keys mechanic from John Harper’s Lady Blackbird with the graded 2d6 roll of Powered by the Apocalypse. You can accumulate dice to roll depending on whether the action in question is in line with your character, and failure increases the chances of success the next time you roll. The characters are pre-made to some extent, but the players will be able to make them unique through names, descriptions, and how they decide to role-play. This game also come with a small hex map for your characters to explore - and everything fits on one page! If you want something spooky and quick to prep, this is definitely worth checking out.

2400, by Jason Tocci.

2400 is lo-fi sci-fi. It’s centuries in the future, and it’s a decades-old modem that screams like a dying robot when it connects to the net. It’s a space ship with an FTL drive, artificial gravity, and a flickering display you gotta tap a few times to see the jump coordinates. It’s hacking something together with whatever cheap materials you have on hand, ignoring the rules until you need them, banging out something that might not sound finished, but definitely sounds fun.

The 2400 system is a stripped-down ruleset inspired by the OSR that has been used to create a number of hacks in different settings. Every time I’ve run a 24XX game, the session lasted about 2 hours, so it definitely has the ability to play quick. The original page for 2400 currently has over 20 different settings to choose from, so if one of them really hits off, you could come back with a different setting each week for your friends to play through!

The Great Soul Train Robbery, by Cloven Pine Games.

On the road to hell there was a railway line. An express train to the infernal city of Dis, crewed by furies and carrying treasure and souls to damnation. You’re going to rob it.

The Great Soul Train Robbery is a tabletop roleplaying game for 2–6 players and 1 gamemaster about Desperados robbing the train to Hell. Spin an allegorical Weird Western yarn as your sharpshooters, fiddlers, homesteader widows, and other Desperados attempt a Hellish train heist. Will you claim your prize from the train, or be overcome, damned, or broken by the heist?

This is probably the biggest Honey Heist - inspired game that I’ve seen to date. It’s a solid pitch, with very little background needed in order for your players to grasp what exactly it is they’re doing. If players aren’t sure what kind of character they want to make, all of the options have d6 roll tables to give your group a goal, your train some complications, and your character a name and a special item. There’s quite a few pages of GM advice in this, which is probably a big boon to anyone running the game, as it allows you to construct a more complex train than what you might have created out of the top of your head. I’d probably even just steal the train construction section to use for other similar games!

Hold Your Own, by Sharkbomb Studios.

It's a time and place, not unlike the one that you, the players, grew up in. A dark mirror of the decade of your youth.  You play as a group of friends at the cusp of adolescence and life is hard. You're unpopular and unwanted. All you've got is each other.

But it comes worse: A strange menace threatens to devour everyone you know. And nobody wants to believe you, not the teachers, not the parents. It looks like it's up to you to save your home.

Fans of It and Stranger Things will probably like this game. This game uses small dice pools and four basic stats. You’ll be facing off against an antagonist called the Menace, a threat that the rest of the community believes doesn’t exist. The Menace will always be strong enough to provide a challenge, and as you play, you’ll learn more and more about what it is exactly that you’re fighting against. This is a great game for fans of suspense, and it’s also small enough to learn it within the few hours that you’d have at a coffee shop.

Games I’ve Recommended in the Past

Something is Wrong with the Chickens, by Elliot Davis.

Koboldly Go, by CoffeeSnake Studios.

Faewater, by A Smouldering Lighthouse.

The Station, by pidj.

[caswarrenart]

I know a lot of artists are antsy about art theft right now (myself included, I literally just had a terrible nightmare about fighting the physical manifestation of AI, The Mitchells vs The Machines style…). I can’t claim that any of these things can prevent it. But here’s a few things I’ve found useful:

Opening a free account on Pixsy.com. This website does a decent job at letting me know when my images have been reposted. 99% of the time, the results are just Tumblr-copying zombie websites that just repost everything that is already here. But, it’s sensitive enough that it alerted me when my old college posted my work. They were harmlessly using my stuff as an example of alumni work- but I was glad to be in the know, AND they had mistakenly credited my deadname, so I was able to reach out and correct that. I would have never have seen it otherwise. The website has subscription options, but you can ignore them and still use the monitoring services it provides.

Reverse image searching my most widely shared pieces on haveibeentrained.com. This website checks to see if your work has been fed to AI.

Looking up legal takedown letters and referencing them to draft a generic letter for my own use. This takes a bit of the stress off what is already a stressful and often time-consuming ordeal. Taking time to craft a Very Scary, Legally Threatening, Yet Coldly Professional Memo has been worth it.

Remaining careful about what and how I post online. My living depends on sharing my work, so I have to post it. I’ve learned through trial and error how to post lower resolution images that still look good, but aren’t easily used for anything beyond the intended post, and of course, strategic watermarking. Never, ever post full res, print quality stuff for the general public. Half the time it ends up looking unflattering on social media anyways, cause the files get crunched for being large. I try to downsize my images, while set to bicubic smoothening, to head that off. Look up the optimal image resolutions and proportions for individual sites before posting your web versions. For some work, cropping the piece, or posting chunks of detail shots instead of a full view, is a more protective measure.

Look out for other artists! Reach out when in doubt. Don’t steal from others. Learn the difference between theft, and a study/master copy/fanart/inspiration. Don’t assume that all posted art has the same intended purpose as a “how to” instructional like 5 Minute Crafts. Ask permission. Artists are often helpful and supportive towards people who want to study their work! And, the best tip-offs I’ve received have all been from other people who were watching my back. Thank you to everybody who keeps an eye out for my work, and who have been thoughtful enough to reach out to me when they see theft happening 💖 y’all are the real MVPs. All we have is each other.

[savage-rhi]

Duality

Chapter 7: The Escape II

Summary: Sawyer Kiddo has walked a razor's edge as a hacktivist for several years, driven by the loss of her family in the Raccoon City incident. Haunted by past choices and fueled with desire for vigilante justice, Sawyer's work takes an unexpected turn when she ventures to Spain and crosses paths with Luis Serra—a man with blood on his hands long thought to be dead. Together they unravel a web of corruption and face an impending bioterror threat, fighting not only monsters but also the darker elements of their humanity. As they delve deeper into each other's pasts and the conspiracy at large, Sawyer begins to sense something unsettling about Luis—something that might be even more dangerous than their mutual enemies.

Read on AO3 Here

Several flights of stairs and hallways later, Sawyer felt like her calves would fall off. It didn't help that her muscles were sore from trying to outmaneuver the Saber that came close to biting her head clean back in the locker room. Running from danger was something she had grown accustomed to over the years, but at this point, it was getting old--almost unbearable, until Luis and she came to a junction and stopped. She took this moment to catch her breath while combing her body of bruises. There were several on her arms at this point. She felt the wound on her head as well, noting that it didn't feel as swollen as when Luis checked it out in the basement.

“Gracias Christo, yes! We're going the right way!" Two Legs exclaimed in between panting, having moved from Sawyer to double-check a sign on the wall. He was so ecstatic that he didn't feel the sudden daggers Sawyer sent straight to his back. (1)

"Hold up," Sawyer furrowed her brows, meeting his gaze as he turned around. "You mean to tell me this whole time you didn't know where the hell we were going?" 

"I--" Two Legs hesitated, biting his lip nervously as he let out a giggle. "Okay, maybe I've been improvising just a little bit…" He made a pinching gesture as if that would take the edge off the situation. 

"Luis, are you fucking serious right now!?" 

"Hey! Hear me out!" Two Legs defended himself, gesturing with his arms out toward her. "I know for certain there is a waste hatch. I told you, I could smell it! When we find the bronze tunnel, I'm sure it's at the end waiting for us!"

Sawyer's eyes narrowed. "You're not exactly inspiring confidence right now. This place is huge; for all we know, there could be a hundred bronze tunnels!" 

"My nose has never failed me!" Two Legs confidently retorted. "Yes, I've been making things up as I go, but we're on the right trail! I caught the scent, and I've seen this sign before! We just…took a little detour, is all!" 

Guess he is a goddamn dog after all… Sawyer recalled her earlier banter with him in the basement before she continued to criticize him. "Y'know, you could've said something sooner before getting my hopes up!" 

Two Legs frowned, his earlier confidence waning. Luis's memories of comforting others failed him in this situation. Telling half-truths backfired, and the plaga didn't understand how his actions had been inappropriate. At the very least, he thought she'd appreciate the humor of the situation—people quickly forgave Luis of his trespasses because of his wit. 

"But…" he hesitated, fumbling over his thoughts. "Earlier, weren't you upset?"

"So what if I was?" Sawyer balked.

" So what? " Two Legs mimicked. "Are you really going to condemn me for trying to soothe you?"

"I'm going to condemn you if we both end up dying because you forgot which way to go! You should've been straight with me!" 

Discomfort nestled in Two Legs, the memory of failing to predate on Sawyer the previous night resurfaced. While entertaining the thought of attempting that again—given her attitude—his nerves from his spine to his feet began to tingle, dancing alongside his knotted stomach. 

He realized he was enjoying this tension. 

"Harsh words from someone so ungrateful," he grinned, suppressing a laugh. "You can't damn me if we're both corpses, now can you, senorita ?" (2)

"Last I checked, hauntings haven't been disproven," Sawyer remarked sarcastically. She stepped closer into his space, her voice low and intense. "I'm not great at Spanish, but I know you're trying to undermine--!"

"Shh!" 

"You're the human equivalent of a twig with feet, don't you shh me!" 

Two Legs suddenly clamped his hand over her mouth. Sawyer's eyes widened in protest, but she quickly noticed what had alarmed him: low snarls from the left. 

A mutual silence fell between the two, and Sawyer's gaze slowly traveled up to Luis, watching his nostrils flare and his chest rise steadily. The stillness in his eyes reminded Sawyer of a professional sniper, honing in on his target before taking a shot. Luis didn't seem the type to be someone of that ilk, but the strangeness of his behavior faded when she spotted movement from ahead. 

Three Dires emerged, their canine human forms slinking from the darkness underneath fluttering lights. As they advanced, their yellow eyes carried an eerie glow, sensing a disturbance within their territory. The large humps on their upper backs flexed with every step they took, showcasing powerful muscles underneath the flesh. 

"The meth wolves," Sawyer whispered under her breath as Two Legs removed his hand from her mouth. She immediately thought of Kari, how she was alone facing a horde of these creatures or worse--these were the survivors, and she was dead. "Oh shit…"

"How good is your aim?" Two Legs asked, his voice tense as he kept his eyes on the BOWs. 

"Decent. Why?" 

"Cover me." 

"What?!"

Without further explanation, Two Legs grabbed a discarded metal panel and threw it against the wall with a loud clang. The Dires turned towards the noise, momentarily distracted as Two Legs ran forward, waving his hands to draw their attention while he shouted. 

"Hey, over here!" 

The Dires released a series of snarling clicks like hyenas alerting one another and proceeded to advance on him. At first, the creatures were in a sprint as Two Legs began to run backward, keeping his eyes focused on them. But then he saw the look of familiarity as the BOWs paused, getting on all fours as they precariously inched toward him. Their noses twitched as the growls became deeper.

Seizing the opportunity, Sawyer aimed her handgun. Her hands shook while she sharpened her focus. Luis was insane for doing this, but with the BOWs' backs turned to her, Sawyer had a clear shot at their heads and assumed vital spots. The air became stiff as she narrowed down her first target, feeling startled when the creature's tactics changed. It was almost as if Luis had them hypnotized. She couldn't believe it, much less process what she was looking at.

Two Legs felt conflicted as he slowly backed up further, sensing through vibrations that the parasites within these entities had difficulty telling if he was a friend or foe. He sensed Sawyer's gaze and let out a yell toward the BOWs. It was enough to break the trance, and the leader took a shot at him--swiping its powerful right arm toward his direction, narrowly missing his abdomen as Two Legs jumped back. 

The first shot echoed through the corridor, dropping the nearest Dire with a headshot. Four more shots took down another, striking the head and legs. Realizing the secondary threat, the third Dire spun around and ran at full speed toward Sawyer. Just as it leaped into the air, its jaws open wide, she fired several shots--the bullets piercing through the mouth and skull before the body toppled to the ground with a thud.

Sawyer exhaled sharply. Although the encounter lasted only seconds, the adrenaline made it feel longer. Her grip on the gun relaxed.

Two Legs whistled in approval as he backtracked, kicking the Dire at Sawyer's feet to ensure it was dead. He chuckled amusingly, trying to cover up his mixed feelings about the creatures and his relation to them.

"Nice shooting!" he muttered, a hint of a smile on his lips. "For a second, I thought you were gonna let them eat me."

"It did cross my mind," Sawyer replied, her voice steady despite her racing heart. She reloaded her weapon and gestured for Luis to lead the way. "Keep going. I'll follow."

"Oh, really now?" Two Legs looked at her, eyebrows raised. "I thought you were angry with me?" 

"Oh, believe me, I still am," Sawyer replied mockingly, a nervous laugh escaping her. "But I can't be mad at you if we're both dead, so let's move."

"So, does that mean I won our argument?"

"Shut up, Luis."  

Two Legs grinned, nodding as he gestured with his head to follow. 

They continued down a narrow hall, leaving the fallen Dires behind. As they neared their destination, Two Legs's nose twitched at the sudden stench of sour milk and rotting vegetables. He paused, gagging as the smells hit his olfactory system like a train.

"Did you swallow a fly mid-run?" Sawyer quipped as she came to his side to check on him.

"Good one," Two Legs huffed with a laugh, shaking his head. "No, it's the waste hatch. We're getting close! See?" 

A bronze tunnel came into view ahead of them. They rounded a corner and rushed toward the exit. Ultimately, Two Legs and Sawyer entered a large sterile room with faded walls and a high ceiling. The space resembled a testing site where Soldado's monsters no doubt took their first breaths, its haunting imagery further exemplified by the scent of chemicals and something raw that neither Two Legs nor Sawyer could place. Sawyer furrowed her brows and licked her dry lips, not wanting to imagine the other horrors that had transpired here.

"Where's the hatch?" She asked, trying to take her mind off her thoughts. 

Two Legs placed a hand on her shoulder as he quickly walked past. "I'm gonna find it! See if you can find a gun for me in the meantime, eh? Don't wander too far!"

Before she could protest, Luis was out of sight. There was no point in arguing with him to stay put or offering to help. Accepting her lot, Sawyer began to look around, rubbing her eyes as they watered from the bleach and mildew scents in the lab.

Rows of large glass tanks lined the area, some shattered and others intact. A few flickered with faulty lights, casting gloomy shadows on the ground and illuminating the turquoise water that filled each capsule. Inside the intact tubes, remnants of creatures were visible—mangled limbs, disembodied organs, and twisted spines—floating in a viscous fluid. How each piece moved against the glass reminded Sawyer of an undeveloped fetus hanging onto the placenta, and she nearly gagged at the thought. Finding a gun for Luis was the furthest thing from her mind as her eyes widened with disdain, realizing the depth of Soldado's operations. It seemed he had never left Umbrella behind, unlike how he bragged about it back at the Plaza. She couldn't fathom why people like Soldado pushed the envelope all in the name of progress. The gallery of grotesque creations didn't seem worth whatever he had been trying to accomplish.

As Sawyer pondered the what-ifs, cautiously navigating through the labyrinth of tanks, she stopped at one in particular--unable to tear away as she peered into it. A mass of organs and spider-like legs floated in the fluid, pulsating as if still alive. She swallowed hard, trying to suppress the rising nausea, memories of the locker room incident flooding back—how the Sabers mandibles had protruded from its cheeks and the insect-like mannerisms of the Dires formation. These things—plaga, or whatever they were—seemed obsessively revered by Soldado. She wondered how he had developed such a twisted fascination with them and where the hell they had come from in the first place. There had to be more to the story than just the caves Soldado had mentioned in passing.

He sure had a kink for bugs if there ever was one, that's for damn sure…

Just as Sawyer was about to turn away, something moved. A bloody hand lunged at the space between the tanks right at her.

"Whoa! Whoa! Fuck--!” Sawyer yelled, stumbling back in shock, nearly knocking over a desk. The sound bounced through the room, amplifying the eerie atmosphere. She struggled to regain her composure, her gun trained on the bloodied appendage.

"Kiddo," a hoarse voice called out. "It's… it's me. Put the gun down."

Sawyer hesitated, her hands shaking slightly, but then took a deep breath and peered further as the figure behind the tanks rose. Covered in blood and grime, Samuel grunted as he managed to limp around and stood before her. There was no mistaking the familiar face as Sawyer met his pained stare.

"Samuel?" Sawyer gasped, lowering her gun. She couldn't believe her eyes. "How...?"

"Surprise," Samuel feebly chuckled, his voice barely audible. He winced and fell onto his knees, his body battered and sore. Eyes unfocused and hazy, he struggled to push himself up. "Shit..."

Sawyer knelt beside him, and she gently cupped his face, careful not to touch the bruises and cuts scattered across his skin. 

"Sam, what happened to you?" Her voice shook with relief. "Are you okay?"

"Kiddo, I…." Samuel coughed, wincing as he tried to sit up. "I…I got separated from Mobley. We were ambushed…by an elephant man."

"Elephant man?" 

"Big…elephant BOW. It came out of nowhere…knocked me on my ass." His words were halting, each breath labored. Samuel glanced down at his side, where a makeshift bandage was hastily wrapped around his abdomen. Blood had seeped through the fabric, staining it a dark red. "I woke up...in an office. Found a first aid kit and...tried to patch myself up, and crawled here."

Sawyer's eyes softened, and she let go of his face, whispering an apology as he grimaced from her touch. "There's a waste hatch that leads out of here, Sam. We're gonna get out of this damn place."

Samuel smiled weakly, his voice muffled. "I missed your cursing."

"And I missed when you weren't bleeding to death," Sawyer countered playfully, trying to lighten the situation for both their sakes.

"This has been…one hell of a bust, Kiddo."

"You don't say," Sawyer quipped playfully, then tried to give him some hope to latch onto. "We can bitch about it over drinks, I promise." 

"I'll…make sure those are…both teas," Samuel grinned, straining the muscles in his mouth. "I wouldn't want...to break your streak."

Not far from the pair, Two Legs had been watching the exchange; he had arrived shortly after hearing Sawyer scream. Confusion bloomed in his eyes. This Samuel and his quarry weren't related by blood—Two Legs could smell their differences from their sweat alone—but their connection was significant nonetheless. An unfamiliar feeling roosted under his ribs as he observed them—a mix of covetousness and something else he couldn't quite place. Whatever was going on with his body deeply unsettled his composure as he finally forced himself to approach the two.

"Hey! I heard you yelling, are you good?" Two Legs called out, pushing the emotions down while pretending not to notice Samuel at first. 

Samuel's gaze shifted to Two Legs, and a sense of recognition crossed his features. "Who's...this fella?"

"This is Luis. He's been helping me," Sawyer answered quickly, her voice steadying as she gestured toward him. "Luis, this is my good friend Sam I've told you about."

"Hola!" Two Legs grinned, giving a slight wave with his hand. He felt the weight of Samuel's scrutiny. Though clouded with immense pain, the man's eyes held a clarity that unnerved him. It was as if Samuel was seeing through the facade, sensing something that even Sawyer hadn't fully grasped.

Two Legs lowered his hand and made a fist.

"Let's get you out of here," Sawyer gently touched Samuel's shoulder. "Can you stand?"

Samuel nodded, though he clearly struggled with his wounds and feelings toward Sawyer's companion. With their help, he slowly rose, wincing with each movement. All the while, the expression of Two Legs remained unreadable as Samuel studied him.

"How far is the hatch, Luis?" Sawyer asked.

"Oh, it's on the other side of these gestation tanks! I don't think your friend here will struggle getting to it once he finds his feet."

"How comforting of you…" Samuel muttered, followed by a rough cough.

Two Legs felt a strange, awkward sensation as he stared at Samuel.  He realized it wasn't just his obvious connection with Sawyer that bothered the plaga, but something else. One thing was sure: Two Legs didn't like how it made him feel, almost on edge—his false display as Luis threatened to lift with each passing breath because of it.

"You're pretty tough for an older guy. It sure looks like you've seen better days, eh?" Two Legs gestured toward Samuel's injury. He couldn't help but try to pry and see what else was happening.

"Can we...cut the small talk for now?" Samuel asked, coughing once more.

"Jesus, Sam, your mouth is bleeding bad." Sawyer pointed out.

"I'll be fine," Samuel protested. "Trust me...I'll be alright."

The coughing of blood made Two Legs connect the dots, but to be sure, he needed to use his senses to feel out the room. Subtly, the tendrils in his body sent out microscopic pulses of vibration. The waves created varying degrees of noise that only those of his kind could hear. Two Legs turned his attention inward, intently focusing on Samuel as the frequencies returned to him, constructing a series of heat signature images behind his eyes. As the pictures focused, his stomach dropped.  

A blue-green aura existed inside Samuel, taking the shape of a plaga and coiling throughout his body, leeching into his spine. The parasite stopped moving and turned its head toward the source of the sudden racket that had knocked it off course. The creature responded to Two Legs with a violent sequence of sounds, causing Two Legs' eyes to widen and his breath to hitch.

"Sam?" Sawyer backed up a little as Samuel coughed more blood into his palms.

"Sawyer, you need to get away from him!" Two Legs stepped back, his voice urgent.

"What are you talking about?" Sawyer's head snapped up, confusion and anger flashing in her eyes. "He needs our help!"

Samuel looked between them, his expression darkening as his breath quickened. "What the hell are you saying?"

Two Legs struggled to find the words—the human words—to explain himself as he glanced frantically between the two.

"He's infected," He finally managed, his tone insistent as he abruptly sensed more of his brethren's aggression coming through. "There's a parasite inside him!"

"No, that's impossible," Sawyer whispered, denial thick in her tone. She could feel her face turning pale as she met Samuel's eyes. "Samuel, tell him—tell him it's not true!"

"I…I don't know," Samuel admitted, his voice breaking as his eyes wandered around. "During the fight with the BOW, something…something stabbed me. Like a stinger."

Samuel glimpsed down at his bandaged side, realization dawning on his face as horror crept into his voice. 

"Oh god…"

"No!" Sawyer's hands shook as she gripped Samuel's left arm, her eyes pleading. "There has to be a way to help you! We'll cut the son of a bitch out once we leave!" 

"We don't have time for that!" Two Legs interjected grimly. He shook his head. "The parasite will take over soon. We need to stop it now!"

"How the hell do you know that, Luis?" Sawyer spat. "He doesn't even look infected!"

"I know--" Two Legs felt sweat trickling down his face before he remembered pocketing documents on Plaga Type E back in the security office. "I know because of Soldado's notes! I found them with his corpse. You can check the back of my pants if you don't believe me; I stashed them!"

The atmosphere grew dense as Sawyer and Two Legs stared each other down, their mutual suspicion and bitterness rising. Samuel, caught between them, felt his panic mounting. He suddenly became acutely aware of the thing inside him--a cold, alien presence slithering against his bones and organs.

The room grew darker as his body began to cringe. His heart picked up in speed. 

"We have to leave him behind," Two Legs pleaded, seeing the ache in Sawyer's eyes and her unwillingness to let go. He felt a pang of something—empathy, perhaps—but he pushed it aside. There was no room for that, not now. His voice became frustrated, recalling his previous mistakes. "You told me to be straight with you earlier, and now that I'm doing that, you suddenly want comforting lies?! Jesus, make up your mind!"

"I am not leaving Sam, and that's final!" Sawyer yelled, her eyes blazing with a mix of defiance and fear.

"Ki-Kiddo…"... Samuel's voice was barely a whisper.

His body started to convulse.

"S-Sam...?"

“R--u--Run…” 

Those were the last words Samuel managed to choke out before a guttural scream tore from his throat. His eyes glowed with a startling, unnatural hue while his skin rippled grotesquely as the parasite took control, bones cracking and elongating beneath the surface.

Sawyer quickly moved away, her heart sprinting in her chest as his face contorted in agony. Inhuman roars reverberated through the area as Samuel's features continued to warp. She watched as his hands thickened and extended into grayish appendages, the nails hardening into opaque, chitinous claws. His skin became darker and toughened, taking on a leathery texture. With an agonizing wail, Samuel's back arched, and a spine of segmented armor erupted along his vertebrae--reminiscent of a beetle's carapace. His chest expanded as more bones realigned to support the growing mass as his body gained height. A pair of tusks--long and sharp--protruded from his mouth, giving an ungainly appearance. 

The last glow of humanity in Samuel's eyes faded as he stared at Sawyer, his arms extending outward as he let out a thick screech that rattled every gestation tank in the lab.

As Samuel continued to cry out, Two Legs watched in horrified fascination. He felt the parasite's malicious intent directed toward him, sensing the elder plaga had no intention of letting anyone in this room out alive. The last time he felt like prey was back in the village, and a deep-seated fear stirred within him.

Sawyer stood frozen. Her vision blurred, and the sounds around her dulled as if she were underwater. Each blink of her eyes replayed Samuel's despairing screams, blending with haunting memories of Carmen rising from her bed, arms outstretched in a desperate plea for mercy. A wave of detachment washed over Sawyer, incapable of reconciling the hell unfurling before her.

Without warning, Samuel—now fully the Tusk—turned his newfound strength against her. With a violent shove, he hurled Sawyer aside like a rag doll. The force sent her crashing across the room, the world spinning around her in a dizzying haze. Pain spread through her body, but it felt distant, as if it belonged to someone else. 

Two Legs sprang into action, his movements a blur as he launched himself toward Sawyer to intercept, hitting the ground with a grunt that reflected his exertion. He skidded slightly from the impact but managed to break her fall, using his body as a shield as she collided with him. The force of the impact knocked the air out of his chest, but he clung to Sawyer, absorbing the brunt of the blow to protect her.

Breathing heavily, Two Legs looked down at her, her eyes wide with shock. The raw affliction on her face seemed to threaten to unravel her resolve, but there was no time to dwell on it, much less Two Legs conflicted feelings about risking everything for someone he saw as prey.

Two Legs made haste as he maneuvered Sawyer into a safer position, his hands gripping her shoulders to steady her. "Are you alright?"

Sawyer nodded, her breath in fleeting gasps as she struggled to regain her composure. 

"Yeah, I'm fine," she replied, quivering but finding ground. Her eyes met his, and a silent understanding passed between them—a shared resolve to survive and a knowledge of what the outcome meant for Samuel. 

"We can't let him find the hatch! He's too dangerous," Two Legs pressed, his voice edged with desperation. "I know this...hurts you, but we must take him down together!"

Sawyer nodded, her eyes shining with unshed tears. She scrambled to grab her handgun, which fell not far from her, and tightened her grip on it, firming her will even though all she wanted to do was mourn.

"Do you have any ideas?" Sawyer breathed. 

"Besides not dying? Nadda…” Two Legs admitted, his gaze shifting back to Samuel. The intimidating presence of the beast loomed larger as it barreled toward them with alarming speed. "Joder!"

"Remember how we took down the meth wolves earlier?"

"Si?"

"It can't hurt to try it again!" Sawyer exclaimed. "Distract him, I'll shoot!"

"Wait, wait, wait, why am I the bait this time?!" 

"He looks more pissed at you than me, now go!" 

As the Tusk lunged to crush them, the pair jumped into action, playing to their respective strengths. Two Legs moved frenetically, darting around Samuel and drawing his ire.

"Oye, bastardo feo! Were you looking for me?" Two Legs taunted, his voice taut with adrenaline as he narrowly dodged Samuel's monstrous swing. The Tusk's massive trunk-like arm crashed into a metal support beam with a deafening clang, sending a shiver through the room. Debris rained down, shattering gestation tanks and spilling their contents. (3)

Seizing the momentary distraction, Sawyer fired her gun with grit, aiming at the vulnerable joints and gaps in the Tusk's exoskeleton. Her bullets chipped away at the creature's flesh, and as she missed some shots, she could feel her frustration mount. She watched Luis continue to lead the Tusk on a wild chase through the facility, calculating each movement to trick the BOW into smashing into dangerous objects and the walls.

"Missed me!" Two Legs heckled as the Tusk slammed its arms into four gestation tanks simultaneously while attempting to grab him. The glass embedded deeply into its skin, and the BOW erupted in a ferocious roar that clapped like thunder. Its eyes zeroed in on Two Legs, the parasites' relentless drive to eliminate the perceived higher threat overriding all other concerns. The BOW charged with renewed ferocity, its tusks now fully extended and gleaming with razor-sharp ends. At the same time, more beetle traits emerged, such as an armored shell and menacing mandibles snapping viciously.

Two Legs weaved through the chaos with agile precision, using his smaller size to his advantage as he dodged the plagas' aggressive attacks. He was getting into a flow as the lab shook, with each of the Tusk's giant steps, the walls, and the equipment bearing the brunt of its rage. Eventually, luck ran out for Two Legs as the Tusk grabbed him mid-jump.

"S-shit!" Two Legs exclaimed, feeling the creature apply pressure to his entire body. He could feel his lungs deflate, his mind combing through Luis's memories at lightning speed to try and find a way out of this, but the pain became more unyielding as he could feel his host's bones wanting to give out even with the biological reinforcements Two Legs had developed over the years. He couldn't afford to mutate, and even then, Two Legs knew it wouldn't be of use at that moment.

Suddenly, several bullets hit one of the Tusk's mandibles, sending the appendage flying off in a bloody cloud and drawing a snarl of rage from the beast. The creature's eyes snapped toward Sawyer; the parasite recognized her as a more significant threat, tossing Two Legs to the side before it rushed at her, ignoring the bullets hitting its chest.

"Fuckfuckfuck!" Sawyer's curse cut through the noise as her gun jammed unexpectedly. Panic surged through her veins, her hands desperately trying to clear the blockage. She scrambled for cover, but it was too late.

The Tusk launched forward, and its right arm swung, crushing and slamming into the ground, sending Sawyer crashing to the floor. Her face smacked against the cold ground; wind knocked from her lungs as the gun skidded out of reach.

"No, no, no!" Sawyer muttered, her voice shaking with fear. She struggled to push herself up. The Tusk overlooked her, its immense shadow casting a suffocating chill.

"Oh no you don't!" Two Legs shouted, his voice raw as he charged. He skidded to a halt, scarcely avoiding a crushing blow from the parasite's massive right foot. In a desperate move, Two Legs snatched a jagged glass piece from the debris. Summoning every ounce of his strength, he drove it into the tender underside of the tusk leg. The creature bellowed in distress, its enormous frame staggering back as it clutched at the wound and fell.

Two Legs took the momentary reprieve to rush to Sawyer's side, his face etched with worry. 

"We need to quit meeting like this, cariño!" he shouted, his hands trembling as he helped her to her feet. "This one's on me for earlier!" (4)

Sawyer groaned, pushing through the mist of pain and disorientation. Her gaze fixed on Samuel, who was still squirming in agony, now on his hands and knees ravaging what remained of the lab, his furious strikes gouging deep craters into the floor and shattering anything in his path as he trapped himself in cords and other electrical equipment. The sight hardened Sawyer's stare. She understood there was no turning back now, no matter how much she wished otherwise.

"We have to end this," Sawyer's eyes darted around, heart sinking when she saw her gun too far out of range. It wouldn't make sense anyway to waste what little energy she had to unjam the damn thing. Her sight fell onto a fallen pipe within arm's reach, the sharp end illuminating under the dimming lights.

"One last time, get him pissed!"

Two Legs hesitated, his eyes betraying doubt, but he settled with his lot. Once again, he sprinted toward the Tusk, his insults laced with scorn as he dodged the creature's feral swings.

The BOW found its footing and ran at him, and as Two Legs darted underneath a table, narrowly avoiding being stomped, the Tusk fell forward and onto its face. Its legs had been trapped and entangled by debris and wiring, causing the creature to trip. Its frantic movements further entrapped the BOW while its claws dug into the ground, attempting to thrash away at its confinements, feeling steel wires wrap around its neck and sinking into its flesh.

With Samuel in the perfect position and nowhere to retreat, Sawyer knew the moment had arrived. She charged, her grip on the pipe white-knuckled, and with a decisive strike, she drove it into the soft tissue of the Tusk's throat, just below the start of its exoskeleton. The creature spat blood as it roared, and Sawyer yelled as she forced the pipe deeper, angling it to drive into the brain so it would kill him faster.

"Sam…" Sawyer's voice cracked, the words barely escaping through her gasping breaths.

The growls twisted into desperate gurgles as the BOW choked on its bile, movements coming to a sluggish crawl. The parasite's grip on Samuel's body weakened as it could feel its life force draining alongside its host--unable to contend with the arteries its attacker severed all at once.

"Sam, I'm so sorry—I'm so sorry, Sam!"

In his final moments, Samuel's eyes locked onto hers. His monstrous form seemed to falter as fleeting recognition and profound sorrow had etched across his ghastly appearance.

Sawyer shook her head, tears blurring as she whispered, "Sam, I'm so sorry… I'm so sorry…"

With a final, shuddering breath, the Tusk collapsed, its massive body crashing to the ground with a bone-jarring thud. 

Silence enveloped the facility, only interrupted by Sawyer's breathing, the crackling of failing electrical equipment, and the blaring of the overhead alarm system.

Less than two minutes before red protocol is activated. 

She stood over the fallen creature, the pipe still clutched in her trembling hands. The moment's weight pressed down on her, her mind racing and subjugated by the crushing reality of what she had just done.

She had killed her best friend.

Two Legs crawled out from his hiding place and approached Sawyer cautiously. A somber stillness masked his expression while he watched her grip on the pipe loosen, the metal object making a squelching noise as it remained embedded into Samuel's flesh. The quiet that followed was heavy, laden with the consequence of their actions.

"He's... he's gone," Sawyer whispered, her voice barely more than a breath. Her eyes remained locked on the lifeless form of her friend, the horror and despair evident in her gaze.

The rawness of her grief made Two Legs reluctant to intrude, much less offer comfort. A memory from "the other place" imposed itself upon him, showing Luis and Abuelo putting down a bird whose wings were trapped in barbed wire. The unfortunate animal had torn itself apart while trying to escape. He could hear the two arguing in his head about whether to nurse the creature back to health or to end its suffering, with Luis heavily debating the ethics long after the deed was done.

"Sometimes…" Two Legs began, his voice hesitant and heavy. The rest of the memory played out.

Abuelo ended the conversation in one fell swoop—the words leaving an impact on a young Luis that would follow him for years.

"Sometimes, there are no good choices."

Sixty seconds until red protocol activation. 

"We need to move," Two Legs said, his voice unwavering despite the mixed emotions tugging at him. "C'mon, c'mon, you can't stay here."

Sawyer stole one last lingering look at Samuel's lifeless body, then followed Two Legs. They ran across to the other side of the lab, sliding into the hatch, and fell rapidly down a dark tunnel.

As they emerged on the other side, crashing into one another and tumbling through mud and garbage, they found themselves further away from the site than expected. They crawled out of the grime and stood up, noticing the expanse of twilight shadows and the distant glow of the sun.

The howl of the explosion shattered the moment of peace as the facility erupted in a brilliant burst, lighting up the sky with a searing glow.

Sawyer stood frozen momentarily, her face illuminated by the distant flames. The shock of it all felt surreal as if she were watching a nightmare unfold in slow motion. She wondered if this was how Carmen felt when Raccoon City fell to the undead—alone and hopeless, knowing that everything she cared about, every person she loved, had been reaped without mercy.

Two Legs swallowed hard as he watched the blaze. He could almost feel the heat of the fire engulfing Abuelo's house as Luis stood not more than a few feet away, watching his home and even his identity perish. That was one of Luis's core memories that he would rather soon forget than relive. He needed a distraction and fast.

Glancing at Sawyer, Two Legs eyes echoed the ferocity of the flames. His stomach twisted as hunger urged him to sink his teeth into his quarry. He had gone the extra mile not only to save himself but also her own hide. All this effort was to finish what he had started last night and end this strange sense of obligation that was lingering in his mind. He was so close, he could practically feel her arteries gushing around his mouth.

Then her eyes met his.

His heart beat wildly, like back in the basement.  

"C'mon," Two Legs urged almost bitterly as he blinked, his voice barely whispering above calamity ahead. He moved away from Sawyer, his steps hurried and desperate. The terrain grew uneven as he approached the river's edge, which was just a short distance away, and he turned to see if she was following.

Silently, Sawyer acknowledged the fire one last time and turned her back. She followed Luis deep into the woods, the river soothing her frayed nerves as she picked up the pace.  She had no idea what to do now except to keep running—just like she always did.

Even if it hurt.

Notes:

1. Gracias Christo = Thank Christ! 2. Senorita = Miss/ young girl 3. Bastardo feo = Ugly bastard 4. Cariño! = Sweetheart / Dear

[happiness-of-the-pursuit]

2023 Fic Round Up (Part 1: Fic List)

I have been tagged in about a million different round ups of sorts, so here's Part 1: A Comprehensive 2023 Fic List sorted by month posted (if a multichap, I listed it the first month it posted), featuring the major details and a single-sentence summary/quote (so a fun challenge for me).

I'll post Part 2: Favorite Quotes and Part 3: Channeling Nora Holleran to Bring You My AO3 Data over the next two days (for the data I want to wait til the last possible day).

Without further ado, here is my 2023 Fic List:

January:

Nothing, I was still a lurker.

February:

Prince Henry and FSOTUS Alex Claremont-Diaz Answer the Web’s Most Searched Questions (T, 2.4K, YouTube Script Fic)

10 Things Alex Claremont-Diaz Can’t Live Without (T, 3K, YouTube Script Fic)

10 Things HRH Prince Henry Can’t Live Without (T, 2.5K, YouTube Script Fic)

March:

Prince Henry and FSOTUS Alex Claremont-Diaz Take a Couples Quiz (T, 5K, YouTube Script Fic)

The Super Six Take a Lie Detector Test | Vanity Fair (M, 7K, YouTube Script Fic)

Baby's First Pride (E, 10K, WIP Multi-Chap)

Post-canon, canon-compliant (ignoring bonus chapter) look at the Super Six celebrating their first pride after the emails—I want to come back and finish this (I got interrupted by Life) but my writing has evolved a lot since March and I'm daunted by all the editing I'd have to do, lol

ALEX CLAREMONT-DIAZ COMMUNES WITH HIS ANCESTORS WHILE EATING SPICY WINGS | Hot Ones (T, 3K, YouTube Script Fic)

April-June

Trying to survive the end of the school year as a teacher before I left my job :)

July

PRINCE HENRY SENTENCES US TO THE DUNGEONS WHILE EATING SPICY WINGS | Hot Ones  (M, 3K, YouTube Script Fic)

August

FirstPrince Sings Queen, Lil Nas X, and Taylor Swift in a Game of Song Association | ELLE (T, 2.5K, YouTube Script Fic)

Claremont 2008 (M, 26K, Complete Multi-Chap, Canon Divergence)

A world where Ellen gets elected in 2008 instead of 2016, and the friends-to-lovers path that puts Henry on. If you want to relive the early 2010s, enjoy epistolary fics, or want a glimpse of a world where Alex & Henry go to college together, you might like this.

September

How well you play...that's up to you (M, 4K, FirstPrince Week)

Grey's Anatomy-Inspired AU, where Alex & Henry are both surgical residents—currently a one-shot, but I plan on writing a multi-chap prequel for this at some point.

Keep this Love in a Photograph (T, 2.6K, FirstPrince Week)

Post-Canon: Henry finds Alex's old photo album and they take a stroll down memory lane.

The Starwand (T, 1.7K, FirstPrince Week)

Three vignettes from Alex's life (two featuring Henry) where a sparkler makes an appearance—both a kid fic of Alex and Alex with his kids.

Somebody Call 911 (M, 2.4K, FirstPrince Week)

College AU where Alex is sneaking around with Henry behind his roommate's back—until it all goes to shit.

October

Sets on the Beach (M, 4K, FirstPrince Week)

Crack Treated Seriously, Alex and Henry are on rival queer beach volleyball teams.

Water over Blood (G, 3K, FirstPrince Week)

Post-Canon 5+1 of five times Henry's niece loved Alex, and one time she loved Henry

L(ate) S(leepy) A(morous) T(exting) (M, 1K, FirstPrince Week)

Text-fic of a missing moment from the book, because I am convinced that Alex did, in fact, study for the LSAT (it's just more realistic if we're to believe he scored well enough to get into NYU)

November

Freaky Friday (I woke up in my enemy's body) (M, 9K, Halloween, Huh?)

Canon Divergence, Freaky Friday-Inspired Body Swap AU, Crack Treated Seriously: Between Cakegate and Alex's visit to London, the boys swap bodies and proceed to learn a lot about each other. And themselves.

December

Alex Claremont-Díaz Answers Your Questions | Actually Me |GQ (M, 2K, YouTube Script Fic)

Super Six and the Siren's Call (T, 111K Total, Posting Bi-weekly)

The Percy Jackson AU, co-written with @read-and-write- and @inexplicablymine. Quests and Greek References abound! Check out more @auntiepezzasupdates

(Dil)Do It Yourself (E, 16.7K, New Traditions Advent Calendar)

Alex attends a DIY Dildo Workshop for the holidays, where he meets Henry, who's helping to lead the workshop—and eventually, helps Alex in other ways. The tags will tell you all that you need to know.

Thanks to @rockyroadkylers @hgejfmw-hgejhsf @kiwiana-writes @welcometololaland and anyone else who tagged me that I missed! I was waiting to post all my fics for December before I did this :) Since I'm pretty late, I'll tag @ssmtskw @matherines @affectionatelyrs and an open tag to anyone who's made it this far and wants to do this!

[foxymoxynoona]

After the Applause (Ch. 6)

Header and linebreaks by @awrkives

Single Dad Jimin x Female OC

SUMMARY: Jimin doesn't know how he would have made it this far after the shattering of his world without the support of his thoughtful, generous, helpful neighbor. Hanbyul has lived next to hottie Jimin and his adorable daughter for years now, long enough to remember the wife he was so devoted to and lost far too young. With each safely ensconced on their side of the brick wall of the Parks' grief, it will take an enterprising little scientist to set the stage for a second chance at love.

CW/tags: grief, prior loss of spouse/parent, comfort, explicit sex, secondhand embarrassment, sort of love triangle/web/rat's nest, fluff, cursing, dating apps, fuckboy friends, dancer Jimin, stubborn dad Jimin, stubborn pre-teen daughter, miscommunication, pining

Previous Chapter | Masterlist | Next Chapter

Hanbyul stared at the website confirmation page and felt certain she’d fucked something up. She hated this feeling, like she’d done something wrong. She’d probably attached the wrong thing, or missed some egregious typo, or maybe she sounded annoying in the cover letter. Maybe her headshot wasn’t actually a good likeness.

Thank you for submitting your resume and application. One of our recruiters will be in touch with you shortly.

She belatedly felt stupid to have done this on a Friday afternoon. Now the soonest someone would contact her would be Monday, which gave her at least forty-eight hours to convince herself that applying was the most embarrassing thing she’d ever done and that they were going to laugh at her application and print it out just so they could chuck it in the trash.

Enough of that. She steeled her resolve (to do the thing she had in fact already done) and closed her laptop and crossed her arms in an attempt to look as confident as she wanted to feel. She deserved that job. Some parts were outside of her skillset or experience but most of it was familiar. A man wouldn’t let some pieces hold him back from applying. A man would apply and convince the interviewer why he was still the best candidate for the job, and so that’s exactly what Hanbyul was going to do. 

Because only about 20% of boardrooms in the country consisted of women and while Hanbyul wasn’t applying for a board position, that’s where she was reaching. Someday she was going to get there, and she’d take Sun-young –maybe by then a successful young scientist– out for coffee and say Thank you. Thank you for reminding me that we face extra challenges in the workplace and it’s our responsibility not to hold ourselves back because others will gladly do that for us.

Hanbyul would not be held back! She’d give it her all to get this new position with its better pay and improved benefits. If it didn’t work out, she’d apply for others. She’d call her parents more. She’d clean her apartment this weekend. She’d stop putting Namjoon off and finally have a truthful conversation with him –her responses had been vague and she was certain he could tell. Right now, she could do anything! Even with her trembling hands!

Because a nine-year-old had convinced her she could. Sun-young had inspired her, it was true. Her determination and serious efforts to convince her father that she ought to do science club had shamed Hanbyul into applying because she refused to be a woman who let her childhood confidence fade away. Not that she had ever been as confident as Sun-young, but it wasn’t too late to catch up! She wanted to be the kind of woman Sun-young apparently thought she was.

So she needed to do that other thing, even though she’d been dreading it: she took Hudu on a walk and called Namjoon. 

He picked up on the third ring, a little breathless but cheerful sounding. Not for the first time she wished she could just text him about this but he deserved more than that. Hopefully he wouldn’t be too upset. Hopefully he wasn’t that invested. He couldn’t be, right?

“Hanbyul? Hey, I was just thinking of messaging you–”

“Hi Namjoon. I, um… I’m sorry, I have sort of disappointing, um…”

“Bad news? Are you ok?”

She cursed how sweet he sounded. The confidence after submitting her resume began to drain away. Why was she doing all these exhausting things in the same day? She had foolishly overestimated herself. 

“I’m ok but… I know I haven’t been very responsive lately and I wanted to just be direct because you’re really great and you deserve that.”

“Ah.”

“I’m really sorry but I’m just…”

There was silence on the line. She appreciated that he seemed to understand without her saying much. Or maybe he was just shocked. Stunned. Heartbroken?! Oh god, she’d never broken anyone’s heart before.

“Look if you’re just really busy right now or something, I get it. I know I’m traveling for work a lot too, so…”

“It’s not that. I mean, I am busy, and I just applied for a better job so maybe I’ll get even busier but–”

“Oh congratulations, I hope it goes well–”

“Aish, don’t be so nice,” she complained. “I feel awful, Namjoon. You’re such a great guy and–”

“You don’t have to do that. I mean you don’t have to comfort me. I mean, it sucks, because you’re… but…”

She tugged Hudu to the side of the path so she could stop and squeezed her eyes shut. Why couldn’t he be an asshole about this? She’d feel so much better. She was aware that she was stupid, that this was stupid, that she was ending what could become something good with a great guy for no reason. Or at least not a good reason. 

“I feel like shit.”

“It’s ok.”

“No, don’t you comfort me!”

“Can I just ask… it’s ok if you don’t feel comfortable, but I just…”

She waited, trying to ignore the way her stomach twisted and her face flushed and the blood rushed in her ears. This was awful. She didn’t have much experience calling things off with men and when she did, the guy had usually seen it coming and not cared that much anyway.

“Did I do something? Is there some… feedback you can give me or…”

“You didn’t do anything wrong at all,” she quickly insisted. And then because she felt too miserable and clung to a piece of driftwood she thought might make it better: “You’re such a great guy. To be honest, I kind of have feelings for someone else and I thought I could get over it but I can’t and you deserve better than that.”

For a moment he was silent again. She could hear his breathing; he always seemed to hold the phone so close to his mouth when he spoke. 

“I get it,” he said. “That really sucks. Sorry you’re in that situation, and I hope he figures it out quick.”

“I don’t think he will but… um… thanks. And I’m really sorry, Namjoon.”

“Don’t be sorry. I had fun.”

“Yeah, me too.”

“And uh, give me a call or something if you’re ever not… not feeling things for someone else, I guess.”

“I will,” she blurted out because she couldn’t think quickly enough on her feet. She ended the call before she could say anything else stupid and pressed it to her forehead. Had that gone well or not well? She couldn’t tell. She supposed it could have been worse… but she felt like she shouldn’t have mentioned having feelings for someone else. What if he somehow figured out she meant Jimin?! And it was a cop out anyway because that wasn’t the only reason. She was emotionally compromised, but she didn’t break off with Namjoon for Jimin. Jimin wasn’t an option! She just didn’t see a future right now with anyone who wasn’t… Jimin.

She felt punchy in a different way now. She practically jogged home with Hudu, which she never did and clearly confused him; he kept looking up at her like he expected someone else might be holding the leash. Once home, she dug through her cabinets looking for anything to soothe or distract but her cupboards were practically bare. Why did she have so many ingredients but no food or alcohol?

It was in this state of desperation that she received a message from Jungkook.

Jeon Jungkook: hey re hitting up hongdae club aura and youre coming

Hanbyul: ok I’m in

Jeon Jungkook: wait really???

Hanbyul: did you mean to invite someone else? 😅

Jeon Jungkook: you but you never take me up on it!

Hanbyul: I don’t want to sit at home tonight

Jeon Jungkook: ok ouch didn’t need to make an excuse

Jeon Jungkook: whatever, you can’t bring me down, see you at 10

Hanbyul: TEN?! 

Jeon Jungkook: why are all my friends grandpas? 10 is early! Don’t you bail on me too

Hanbyul: I’ll see you at 10 if you can actually get us in…

Jeon Jungkook: you’re cute, you’ll get us in

Hanbyul laughed. Hard. She knew she ought to be giddy for a man who looked like Jungkook to say that kind of thing, but he said that kind of thing all the time in a way that didn’t actually feel very specific anymore. Only after the date was set did she have a rush of terror realizing she had just agreed to go out clubbing with Jungkook… but it was true that she felt jittery and didn’t want to be home this evening. She felt like she could do anything! Even stay awake until 10pm to go clubbing on a Friday night! 

She had a sneaking suspicion she knew exactly which of Jungkook’s friends had insisted ten was too late at night. Though he’d obviously be the hottest one there, she didn’t think Jimin was into the scene –certainly not in the time she’d known him. She had absolutely no concern that Jimin would be at the club. She also felt like this might be a good chance to really establish a platonic friendship with Jungkook and quiet her slight fear that she was leading Jimin’s close friend on. You know, since she’d already slept with and ghosted then dumped another… 

Her dress was short. It was the shortest dress she owned. She didn’t really own revealing clothing, nothing sexy for hitting the clubs, but she’d bought this dress that was a little too small and so that would have to do. She’d just have to remember not to raise her arms or… disaster! 

She kept tugging it down as she made her way inside with no issue –Jungkook had put her “on the list” and texted her to come on in, which seemed really suspicious. He was easy to find, practically spot-lighted under a round table in a distant corner, animated and laughing with another guy and two girls.

She carried herself bravely forward, nerves instantly frazzled by the loud music, pulsing lights, and close bodies she had to weave her way through to reach them.

“Hey you didn’t bail!” Jungkook cheered when she reached his elbow. “My only true friend.”

The use of friend instantly set her at ease, though she wasn’t prepared for the names lobbied instantly at her amidst their shouts of protest at his remark: Jung Hoseok, Park Andi, and Han Chun. Years and connections were shared and she tried to keep up over the noise of the club, answering the questions as formally as a job interview. She had hoped no one noticed how nervous she was to be out with people she didn’t know, but Jungkook seemed to because he insisted on buying her a drink, which she was overwhelmed into agreeing to. Only when he returned with her cucumber something in hand did she realize there were two men and two women and Jungkook had just bought her a drink and maybe calling her his friend was all part of his plan. Even though that seemed absolutely ridiculous when both those women looked–

Oh. Hanbyul realized she had miscounted. 

“I can’t even count!” she groaned and let her face fall against her hand, not even caring that the slump might smudge her makeup or transfer oil to her chin and give her acne. Who cared what a girl who couldn’t even count looked like!

“Who’s counting? You don’t need to count anything right now,” Jungkook laughed. “You want me to do some math for you?”

“He can’t do math,” Hoseok immediately ratted him out. “Don’t ask him to do math, he just picks a number.”

“That’s not true!”

Andi giggled and leaned in close to agree, “He acts like he’s thinking really hard and then confidently gives a very wrong answer.”

“He doesn’t need math, he’s so pretty,” Chun suggested, though Hanbyul couldn’t tell if her smirk at Jungkook was predatory or just teasing. She didn’t know these people, and clearly her day was beginning to take a toll, so she really shouldn’t have come out. 

“Shut up, don’t blow my cover. Hanbyul’s a smarty, don’t make me look stupid,” Jungkook laughed.

Hoseok nodded and agreed, “I’ve heard about it.”

“About… me?” Hanbyul clarified, tilting her head.

“Neighbor Hanbyul,” Hoseok confirmed, which made more sense, even if it made her a little sad to be still Neighbor Hanbyul. “Sunnie talks about you a lot too.”

“Ahhh that girl.” Hanbyul grinned as a warmth blossomed in her chest. That was better, at least. “She’s amazing, isn’t she?”

Jungkook’s stare and slow grin made her nervous as he nodded, the others confirming. It was quickly made clear they all knew Jimin and Sun-young –Hoseok was a teacher at Jimin’s studio, Hanbyul was quickly educated on, and Chun and Andi both danced with him and Jimin. When asked if she’d ever seen Jimin dance she admitted that she hadn’t and chose not to disclose her YouTube history. There weren’t many videos on there but there were a few! Anyway, they clearly meant seen him dance live, so it wasn’t a total lie.

“We hear a lot about your son, too,” Hoseok added. Hanbyul, mid-sip of her cucumber something, promptly choked. Jungkook seemed to take great glee in pounding her on the back.

“My what?”

“Hudu?”

“He’s a dog!”

“A dog can be a son!” Hoseok laughed with the rest of the table. He smiled with his whole face and it reminded her so much of Jimin she could almost believe they were related.

“Honestly a dog is the best son,” Andi insisted. “Like, I love Sunnie with my whole heart, but I don’t want kids of my own. I’ve got a cat and I want a dog too but I don’t think I’m tough enough to walk one in the winter.”

“You’re not tough enough,” Jungkook agreed; Andi dipped her fingers into her glass and flicked the droplets his direction.

“I would die for my dog,” Chun announced. “I can never have kids while he’s alive, it wouldn’t be fair to him.”

Hoseok sighed and admitted, “My dog still lives with my parents.”

“It’s their dog,” Jungkook snorted.

“It was my dog but I couldn’t have him with me at university housing when I was younger, and they were all so attached by the time I moved out on my own so– but we could get a dog,” he said, pouting his lips in Jungkook’s direction as if it all came down to his choice.

“I want a dog,” Jungkook agreed.

“Well fuck, let’s get a dog! Woah, but is it a betrayal of Mickey, that’s what I’m worried about…” Hoseok sighed and slumped.

Hanbyul murmured sympathetically and sipped her drink faster. She did not understand what was happening. On the surface she appeared to have joined a group of very fun, down to earth people who just happened to look insanely gorgeous and not of this world in shiny button-up shirts and sequined dresses. It was a complete injustice for these people to be both fun and look like that, and Hanbyul the boring dowager in her plain dress. 

Yet at the same time it made perfect sense because these were Jimin’s friends, and he was like that too! Hanbyul felt utterly stupid for having agreed to come out and yet simultaneously, selfishly fascinated. She felt like Jungkook had opened a door for her that Jimin had not, letting her see this adult social aspect of Jimin’s life –arguably without his permission. Not that he owned these people or anything… but if part of her reason for being here was to learn more about Jimin and get closer to him in that way… fuck, she was a creep! Would she have ever even talked to Jungkook if he wasn’t Jimin’s friend? She doubted herself now. 

“I’m getting another, do you want one?” Andi asked, nudging Hanbyul in a friendly, familiar way that she was flattered to have somehow already earned .She didn’t want another one, but she also did.

“I can buy you something back,” she offered Jungkook before following Andi.

“It’s fine.”

“I insist.”

“Ok, whatever you get.”

“Even if it’s girly?” she checked.

He gave her a horrified look and clarified, “It’s a drink, there’s no gender.”

Hanbyul too was horrified and insisted, “No, I know! But sometimes men are so–”

“I’m just fucking with you. Girly is fine, I don’t discriminate.”

Hanbyul did not know what to make of him, especially since Hoseok was now leaning to the side laughing into the final sips of his beer.

“Forget this, I’m coming too,” Chun decided. “They just want to stand around and drink.”

“We’re going to get more drinks…” Andi pointed out.

“But we can dance on the way and back!”

In that way Hanbyul found herself boxed onto the dance floor for a period of time that could have been ten minutes or an hour, she couldn’t have said. The music was high energy and heavy-bass and she couldn’t tell when one song ended and another began. Her movements felt painfully clumsy next to the graceful way Andi and Chun twisted and swayed. It would be obvious to anyone observing that she was no dancer –but everyone was packed too tightly for anyone to really observe. Hopefully. 

She was glad when it ended, and that relief led her to agree to the round of shots Andi bought. Chun missed her mouth slightly, the rum dribbling down the cleavage of her dress, which Andi dramatically helped her wipe. Then they leaned in close with Hanbyul and scouted out the hotties along the bar, of which they considered there to be very few. 

Hanbyul kept waiting for one of them to ask her something pressing or private –maybe why Jungkook had suddenly invited her along, or why she’d come, or why she thought she should delve further into Jimin’s life when she was just his neighbor– but they didn’t. 

The closest was Chun asking, “What do you think, Hanbyul? Anyone at this bar catch your eye? What’s your type?” But she didn’t have any malicious twinkle in her eye or bullying smirk, it really seemed like just a sincere question! And Hanbyul began to realize that maybe she was getting too used to workplace politics and competitiveness and it was interfering with her ability to just make friends. Was that what was happening here?

Maybe it was that hope, or maybe it was the alcohol starting to do numbers in her blood, but she admitted, “I don’t think I have a type… at least not one that has worked out for me.”

“Oh no. Something recent?”

“Oh… I did end something recently… but it wasn’t his fault, it was…” Oops. Just in time she realized she couldn’t say more about this without revealing way too much –not only because all roads led to their friend Jimin but also because she’d only just met these girls! “It didn’t work out,” she summarized.

“Another shot?” Andi asked, already signaling for the bartender.

“No, wait–”

“Yes!” Chun agreed. “You can feel sad about it tomorrow if you really want to, but tonight there’s dancing!”

“I’m a terrible dancer,” Hanbyul found herself confessing. They were overwhelming, both of these women, pressing another shot into her hand. It was bitter this time and made all three grimace and smack their lips.

She thought they’d missed what she said anyway but Andi insisted, “There’s no such thing as a terrible dancer. Technique? Sure. But dancing is just… feeling! It’s just moving! It’s just breathing.”

“You have clearly not seen me.”

“I was dancing with you five minutes ago!” Andi laughed. “And now I’ll dance with you again, let’s go!”

Hanbyul had Jungkook’s and her drinks in her hand, but did her best to shimmy and sway adequately along with Chun and Andi in the direction of the table. She felt ridiculous but their acceptance was a balm on her self-conscious soul. Jungkook and Hoseok leapt up at their approach and began dancing as well. It was just such a completely different club experience than Hanbyul was used to when she would go out with work peers, or longer ago when it was college friends rotation around her, drinking too much, picking at each other’s appearances and achievements to feel better about themselves in what felt like a hunting grounds for sex.

This didn’t feel that way at all! Hanbyul found her nerves dissolving with each sip, with each song (assuming it wasn’t just one long song playing which she thought entirely possible), with each moment of shared laughter. It was impossible but she began to feel as though she had known these people for a very long time.

Also the alcohol helped. 

Hoseok spun her around –vaguely she recalled making some comment about ballerinas– which led to her promptly over-balancing against him, or it was possible Jungkook had bumped into her, and possibly on purpose because they were dancing near their table and the space was tight and everyone was very close together. She felt barely on her feet and slid around to lean against the table instead and catch her breath so she didn’t accidentally drag Hoseok down. Their empties were gone and she hesitated over the waters, which had now sat unguarded for some period of time. She ought to get water fresh–

“Hey hey! You came out after all!”

Hanbyul didn’t know how she even heard Jungkook’s shout over the noise other than her sixth sense suddenly shooting an alarm up her spine. She turned, not even bothering to hope it was literally any other friend of Jungkook’s than Jimin.

No, worse. 

There was Jimin, an eyebrow lifted and his mouth open in surprise aimed clearly, undeniably in her direction.

And there beside him, both eyebrows lifted and mouth open in surprise aimed clearly, undeniably in her direction, was Namjoon.

“Fuck!” she choked out.

Jungkook gasped and grabbed her arm, asking, “Did I step on your foot?”

“No but I suddenly need to go home– I mean yes, I need to go home.”

“Shit, how bad–?” Jungkook dropped to a crouch, reaching for her foot. Which was a very bad look, she thought. She leapt away from him, but teetered again because the alcohol. The alcohol! Shit, she could not be drunk at a club like this in the presence of either Jimin or Namjoon and most definitely not together!

“I’m fine, but I’m heading out. Goodnight!” Would they believe that she hadn’t seen them and that’s why she wasn’t greeting either one of them? All of this had happened in the span of four seconds.

No, it wouldn’t make sense, even her alcohol-riddled brain knew they were directly in front of her.

“You really don’t have to leave on my account–” Namjoon said.

“Why do you have to go, just because I’m here–” Jimin said at the exact same time.

They stopped and looked at each other and Hanbyul lost at least three years off her life. 

And then mercifully, before they could say anything, Andi flung her arms around their shoulders and cheered, “You sad sacks came out after all? Let’s get you some motherfucking drinks!”

“Wait, you’re both really here? You never come out!”

“I have a kid,” Jimin defended, suddenly all smiles as Chun descended, pinching his arm and brushing something off his shoulder. 

“I, uh,” Namjoon coughed and looked over their heads. “I just don’t like places like this.”

“Oh sorry it’s not refined enough for you,” Andi tittered. “Too busy at art galas and restaurant openings to consort with club scum, huh?”

“Andi,” he complained, dimples flashing, all the charm Hanbyul had initially liked about him. And yet she felt so closed off from it now, like she could recognize but not really connect with that charm. How could she when Jimin was there beside him, glowing like her north star?  

Hanbyul saw her chance and took it. She ducked around them all and tried to flee for the door. She could call an Uber and be speeding away, looking back through the rear window, before anyone even noticed she was gone.

Unfortunately, the club was a confusing place and after weaving across the throng of dancers, she’d been carried by the current upstream to the bathrooms. 

“Shit-shit,” she mumbled to herself and darted inside because she really did need to pee too and better to do that now. Maybe they’d think she was already gone and stop looking for her and she could still escape. She took her time, braced every time the door opened for it to be Andi or Chun ruining her escape. But as some amount of minutes (uncountable because alcohol) ticked by, she steeled herself and found her confidence. She could get out of here. Whatever Namjoon and Jimin talked about in her absence, at least she wouldn’t be here to face it. That was a Tomorrow Hanbyul problem. Today Hanbyul needed to get the hell out of here.

She stepped boldly from the bathroom in the direction she was certain was the front door –and ran boldly into Namjoon.

“Hey.”

“Oh, hey, Namjoon,” she said, thinking as she said it how casual and cool she sounded. Might as well tack on hey, wow, I didn’t see you, didn’t know you were here!

“Hey look, I– sorry, I guess I surprised you… I didn’t know that you uh… knew these people… or would be out at a club… tonight. This club. With these people.”

“Oh, yeah, it was sort of a… a spur of the moment thing. Jungkook invited me along and I didn’t want to just sit at home so…” Her words caught up to her and she realized how terrible that sounded. I dumped you but I also didn’t want to be bored so I just went clubbing.

“Ah. So Jungkook uh… is the guy…? I didn’t even know you knew him…”

“What guy?”

“That you said…” He leaned in close as the music took a turn, and the warm scent of his cologne was unkind as he said closer to be heard, “You said you had feelings for–”

“Oh! NO THAT’S NOT HIM!” she shouted, stiff-arming him away. A little too roughly, she realized, and quickly grabbed his arm and apologized, “Sorry, I– I forgot I told you that. No, it’s not him. He’s just a friend. Sort of. And I– sorry, I’m a little drunk right now kind of?”

“Ah.”

“I didn’t just break things off with you and go party, I was feeling pretty bummed so I thought I’d do something out of the ordinary…I mean, it was the right thing to do but like I said, um… but now you’re here and…” And Jimin is here…

“Hey, it’s fine,” Namjoon assured her. “If you aren’t comfortable with me here, I can leave but if it’s ok, I can be cool.”

“You’re very cool,” she agreed.

He smiled, a handsome dimpled smirk like she hadn’t answered his question correctly, and corrected, “I just mean, I’m only going to be here for a drink and then I’ll go. This isn’t really my scene so don’t let me chase you away.”

“Ok.” 

“And uh, just so it’s out there, if you… ha, nevermind. I’m just going to get my drink, don’t mind me.” He held his hands up and backed away and Hanbyul hated not knowing what he’d been about to say. Maybe: if you want to be friends, that’s cool, I can refrain from ever letting anyone know we had sex and a few dates. She hated that he was probably not saying that.

Almost as much as she hated seeing Jimin standing not too far off, having clearly watched their interaction.

She couldn’t go talk to him. Not while Namjoon would see her and she would probably say or do something that would make it immediately obvious who Jimin was to her because damn he looked so good! He’d gelled his hair back and rolled the sleeves of his dark button-up to his elbows. The club lights flickered off his earring, as if he needed any help from a spotlight to draw eyes to him. Hanbyul felt like the crowd dramatically parted, like the lights shone specifically for him, from him. 

She couldn’t read his expression, couldn’t tell if he was confused or annoyed to see her invading his friend group, or if he had a guess as to what had happened between her and Namjoon. For all she knew, Namjoon had told him everything before they came tonight, or in the time since she’d fled the table, and Jimin had come to demand what the fuck was wrong with her.

But Namjoon was a class act, maybe he hadn’t said anything. Maybe Jimin was only curious about why she and Namjoon had been speaking so closely. If she left now, all Jimin would know was whatever Namjoon said about it. If she stayed and everything seemed cool, maybe Jimin wouldn’t think anything weird was happening. She’d mentioned before she spoke to Jungkook through the app, so it couldn’t be a total surprise she was here.

It made sense in her mind, and was a better excuse than that other thought: I just want to hang out at a club with Jimin. 

Who was she kidding, she couldn’t stay here!

He was walking towards her and she couldn’t move. 

“Hey,” he greeted when he reached her and she wondered if he ever used that line on women at the club because it would totally work, looking like that.

“Jungkook invited me and I had a really long day so I thought it would be good to get out of my apartment,” she blurted out in an attempt to distance herself from Namjoon in one sweep.

“It is a good idea,” Jimin said. “I didn’t know you went clubbing.”

“Rarely.”

“Me neither.”

“You look like a natural,” she assured him.

“Clubber?”

“Huh?”

Jimin shook his head and laughed, “Can I buy you a drink?”

“Me?”

“Uh… yes?”

“Yes,” she said, despite knowing she really shouldn’t. More alcohol was the last thing she needed but Jimin had offered! Jimin twisted his hand behind his back so she could hold onto it and trail him through the club to the bar. Jimin asked her what she wanted and paid and she felt bad to let him pay but he’d bought her a drink!

Drink in hand, she was the one to lead them back to the table, though it had been abandoned; all Jimin’s friends were dancing. She thought to join, but Jimin leaned against the wall and she felt anchored to his side.

He nudged her arm and asked, “So how do you know Namjoon?”

“Dating app,” she answered quickly. “And Jungkook. I think all your friends are on there… I make a lot of friends on there… it’s not just for dating!” What was she even saying? She thought maybe if she said “friend” enough it would be enough to save her.

“Friends, huh?” He was practically shouting to be heard, not leaning in as close as Namjoon had. She wished he would; she felt like the distance meant something. “I don’t know anything about apps but I started an account today. Guess I’ll see you on there, huh?”

Hanbyul didn’t know what to do with that information. Why had he made an account on a dating app?!

Same reason as you, moron. Park Jimin was ready to start dating again, that’s what it told her. He’d come to the club looking like that, so maybe he’d been hoping to meet someone here. He must be, to come out when he didn’t normally. The thought of watching him pick up a woman made her break out in a cold sweat. What if she ran into her leaving Jimin’s apartment in the morning–no, probably he wouldn’t take someone there with Sun-young at home, but maybe she was spending the night somewhere else? 

“I hear it’s tough though,” Jimin said, still shouting. “Namjoon had a thing going I guess and it ended today so I made him come out too.”

Oh god, he knows.

“I’d rather meet people the traditional way,” he continued.

“Here?” she asked, face twisting into a grimace. “I guess it depends on what you’re looking for.” 

“Ah… I don’t know…”

“Not all of us meet people as easily as you but I don’t think you’ll have a hard time,” she shouted back.

He pressed his hand over his eyes and then laughed, “I don’t know what I’m doing.”

“Do you need a pep talk before you go hit on someone?” she asked, drawing on all of her strength to be what he needed in this moment and not do what her drunk brain was encouraging her to (lean in and kiss.) “You are brave and smart and funny and–”

“Are you giving me the same speech you gave my daughter?”

“Maybe!” she laughed because he was laughing and because it all felt briefly very funny, having this shouted conversation in the club with Jimin. Encouraging him to go meet a woman “the traditional way” (drunk in a bar) to take home and do the things she wanted to do with him and hope he didn’t find out she’d done those things with his friend already… but different things! Similar in theme but different!

He finally did lean in and begin, “You know what she told me today? She– hey, maybe we should go somewhere we can hear–”

“HEY!” Chun suddenly appeared, followed in short order by Hoseok. “The fuck are you wallflowers doing?”

“Come dance,” Hoseok agreed. “You can talk at home!”

There wasn’t room left to argue. She and Jimin were dragged out, downing their drinks on the way to abandon on a table, and then pressed into the dancing mob. Hanbyul had hoped to position herself so she could at least dance near Jimin, but her hesitation when faced with Namjoon and what he might realize about her feelings towards his friend was just enough time for Andi and Chun to slide in between. Instead Hanbyul found herself on the fringe with Jungkook and Hoseok.

Maybe that was for the best. She was like a baby: without Namjoon or Jimin in sight she was able to forget them, aided by alcohol and loud music and the antics of these two of Jimin’s friends. Despite being physically graceful men, they were clearly just having fun with dancing; both grinned and laughed and didn’t take themselves too seriously which helped her feel less self conscious about what her less-drunk brain would have termed “awkward motions at best.” Maybe she was getting the hang of dancing in the club! Maybe she’d be confident enough now to dance over closer to Jimin! 

Abort abort abort!! Hanbyul froze at the familiar way a random woman danced with Jimin, her hands trailing over his body. Maybe she wasn’t random? Jimin did not seem put off by it, just laughed and lifted her hands but kept her close. Hanbyul wasn’t sure what to make of that. Was Jimin really that bold or did he already know that woman? Hanbyul couldn’t imagine dancing with a man like that. The envy flooded her.

She tried not to look again but it was hard not to. She felt suddenly like a switch had flipped and all the fun she’d been having abruptly turned off. She was being stupid jealous. Hadn’t she just encouraged Jimin to go meet someone? And they were just dancing. And even if it went somewhere, it wasn’t any of her business.

“I need water,” she announced to no one in particular and disappeared again, responsibly leading herself to the bar. It tasted weird and unpleasant in her mouth, and at the first sip she had the urgent need to pee, which meant another swim upstream through the crowds to reach the restrooms. The club was becoming less fun by the minute.

She didn’t think that much time had passed but when she tried to find the group again, they’d scattered. Trying to locate them was a fool’s errand; she’d think she saw one only to squeeze her way there and find it to be someone else. She was all twisted around. The room felt overly loud, the music too loud, the lights too bright. 

There, Jimin!

At the bar, nodding as the woman from earlier leaned in close to say something in his ear. He said something back, right in her ear, then appeared to look around before shaking his head. The woman touched his arm.

Hanbyul knew her night was over. She couldn’t stay here and watch him pick up a woman. She shouldn’t have been here in the first place. She could still see Namjoon out of the corner of her eye, that good guy she’d dumped for no reason other than that it was casual fun when she wanted something serious with someone who was not available, only for him to immediately find her out at the club. She couldn’t find Jungkook. She barely knew Andi and Chun. Her feet hurt and her head was swimming and she felt like she kept getting drunker even though she hadn’t had anything to drink in a while.

Oh no, she realized with a longing for sobriety. I drank too much. Control of her arms and legs felt exaggerated, and the music felt like it was leaking into her skull, and she had the impulse to take off her clothes because it was so hot in here.

Don’t do it! The last tendril of her rational self pleaded with her to behave. She shushed it gently with a finger to her lips.

“You!” a voice at her elbow called. She spun, expecting Jimin, finding Jungkook.

“You were lost!” she cried.

He glared and wagged his finger, “You disappeared! I’ll be in deep shit if I lose you!”

“With the proper authorities?”

“Wha?”

Someone bumped into her and she edged closer to Jungkook with a pout. She didn’t want to be here anymore. She wished Jimin would take her home –no, Jimin wouldn’t take her home, even though they lived right now to each other. Jimin might be taking someone else home.

“He’s still talking to her,” she realized, her eyes landing on Jimin despite the crowd. She couldn’t tell if it was the same woman but it didn’t matter. Jimin was going to take home whatever woman he wanted and meet more women on the dating app and Hanbyul was going to have to just sit back and cheer him on. She wanted to cry.

“Hey, you ok? You look like you’re about to cry.”

“I want to go home,” she said in a small voice. “I’m too drunk…”

“Ah, damn. No, don’t cry.”

“I won’t cry,” she vowed, though didn’t quite believe it herself.

“What? I can’t hear you… let’s just get you home,” he said, as best she could tell. When he nudged her towards the door, she let him guide her out. It had cooled off considerably outside and she shivered. The sudden shift in volume left her feeling teetery, as if she’d been leaning on the noise and body heat.

“How drunk are you?” he asked, hand gripping her arm.

“Um, just a little bit… I can get a cab…” she pulled her phone out of her purse and promptly dropped it on the ground. “Oops.” It was embarrassing for Jungkook to see her like this. She didn’t know how she’d gotten this far, just one drink leading to another, and it was all fine until suddenly she fully understood she was watching the love of her life–

“He’s not the love of my life,” she insisted.

“What now?”

“I don’t know, where’s my phone?”

Jungkook held it up, but promptly overbalanced and fell on his ass. Only when he started laughing did Hanbyul consider she wasn’t the only drunk one, and it was overwhelmingly comforting in that moment. A few tears did leak out then.

“Shit, you’re crying. Let me go get Jimin, he’s better with that kind of–”

“NO!”

“No… Jimin?”

“Can I sleep at your place?”

“Uh…” Jungkook looked up at her from the curb. “Yes… but–”

“Not to have sex!”

“Ok geez.”

“No, I have to get home to Hudu… where’s my phone…” 

“It’s dead,” Jungkook told her.

Hanbyul promptly sat down beside him on the curb and sighed, “Well shit.”

“I’ll get you home.”

“You don’t have to.”

“No? I should just wave and let you walk off? Jimin would shred my balls and peel the skin off my body.”

“Ew,” she gasped.

“Oh he can take you home, he lives right by you.” Jungkook began to rise but Hanbyul knocked against him to send him sprawling again. “What the–”

“No!” she cried on a delay. “Anyone but him.”

“Anyone?”

“It can’t be him. He’s… busy.”

“Busy…?”

“Like… flirting. I don’t want to get in the way.”

“Nah, he won’t mind.”

“I can’t! He can’t see me like this! Who knows what I’ll say?!”

“What’s the worst you can say?” Jungkook laughed. “‘I’m in love with you’?”

Hanbyul grabbed his arm, eyes going wide, and demanded, “Did I say that?!”

“Wha?”

“How did you know that?!”

“The… fucking… wait… do you?”

“Did Namjoon tell you that?!”

“What does Namjoon have to do with anything?”

“I didn’t tell him who but I didn’t think he would show up today and why is Jimin friends with everyone in this city–”

“He’s a friendly guy.”

“I know and I know I’m just a friend so you don’t have to tell me but I still didn’t mean to…” She trailed off, unable to bring herself to admit she’d fallen in love with him, or unknowingly slept with his friend, or that her jealousy over him even talking to other women in the bar right now was going to consume her.

“Hey.” Jungkook nudged her arm with his. She gave him a miserable look. “I don’t think you’re just a friend.”

“Thanks, Jungkook. That’s sweet of you… I think…”

“No, I mean–” A car interrupted him, pulling to a stop so close that they both scrambled backwards. “Oh that’s our car.” She thought it was too soon for a car to have arrived. How had he even ordered one on his phone without her seeing? They scrambled into the car like a pair of street rats.

“Oh my god I’m too drunk I shouldn’t have been saying any of this! Stop making me talk!”

“It thinks it’s the alcohol.”

“Too much,” she sighed. “Why did I come out with you?”

“To have fun. Admit it, you were having fun.”

“I was, until…”

“So you’re like… in love with–”

“Stop saying it! I didn’t say that.”

“You pretty much did,” he tittered.

“You can’t tell him. Promise me. Promise me, Jungkook, not a word!”

“Why would I tell him your business?” Jungkook snickered. “I think you should tell him. And let me watch.”

“Jungkook. Jungkook Jungkook Jungkook–”

“Hanbyul, what.”

“We can never tell him,” she said with utmost sincerity, grabbing his hand and squeezing as tightly as she could. “He can never know.”

“Why not?”

“He and Sun-young are too important to me. Do you understand?”

“Yeah but what if you’re important to him too?”

“I am. I get to take care of Sun-young sometimes and he likes my cooking…” She closed her eyes because the car ride was making her dizzy. At least thinking of Jimin helped settle her head just enough she didn’t think she was going to puke in the backseat of the Uber. Probably. 

“Yeah but what if he thinks you’re more important than your cooking?”

She smiled and wished she could move enough to pat his head as she explained, “He doesn’t but I can be happy with being neighbor Hanbyul, but not less than that if I make him uncomfortable and he stops talking to me.”

“I don’t really know you a lot but I don’t think you should settle.”

“That’s sweet.”

“Yeah, I’m sweet,” he agreed. “I think it matters, love and romance and… and thinking someone is the best part of your day…”

“Are you a romantic?” she gasped.

“That’s what I’m saying!”

“I thought you were a…”

“A what?!”

“A flirt…” Fuckboy.

“I am a flirt. I can be both. And I’m not setting for anything less than… I’m waiting to meet someone who gets all red faced talking about me like you do about Jimin.”

“I do not! I’m just drunk!”

“It’s cute.”

“I wish I could fall out of this car and have it run me over.”

Jungkook laughed hard and Hanbyul actually felt all right for him to know her secret. At least for right now. Even though he was one of Jimin’s best friends, at least right now her drunk mind did not perceive a threat that he would run and tell. Right now he felt like her friend too, like they were just two drunk girls in the bathroom sharing secrets. Except it was the back of a cab and his only secret was that he wanted to be in consuming love someday. To be honest, Hanbyul did not think being in love agreed with her so far.

Because yes, she was a little bit in love with Jimin and so far it was nothing but stomachaches.

They walked together up to her apartment. She thought he was just being a gentleman, but when she got back from the quickest pee she’d ever taken Hudu on, she found Jungkook puking in her bathroom.

“Mixed my alcohols,” he groaned. 

Well, Hanbyul was drunk enough to spill her secrets but not enough to puke. With any luck, Jungkook wouldn’t even remember these conversations tomorrow; she hadn’t realized he was as or even more drunk than she was.

“You can sleep on the couch,” she told him.

“The couch? Come on, let me share your bed.”

“Jungkook!”

“We don’t have to fuck! Jimin would never forgive me–”

“Stop talking about it!”

“About fucking? Or Jimin? Or fucking Jimin–”

“Jungkook!”

“Come on, you’re practically my sister in law at this point, just let me sleep in your–”

“I am not! What are you talking about?!” She covered her face and leaned against the wall. And refused to admit that she felt some secret little thrill in this teasing, in someone else making her connection to Jimin seem real and acceptable and possible. Even though she knew it wasn’t and that Jungkook was just a brat who was enjoying teasing her –which was sweet in its own way but she was definitely going to die of embarrassment tomorrow if he remembered any of this.

When she uncovered her face, Jungkook was holding Hudu, swaying slowly with the pup under his chin, and humming. 

Until he suddenly set Hudu down and sprinted to the bathroom again. At that point he decided he wanted the couch after all, since it was closer to the toilet. Hanbyul brought him a trash can too and a glass of water, by which point he was already asleep. Not that she was far behind. The room spun as she lay in bed, the events of the day sliding and jostling over each other.

Jimin was so handsome. And sweet. And charming. And kind. And handsome.

It didn’t matter what Jungkook said. Jimin wasn’t interested in her like that, as evidenced by his attention to other women, as evidenced by his mentioning dating other people to her several times now, as evidenced by his joining of a dating app when there was a perfectly ok Hanbyul down the hall.

Plus… Namjoon.

Well. This had been fun. But Hanbyul was never going to drink again and never going to go out with Jungkook and their friends again.

But first she made sure Jungkook was asleep with traitor Hudu curled up on his legs, and closed her bedroom door, and let her vibrator walk her through the memories of the way Jimin had looked and danced, except this time around her, kissing the lingering taste of his drink into her mouth…

Jimin slept like shit. Every time he’d start to doze, he’d grab his phone again, squinting at the blinding brightness to see if there was a message back. Occasionally he’d manage to fall asleep only to bolt up, certain he’d heard his phone ring –that obnoxious awful ring he’d put on ever since that one time Sunnie’s school hadn’t been able to get hold of him because he always kept his phone on silent and they’d called Hoseok, the second emergency contact, to go get Sunnie and she’d thought it meant her dad died too.

There was never an obnoxious ring going off. Instead he drifted in and out of sleep until Sun-young was awake, enough of an excuse to get out of bed and go through the motions of making them both breakfast and rattling off their plans for the day. Not that there was much for this one blessed weekend. Jimin wasn’t teaching any classes or partaking of any workshops or attending any performances by fellow dancers. Sun-young wanted to see her friends but there was nothing planned yet, and she had no weekend dance since there was no reason for her to take on extra. It wasn’t time for dress rehearsals yet. For her final recital.

“We need to grocery shop,” Jimin suggested, because their fridge was empty and that made him think of cooking and food and Hanbyul, which was better than thinking of Sunnie quitting dance. Hanbyul who had not answered his phone call or either of his texts asking if she got home all right. That wasn’t excessive, was it? But she’d been very drunk, and every time he’d tried to make his way over to her, Kim Hayoon kept catching hold of him again –and he couldn’t exactly just shove her off because she sat on the board of a scholarship that aided many of his students, which in turn kept his lights on and doors open.

Hanbyul must be ok. Just hung over. Hoseok said he’d seen Jungkook getting her an Uber and while Jimin would have greatly preferred that someone let him know Hanbyul was heading out so he could catch a ride home with her, he knew he could trust Jungkook. The fact she was drunk was both obvious and endearing, he could see it in the way she danced without her usual reserve, and the exaggerated way she responded when anyone talked to her. She just had a different look in the club when they’d talked that he couldn’t quite explain but it had just felt… different. He hadn’t understood she was drunk at first when they spoke, and maybe she wasn’t yet then, maybe that came later. He didn’t know, she just seemed happy. He had gotten painfully little actual time with her and the injustice of that was palpable. She’d looked amazing and he had never in his life expected to be at a club with her and he would have liked to dance together. Preferably just the two of them… and what the fuck was wrong with him that he hadn’t managed to make it happen?!

“I’m not hungry,” Sun-young said, possibly related to his comment about grocery shopping. He closed the refrigerator, now several degrees warmer, and looked over where Sunnie poked at her gyeran bap, cheek resting on her hand.

“You want cereal instead? We have…” He trailed off, realizing they had none. Hanbyul might have some he could bum off her…

“No,” Sun-young sighed. “Can I watch TV?”

“Sure, but we should go grocery shopping today and figure out what else we need to do… laundry… do you have homework?” Even as he said these things, he frowned. He did need to do these tasks, but he also wanted to just have fun with his daughter. Maybe Hanbyul could come along? He could tease her about last night, make sure she understood he had wanted to dance with her–

But to what end? He’d dance with her and maybe she’d humor him and only think to herself a little why is this old dad wanting to dance with me at the club? Why is he even here? He didn’t usually go to clubs –not because he didn’t enjoy them but because he didn’t usually have the time or energy. But Namjoon was bummed because that girl he’d been dating had called things off and it wasn’t serious but it kinda sucked and so Jimin had called in a favor with Yoongi and put himself together and gone to the clubs.

And there was Hanbyul, for no reason he could comprehend at the time, long hair pulled back to show off her neck, wearing a cute very short dress he’d never seen her in before… vibing with Jungkook. For a moment he’d lit up like a holiday tree with surprise and envy and relief, because here was an opportunity to spend time with Hanbyul in an adult setting except she was already spending that time with Jungkook! 

And then there was whatever Namjoon and Hanbyul had been talking about by the bathroom. He didn’t realize she’d gotten to know so many of his friends around him and now he felt even more like an idiot not to have invited her into his circle long ago. They clearly got along with her, she seemed happy –except for that moment she spoke with Namjoon, and looked so distressed it was hard to hold himself back from running in to save her. Maybe he should have. At the time he’d hesitated because Hanbyul wasn’t his to save and whatever they were talking about wasn’t his business. He’d been anchored by that twist of displeasure that she was young and single and pretty and so were his friends. 

Sun-young curled up on the couch with a blanket and watched some kid drama with an unblinking, disconnected stare. It dragged Jimin from his thoughts of Hanbyul.

“You ok, Sunnie?”

“I’m tired.”

That was wildly unlike her. Jimin perched on the edge of her couch and touched her forehead but couldn’t decide whether it was unusually warm or not. 

“Does anything hurt?” he asked.

“I don’t know.”

“Your head? Your stomach? Your throat?”

“I don’t know, I just feel…”

“Yes?” he prodded, waiting for the revelation.

“Tired.”

Illness in Sun-young always raised a panic in him on par with what he’d experienced when she was only an infant and he and Subin young, inexperienced parents convinced every sniffle could be the first sign of something fatal. Most parents learned over time through proof of the contrary that colds were common and their child was healthy, though the fear always lurked in the shadows. But when Subin was suddenly very sick, and only a short time later died, it broke that security in Jimin. Any illness could be the last one. 

The doctor’s office was used to his overreactions at this point. He didn’t care, though he tried to reign it in once Sun-young made clear she found the coddling overbearing. He tried to trust her assessment of her own body, but she was a child! She gave him nothing to go on this time anyway, just tired, so Jimin checked ears and nose and throat, took her temperature, pressed on her belly, took her temperature again.

“A small fever,” he murmured.

“I think it’s just a cold,” she said, drooping to the couch again. She nudged his leg. “I can’t see.”

“Your vision is hazy?!”

“You’re blocking the TV.”

“Oh…” 

“My throat hurts a little,” she conceded, as if throwing him a bone in his worry. He had thought it looked a little red, her lymph nodes a bit swollen to touch.

This called for an aggressive offense of yuzu jelly tea, popsicles, and Sunnie’s favorite stew samgyetang. But they were out of popsicles, there was only a scrape of yuzu jelly left in the jar to make tea with, and of course he had no samgyetang readily on hand.

He glanced at the clock. It was nearing ten now. Surely Hanbyul would be waking up –even if she’d slept in with a hangover. In fact, he had some Easy Tomorrow she could drink! He should have taken it over last night and regretted his thoughtlessness now. She might be having a rotten morning and it would be shitty of him to show up and ask if she had any yuzu jelly or could make samgyetang for his sick daughter.

But she might be already making it for herself, and she might not mind sharing the jelly, and she might appreciate the Easy Tomorrow later than never. Plus he could confirm with his own eyes she’d gotten home safe.

“I’ll be right back.”

“Where are you going?”

“Just to see if Hanbyul has yuzu jelly.”

“Tell her to come watch TV with me,” Sun-young said from her blanket burrito. “You can say I’m sick if it makes her come.”

“I think you are sick, kiddo.”

“I’m just a little tired.”

She coughed immediately afterwards, as if even her body couldn’t stand by the dismissal of her symptoms. Jimin would never. Already he was evaluating just how far he’d let her symptoms get before he’d take her to the doctor. The answer: not very far.

He felt a twinge of guilt as he knocked on Hanbyul’s door. She might have a headache so he started quietly but when he didn’t hear anything, graduated to the buzzer.

He tracked footsteps to the door and then a pause during which he assumed Hanbyul was peeking through the peephole to see who was bothering her on a Saturday morning. He ran his hand through his hair, hoping he didn’t look too rough.

The door swung open to reveal Jungkook wearing yesterday’s clothes and looking puffy-eyed and crusty. He yawned and scratched at his cheek and gave Jimin a sleepy grin.

“Hey, Easy Tomorrow, thanks,” he said, reaching for the bottle. “I was just heading out. Hanbyul’s still asleep if that’s who you’re looking for.”

Jimin was so completely stunned to be confronted by Jungkook answering Hanbyul’s door that he could only stammer out, “Who else would I be looking for at Hanbyul’s apartment?”

“Yeah, good point.” Jungkook unscrewed the cap from the bottle and downed it in one long chug while Jimin just stood there, waiting for an answer to any of the questions he couldn’t find his voice for: why are you waking up inside Hanbyul’s apartment wearing yesterday’s clothes? Why did you go home with her? Why did you invite her out in the first place? Are you two dating now? Did you fuck?

Bottle empty, Jungkook handed it back to Jimin and clapped him on the shoulder as he said, “It was good you came out last night. I think everyone had a lot of fun.”

“Uh… yeah, uh…”

“Fuck. Think I’ll get some more sleep at home… see ya later. Tell Sunnie I said hey.”

Jungkook did not seem to realize that Jimin was stunned speechless. He set off down the hall, leaving Hanbyul’s door open as if Jimin was going to just waltz right in. She wasn’t even out of bed yet! Had she slept naked after Jungkook…

Jimin pulled the door shut, making sure he heard the click of the lock before sprinting back to the safety of his own apartment. There he snuggled down beside Sun-young and pulled out his phone to order yuzu jelly tea and stew and anything else he could think of that they wanted for delivery, cost be damned. 

What the fuck?! Had Jungkook really gone home with and slept with Hanbyul?

Jimin couldn’t even process it. Jungkook ought to know she was off limits! But also, of course Jungkook wouldn’t think she was off limits, because Jimin never said so, because she wasn’t off limits. Even if it felt wrong for her to not be off limits. Even if Jimin and Hanbyul weren’t dating, she shouldn’t be dating any of his friends either, right?? Because… because there was still an emotional connection there…

Jimin flat out didn’t know what to do. Everything in him warred between marching right over, coming out with it and seeing what she said… and doing anything in the world except that.

But coming out with what? What did Jimin have to offer Hanbyul? Absolutely nothing in some areas and too much in others. A single father, a dead wife, a heart still trying to adjust to the idea of letting someone else in. If Hanbyul was interested in Jungkook, then Jimin was not the guy for her. Jimin should be looking for someone older and settled or something anyway, right? Maybe someone with a kid too, so they could mutually burden each other –not that he thought Sun-young was in any way a burden, but it was a lot to ask someone who wasn’t a parent to suddenly become one!

“Is unnie coming?” Sunnie asked, sitting up and leveling a pink-faced pout in his direction. 

“Oh uh, I don’t know, she wasn’t awake yet.”

“Can you call her? I really want her to come over.”

Jimin stroked Sun-young’s hair and took her acceptance of this touch as proof she was very sick. 

Would it be such a bad thing if Hanbyul wound up with Jungkook? He could use someone to look after him, and she could use someone who could be fun and free with her. And she’d still be in Sunnie’s life, just as an aunt instead of…

Was he really thinking of Hanbyul like this? It wasn’t in any explicit way, words still seemed impossible and ill-fitting and heavy. He didn’t know what he wanted, he doubted Hanbyul wanted this nameless space, he was too afraid to look directly at this thing taking hazy shape in his mind, this future starting to come into focus. Did the future have to be big and scary? Wouldn’t it be the easiest thing in the world right now for Hanbyul to walk in from the other room and settle on the couch with them, legs folded beneath her, Jimin’s arm around her shoulder and Sun-young draped across their laps? Hanbyul’s head settling onto his shoulder…

The physical closeness was the only thing that would be new, and he wanted it. He craved it in such a sudden, overwhelming rush that it almost drove him from the couch to take a lap around the apartment to work out this restless energy. He wanted Hanbyul here and it wasn’t fair that she wasn’t. Sunnie wanted her here too! Couldn’t they just have what they wanted this time? The scene was playing out in his mind, the casual affection, Hanbyul’s hand stroking Sunnie’s hair, Jimin’s fond smile, maybe a soft shared kiss once Sun-young drifted off to sleep halfway through the movie. God, to kiss Hanbyul, to share a warm, close embrace that he’d been deprived of for years! And for the first time in as long, the longing for it didn’t bring him to his knees in grief. Subin was there in his heart, forever and always, but there was space for Hanbyul too, space he desperately wanted her to fill. Butterflies fluttered in his stomach as he stared at the empty space on the couch as if she was really there, as if they were sharing the phantom first kiss. His flush was as real as if they had.

God, he was pathetic. Lonely, and latching on to a fantasy of his neighbor. He tried to push the thoughts from his head with limited success and turned to narrating the TV show to Sun-young instead until she insisted he stop. 

“Is this what you want to watch? Here, let me get you socks and your stuffie. Maybe you need some medicine too? I think delivery will be here soon–”

“Appa just stay still with me.”

He immediately froze, still as a statue as Sun-young adjusted in his arms, her little warm body curled up with his in a way he’d feared she had outgrown. 

Well he sure fucking wasn’t moving now.

“Ok. I’ll stay,” he assured her. 

“Did you message unnie?”

“Yes,” he partially lied. “But she has something else going on. It’s just going to be us, ok?”

“Ok,” Sunnie sighed and he felt her head getting heavier against his chest. 

There. There, if she could accept it, he could too. They didn’t need Hanbyul or anyone else in their lives. The two of them and the memory of Subin were a whole-enough family. Things were already getting better between them since he’d budged on the dance and science, and the future would be ok. 

He’d let Jungkook know to take care because Hanbyul was a good woman, and then he’d let go of that silly dream he’d almost fallen into.

He had Sunnie and Sunnie had him and they didn’t need anyone else in the world.

Except maybe someone to get the delivery at the door so he didn’t have to unsettle his sleeping daughter. Shit! 

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[sassybluee]

Au where DFQC is a former crime boss who's married to actress!XLH. When XLH first met him, she had no idea who he was, but after they got to know each other, DFQC was inspired to set aside his old ways. It's not like he ever really wanted to take over the family business, anyway. He was tired of it all.

Now, he spends his days being a devoted husband and XLH's manager (obviously her management company Shuiyuntian was screwing her over, wasting her talents, etc). He puts his former talents to use in booking XLH's next projects and managing her socmed.

What XLH doesn't know is DFQC spends hours scouring her tags and arguing with her haters under various fake usernames.

It begins because this one person keeps commenting on all of XLH's official posts. Literally every one. DFQC tries to ignore it, even hires an assistant to monitor the socials, but he can't stop himself from obsessing over this one person, waiting to see how they respond. It's usually the same fare, stuff about how XLH has an annoying voice and she acts too cutesy etc etc. He has no choice but to take action.

Naturally things spiral out of control, and before he knows it he has several accounts, each using a different VPN with a different backstory and a different style of writing comments, to defend XLH's honour. He still has the skills of his former life, he could totally figure out where these people are based and teach them a lesson...

Of course. He won't, because he knows XLH would be disappointed in him. But he does spend perhaps a bit too much time fantasizing about it. And he spends a looot of time arguing with these people. So much that XLH starts to notice he seems different.

When DFQC finally reveals his web of fake accounts and XLH's haters, XLH is... touched, but also concerned. Maybe DFQC has a biiit too much time on his hands.

[dragonmarquise]

Everyone keeps talking Abt all the crews and stuff, but like, I never see any content for futurism! Sure there wasn't a lot of stuff for them since they were like, a really small part of the plot, but it would still be awesome to see content for them!!!! So I come bearing a question, do you have hcs for futurism?

Ooo, I have a few for FUTURISM! Not as extensive as my stuff for Devil Theory and DOT EXE, but still. :>

(I know some people kinda debate writing it as FUTURISM vs. Futurism, I'm gonna personally keep all caps but I also understand most people probably don't care either way lol)

Also feel free to send in asks about the other crews/characters too! I might not have a lot for each character though. I also have a general list of LGBT+ headcanons for all the BRC characters, if that interests you! Granted, it's probably not as extensive as some other people's lists.

Anyways, gonna put this under a Read More, it won't get nearly as long as the other two headcanon sets, but it'll be long enough that I'll feel bad about posting this without one. ^^;

I like giving all the crew members themed names, and for FUTURISM I went with computer-related terms! Some of them more obscure than others. So for the members (besides DJ Cyber of course):

Jazz (Related to the Chorus/Jazz version of JavaOS)

Quantum (i.e. quantum computing)

Veronica (an old search engine)

Nyx (The name of a prototype Amiga chipset, though also Greek personification of the night!)

I have a personal idea that after the events of the game, one member from each of the major crews end up joining BRC, basically representing the unlockable characters in the post game. In this case, Nyx is the one who joins BRC (and in my mind she's the default Spring palette in the game), so let's start with her!

Bi, currently dating one of the Eclipse ladies (inspired by this very good fan art btw :D )

All of the FUTURISM gals have amazing skills both with computers and as writers. Nyx ends up being one of two Designated IT Person for BRC, the other being Cueball.

Her and Cueball get into little prank wars, mostly instigated by Cueball for the hell of it. Her opinion of him ranges from genuine respect for his own computer skills to Chump Lord Supreme. Depends on her mood (and how much Cueball has recently pissed her off before asking her about it, lol)

As for the rest of BRC: "Well, they're still kinda chumps, but I guess they're my chumps now, y'know?"

Not afraid to be snarky, even to authority figures (DJ Cyber included)

Now for Jazz (Summer palette):

Is actually a guy who crossdresses! Does drag shows on the weekends too. :D

She is personally not very picky about pronouns, but most people default to referring to Jazz with she/her while in her writer outfit or as her drag persona (she goes by Jazz for both anyways), and he/him when he's not dressed up. But again, not very picky either way.

"I'm just saying, when the cops try to chase me down, they're gonna be looking for a blonde woman, not a guy with dark hair and stubble. Literally, one time I ran around a corner and managed to take off my wig and mask, then just covered up my top with a hoodie I had. Same pants and shoes, but they didn't even notice!"

Truthfully the crossdressing thing was genuinely just for fun, not to mention pretty comfortable while going around doing writer stuff. It wasn't until a while later that she realized it would make for a great disguise as a writer. :P

Nyx and Jazz are basically Besties and will be more than happy to smacktalk about their respective crews behind everyone's backs, lol

Now Quantum (Winter palette):

Runs an underground (kinda literally) server farm for local web hosting, chat sites, and forums. Anyone remember forums? Man, the good ol' days...

Has a hand in a lot of open source freeware projects. Hates companies like Adobe, Apple, Google, and Microsoft with a passion. Big Linux nerd btw, she will talk you ear off about the pros and cons of different distros if you let her.

Actually on that note, if you're not talking to her while she's out and about as a writer, or otherwise talking to her about computer stuff, she's fairly introverted! Especially if you try to talk to her in person instead of via text/chat/email/etc, she's basically more talkative online.

Also very good at sneaking around. Though not really as like spying or anything like that, she just prefers to not get in people's way or annoy them. Unfortunately she has scared DJ Cyber more than once by sneaking up on him by accident, lol

Wears contacts as a writer, but otherwise wears glasses normally. Has been considering getting prescription heavy-duty goggles for her writer activities, so that she doesn't have to bother with the contacts anymore.

And finally Veronica (Autumn palette):

She is genuinely a jerk. Nyx can be snarky sometimes, but not in an overly mean way. Veronica will be more than happy to be nasty to someone if she thinks they deserve it, even if they really don't.

Always looks down on pretty much any other writer outside of FUTURISM. She's still convinced Felix cheated to get his reputation, especially the whole "did it with no boostpack" thing.

Most people would probably consider her a stereotypical Karen ngl :u

So yeah, she's basically That One Teammate Nobody Likes. Veronica is only still in the crew because her skills are second only to DJ Cyber himself. Hell, he really doesn't like her attitude, but can't find a replacement for her in terms of skills. (He's begged Vinyl to formally join FUTURISM in the past, but she always declined, preferring to keep being a freelance writer. And now that she's part of BRC, she's definitely not an option for replacing Veronica, lmao)

She had a crush on Faux, but these days refuses to admit it was ever a thing.

That's about all I got I think! Hope you enjoy these. :>

Small bonus, specific track from the game that I associate with FUTURISM the most: Funk Express!

[scribbled-entity]

Cult of the Lamb Bishop Headcanons

By yours truly, whom can't play the game, and all knowledge of its lore stemming from the wiki and other's interpretations.

My own take on the revived/reborn bishops idea, inspired by those that had made their own, some in particular being @mossyflowers and @cultofthegugy , If you wish to implement these specific ideas to your art and/or story, let me know! and credit would be nice too.

Reborn Bishop's Traits

Besides the usual stuff like being reborn into a follower and losing all their power, Each Bishop still sustains the injury they've received from Narinder upon revival. As it feels to me that those wounds aren't the type heal, but they're reborn as if it healed over, but the damage is still there. Leshy is blind, Heket is mute, Kallamar is deaf and Shamura suffers with typical symptoms of mild traumatic brain injury, particularly short-term memory loss, headaches, dizziness and such. They keep scars of these injuries when they revived.

Narinder would be immune to old age, but wouldn't be immune to starvation, sickness, or any sort of attempt for his life, It's like a very small piece of the power he once had for ruling the domain of death, death won't come for him but if he stumbles into it it'll still take him. Therefore I feel that the others should gain the some boons too. Some of these are a bit of a stretch so feel free to suggest changes or even think up your own interpretations if you wish.

Leshy gains immunity to disorientation, any attempts to confuse him through startling, making many and loud noises, suprise him won't work. The Lamb would have him assigned in keeping order of the cult as they can keep a clear head while chaos ensues.

Heket gains immunity to starvation and poisoning, pretty self explanatory, assigned to deal with anything to do with food, especially cooking it. She wouldn't be inclined to sneakily eat the food supply or during cooking and her immunity to poison let's her check for suspicious substances in the food if anyone tries to sneakily put something that wasn't meant to be there. Immunity to poison because she is acclimated to toxins, There's no suprise that she who can dish out words so toxic and foul that even Narinder mentions it, can handle her own fair share of toxins.

Kallamar is immune to diseases, He's assigned as the doctor of the cult as he can effectively treat the sick without getting himself infected. And his immunity keeps him from getting scared of getting sick himself. Works for him as he isn't exactly fond of being around other people much. His familiarity with diseases and his cautiousness lends well with new role.

Shamura gains immunity to lies and trickery, their domain was knowledge but their knowledge is used offensively through tactics and strategy. No deception will work on them, as despite their constant headaches, seeing through facades is instinctive and accurate, quickly and strategically breaking through them with ease, their deduction is as sharp as ever. There's no other creature more capable of moving through thick web of lies than a spider. They deal with problems that arise between cult members, but the siblings often do their best to keep things from getting bad enough that it has to go through them as they didn't like disturbing them and causing them trouble.

Random Bishop Interactions

Heket has exaggerated way of expressing her emotions as she naturally compensate for her inability to speak. She often argues with Narinder and suprisingly Narinder quickly catches on with her way of communication. Some of the followers find the sight of the two arguing, with Heket making big gestures and expressive movements while hearing Narinder's remarks amusing. She can do sign language but once she gets impatient she instinctively just do gestures.

Shamura still loves Narinder and their new ability to see through lies and facade finally gave them the ability to truly know what Narinder felt about them. Because of this Shamura couldn't help but forgive Narinder quickly after their revival, but understands that their siblings are entitled to forgive him at their own pace. They enjoy seeing his true reactions whenever they say nice things about him.

Leshy despite being in charge of keeping order, occasionally ends up joining in with the ruckus when it ends up seeming to be fun. Chaos still run in his blood, but because of this he occasionally gets scolded for not doing his job. Leshy ends up being quite liked because of his mischievousness and keeps moral high.

Kallamar is often lock themselves up early on, being reborn to a measly follower made them feel more vunerable than ever. But despite this he learns to takes pride to his new role as the doctor and it allowed him to acclimate with the other members on a slower pace.

All the other bishops loved and cared about Narinder in their own way, But Narinder only truly felt that with Shamura, spending time with them when reborn will open Narinder's eyes to how they saw him, and how they all loved and cared about him.

Heket became particularly aggressive towards Narinder when he started becoming too ambitious with power because she as the Bishop of Famine hated greed in particular. His greed for power she didn't think he needed nor deserved rubs her the wrong way. Greed is often one of the causes of famine and she knew that if Narinder grew greedy for power, it'll be her and her siblings in danger. Awhile after being reborn she eventually somewhat makes up with Narinder when Narinder sees that they're both quite alike, both come across as rude and cold towards others, thinking being soft is weakness, fear being a good way to control others, and him learning why she's so aggressive towards him in particular, and learning to atleast try to get along for the sake of their siblings.

Narinder grows some level of respect for his brother Kallamar as he demonstrates that while he may be fearful and cowardly, this trait often kept both of them safe during missions as he's preparedness and cautiousness proved to be quite useful. Not to mention that when forced into a fight, fights incredibly fiercely without sacrificing caution. Though they also often take much longer to do missions because of him taking the long route of things every time.

Leshy wasn't that quick to forgive Narinder, but his anger towards him is often quickly got replaced by his excitement to finally be an older brother. He was so excited to finally have a younger brother to guide himself but things went by so quickly and before he knew it, Narinder betrays them.

All the siblings share deep respect for their eldest Shamura and often becomes the reason why they try to get along despite not wanting to otherwise.

Outro? Stuff

This is my first time for awhile making any sort of headcanons thing and certainly my first long one so please be nice to me sob

Do go check out @mossyflowers and @cultofthegugy ! I think they make cool art.

[lycanlovingvampyre]

MAG 110 Relisten

Activity on my first listen: putting up a new fence

This is one of my favorite episodes!

Okay okay, everybody is like Tarantino here, Tarantul- aaaah Tarantino there. But what about Neil Lagorio!! I have been puzzled about this for so long... Because when I think of "the name in practical creature FX", I think of Stan Winston. But the stop motion doesn't add up. Here I would think of Phil Tippet or Ray Harryhausen. Not sure if Harryhausen isn't a bit too old, already starting his career in the 40s and 50s, while Stan Winston and Phil Tippet started their careers in the 70s - like Lagorio. Stan Winston also has the parallel of suffering from an illness and eventually succumbing to it. I mean it's totally possible that it's a mix of FX artists. But I would really love to know if there was an inspiration.

"But we are the true artists. A director may quite literally call the shots, but it is the cinematographer that makes them. We choose the angles, the lighting, pretty much everything that you see on the screen. The camera is a brush, and we are the hand, the arm, the eye. The director’s basically just the mouth, making pointless noise while the hand does the actual work. Almost every famous director that you know who has a distinctive visual style has simply managed to lock down a talented DoP." Yes, yes, this is about visual here, but can we please take a moment and think about the hilarity that is Alex, the director of TMA, reading a statement that roasts directors?? OMG wait, didn't the statement-giver in MAG 108 also roast the director? And it's also read by Martin/Alex!

"If you’re wondering how easy it is to recreate shots that only exist in the hazy memory of an eccentric, or to frame scenes when you only get the typo-riddled script the morning before, I can tell you: not easy. Not easy at all." Maybe it's all a bit much?

"Dexter clearly wasn’t sleeping. He had insisted on using old equipment, and avoided digital almost entirely, to the point where several of the crew were using pieces of kit they’d never even seen before." Hm, I mean, none of the statements record digitally, not just Web ones. But it's the Web that needs them on tape...

"I stood there, unable to step inside, not because of fear, but because this space inside was threaded all over with film strips. Up and down, one side to the other, wrapping around and through each other. I gingerly reached out and touched one. And as I did, Dexter seemed to emerge from the darkness. At first I thought he was taller than usual, but then I realized that he was suspended ever so slightly by the strips of film, his feet a good couple of inches off the floor." A fine material to spin a web with ::::)

MARTIN: "I mean, I think it sounds like a Jurgen Leitner book. About spiders. Hm. Good John didn’t have to read this one, anyway. I know he’s not a fan. Although, this one wasn’t too bad, actually! I – yeah. Anyway." The last episode featuring Martin, MAG 108 was a Lonely statement and he also said it wasn't too bad. And now it's a Web statement and he doesn't find it too bad. Walking along a thin line of Lonely and Web there.

Hm, that transition into the tunnels was a bit quick for my liking..

Something distantly related. I was looking up something in the episode discussion posts on Reddit a while ago, initially looking for something in MAG 111. Somehow I also took a look at this episode. There were people discussing the possibility of Elias being Jonah! Like, HOW? How did they predict that at this point? I mean, Martin and Basira are talking about Elias' memory insertion ability and people in the Reddit post also talked about this and about him potentially being able to insert memories of an entire life - bodyhopping like this. There were also discussions of Elias possibly targeting Martin next, but yeah... There was also something about the statement - the Web being close to the Eye? It was a Web statement, but cameras are usually Eye.

@a-mag-a-day

[mysticraven20]

for the fic asks:

💖 🙌🍎📈🛌

💖 Which of your fics is your pride and joy?

Gabriel Gets Used To… — The first fic was written during a writers block. I decided to write from another characters POV and chose Gabriel Agreste. I love this one will all my heart!

The Situationship — to me it’s everything I stand for as a writer. Romance. Humour. And a dash of seriousness!

🙌What's a line or paragraph of yours that you're proud of?

The proposal in Let’s Be Us Again

Marinette watched as a wide smiling Adrien let go of her hands and moved in front of her, dropping down onto one knee and offering the box up towards her. She was almost blinded as he opened the lid, the city lights reflecting off the emerald cut diamond and making it look nothing less than magical.

“Marinette Dupain-Cheng, this is the engagement ring of Adrien Agreste, which grants the power of my unwavering love and devotion for my remaining years to come. You'll use it for the greater good. Once the mission is over, you'll be mine forever.... Can I trust you?”

🍎What's something you learned while researching for a fic?

While writing Poisson d’Avril! I learned a lot more about the French tradition of sticking fish on each other’s back on April Fools Day. That was fun!

📈Which are your top three most popular fics by bookmarks?

A Masked Deal

"I know we both struggle with holding down a relationship, and obviously if villains are still around we're never going to be able to commit, so how about we commit to each other? If neither of us are in a relationship by twenty-two we marry each other."

Two heroes ... Ladybug and Chat Noir

One deal ... "If we're not married, we'll marry each other.

One reveal ... on the wedding day

A Renewed Friendship

Adrien Agreste was a famous Olympian. He'd given up everything to pursue his dream, much to his fathers dislike. But an injury takes him out the sport forever and his playboy attitude from over the past three years is causing trouble for his aspiring career.

Marinette Dupain-Cheng is a designer who wishes to become famous. She is struggling to get her big break thanks to being black listed by none other that Gabriel Agreste, Adrien's father. She dreams for her little company to expand and finally get the recognition it deserves.

Perhaps these two old friends can help each other out. He needs to change his playboy imagine and she needs someone to wear her designs and take her seriously.

No kwami's or Miraculous

Inspired by ‘Fix Her Up’ by Tessa Bailey

The Honey Trap

Marinette Dupain-Cheng was fed up of men and after finding her fiancé in bed with somebody else, she was hell-bent that no woman would ever feel the way she did.

A year on and she is one of Paris’ most successful honey trappers.

Still recovering from the emotional turmoil of not only her failed relationship but also from the one night of bliss with her childhood crush, Marinette puts all her time and energy into exposing cheating men. That is until a unique opportunity comes up.

Three years after their night together, Adrien Agreste is back in her life, and she has six weeks to trap him. The only problem is Adrien isn’t the only one keeping secrets and Marinette finds herself in a tangled web of secrets, lies and lust.

🛌 What's a trope you haven't written, but want to?

I’d like to write a brother’s best friend/worst enemy trope…but it would be quite difficult to write in this fandom and I’m not sure anyone would read it!