#sometimes i think maybe if i was a foot shorter people would see me as pathetic and weak and in need of care and comfort | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

rimouskis · 2 years

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so I went to seattle

(looong post ahead)

I travelled! far!!! to a place I haven't been since I was, like... 11, maybe? 12? it's hard to remember, but it has been SUCH a long time since I've been west of, like, St. Louis, and god it feels good (more on that later).

first and foremost: I got to meet the lovely @ticklefighthockey!! she is a delight! she is an immaculate hostess! she has two very adorable dogs who rule her household! she is very good at being game for just about anything!

it was such a treat to meet up with another fandom friend. I am (more on this later) working myself towards a self-understanding that has room for respecting online friendships just as much as in-person ones. I think I still sometimes deal with residual shame over having more online friends than offline friends—just cultural baggage that says people with online friends are losers and socially-inept and weird. while I KNOW that isn't true, I've always had complicated feelings about the fact that since college my primary friendship circle has ALWAYS been online, while that has never been true for people in my offline life.

but (more on this later as well), I'm trying to be more understanding and kind towards myself about that, and trying to embrace the crazy cool uniqueness of it, which is a real gift.

anyways, back to fandom friends I get to hang out with:

isn't that amazing. I was agog at it.

jes is funny and engaging and game for anything! this is wonderful for me, a person who tries very hard to be funny and engaging and game for anything! of course, this meant we were aggressively "NO I WANT YOU TO HAVE THE BEST EXPERIENCE POSSIBLE DURING THIS VISIT"-ing at each other constantly through the entire weekend. truly the Nice Gal version of two rams clacking horns, but instead of fighting over potential mates (hi Sid) we were beating each other's skulls silly and yelling "NO BUT WHAT DO YOU WANT TO DO?"

highly amusing to me, but also very conducive to, in fact, having the best experience possible. we ran around town desperately trying to cram things into an incredibly condensed schedule, but I felt like I saw so much!

we were able to take her dogs—who are truly delightful and DECEPTIVELY YOUNG. you wouldn't know from how she talks about pip but he is 100% pure muscle (could give hornqvist a run for his money) and deeply willing to play tug-of-war until someone dies (it will be you. you will be the one to die. he will win.) and darling ruthie who will hate you until she decides she likes you (this will likely involve carrots) and after she likes you she does indeed become the precious angel baby of legend—out on an OUTDOOR HIKE! through a FOREST! near a LAKE!

these are in fact pedestrian things in seattle but to me, a poor midwesterner who lives on the very very tippy top of the appalachian region, this was GREAT FUN and MUCH EXCITEMENT. so we harnessed the dogs and embarked upon what we thought was a leisurely 4.2 mile hike and instead ended up being a wham-bam-thank-you-ma'am-please-take-care-not-to-step-off-the-path-by-a-few-inches-lest-you-immediately-tumble-down-a-hundred-foot-ravine-to-your-grisly-(but-green-and-verdant!)-death-while-also-dragging-a-muscled-dog-with-you 0.42 mile MAD DASH.

we sped through it thanks to aforementioned muscled dog (and sister) having zero regard for imminent death (who cares about PERILOUS TRAILS when there are THINGS TO SNIFF) and at its end was a lake! wow!

it was gorgeous and lovely and I would, in fact, hike a death-defying 0.42 miles again to see it.

then I successfully talked jes into letting me swing by pike place market (literally solely for the 'gram), but there was some fall festival going on, which is cute but also made it crowded as shit, so I took my coveted pic and bolted

walking through downtown seattle was nice, even if I had to kind of jog because my days of making friends who are shorter than me (which is a feat) are over, and I am now cursed with friends who are in fact above average height, which makes me feel weird and also short (which I am). I liked seeing the city and also sort of being able to confirm that the city is nice and good and not what the NIMBYs and right-wing pundits would have you believe has happened to seattle. it's a good city! it's beautiful! literally everyone I met was so nice! (except for one kraken fan but we'll get to him).

speaking of hockey:

my god, does seattle know how to put on a show. I was agog at the arena. it is shiny and new and impressive and beautiful and full of wood paneling and GREENERY and all the athletic, clear-faced seattleites who occupy the city. I was in a state of shock. this is, in fact, the first NHL arena I've been to that isn't PPG Paints.

and it is so beautiful that i was immediately consumed with envy. how dare this new team, with all its west coast wealth, have better accommodations and audiovisuals and LIGHT UP SCULPTURES than my legacy appalachian team?

I swallowed my jealousy down and just took it all in. they basically put on a full amazon original before each period. there is LORE and the kraken entreat you to buy into it with full casts and impressive animations and a glow-in-the-dark tentacle erupting out of the ice. it is very effective. I did, in fact, buy merch.

also I dragged jes around during an intermission to track down the band and drumline because I fucking love a good drumline and if the pens knew what was good for them they would iNVEST IN A DRUMLINE

but I was thinking to myself that this is literally exactly how you build a fanbase. this is hockey made thrilling. this is excitement. this is a PRODUCTION. this is what the golden knights want to be. this is, verily, the exact sort of shindig I would bring a kid to if I endeavored to make them into a hockey fan. I think it would work. it was a whole experience in the way pens games just... are not. pens games are hockey games! a kraken game is a circus, a TV show, and a lightshow with also some hockey. I was so blown away.

but let's get to why I was there:

DAN POTASH.

and also some guys I guess:

I'm pleased to report geno looks as pretty in white in person as he does on tv. he is so big. he never, as jes puts it, shuts his mouth. ever.

sid was also there I guess. here's a rearview shot:

jes got to witness firsthand how I physically cannot shut up during a hockey game (I regret to inform you all that I am the "talking to the players/the universe in a desperate plea for good bounces" sort of fan), and was also witness to me laughing hysterically, truly like a madwoman, when the two kraken goals were called back. jes has a better recap of the game, but I can just say that I thoroughly enjoyed myself. I have seen much more embarrassing defeats at the hands of much less entertaining teams, so I was ready to bear that cross.

that being said, there was a drunk kraken fan the row ahead of us who was verbally harassing a penguins fan in his row. he was yelling at him, trying to get his attention by calling him "letang" (the jersey the pens fan was wearing), and even threw the free giveaway hat at him to try and get his attention. mr. not-letang very smartly sat still and refused to look over. I was disappointed at that behavior and also really displeased that the drunk fan's friend didn't do jack shit to stop his behavior... but that's drunk people for you, I guess!

anyways when the kraken scored the (first) empty netter I turned to jes and said we should blow this popsicle stand. and that we did lol. I regret none of it! pens you suck and I love you so dearly <3

the next day I tearfully said goodbye to my new best friend, ruthie, and then maybe waved at jes idk who cares (I'm joking, we—after very extensive fanfic brainstorming sessions in the car to and from brunch—expressed SO EARNESTLY and HEARTFELT-LY how much we enjoyed the trip, as we were both so determined to Get A Good Grade In Visiting Fandom Friends, Something Normal To Want And Possible To Achieve).

and then I got to see my aunt and uncle! they moved out there for the tech boom back in the 90s and have been there ever since. they're incredibly cool and we talked SO much

(something else I've learned about myself as an adult: I talk way too fucking much. I thought it was bad when I had an in-person job, and now that I do WFH it's literally like I'm being paid by the word I speak. big kudos to anyone who's withstood being near me for longer than an hour).

my aunt took me on a hike and we got to see old-growth forest AND a lake AND the skyline, which was so sick

talking with her was incredible. she's a very interesting person and a complete city-slicker and is... kind of eerily like me? like I saw a lot of similarities between her and I as we talked and interacted with my uncle. we have similar communication styles and I see myself a bit in her. something that's heartening to me is that she's, like... in her late 50s and childless and so youthful and full of attack attack go go go energy and has the same ruthless desire to UNDERSTAND and BE UNDERSTOOD that I do, and I liked talking with her. she's so receptive to youth culture and to aspects of things she doesn't understand in her quest to understand them, and it makes for such engaging conversation.

my uncle, too, is really neat. I like him so much, and I wish I knew more about him? my dad is so reticent about his family sometimes, and I'm still so desperately trying to tease out the full story of what growing up in that family was like (for longtime followers, this is my uncle who got written out of my grandma's will). he has great energy and is pretty chill (and was literally recovering from intense hip surgery while I was there, he's such a champ haha) and I wish I could see him and my dad interact more. why did all my dad's brothers have to scatter across this country??

he found me interesting, I could tell, and that was really validating and nice. we had awesome conversations about how I got into hockey (my aunt is super, like... 2nd-wave-y feminist and does not get my hockey love due to the sport's chauvinism) and also how I found community online. my aunt is a writer in her free time and hasn't ever really been able to find her niche online and really wanted my input about how I'd been able to befriend people across the country, and world, online.

that too was really validating and cool. I've always sort of put myself down about not having as many IRL friends, but seeing it through their eyes sort of helped me shift my mindset. I DO have amazing friends! they're close mentally if not physically! and they lead to amazing things! they were so jazzed about me hosting friends from all over the country who'd come to visit me in the name of hockey. while I get all whiny about not having enough people to do stuff with locally, my aunt was like "you have friends WHERE?" and they were so into it. they loved that I had worldwide friends and was finding connection wherever I went. it was great.

also we saw jesus at a grocery store. yes, it was halloween, but it was a funny encounter. he was in the produce section.

then we went to a WATERFALL that was TERRIFYING IN ITS SCALE

this thing was incredible and man... man... I need to go back. I have to. I always thought as a kid that I'd end up moving out west. even before my twilight phase got me fully obsessed with washington, I loved the look and nature and majesty of the PNW. since the first time I visited there, I knew something about that area spoke to me.

and it was so, so cool to reconnect with that after over a decade away. when I was there I felt like a sort of... idealized version of myself. like that version was within reach. that I could become a really cool version of myself if I lived there. an alternate path, you know?

maybe the PNW is in my future. it could be. I always thought it would be as a kid. funnily enough, a hockey team got in the way and sent me east instead, but like I always say... I don't know if pittsburgh is forever! I want to live a grand adventure, and I want to live many places, and maybe one day I wind up there for a spell.

there's just something about that part of the country. something about me when I'm there.

this was such a good vacation. it was short, but it was honestly practically idyllic. I will be back. hopefully soon. there is so much unexplored... I want to devour that state over a summer one day.

people are great. friends are great. family is great. nature is great. life is good.

#long post #I'm not joking this is. so long.#anyways here's my seattle retrospective #it isn't very much about hockey haha

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creoterative · 1 year

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Tagged by @nullians , thank you so much!

Rules: Answer the questions and tag 9 people you want to know better/catch up with! (I’m sorry, it’s probably not gonna be 9 for me, I don’t know that many people yet xD)

Last Song:

-Bad Blood by Creature Feature. I’ve known this song for years, but it only came up to me again recently, probably because I found Five Thousand Foot Krutch again and I always listen to both bands simultaniously for whatever reason... Also I’m currently trying to figure out my storyboard for my first ever animated video, and One Foot in the Grave by Creature Feature is gonna be the song for it, that’s a reason I got back to it. I’m not expecting much though xD

Three Ships:

-Hmmm... Alright, first, I wanna add, that I really don’t like it if I have to explain why I ship certain characters with each other, because for me shipping is just part of the whole fictional thing and I don’t like it if people come after others for liking certain ships. So... yeah, that being said, I’m just gonna explain a little xD

First ship is Marlon x Brody. I personally don’t see it after their secret is exposed, and as I played it out in my own story for Marlon, I don’t think they would go further than just having a crush on each other. But I like their dynamic as a leader pair, you know, her being his second-in-command, even though she has her anxiety issues (and we all know what happens when he has his, ehem, little outbursts, so...) and in general, I can see them as partners, working together, while slightly blushing sometimes, you know what I’m saying? XD

Second ship is gonna be Arthur Morgan and Mary. First of all, yes, they were a pair at some point, but... I still wanted to list them, I like their story together and how they like to tease the other. And to be honest, their relationship reflects perfectly what I have with someone, so... yeah, only natural I think that relationship is well written and pretty accurate, eh?

Last but not least, Li Ling and Tang Xuan. I gotta admit, I haven’t played Dislyte for a longer time now, I dunno, it’s one of these games, that I get bored of from time to time, then I get really hyped again and the cycle continues, BUT I will never get rid of it, for that I love it too much. Back to the ship, Li Ling is my favorite by a length and I like how him and Tang Xuan are very casual with each other. You know, I really love it when relationships are portrayed as the normalest thing ever and it’s not a big deal, because yes, to the people involved it may be, but not to everybody else. I love it when they do normal stuff together, like best friends would do, because that’s what a relationship is all about, right? Being able to let loose with the other person, be yourself and act as normal as ever, just with very strong feelings for the person next to you xD And I can totally see that with these two.

Currently Reading:

-Sherlock Holmes. I have a list of some older books I want to read to get more writing skills. If that works, well, we’ll see, but it’s fun, especially since Sherlock Holmes books are really interesting and funny in some weird way. I’m reading them in german though, not sure if my english is good enough to read the originals.

Last Movie:

-Last one I watched in cinema was Avatar 2 and I gotta admit... the visuals were astonishingly great, there’s no doubt. But... three hours is too much and I don’t like it if too many characters are involved. I like character depth, maybe that’s why I can’t focus on Dislyte as well, too many characters being developed too fast, my brain can’t compete...

And last one I watched at home was Top Gun: Maverick, with I thought was a wayyy better experience. Shorter, good character development, nice story, good addition to the first movie... and I like jets xD

Craving:

-Time.... I need time, that’s all. I want to continue writing the next chapter for my Marlon story, and I’m currently on it, but my goal for writing at least 10.000 words per chapter is a big one xD So far it worked though...

Thanks for tagging me, again, really enjoyed answering these questions!

Tagging: @ericsonclan @elsaedelweiss @shinneth @anghju @the-rational-mind

#tumblr games #community #fun stuff #twdg marlon #twdg brody #rdr2 arthur #rdr2 mary #dislyte li ling #dislyte tang xuan

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midnight-omega · 11 months

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World Basics

Heeyyy yall I decided to kick off this blog by answering some worldbuilding questions posted awhile ago by pheonixwaller

I'm gonna break them up by heading and post them as i go!

Also this is my world and my opinions so like if ur own omegaverse doesn't follow this or you don't agree or do the things i say i dislike its all good its not meant to hurt you we're all just having fun here and we like different kinds of soda :))

Let's go under the cut !

Let’s start with the world in general.

What are the overall population ratios? Are alphas and omegas common or rare? Are the ratios stable or does your world have decreasing numbers of alphas/omegas?

I always flip flop on this question tbh

I think the three dynamics are all pretty equally balanced. I always see worlds where betas are way more common than alphas or omegas but then all the world building and all their plots focus on the alphas and omegas. Not to bash this kind of world, like do whatever makes u feel good, but it never made sense to me why a beta majority world would cater to the other two dynamics so hard. It also doesn’t make sense to me when a lot of stereotypical betas read very ace/aro to me and the only ones making babies are the other two. Like… but then how would a majority beta world reproduce? Again this is mostly aimed at the au’s overused stereotypes and obvi there are more dynamic set ups of beta majority worlds but personally I never got it.

So, I think it makes sense that there’s a fairly equal distribution. Sometimes it maybe shifts with time so one is more majority than the others but it always kind of balances back out. I don’t really like thinking about the genetics that deeply either like the whole oh a beta alpha couple couldn’t have an omega child bc blah blah blah like anyone can have anyone idc :>

I will say tho ! I do headcanon female alphas and male omegas to be rather rare with a lot of stereotypes, sexualizing, and discrimination around them. I do have a reason for this but I think that's a different post bc it has a lot to do with like fake human history and fake evolution LMFAO

Can women be alphas, can males be omegas? Can male omegas father children and can women alphas bear? Can betas have children?

Yes and yes! Female alphas and male omegas do in fact exist.

Alpha females cannot conceive in my verse and nor can male omegas father children. Once upon a time they could, but not in modern times. Again this is like a whole evolution thingy I thought up which deserves its own post lol.

Betas can have children! As long as one partner has a vulva and one has a penis :>

Are there certain physical characteristics that people associate with one secondary or another? Ex: Heavily muscled alphas or soft omegas?

Alphas are stereotyped to be tall and muscular. Omegas are stereotyped to be short, dainty, and soft. Betas get to own their bodies tbh, they don’t have many physical stereotypes. Maybe lean betas, but I wouldn’t say that it's super prominent.

However, these are not universally true at all. I personally hate the all alphas are huge and love sports and all omegas are under 5 foot and don’t move worldbuilding. Bodies of all dynamics are just as diverse as in irl. These beauty standards and stereotypes exist, however, and are just as destructive as irl ones and do just as much harm to alphas and omegas who don’t look like the posters they see trying to sell them bras or sneakers.

How often do heats/ruts occur on average? Can omegas only get pregnant during a heat or anytime?

Heats occur once every two months although it’s not uncommon for them to occur less frequently or more frequently based on diet and stress levels (exactly like an irl period tbh). Heats last 4-6 days on average, but ofc they can be shorter or longer depending on the person.

Ruts occur about once a month, but same as heats they can be less regular depending on a lot of external factors. Ruts only last about a day and it can be cause for concern if they last longer than that.

Once mated cycles will tend to sync, although it may take a few months, though they will not be shorter or less severe.

A beta heat/rut (again smth that deserves its own post lol) doesn’t occur unless they’re mated to an alpha/omega respectively. Their cycles sync to their mates, but their heats/ruts tend to be very short compared to an alpha or omega.

Omegas and vulva having betas can get pregnant at any time. Omegas are just waaayy more fertile during heat, so pregnancy is almost a guarantee, while compared to out of heat it’s just a chance depending on where they are in their cycle.

How long do heats/ruts last?

Jumped the gun on explaining that one didn’t I oops. To reiterate a heat lasts about 4-6 days with the first 2 days being more gentle preheat like symptoms. The third, fourth, and fifth days are like the heat heat you think of this is when they’re fertile and slick coated and ready to fuck and crampy and tired and sick. The last day or two is like a wind down for the body and the omega is usually just very tired and lethargic. They may also eat a lot to regain strength now.

A rut only lasts a day. An alpha will probably feel irritable and confrontational the day before, and can knot the day of. If a rut lasts longer than two days it is recommended to seek medical help as the body starts to strain and inappropriately allocate resources after too long. Alphas just aren’t built for the long haul like omegas are!

Are mating bites a one-and-done, or can new mates be taken with new bites?

I’m always a little unsure about mate questions.

I think a person can be mated more than once but it’s not a matter of like oh new person bit me old person is erased, it doesn’t work like that. A mating bite is a very serious thing as it creates a dependency to the people involved. This kind of pheromonal and chemical dependency just isn’t erased when a new flavor is introduced. In order to have one mate erased the bond needs time to fade. Unfortunately this time period can be long and extremely difficult especially for bonds that have lasted a long time. It’s like severe withdrawal that often requires outside help and medical attention. Not only can it be physically draining but it can cause severe depression and even suicide. Think irl withdrawal symptoms. It’s an addiction and you have to beat it.

That’s why it’s not recommended to mate before you’re very very sure you’re ready. It can be erased and you can mate again, but is it worth the pain?

What about kids? Do omega bodies reject sex/children for anybody but their bonded mates?

An omega can be impregnated by anyone. There’s not really… much else to say here lol. Egg meet sperm, doesn’t matter who’s.

Is there an emotional/psychic connection for bonded mates?

No.

When you’re mated to a person you can sort of…smell whatever pheromones they’re emitting to a more specific emotions (a stranger might smell upset but your mate will smell depressed or stressed or distraught). So in a way you can read their emotions much much better, but it’s not psychic and it’s not something you can feel from ten miles away nor is it fool proof!

Can bonding bites be anywhere, or are they required to be on the neck?

Mating bites must be on the neck as the scent glands here are the strongest, most sensitive ones. These ones kinda dominate all the other ones and are in charge of distributing all those good scent chemicals everywhere else. When mixing a scent with another person, aka mating, it needs to be at the control center not at one of the side branches! A bite on the wrist or thigh will feel nice and smell for awhile but it won’t create the dependency a proper mating bite on the neck will.

Is there anything special about how bonding works? Venoms? Ceremonies? Do they have to consummate within a certain timeframe?

So I kinda talked about it in the other two but to me it's an addiction to another person’s scent and the pheromones in their saliva. You will crave them. The way the smell yes, but also something very carnal that you can’t exactly place. That’s the saliva! The spit is also what will change the scent of the person to compliment their mate’s more. Scents are still unique but you can tell when someone’s been mated or not. This addiction and need for another person can be broken but it’s difficult.

Mating bites will need to be refreshed or they’ll fade and trigger a withdrawal. But healthy mates will crave the bites anyway and refresh on their own accord !

Mating ceremonies usually involve the entire pack/s. They’re large parties and no expense is spared. The bite itself, however, is a private affair. The public affairs and what they entail depend on the culture and religions of the packs involved. A pack following a paganistic lunar cult will probably celebrate under a full or new moon. A buddhist pack might partake in group meditations and light incense together. A catholic one will involve a priest and vows to god. A demon cult might shed blood! While atheist packs probably just have a big elaborate party. Since my world combines made up religions and real world ones the variety is very large!

Timeframe again kinda depends on the people, packs, culture, and religions involved. For example a more freeform relaxed kinda pack might be chill with letting their members mate before even having the ceremony! Whereas a conservative Catholic one would Not accept such a thing at all. Mate bites come AFTER the declaration to god thank you very much!

Think about anatomy. Do omegas have cloaca? Is it only male omegas who have cloaca, or do female omegas have two wombs? Do female alphas have enlarged bits to deliver seed?

Whew this is a hotly contested one.

I’ve toyed with intersex male omegas and female alphas. I’ve played with boy pussies and the idea can be very fun but for this world I think I’m gonna have to stick with the butt babies sorry yall.

Ofc it has to make sense and be sanitary tho so… they’re not really butt babies.

I am in favor of a cloaca and valve system. The vagina doesn’t open into the anus like ive seen in some mock diagrams (do yall want poop in ur vag?), they don’t even share the same entryway perse. It’s like a valve that closes one side when the other is in use. Arousal opens the entryway to the vagina, having to take a dump opens the anus. The tissue here is also way way way more elastic than your average anus allowing for birth with minimal tearing.

Female omegas only have one womb, there’s biologically no need for two.

I’m in favor of the retractable penis option for female alphas. I want them to be able to give a good dicking down same as their male counterparts :>

Are chances of being an alpha or omega random, or do alpha/omega pairs have greater chances of similar children? Can people breed for better chances of one or the other?

I like it to be random! Maybe something you’re exposed to in the womb that can change or smth like that idk. I just don’t really like thinking out the ratios and who can have what babies, it’s not fun for me personally. I mean irl sex is random so why not all these too? Maybe sperm decides the secondaries as well as primary idk!

Are birth control, heat/rut suppressants, and scent suppressants common, unavailable or illegal on a worldwide basis?

So it kinda depends on the level and what you’re trying to achieve!

Scent suppressants and blockers are very common and sold over the counter as pills, patches that go over the scent glands, or as perfumes/colognes.

Birth control is also fairly easy to get. Condoms both with and without extra room for knots are available at any pharmacy or convenience store. Female condoms and iuds are a thing for female betas and omegas (these aren’t common for male omegas due to anatomy differences). Birth control pills are also available but these are prescription and come with the typical irl side effects. I will say in conservative, traditionalist packs the pill is kinda frowned upon if taken by omegas since yk they’re supposed to be pregnant.

Heat and rut suppressants… it depends. Very mind symptom relievers can be bought over the counter, but these are very ineffective and just kinda like.. Help with cramps or mood stability. If an individual has a severe rut or heat a doctor can prescribe a suppressant to either reduce the severity/longevity of one, or reduce how often they happen. A rut or heat still occurs on these pills but they’re very manageable. Medications that completely block a heat or rut are illegal as they can have severe consequences. There is a black market for these products and it’s not as hard to find a dealer as authorities make it seem…

Is omega trafficking a problem?

I think it happens and there’s def like awareness campaigns about it the way there are about human and sex trafficking in our world, but it’s not something like extremely rampant and on the radar of most common people.

Are there power structures based on secondary gender? Are omegas oppressed? Are alphas required to do anything near ruts to prevent violence?

In a traditionalist society the alpha is the top of the food chain. They’re the leaders. Omegas are at the bottom and are expected to be homemakers and childrearers. Betas are kinda like viking women. They can move up and down the rungs as they please. Leader position? Cool just don’t usurp the reigning alpha. Wanna have kids? Cool have fun at home.

There are echos of this in some modern cultures, packs, and religions, however everyday society is slowly moving away from this kind of structure. Stereotypes still exist and are still forced on people, but perhaps not to the same extent.

Omegas are not oppressed, but if they come from a traditionalist pack they may feel forms of oppression even though they are generally okay in society at large.

Alphas were never expected to contain ruts, though sometimes radical campaigns and proposals do throw this idea out there…

Think of famous historical figures. How would they have landed on your gender scale? Was Queen Elizabeth I an alpha? What about Helen of Troy? These historical figures can lead to modern modes of thought.

Hmm… I think a lot of male leader figures were alphas. I think a lot of female leader figures were probably betas. Religious figures rarely have gender assigned to them to prevent bickering within the religion. Imagine if Jesus of Nazareth was an omega like nah they refuse to disclose that with the goal of making him relatable to all.

I think in general a lot of historical figures where the secondary gender was known (not sure if Homer would have stated that about Helen of Troy yk? Idk if anyone knew what the fuck Sejong was yk? Like history as a smth we study is very very very new and things just weren’t written down!) they followed their stereotypes. Leader and military alphas, caretaker an activist omegas, business oriented betas. There’s also the very strong possibility that some figures faked their gender to get them there. What if Stalin was an omega? Would the Soviet Union have accepted him if he was? Probably not!

So even though we are breaking down these harmful stereotypes in this modern day setting, that doesn’t mean we don’t have a long history of pain to unravel.

What about religion? How has religion handled the secondarys?

!!! Depends on the religion !! I have a super catholic character in the story I'm building this world for so that's the religion I've focused most on. I also made up a little pagan cult for another character so I know about that one too! They honestly deserve their own posts tbh.

Ultimately at least with Catholicism a lot of it remains very unchanged. Replace women with womb haver and man with seed bearer in any religious text and you basically have it down and accounted for all 6 genders! It’s not too hard to fit religions into omegaverses tbh

I’ll probably make a separate post about my religions later tho

Are/were arranged marriages the norm?

They were the norm and still are the norm in traditionalist societies and packs. Often the head omega of the pack is tasked with pairing off the children either within the pack (if it’s large enough) or with packs closely aligned to them.

Now a lot of the time it’s more left on the individuals themselves they court and mate. Some packs do pressure their members to mate but the person they do is up to them.

When do people learn what they are outside of medical testing? Are they born with a mark or secondary specific trait, or is it a mystery until they present or not?

I always go back and forth on this!!

See in a modern setting like you’d be able to tell what kind of reproductive organs your child has. Yes even between an alpha male and a beta male (there would be evidence of the ability to knot). Maybe not between omega female and beta female tho that one is harder….

But it’s also just more fun sometimes to have it where no one knows! For drama and character purposes I think for this universe I’m going to have it be a total surprise until they go through puberty at about eh like 12-14ish. I think people would have hunches though. Like smells and behaviors can probably clue at least parents and teachers in pretty quickly but kids are literally dumb and oblivious and the kid that always nests will probably be thunderstruck to be an omega even tho it was fucking obvious to everyone else.

Not to say there aren’t real surprises because I’m sure there are…

Military: Historically are any genders or secondarys not allowed to participate in the military? Are female alphas allowed? What about male omegas?

Tbh I don’t really think about this much? Just not smth that interests me but I imagine the military was an alpha only thing for awhile but included betas bc numbers. For fun tho lets say that omega’s are still not really allowed in. Like you can fight for it but they’re gonna make it hard.

#omegaverse #a/b/o #a/b/o verse #omega #alpha #beta #alpha beta omega #worldbuilding #alpha/beta/omega au #alpha/beta/omega verse #a/b/o dynamics

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drowning-in-cacophony · 10 months

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Stealing Girls

For @flashfictionfridayofficial Prompt 210: the sand ocean

Summary: Raki brings a girl across the sand ocean

The first girl’s name had been Sarah.

Or Daphne. Or Mila. Honestly, it’s hard to remember what name came first; what name came last. Their letters, their faces, they all blur together nowadays. It’s a distantly sad fact, maybe, or sad for others if they ever heard. It’s a way of life; the sand ocean gives, but it takes too, and Raki’s been doing this for so long.

The latest girl is a full foot shorter than her, but keeps up diligently. The wrap across her face is a silk handkerchief, fabric that reminds Raki of her other life, the parts she has to play sometimes. Silk never feels right against her skin, but the way the girl has pressed her lips to it makes Raki think maybe it did for her, once. Once, before the wheels had turned and set her on this path out into the ocean.

Raki’s boots scrap against the ground under their dartingly quick pace – it’s never wise to linger, not right here on the border between civilisation and the sea beds. It’s not soft, the ground, like layers of sand might denote, but hard, harder than rock. Once she’d tripped and skinned open her knee, the droplets of blood a stunning crisp against the sun-withered grains. Now she wears knee guards, makes the girls wear them too. There’s no point in dripping their cursed blood all over the waves, who knows what it could summon?

Though truthfully, that was the first thought to shadow the second: that it’d hurt, and she’d not wish that on these girls.

Raki casts a look over her shoulder. Civilisation’s a distant speck, but a speck is still too close for comfort. It’s daylight now; whoever this girl belonged with before would have risen with the rays of light. Will they have found the empty room yet, left pristine in absence? Will they have risen the alarms, calling about the blue-veined thief having struck again?

“Midday.”

Raki twitches. Looks at the girl, the word muffled by the gentle silk.

“They won’t check my room until midday at the earliest. I’ve been slowly moving down when I wake, claiming headaches and the like. They won’t want to disturb me – won’t want to risk my waning energy.”

Raki raises a brow. “Clever.” Her own words are muffled too, because only an idiot walks into the ocean without any sort of filter from the sand. It’s well-behaved enough that a scrap of fabric works well enough, that more professional filters aren’t usually needed unless there’s a storm. Not that the people who whisper their horror at the ocean ever seem to understand that. It’s all oh no, the grains give you poisoning and the sun tries to eat through your skin like acid and the very atmosphere wants you dead which yeah, has some merit because the oceans are far from easy and safe, but it’s not what they mean when they whisper those things. They mean it in the same way they mean that no one comes back from the sand ocean the same way. Something mystical, something demonic. Something terrifying, creeping towards their borders with malevolence.

There’s a grain of truth in every story, but most of the time if someone’s gone different from the ocean, it’s just simple heat stroke.

Most of the time. If you've not spent as much time out here as Raki.

The girl shrugs. If she flushes at the comment, if she reacts much at all – the silk hides it. It’s only her eyes that Raki can really see, through that silk and the hair that drops forward over her face. Dark at the tops, swimming in cold bright blue at the bottoms. That, and the faint veins that she’s already seen staining across the girl’s cheeks and hands, is the sign of her curse. Or blessing, depending on who you ask. Her parents, who she’s gone to this much effort to foil: a blue-blooded girl would only bring them such delights, and it’s not them that’d suffer the sacrifice so why not call it blessing? The Elders, of course, because it was them that first drafted the whole thing to life.

Ask Raki, and it’s a curse, but a curse she can, will and does have a chance of making a whole lot better for the unfortunate girls.

“We can’t let our pace falter anyway. How much energy do you have?” It’s been two hours of walking already; surely the girl must be feeling it. The burning in her blue streaks, every burst of oxygen just making it a little worse, more by more. She’s not so far along that Raki will have to drag her unconscious across the oceans – she’s done that enough. With… she can’t remember their names, but she remembers their small hands, their gasping eyes that had never shut. How when they had, halfway across the oceans and finally close enough that the fumes releasing from the cracked ground had hit them, it’d been such sheer relief.

They say the sand ocean takes and changes, and maybe it does. But what it gives these girls is more than worth the prices. They need the fumes more than oxygen; the ocean needs whatever it strips from Raki and the others whenever they traverse, and it’s worth it. Raki will forget a thousand faces if she can steal back a thousand more.

The girl’s swimming eyes narrow. The silk sticks to her lips as she huffs. “Enough.”

Determination, a in-step pace and cleverness over weeks. Under her own cloth, Raki feels her lips twitch into an almost smile.

“Good.”

They say that no one comes out of the sand ocean the same as they went in; that’s fine, though, because all of the people Raki takes in never need to come out again.

#flash fiction friday #flash fiction #short story #writeblr #word count: 971 #this is sort of reminiscent of an old idea I had #involving the blue veins/breathing thing #not too sure how coherent this is though because of that #anna's writing

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fishing-croagunk · 1 year

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Game Clearing 2022: A Retrospective

It's that time of the year again, so let's look at all the games I beat.

As you can see, I played a lot more than last year, so I'm going to talk about them after the cut.

Frogger 2: Swampy's Revenge: Jan 16 - Jan 16

If you've read my 2021 list, you know how much I loathed Frogger. Well, the sequel is thankfully a lot easier. Of course, without it being as frustrating, it's a lot shorter, but I'd say it's a more enjoyable experience.

Rayman Legends: Definitive Edition: Feb 4 - Feb 4

I said I would cover Murfy's Touch and Back to Origins here, so I will. Murfy's Touch was a neat set of levels with a surprisingly decent AI you have to guide through the levels. The only real drag was having no way to go back other than restarting the level. Back to Origins was pretty fun, though. A bit challenging and the Mosquito levels were a good change of pace. This convinced me to get Origins, which you'll see later.

Kirby and the Forgotten Land: Mar 27 - Apr 13

Kirby makes his transition to true 3D (not counting spin-offs), and I think he did it really well. The controls feel good, and the Mouthful Mode felt like a natural extension of the gameplay. I really hope they make another game like this!

Yoshi Touch & Go: Apr 27 - Apr 27

After all the tilting of Topsy-Turvy that got me tilted, I was a bit worried about this one. Thankfully, the touch and drawing controls are miles better than turning the system. One thing I dislike about this game is that it's a highscore challenge instead of a series of levels in worlds. If they had done that, I probably would have liked it a bit more.

Rayman Revolution: May 1 - May 8

There are plentiful ways to play Rayman 2, so I went with the PlayStation 2 version. I quite liked the platforming, and enjoyed some of the exploration. I didn't feel compelled to collect all the Lums, though. Maybe I should check out Hoodlum Havoc next year.

Star Fox 64 3D: May 13 - May 14

I must say, I really liked Star Fox 64 3D. I did play on 3DS mode, and with Gyro Controls off. I also decided it would make sense to complete both paths and every mision at least once. Flying the Arwing felt really nice, and I even managed to get a few medals and the warp in Sector X. Maybe I should try to get the rest of the medals sometime…

Bomberman Generation: May 14 - May 18

I really like the Super Bomberman series, but I've never played 64 or The Second Attack, so I was looking forward to it. I thought the unique bombs and the Charabombs were a unique idea, giving the bombing a puzzle-platformer aspect. I really didn't like the fact that some bosses where part of levels and others weren't. Near the end of the game, I got through what was basically a maze and then I died the boss, having to do it all over again. The Crush Bombers were fine to fight though.

Rayman Origins: May 19 - May 24

Oh boy, here's a game I really enjoyed! The platforming felt a bit tighter than Legends, and it had a pretty good amount of challenge to it, including the Tricky Treasure stages and The Land of the Livid Dead. I'm unsure which is better, this or Legends, but I'd say Origins is better for a single-player experience.

BAD END THEATER: May 30 - May 31

Here's something unique for this list, a visual novel! Like most VNs, I'm not going to talk too much about it, because I'd think you should go into this as blind as possible. All I'll say is, it was excellent from beginning to end, and I really want to check out more games made by this person, and more virtual novels in general.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder's Revenge: Jun 16 - Jun 17

I love the TMNT Beat 'Em Ups, so I was hyped when this was announced. I even got a friend to join me. We did play on the hardest difficulty, which lead to us getting our shells kicked in the early game, but it evened out quickly. Part me wished I could have played with more people, but I had fun whacking Foot Soilders.

Viewitiful Joe: Jul 2 - Jul 4

This game is stunning to look at. I'd say the graphics still look great today. I enjoyed the combat, and it was fun learning how to properly use the Slow-Mo and Speed-Up. The story was also fun, and it truly felt like a cheesy superhero movie. I will definitely try to get the sequel.

Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards (NSO): Jul 4 - Jul 5

I remember playing this game on Wii Virtual Console, but I don't remember finishing it. So I played through it again! It was fun figuring out all the unique combinations. My favorites would be Fire-Bomb, Ice-Stone, and Spark-Stone. Outside the shards that require abilites from a different level, it was pretty enjoyable getting them. It's also funny the re-release got a Teen rating.

Klonoa: Phantasy Reverie Series: Jul 20 - Aug 8

I have not played any of the games in the Klonoa series, until now. And man, this was a great entrypoint for the series! I liked the platforming, the story, the characters, the music..! I realize this is essentially two games in one, but both of them are amazing. I am definitely going to play more games in the series!

Cult of the Lamb: Sep 3 - Sep 12

I really like this game. The Roguelike part was pretty fun, and the management part was great as well. I ended up doing the four areas out of order, but it wasn't a serious problem. The final boss was pretty awesome. Perhaps I should play more Rougelikes, as I really enjoyed my time playing this.

Splatoon 3: Sep 16 - Sept 17

New Splatoon game means a new campaign. While the campaign is usually a good way to re-familiarize yourself with the controls, I liked the gimmick in the hub worlds as well. Makes me wish I could use Little Buddy in the Turf Wars.

Pokemon: Fool's Gold: Sep 25 - Sept 27

There are a ton of Pokemon ROMhacks out there. But this one takes everything you know about the Johto games and turns it on its head by changing the types of every Pokemon! It even adds some new areas to explore! Also, the Sevii islands are included, but that's when the game starts using mon at the level cap, so I stopped playing there.

Slap City: Oct 1 - Oct 2

I've played Slap City basically since release, but now Ludosity has added Story Mode for almost all of their characters. It was pretty decent to run through, although like Melee's Adventure Mode, every character plays the same series of levels. At least you can unlock cool new colors to use in the online play! I'm a Jenny main.

Luigi's Mansion 3: Oct 21 - Oct 24

I feel like this game really combines the good aspects of both of the games before it. It's all one big location, but you also have the collectibles. Gooigi also provided some new elements to the puzzle aspects. Part of me wishes I got my brother to play through the story with me.

Earthworm Jim (NSO): Oct 22 - Oct 22

I've played both EWJ 1 and 2 before, on ZNES (remember that?), but I genuinely don't remember if I've beaten either of them. I did use Save States (or restore points as NSO calls them), but I used them at checkpoints and after every level. I liked the game overall, but screw Tube Race. This was also the first time I played the Genesis-only level, Intestinal Distress, which was neat.

Earthworm Jim 2 (NSO): Oct 22 - Oct 22

Now this was a tricky one. I'd like to say that I think I like EWJ2 more than 1, but I wouldn't say by a lot. The graphics and platforming gameplay is better here, however the levels that don't use the platforming are kinda hit and miss. I did not like The Frying King, and Puppy Love is vastly inferior to Andy Asteroids. The actual platforming levels are great though. And before you ask, I am not going to play 3D nor Menace 2 the Galaxy.

Pokemon Snap (NSO): Oct 29 - Oct 29

I've heard a lot of good things about Snap, and it's not that bad of a game. Seeing Pokemon coexist like real animals is still neat. My only real gripe is that it's very short. I did snap a photo of all 63 mon though! Perhaps I should check out New Pokemon Snap sometime in the future.

Pokemon Blue: Oct 29 - Oct 30

I'm going to be real, I have never properly beaten a Gen 1 game before. I have played FireRed and LeafGreen many of times, but never the original games. And I have technically beaten it before, but that was through the glitch that warps you to the Hall of Fame. Playing through it, I did have a lot of moments where I realize how the later gens have spoiled me with a much larger bag and the physical/special split. Still it was kinda fun, but I'd rather play FireRed and LeafGreen.

Pokemon Stadium: Oct 30 - Oct 31

When Pokemon Stadium 1 and 2 were annouced for NSO, I was reminded of the fact that the Transfer Pack wouldn't be possible. So, with the power of emulation, I simulated the add-on, and brought the team I used in Blue into the N64 game. I did use PKHex to edit my team, but all I did was remove HMs (something you can't do in Gen 1), evolve my Haunter, and set all my mon to same level. And I can safely say that even with a proper team, Gym Leader Castle is unfair. It really felt like when the enemy needed a move to crit or status, it did. Combined with trapping moves with Wrap and Fire Spin, it's just not a good time. And you know what got for beating Lance? An Omanyte, which I already had in my Blue save.

Pokemon: Emerald Rouge: Nov 8 - Nov 13

Another ROMhack, and this one's quite good. It takes the Gen 3 games and turns it into a Rougelike. It's such a neat concept, and it preforms it really well. I also played on the EX version, which adds things from the later games. The thing is that I am not truly done, as after you beat it for the first time, a lot of cool things are unlocked, which I won't spoil for you. I totally recommend checking this one out!

Pokemon Stadium 2: Nov 18 - Nov 19

After conquering the first Pokemon Stadium, I knew I would have to do Pokemon Stadium 2. So applied the same strategy. I played through Crystal (which I've done numerous times) and assembled a team. Then I had to play a bit of Gold, because the Mareep line isn't in Crystal. Traded it over, added it to my team, and began the Gym Leader Castle. It's already a bit easier since you don't need to worry about things like Wrap. The AI still cheats though, and they'll use strategies like Toxic Stall on you. The Kanto side much easier than the Johto side, since you just have to fight the Gym Leaders themselves. And Red, whom is normally a formidable foe, I beat him first try! It's probably because he didn't try to status me, but it was an actual fight. Now, you might be wondering, am I going to play the Colosseum games? Probably not!

Also, a new thing I'm doing this year is a ranking. I feel like it'll better explain my experiences with each of them.

I made one for 2021, as well.

#game clearing

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theimmersivewriter · 11 months

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Therapy in a Pond

A post-apocalyptic scene based on the Adelaide Himeji Gardens. This was my final assignment for my Creative Lit class this semester. Its an exploration piece on self-isolation, depression, chronic fatigue and stress. I hope you enjoy!

TW: Suicide, depression, mentions of dead bodies, descriptions of insanity

The Japanese styled Adelaide Himeji Gardens were beautiful.

It’s a shame I’ve decided to corrupt it with my presence.

The shorter trees had their leaves cut into perfectly round clusters, while the taller trees provided the local birds with a home. Bright red berries and dying leaves littered the stone path that leads to the Zen Garden at the back before circling back around to the entrance. There was a faint drip of water hitting stone from the shishi-odoshi by the door.

The sound of splashing water and birdsong increases the further I walk in, where a large pond with a small waterfall that disturbs the water in the pond lies. The water lilies supply shade for the fish swimming beneath, innocent and ignorant to the world above them. In the middle of this pond was a small rock appearing from the water, balancing two larger, flat rocks on it, creating a bridge of sorts.

I take careful steps on the stone bridge, slowly putting my weight on each foot. I sit down in the middle of the bridge, feet hanging off and into the water. The cold water starts eating away at my legs, causing them to become numb.

I watch as the water ripples, carrying fallen leaves on the gentle waves to the bank of the pond, where a large gathering of fellow wet leaves rest.

I want to be a leaf.

Let me elaborate. As a human, I have too many emotions. There’s always something going on, or someone wanting to talk to me or reconnect after a long time apart. But if I were a leaf, no one would expect anything of me. People would leave me alone, let me float on water as it carries me to some unknown destination where I’ll probably start decaying. I might help another plant if I decay in the right spot.

I don’t have any reason to be here. I’m not helping anyone by simply existing, but I probably have provided a lot of strangers with funny stories to tell their family and friends. I want to know what life would be like if I just simply didn’t exist. Not even a thought of my existence.

“You know,” I begin. Apparently talking to yourself is good, even though its only ever done by crazy people in media. Don’t know where I heard that it was good for you, but it’s worth a shot. “In Ancient Greek mythology, they believed that there were water spirits – Nymphs. I seriously hope they weren’t right, because I’ve got my feet in you.”

A breeze travelled through the garden, hitting my face like a bag of icicles. I look down into the water, shielding my face from any more possible assaults from the wind.

“Can you fish keep a secret?” I ask. One brave goldfish swims near me, their mouth gapping open and then shutting. “I’ll take that as a yes, Lord Sir Fish, Duke of all Fish.” I look back at my legs, the water seeping through my jeans. My socks squish every time I move my toes. A small part of me feels bad about my shoes, but I bought them with my hard-earned, albeit stolen, money, so the feeling fades quick.

“Some days I don’t want to be alive.” I whisper, afraid of someone overhearing me. Possibly that really fucking loud bird. He seems to like gossip. “Sometimes, I confuse the fuck out of myself. My gender confuses me, my sexuality confuses. I don’t know what I am. I just want to be.”

I glance back at Lord Sir Fish, Duke of all Fish, who was still gaping at me.

“I’m probably just a fucking idiot.” I huff out a laugh as I fiddle with my hands, tugging on the skin and picking at my nails. Maybe if I claw my way out of this skin, I’ll finally be able to see who I am. Ah, but I’ve already tried that. All I got was some nasty cuts on my face. I start humming as my brain tries to think.

“I know I like women. It’s kinda hard not too, Lord Sir Fish, Duke of all Fish. Have you seen some of them? There’s this one woman that I shared a class with who is absolutely adorable, I’m kinda surprised she didn’t notice considering we had done a group project together. Wait- this isn’t what I started talking about. Let’s go back.”

Lord Sir Fish, Duke of all Fish finally gives up on me, swimming far away, probably in hopes of finding a fish therapist.

“Fuck you too, Lord Sir Fish, Duke of all Fish,” I yell, flipping off the fish as it swims away. I made a genuine attempt to try and not disrupt the quiet, contemplative nature of this garden, but then that asshole just- no, nope. This is the therapy pond. Get back to it. I find a tiny pebble next to me and decide to hold him in both my hands, cradling him like a precious life.

“You’ll do well as my next therapist. You can’t swim away from me.” I declare, officially knighting him as Sir Rockelot.

Sir Rockelot stares at me, encouraging me to reveal my inner feelings that I never managed to do with my actual therapist.

“Ok, so, I know that, in the end, this conversation isn’t going to matter or end well. Nothing really does. So, Sir Rockelot, give me a purpose. Anything. Spin the wheel, little fella,”

Sir Rockelot does nothing.

“Asshole. Sorry, I didn’t mean that. It was instinctive.” I decide to watch the clouds for a while. The slow movements seem to soothe me, opening me up to appreciate that I’ve been living long enough to see those clouds. They might’ve been lonely without me.

“You know what, Sir Rockelot? I’m cold. Let’s walk and talk,” I pull my legs up and out of the pond, the water dripping down my legs as I make my way to the entrance.

I walk outside the Adelaide Himeji Garden, stepping over the bones of some poor soul that didn’t have it in them to kill to survive.

“Well, at least I’m not some teacher or whatever who has to read a stupid number of words about me talking to a fish and then a rock. That would be way worse than what I’m currently going through.” I say, throwing and catching Sir Rockelot in one hand as my other gently rests upon my knives, a reassuring act.

The fires had long since died and the only thing left to sort through was the rubble. That, and my scrambled mind. I’m not entirely sure how this all happened, or how I got here. All I know is that I am here.

“So, Sir Rockelot, got any advice? End of the world and all that?” I ask, genuinely wanting an answer. I don’t know when I last talked to a human, but I know I wasn’t any good at it.

Sir Rockelot stares at me. Do something that makes you happy, at least once a day to keep the suicide away, I hear him respond.

“Hm, that’s... actually not too bad, Sir Rockelot.” I think it over. I enjoyed reading, and writing, when there was something other than death in the world. “Maybe I could restore a church and turn it into a library? I did always like those house renovation games...”

Why the fuck not? Sir Rockelot asks. What’s holding you back now? Money? I laugh.

“Ha! That was a good one, Sir Rockelot. Everyone’s dead, there’s no cashier to make small talk with. Thank Tamagotchi, our lord and saviour,” I quickly pat the back pocket my Tamagotchi is in, making sure I didn’t lose the poor bugger.

“I think that stuff was terrible. Small talk, I mean.” I keep walking, my pants have started to dry with the cold wind. I raise my scarf to cover my mouth, trying to keep the cold air out. The last thing I need is a cold right now. I just found something to live for! Speaking of...

“I want that big church. You know the one, in the north of the CBD? Well, I don’t actually know where it is, but it’s somewhere in the CBD. Really grand. Super impressive. Would look a thousand times better if it was an archive,” I gasp, looking at Sir Rockelot.

“I could turn it into,” I pause for dramatic effect, “The Queer Archive, TM,” I look down at Sir Rockelot, waiting for him to agree with me.

Shouldn’t all literature be valued and treasured though? Each has their own deeper meaning that only they can tell! Sir Rockelot asks, or protests. Perhaps argued. I don’t know, I didn’t think about it long enough before I threw him.

“Ah fuck,” I scramble after Sir Rockelot, scraping my hands as I rush over and spot him. He’s easy to find among the concrete rubble and bones. “Sorry, Sir Rockelot. You’ll still help with the Archive, right?” I ask, kind of pleading, but I won’t ever admit that.

Of course! Let’s get to work!

Oh, thank Tamagotchi.

“Yeah, okay. Let’s get going.”

#writing #creativewriting #writeblr #postapocalypse #depression #selfisolation #stress #uni #study #assignment #shortstory #fictional #story #writer

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the-firebird69 · 1 year

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This is another son of mine and his head is proportionate to a size a little small but it's not that smaller than it would be maybe about 3 in it's kind of smaller but his physique is what I'm usually like no but that's what I'm supposed to be like and I slim down and it hurts a little like it does now I don't want to be that big all the time it's kind of scary to people and if I wear clothing that's loose I look like some sort of balloon. Seriously that's what I think I look like in the future I'm hearing from others. And some people here telling me I look like that other guy trimmed down hulk and Mac is one of them and will and Bill say he looks like you but huge so it's like 8 foot and they say that they thought it looks lanky but no I get like this and I'll tell you what I'm going to show you what people are saying my sizes there's a whole bunch of geneticists arguing over it and my people are saying that I'm pretty huge and her too and she says a lot of people are big not that big he's mostly at the high level area there's also on that height others are foot tall a foot shorter our children are almost the same size

Zues Hera

This is me what I'm in my Juggernaut format it's pretty much what I look like and he's a little bit chunkier and wider and it's ridiculous I don't know why it's so big it says it too I should be big there and a huge here anybody have any furniture I have to move still says those jokes and he sounds normal it's really bizarre. But he's huge okay and this is me and I'm jugging that format and it's just a statue of me but someone saw it in the future and sent it back if all these sightings in the same where his kids cuz I see how big he is and what he looks like and it looks like a terror like a machine he says just you and flesh and I don't need all the crap can you guys are doing something with it and stuff they go off and they feel better in their nastily arrogant they come back and say do you want to fight and he says things like why where is it I said no me well who you're fighting and they say I want to fight you I said you know it's illegal to say that to someone he says I didn't know that he goes off and someone calls the cops and that would be made father comes back and says I made a deal with someone to fight you out back I said I made a deal with someone to arrest you out back shall we go out back it says yeah so go back and the cops are rest the guy it says you won't fight us who you said I kill you with one punch without trying so what's the point I don't want to go to jail and the cops say it should be the least 11 and then a lethal weapon and they say that sometimes and say every human being can do it at we are 6 ft and I took karate and I seen it and he could kill easily with that punch it was so loud you would not believe it how and it's going late into the night after class pow pow pow pow a hundred times and it's just the hardest rocks cuz the bone hearts and the cows he must have been killing people and it wasn't random facts come Randall text come so he says all this stuff it's Randall text Cobb and we know what it means but for real this is stuff that's happening and he's not just saying it but we're seeing it and the police arrest him and they book him and try them and try and call him as a witness to try and arrest him. And they know his bullet resistant and he has some sort of glasses and there was no they're like sunglasses and he wears them all the time protect his eyes from people they're trying to spit in them all the time. Says he's used to it so I'm trying to horrify me cuz I know but I'm just a good idea for the glasses not to ask Shaq and get some from Shaquille O'Neal I mean Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and he says that's great it's a good idea though he has that stuff. The other ones that are less Goofy don't cover the whole thing but it works and so that would be great it's a good idea to wear them for even you I wear them all the time you have to shut your mouth a lot cuz I watch out with me my sweet goes up into my eye I see them do it like a hundred times cuz people are more us that was shack this is granddaddy and he's huge he's he's a good 11 or 12 foot with fully grown and his big too he's like the trim down hulk when he's in shape and when he's not he's still very big and he's a first generation that's why he's got a bunch of that on top of being manipulated and my name is

Hulk World She Hulk World Mark ruffalo has a name and it's Hulk origins because he didn't start it he was the first not us no but he started it here so it's Hulk origins Earth and that's true and he knows it and he likes it and he knows why it's really a status symbol for those who know and Max like him and Bob birdies Bob Marshall all the people that are big shots and people like Thanos and trash is famous to them and we thank you but what intro so what's next and no he wasn't there you can poop it was important

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dndfanfiction · 2 years

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Her shift ended two hours ago, but Valerie is still awake, sitting outside the Art Institute waiting for the doors to unlock. Thankfully, her museum membership means to online ticketing is required; a blessing, as she still hasn't figured out the internet, despite being present for its advent. A few minutes pass in calm silence, and she watches a museum guard come out to open the door, waving at her from her spot sitting in front of the left lion. The routine continues as they both keep their silence. Her membership card is also scanned silently; the same person has worked the front desk of the museum for three years. Elanor and Valerie have a careful dance of not speaking. They may even think she's mute, at this point.

Looking up the grand staircase from the bottom, Valerie takes a moment to think about the weddings held her. Thinks about her wedding on the comet, then leaves that thought behind. Today is not for those still living, after all. Her shoes echo on the white marble, not a fault of the soles but rather of her step. She puts a hand on the banister and climbs. At the top, to the left, and into the furthest corner gallery, she takes a lap before sitting on the ground in front of the painting she makes her weekly pilgrimage to see.

Decades ago, when the painting moved museums and she followed it to America, Valerie sat on the plane and wondered how the new plaque would read. Now, the black text on a small white rectangle is embedded on the back of her skull. Valkyries Riding into Battle, Johann Gustav Sandberg, Oil on Canvas, Circa 1818. None of the women on horseback look like her sisters. Brunhilde does not stare back at her from the collection of pigments. None of them are winged, and their armor is woefully wrong. Though Odin and Thor visited this planet in its infancy, art makes it clear Valkyries never made it out this far in the reaches of the universe. Guiding souls back home kept them busy, and they found better planets to spend their leave on then Earth. Still, this is the closets thing she has to a memento. Her sword and this painting, one hidden by magic and the other hanging on the wall in Gallery 220. "The dragon I told you about, Lgbt, is assembling a team. Says there seem to be stirrings, wants me to put back on the mantle. I told him I would." Valerie still isn't sure why she said yes. Earth was her life, now. She called Rockseau once a week, twice if one of them had been particularly stressed. Sometimes, she saw Sasha on the streets of Chicago, either planning a murder or influencing the world in the shadows. Klaus still asked her to come to the bar, and they would reminisce about their time in East Germany, the creative ways they found to sneak people over the border. If she was unlucky, a man in a bar would push a little to hard for a stranger to come home with him, and Val would cave in his skull and revivify him before the ambulance showed up. The doors of the ER kept spinning. Most of the time, if she was their nurse, they lived. Working with Lgbt again would ruin that. Off planet for weeks at a time was no way to keep a job. Could her mental health afford to lose the one thing keeping her grounded? "You would have approved, Brunhilde. Hildr would think this was all foolish, but only if a good battle wasn't fought from it. "Maybe I'm just trying to shirk responsibility. Last living Valkyrie, it just feels like my job is to keep living until we can all be together again. But you're all ash and I'm a slowly decaying form, seventy years overdue for a new vessel. I'm worried this body isn't strong enough to handle a fight." Over the last eighty years, since the birth of Douillet, her bone density has kept a constant, slow rate of decay. Slowly, she's gotten shorter. Only Lgbt has noticed; if she set foot on the comic, Rockseau would know that she's getting worse. Her one promise was to live long enough that Douillet could decide if she wanted her mother in her life; following Lgbt put that promise at risk. "None of your would recognize me, now. To even think about running from a battle. How irresponsible of someone with my strength. We took an oath, after all. What good was it, if I don't follow it? I'm the only one left to uphold it." After a moment of silent contemplation, Valerie knows her decision is made. Was there ever a choice, really? Even now, her hands itch to wield her sword, her shoulders brace for her pauldrons. Her body was designed for the battlefield. But first, she had to video call her therapist back on the comet. After an hour of crying, Cubert would climb out of the wall and she'd ask if he'd eaten any good rats, lately. Her routine of grief would end and life would return to its usual rhythm. This was all just part of the process.

All of our character's bosses is a dragon named Lgbt Q. Dragon. He's the ultimate ally and also likely a personification of straight savior complex, housing the unhoused gay community since he came to Earth. Cubert is a Gelatinous Cube that lives in his walls and Val is one of like three people who understands what he's saying. I love this dumb campaign so much.

#dnd #dungeons and dragons #paladin #dnd campaign #dnd stuff #no seriously i have extensive playlists for so many of these characters #ask me about my val playlist PLEASE

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sxmnus · 2 years

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💘 + elira & milo

send me a ship and i'll tell you...

where they first met and how

i think it’d be cute if they met at a grocery story or something when they were both out running their errands. elira doesn’t get out of the house that often so it was a bit of a miracle that she met the love of her life there.

how long their ‘flirting’ phase was before feelings got involved

considering how they both still aren’t dating, their flirting phase is still going on but it’s been awhile since elira has liked him. they both know they have feelings for each other and so do their friends, but haven’t taken the next step yet.

who fell for who first ( if applicable )

milo fell for elira first and elira followed him soon after, as she just kinda wanted the go-ahead that she could like him in the first place

where their first date was and what it was like

they go on a lot of friend dates together so it’s hard to pinpoint. i can see milo encouraging elira to go out a little bit and explore so maybe something alongside the beach would be nice? or a lakefront restaurant? something like that. somewhere they can enjoy the nice weather where it’s not overwhelming. elira really enjoyed it, made her feel so special.

who asks who out and how ( with a sign? spelled out on a cake? just a simple ‘will you go out with me’? )

milo would ask elira out after they first kiss each other, since that’s sorta the last thing that they haven’t done together ( outside of sex ). i think he would just straight up ask her nicely after they share a meal or something, or after having a lot of fun during the day.

who proposes first

milo proposes

if they keep / kept their relationship secret or let everyone know right away

i think they wouldn’t say anything and just let their friends try to figure out if they’re still playing dumb or if they’re actually dating

where the proposal happens and how ( kiss cam at a baseball game? on a hillside surrounded by ducks? at a disney park? )

where they have their picnic date!!

if they adopt any pets together

with elira being the way she is and her health, it’s safest not to get a pet

who’s more dominant

lol both of them are bottoms....

where their first kiss was and what it was like

kiss is shared at home, because elira isn’t huge with pda and would only want that to be a moment shared between the both of them and probably unexpectedly also

if they have any matching couples stuff ( mugs? sweaters? pillowcases? )

yes. matching mugs, sweaters, not pillowcases. they probably have matching rings or something prior to them dating, and matching plushies at home to remind each other of one another when they’re sleeping.

how into pda they are

milo is more into showing his affections to elira whenever, but elira would get very bashful and would probably only reciprocate if she knew not a lot of people were watching

who holds the umbrella when it rains

milo bc holy shit he’s so much taller than her

where their usual ‘date spot’ is ( if applicable )

usual date spot is at home, where elira cooks them both a nice meal and he’ll bring over a surprise dessert of choice

who’s more protective

milo is more protective of elira and certainly acts more on it

how long it is before they sleep together ( can be as in ‘had sex’ or as in ‘shared a bed’ )

awhile. both are bottoms LOL.

if they argue about anything

i don’t think they argue about much, and if they do, it’s just more of a compromise or hard talk

who leaves more marks ( lipstick, hickeys, scratchmarks etc. )

elira leaves lipstick marks all over him because she enjoys dressing up and doing her makeup. makes her feel pretty.

who steals whose clothes and how often

elira steals milo’s clothes, milo might sometimes borrow her scarf if it’s cold outside and he has to go out really quickly. smells like her.

how they cuddle ( spooning? facing each other? )

facing each other, elira tucked in his chest because she’s almost a foot shorter than him

what their favourite nonsexual activity is

watching movies at home, cooking meals together, looking at cute things at the store

how long they stay mad at each other

not very long, i don’t think either of them care to spend that much energy in being upset with each other

what their usual coffee / tea orders are

elira doesn’t drink coffee / tea, and if she does, it’s rarely with decaf. i don’t think milo drinks those either.

if they ever have any children together

they would! i think they’d like a family together after working out a few things. both would certainly be good parents.

if they have any special pet names for each other

they just call each other sweet things. ‘silly’, ‘baby boy’, ‘sweetheart’, ‘honey’.

if they ever split up and / or get back together

absolutely not

what their shared living space is like ( messy? clean? what kind of decor? )

neat, cozy decor, house full of warmth, elira has a lot of money but would probably downsize houses if they were to be together in the future

what their first christmas / hanukkah / etc as a couple was like

they would celebrate it big time. i think these two would just get so excited every year like they’d never seen christmas before. spoil each other rotten with either acts of service or gifts.

what their names are in each other’s phones

milo is ‘milove’ in elira’s phone elira would probably be her name with an emoji next to it, or just a heart.

if they have any ‘couple traditions’ ( buying a new mug for their collection every year? baking every friday evening? )

they’d probably have a checklist of things they want to do and try and mark off as much as they can every year without it being too overwhelming

who falls asleep first and who wakes up first

elira falls asleep first but is the first to wake up

who’s the big spoon / little spoon

milo big spoon uwu

who hogs the bathroom

elira because she done did wanna be pretty

who kills the spiders / takes them outside

elira cannot stand bugs, milo pls help

for @inregards

#( elira &&. milo )#inregards

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lilieboo · 2 years

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“Lizzie! Have you seen Jimmy? He wasn’t— what happened to your skin?”

Joel took careful steps towards her, holding a sword at hand. The supposed Ocean Queen was unfazed, and continued to gather items for the journey.

“I don’t know a Jimmy. Who might you be? And how do you know my name?” Lizzie’s tone hadn’t a hint of sarcasm, rather she was genuine. Her outfit was blue, and her skirt was shorter than the usual royal gown had provided.

Joel placed his sword back onto it’s holder— a leather band sewn onto his belt. “Because it’s me, Joel. King of Mezalea?” His voice softened, but the ache was visible in his expression. The scent of the salt air was no more, and setting foot on the Prisma Palace made you feel as high as the mountains of Rivendell.

Finally, she looked back. Lizzie raised her eyebrows as she examined his royal robes. They were an elegant shade of purple, with gold accessories draped around so abundantly. Joel’s hair was brown, with soft lime streaks on his bangs. She promptly bowed down to him, which made the king weak on the knees.

He had never seen the Ocean Queen bow down to him. Why would she? Lizzie was the true royalty between them.

“You don’t have to do that,” Joel told her. “Are you okay? Maybe I could get you checked up at the Palace, there’s plenty of room there.”

Lizzie took a significantly larger step back. “I’ll be on my way, thank you. And I think you have a Jimmy to find, so please.”

Joel rummaged through his inventory, hoping to find an item that would remind Lizzie of him— of this life.

And there it was— stuck onto his finger. It beamed gold and diamonds.

The wedding ring. Joel took Lizzie’s hand, but let go as a flash of confusion controlled her features. He slid the piece of jewelry— the most important one— off, bringing it up to her eye level. Strange, it was, to not have to tiptoe. She was a normal height, about the same as his— or maybe shorter due to the heel of Lizzie’s boots.

“Remember?” Joel’s voice broke the slightest. He was an egotistical man, but sometimes, between the cracks on his skin, you see love. If his people were here now, it’d be the first time they saw their ruler so... vulnerable.

The King of Mezalea adored the Ocean Queen, but Joel loved Lizzie.

Lizzie held her right hand with her left one, failing to see a matching ring. She was pale, and her ears were... normal? Joel had gotten so used to seeing his fellow emperors and empresses, he wasn’t sure what a human looked like anymore.

“Why don’t I give you a tour around? Maybe we can find Jimmy, and you’ll remember. This happened before, I’m sure we can try again...” Joel trailed off. “May I?” He asked, taking her hand down the Prisma Palace stairwell.

The thought of his fellow royals, his friends, being gone— for once, he thought, why him? They fled, they died, but he remains. Maybe he felt powerful, being that his Mezalean Matral Palace withstood, almost, the disaster that struck.

Joel knew it wasn’t that, ofcourse. Why would he want to be anywhere else, when the world he lived in, was the same one his wife and brother-in-law lived in?

Why would he want to be anywhere else, when he’ll always have Lizzie and soon, Jimmy?

Family isn’t an important thing. It’s everything.

#i miss them so much they deserve to be a happy family :(#empires smp #smallishbeans #ldshadowlady #solidaritygaming #empiresblr #empires joel #empires lizzie #empires jimmy #seablings #codfather alliance #lilie’s chaos

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wincore · 3 years

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field day | jung sungchan

pairing: sungchan x fem!reader

synopsis: when you, as cheer captain, are best friends with the pride and joy of the soccer team, rumors are bound to fly around.

genre: high school au, soccer au, bff2l, fluff

words: 7.5k

warnings: language, jung “the risk i took was calculated but man am i bad at math” sungchan

request: sungchan + ball + “ everyone is looking at us. is that a good or a bad thing? ” (from the first option) ^__^

song recs: after school - weeekly / pleaser - wallows / some - bol4 / sweet talk - saint motel / love so sweet - cherry bullet

a/n: i tried recalling some hs memories for this and im hoping i wasnt the only one that went through the “shipped with a random dude” ordeal LOL. i haven’t written shorter fics in a while so i’m glad i got to. tq for requesting, lovepie <33

In high school, peer pressure tends to come in different forms. For you, it’s taken the shape of this.

“Kiss! Kiss! Kiss!”

You look around your classmates, scanning each and every face chanting with glee like you’re a star player scoring the winning point. The tall figure shifts beside you, glancing at you like a blinking idiot. You’re not even on the losing team but it feels just as frustrating.

You glare at the boy beside you. The trouble is Jung Sungchan. The trouble has always been Jung Sungchan.

“Come on!” Chenle calls with a teasing grin from the buzzing crowd. The little shit. It’s getting hotter with each minute you spend by the green soccer field and its dusty chalked lines, just at the tip of the bleachers. You didn’t even get enough time to breathe before you were surrounded, the soccer team pushing a stumbling Sungchan onto you. It’s too sunny for this today.

“The star soccer player gets a kiss from the lead cheerleader after a winning game! That’s the rule.” Chenle announces.

Sungchan looks at you and you turn to him, the both of you looking at each other like fish out of water. Even though you’ve clarified at least a hundred times that you’re just friends, your peers don’t seem to be satisfied. (“Famous last words,” they say.)

“No,” you say, firmly.

“No,” Sungchan agrees, nodding his head wisely.

“Don’t copy me,” you say, smacking his chest, and a quiet ‘oof’ escapes his mouth.

The fact that you’ve been best friends since Sungchan offered you a light green crayon in elementary school just fuels the idea that you have to date. There’s this difference between elementary school kids teasing and high school kids teasing—it was so much easier back when boys were afraid of cooties from girls. It was innocent too. Now, it’s more of nudges and sly grins, teasing with unnecessary innuendo. (What else do you expect from teenagers experiencing puberty?) It doesn’t stop you from being best friends though. Sungchan still visits on Fridays to get on your mom’s nerves and help you with homework (or try to). You still have all the little trinkets he’s gifted you over the years and the lock to his phone is still your birthday. You’re best friends and strictly that.

When you got into the same middle school though is when it started going downhill. Holding his hand was awkward, touching him in any way was awkward and god forbid you compliment him on something. The kids around you would run across the halls saying “(name) likes Sungchan!” or the other way around sometimes. Heathens, the lot of them. But at the very least, he wasn’t too fazed and you wonder how he could be that even-tempered. If it was just you feeling that way, then maybe you did like him more than he did you.

You shake it off.

Sungchan’s much more grown now and at least a foot taller since his awkward adolescent years; he looks handsomer too but you wouldn’t be caught dead saying it out loud. After all, it’s only going to spark another debate on the anonymous school forum. (“(name) finds Jung Sungchan attractive, they’re totally dating.” “I knew it. A boy and a girl can’t be friends, especially if they’re both good looking.”) If you’re being honest, you hate the rumours so much—it’s one of the reasons, apart from puberty, stopping you from being as close as before. However, you do understand that this is how the passage of time works. You’re not going to be spending all of your time with each other, yes, but you still regard him as important. Your life is too busy now, with exams and practice—and you’d think a busy bee would get some honey as reward.

Sungchan’s curls stick to his forehead, unruly after he wiped at them with a towel. The sunlight plays with his eyes when he looks at you intently and you shrug. The smell of sweat is starting to make you nauseous. You remember that you too need to take a shower.

“I’ll see you tomorrow,” you mumble.

“Not today?” He asks.

You shake your head. “The girls have a plan.”

It’s not just the sweat. Or the crowds. You don’t like being here at all. There’s one more problem with this place.

You hate soccer.

And by hate, you mean you despise it. Like you’ll throw up at the sight of it. What’s so riveting about a bunch of smelly, sweaty guys excited about chasing a patterned ball? You’ve tried to understand it but every time your dad explains the rules, you find yourself zoning out of whatever alien language he speaks.

Sungchan has been the closest to getting you to understand the game and even then, you refused to learn. It’s not like you’re society’s definition of girly—but you’re not a tomboy either. The school has granted you the “ice queen with a warm interior” stereotype so you’ll just go with that. To be honest, you’re just a little more awkward at open affection than your friends. (And Sungchan has the “friendly beagle” stereotype which you’ll agree is partly true. He’s more of a retriever though, with that size.) It’s just funny how you can never seem to know who you are but other people see so clearly.

You hurry up to the locker rooms and hope for a better evening than this afternoon.

The sky burns blue and you wipe the sweat off your brow once you step out of the changing room. Cooling off from your shower has gone to waste. Adjusting your school skirt, you take your usual strides to the school gates.

Ryujin seems to be showing Yuna a very flamboyant dance move while the latter hypes her up. Ryujin is in her gym uniform because she has no care for her reputation apparently, but she makes it work. Yuna’s about to show her own move when she notices you and waves at you vigorously enough to make you jog towards her and stop embarrassing herself in front of the after school crowd. But then again, she’s too cute for that.

“We got bored waiting for you,” Yuna explains, voice hoarse from her cold. Poor thing wasn’t let into performing because of it. “Do you wanna see our cool new move? Ryujin came up with it!”

Ryujin rolls her eyes. “You’re trying to advertise me to (name) so she can recruit me into cheerleading, aren’t you?”

You smile and cross your arms, facing Yuna who’s been caught mid-act. She smiles sheepishly and pats your shoulder like she just said a funny joke.

“Actually…” You begin and Ryujin holds up her arms in a cross.

“No. Never. I’m already part of the hip-hop dance club.”

“I was going to say that I’ll join you instead.”

Yuna gasps in betrayal, big eyes widening, and Ryujin grins before sticking her tongue out and potentially ruining her image with that expression. She doesn’t care, however.

“Anyway, I can’t wait to get to college and join a dance club.” Ryujin looks at the two of you excitedly. “I keep getting snaps from Yeji and feel so jealous.”

Yuna pouts. “Don’t be so happy about leaving me.”

“Aw, is the baby afraid of not getting any more sisterly doting?” Ryujin teases and you laugh at the disgruntled expression on Yuna’s face.

“Don’t worry,” Ryujin continues with a sly grin. “Taehyun’s here to keep you company for another year.”

Yuna turns red in the face, a high pitched complaint emitting from her throat. “I told you to keep quiet about that!”

“Oh, what’s this?” You wiggle your eyebrows. “We’re starting boy talk early today.”

Yuna huffs. “At least, mine’s just a crush. I don’t know what relationship status: complicated you have going on with Mr. Soccer Captain.”

You flush hotly. “There’s no relationship status to be complicated about! Seriously, why does everyone think we’re a thing?”

“You’re cheer captain and he’s soccer captain,” Ryujin answers logically. “Plus, you’re best friends.”

“You have a lot of sexual tension,” Yuna answers honestly.

You make a face, slipping your arms into theirs and pulling them along the sidewalk. You better get something to drink before the sky starts to turn purple from pink tinged blue.

“Ooh, another desperate attempt from (name) to not get teased,” Ryujin leans back to whisper to Yuna.

You stop walking. “Wait. Where are we going?”

Yuna shakes her head. “I’ll lead the way.”

Skipping over the concrete sidewalk, you laugh at your friends and their stories (read: Ryujin gushing over Yeji’s college dance club and Yuna’s newfound crush on Taehyun). The blue sky has tinged orange by now but it’s the sort of colour that sits in between more significant timeframes, like night and evening. Passing by a city square, you eye the people with wonder. A girl in a pink skirt skateboards smoothly over the concrete, her boyfriend filming her with a loving smile.

“We’re here!” Yuna announces.

You look around the large open plaza, with people of all ages and in different attires trying out skateboarding and rollerblading over the grey concrete. It’s been getting popular lately, with idol pop stars taking to it too but you never knew there was this big a community. There seems to be a few stalls renting out skateboards too. The wind caresses your hair, evening cool settling in nicely on your skin. The sky is purple but it’s lit up with the city buildings and street lamps flickering on. It’s not a bad day at all.

Someone catches your attention. A boy that sticks out like a sore thumb everywhere he goes.

“Sungchan?!”

Your eyes somehow always settle on his figure, tall and standing out in the crowd of teenagers. He clutches his blue bag, the one he’s had since third grade, close to his chest and looks more like a tourist in this place than a frequent visitor. He’s not the only one in school uniform now that you’re here.

“(name)!”

You hate how you love the way his face lights up when he sees you. You’re not actually into him. It’s your friends brainwashing you.

“I was going to invite you,” Sungchan says, a sorry smile on his face.

Ryujin and Yuna frown at each other but you can’t exactly ask the reason for it.

“Isn’t it great we had the same plans?” he beams at the three of you.

Yuna suppresses a smile and you wonder why. It’s not like your friends would know he’d be here—you’d know first as best friend.

"How did you guys come across this place?" He asks, eyes round with curiosity.

"Somi's Tiktok," Yuna answers, smiling. "We thought she works here but if she really was, guys would be swarming this place."

Ryujin raises her eyebrows. "Speaking of which, I can clearly see why there are so many girls here."

Sungchan beams, turning to you for affirmation and when you don't give him any, he drops his grin to a more polite smile.

“I don’t work at the stalls though,” he answers. “I’ve just been here a few times.”

“You’re trying to learn, aren’t you?” Ryujin asks, raising an eyebrow.

He nods. However, you furrow your eyebrows at her. How does she know? Eyes widening, you realize it must be the school forum. You remember reading a post about a student wanting to learn skateboarding and the wording felt familiar but you didn’t think much. How they figured it out, you will never know.

“Oh! Oh, I think my nose is bleeding. Oh god.” Yuna sniffs vehemently, her finger at her nose. “I think I’m going to need Ryujin to get me to a clinic.”

Linking her arm through Ryujin’s, Yuna makes an apologetic expression and runs off into a particularly crowded area.

You blink. The realization dawns.

"They just left me," you tell him, exasperated. "How could they just leave me?"

He shrugs. "My team left me at a rival school's field once."

Great. Your last outing before midterms and your friends have abandoned you. If this is the case, you wonder why they complain about you spending so much time with Sungchan and allegedly ignoring them.

You regain a sense of your surroundings and turn to him. "Wait. They really left you?"

He nods diligently, eyes trained upwards as he tries to recall the memory. "I told you, didn’t I? On the plus side though, I made friends with the opposite team."

"That's so… cute."

Your cheeks heat up at saying it out loud. If Sungchan is affected by it in any way, he doesn't show it. Instead, he has his usual smile on.

“Do you wanna try?” he asks. “Skateboarding. Or rollerblading but I personally don’t recommend that.”

He curls his lips, shaking his head slightly. You laugh. Of course this beanpole has trouble balancing on skates.

"I- I figured you'd be good at skateboarding. Since, you know, you're so balanced and all."

You raise an eyebrow. "You wanna add skateboarding to your resume or something?"

"Yeah, that and the ability to imitate dog sounds. Wanna see?"

"No, thanks. I’ll pray this weekend to cure your furry behaviour."

Before he can respond, you’re interrupted by a whirlwind of colours and excited calls. A few girls run up to the two of you, younger and probably in middle school, flocking to Sungchan like bees to honey. Never in your life have you felt so ignored as in this singular moment.

You blink, turning to Sungchan who looks like a rather helpless, flustered eye of the hurricane. The winds don't seem to be stopping any time soon.

You clear your throat trying to get their attention.

"Wow, you brought your girlfriend?" One of the girls exclaims, sounding disappointed.

The other girls make similar whines of disappointment and you have half the heart to whack them over the head and tell them to focus on their academics instead of boys.

"You're so lucky to have him as your boyfriend," a girl comments, round eyes brimming with jealousy.

“He’s not my boyfriend,” you declare sharply.

Sungchan looks at you with his doe eyes, blinking cartoonishly. You nudge him with your elbow.

“Yeah!” He agrees, with far too much gusto to be believable. “I’m not (name)’s boyfriend. I have no idea why everyone keeps saying that.”

“Let’s go, babe,” you say, resisting the urge to stick your tongue out at the girls. They’re younger than you and you have high school dignity, you remind yourself.

Slipping your hand into his, you take a few long strides away from them before you realize what you said.

“I- I did- I didn’t mean to call you babe,” you sputter, pulling your hand from his to look at him with wide eyes.

“It’s okay though?”

Sungchan raises an eyebrow and slips his hand back into yours, smiling.

“I don’t mind the rumours, you know?” He says honestly but his smile feels all too teasing. “Maybe we should go out for real.”

You huff, separating yourself from him again. “Maybe you just love attention. Disgusting.”

You point an accusatory finger at him and he bites at it playfully.

“While you're here, wanna see a cool trick I learned?" He straightens only having to tilt his head to look at you.

"If it's you falling on your face, then yes."

"I mean, hey, I could totally do that. Done that several times actually."

You smile despite trying your hardest not to. You like this about him—that he’s easygoing enough to make you look at life less seriously. If it’s with him, you could quit everything that makes you unhappy and start everything you love.

“So where is your skateboard?” you ask, walking side by side with him, who has finally learned to match your pace.

“It’s with one of my friends,” he answers, and points to a tall girl with long brown hair, wearing a pair of tomboyish shorts and T-shirt. Another girl with short hair and a bucket hat accompanies her, wearing a long hoodie and shorts, but she leaves before you reach them. They must be from a different school because you’ve never seen them before. The first thing that pops into your head is that they’d be good replacements for your cheerleading position if you were ever to leave. You shake your head. Now is not the time.

“That’s Jimin!” he introduces, and you wonder how he’s this way—how he makes friends so easily.

Jimin waves at Sungchan and then proceeds to ask if you’re his girlfriend with a big smile, like a script being followed everywhere you go.

She seems a little disappointed at the answer. “Well, I was going to suggest one of the couples skateboards.”

You flash her an awkward smile.

“But those are pretty difficult! I’ve been here for a month and my idea of skateboarding is still sitting on it while Soeun pushes me around. That’s my friend, by the way.”

“Ah.” You nod. “This is my first time skateboarding, actually. The only ‘sport’ I’ve ever done is cheerleading.”

Jimin furrows her eyebrows before her eyes widen. “Wait a minute. You’re the cheerleader best friend that Sungchan wouldn’t shut up about!”

Sungchan flusters, in the subtle way he usually does, and waves his hands robotically trying to explain. “I was just saying- that- that you’d be good at skateboarding. Because of the cheerleading.”

A boxy grin accompanies his explanation.

“Right.” Jimin covers her face and sends an obvious wink your way. “Anyway, you can have my skateboard for the day.”

She hands over a smooth black skateboard with white wheels, but on closer inspection you find that they’re light-up wheels instead. It’s oddly fitting for someone like Jimin even if you’ve known her the entirety of ten minutes. Sungchan is good at finding friends, rather. Soon enough, she runs off after making Sungchan promise he’ll deliver the skateboard home.

The trick Sungchan wanted to show you was a failed kickflip. At the very least, it made you laugh so hard you almost spit out the strawberry milk he’d bought you. Sipping his own banana milk, he sulked for a moment or two, telling you to try it out and see how difficult it is.

On the contrary, Sungchan was right. You are good at balancing on skateboards. But that’s where it ends. You don’t think you’ll be naturally good at kickflips, though being able to glide through the plaza while Sungchan runs after you with the drinks puts a big smile on your face. It’s the most fun you’ve had in a while.

Accompanied by Sungchan’s panicked “oh no”s and “oh we messed up”s, the two of you try the couple skateboarding move too; no one’s watching you here. It’s fun to see him stress over a skateboard because frankly, you’ve never met anyone as easy-going as Sungchan. (“I’ll figure it out along the way,” he says when you ask if he’s studying for finals, and proceeds to get a decent enough score). Suddenly the wandering gap is closed again. You’re not going to worry about stupid rumours from now on.

But for some reason, ‘you like him as a friend’ doesn’t sound right either. Despite having said it so many times, you might not believe in it. You shake off the thought. This evening, at least, you’re going to enjoy with Sungchan without thinking of teenage drama and hormones.

"You still don't think you and Sungchan make the perfect pair?" Yuna pouts.

You narrow your eyes. "I don't take opinions from traitors."

Chaeryoung leans back on her chair, and whispers to you asking if you’re okay. At least someone is concerned about you.

“It hurts to be left by my own friends but—”

“No, I meant, are you okay? Why aren’t you dating Sungchan already? You’re so cute together! And you’re best friends—Netflix writers literally daydream of this.”

You groan, throwing up your hands in defeat.

“And,” Yuna adds, knocking her chair closer. “Who’s really the traitor here? Us who ditched you with the love of your life—or you, who runs off every time she gets a call from her boyfriend?”

“Sungchan is not my boyfriend.” You cross your arms.

“She even shares her lunch with him more,” Ryujin complains from the side. “And they’re not even in the same class. Unlike me, by the way. Class 1 Shin Ryujin. Same class as you, (name).”

You slump, resting your forehead against the desk. At this point, you wish the teacher would walk in and start the class already. Unfortunately, lunch break isn’t over for another ten minutes and lady luck clearly isn’t smiling upon you.

“Speak of the devil!” Ryujin announces monotonously, leaning against her desk.

Sungchan and a few of his friends from the soccer team wave at you and the girls from the classroom door. Noticing Taehyun, Yuna quickly fixes her hair and you would tease her if Sungchan hadn’t casually strolled up to your desk and sat down on the chair in front of you. Long legs barely contained in the space, he adjusts himself by resting his arm on the headrest and his chin upon it. It’s all normal. However, when he leans down to match your eye level, you hear the sudden pit-a-pat of your pulse in your ear. At this proximity, you can even see the mole on his lip that he’s pointed out before. The sunlight from the open windows is pulling golden strings over his eyelashes and his lips aren’t dry as a desert like you expected. You know he uses the watermelon flavoured lip balm.

“Too close,” you croak. Embarrassed at your own voice, you rise sharply and glare at him.

“Is your heart fluttering?” Sungchan asks, smiling as he looks up at you.

You roll your eyes.

You can hear Yuna’s giggling and before you can shoot her a glare, Sungchan calls.

"Do you have any bandaids?"

He points to a rough scratch at the base of his palm, fingers slender and less calloused than what you'd pictured. Then again, soccer players don't use their hands much, do they?

You blink. "You came all the way here for bandaids?"

"Well… I remembered you keep band-aids in your phone case. And the nurse hates me."

You giggle.

Yujin mouths from behind Sungchan, “He just wanted to see her.”

You would feel flattered if you didn't know these people and their shenanigans. They'd do anything for some drama (and to get two innocent people into the dating trap).

“Why would I waste my cute band aids on you?” you mutter under your breath. “They’re limited edition, you know?”

No way are you sticking Ice Bear on your urban hazard of a best friend. A tall, cute, surprisingly polite hazard but he still annoys you nonetheless.

However, Sungchan's pleading smile has grown on you.

You reluctantly take the band-aid out of your clear phone case, the pink panda doll attached to it swaying with the movement. Proceeding, you take Sungchan's hand and lay it on your desk. With careful focus, you place the band-aid, admiring the size difference of your hands before snapping to reality.

Enough with the pink cloud of thoughts, you scold yourself.

When you look up, the proximity makes your heart skip a beat despite the logical part of you saying you shouldn't. Your faces are too close and this time, you don't even have the energy to croak it out.

"Thanks, (name)," Sungchan smiles at you.

Right then, the sound of a chair sliding harshly against the floor makes the two of you jolt away from each other. All of your friends and his friends seem to be sporting Cheshire cat grins and you don't like it one bit. You don't like not being in on the gag.

"Anybody up for gaming after this? My treat." Chenle looks around. “Sungchan is banned from the arcade soccer game though.”

"'Ey," Sungchan complains.

"Hey, Jisung and Ryujin are banned from DDR too but that's because they almost broke the handles off last time."

The memory makes you smile. Sungchan was there too, and you don’t know why you’re only just recalling all the memories with him in it, carefully and in detail. Every one of them seems to have been amplified, the little interactions suddenly coming to mind.

“(name)? You’re coming?”

You take one look at Sungchan and give up. Even if this is another childish ploy by your peers, you don't mind spending some more time at the arcade with infuriatingly addictive games. A tiny part of you is even willing to go along with them and see if it turns out the way they want it to.

“I’ll go,” you mumble, and the rest of the group cheers.

“But I have cleaning duty today.”

The group groans.

“Just get someone else to do it. Like a junior.”

“Isn’t that bullying?” You ask, frowning.

“Ask nicely. Anyone would be willing to do your bidding, (name).”

“Chenle, will you do it?” You give him a sickly sweet smile. “You’re class president after all.”

Chenle wrinkles his nose. “You’re getting stupider every day, (name).”

You sigh. “Fine. I’ll ask one of Yuna’s classmates then.”

“By the way,” Chenle announces. “Only twelfth graders are invited—”

A bunch of groans interrupt him.

“Quit whining.” He crosses his arms, glaring at them. “What do you even have to worry about? We’re preparing for the exam of our lives. Oh, and Jisung is an exception.”

“We’re only two years apart,” Yuna mutters under her breath.

“Oh, and from class 5, only Sungchan is invited.”

Another round of complaints pass and Chenle breaks into laughter. “Just kidding.”

Your friends are and will always be an odd bunch. Sungchan has previously proved to be the weirdest (several times) and it makes him the most lovable too. But then again, you don’t have free space in your timetable to put in teenage crushes, much less falling for your best friend. What you do have time for this afternoon, however, is relaxing at the arcade.

“Let’s go! I am so good at this. Think I’d impress your Steve Curry?” Ryujun gloats, after having scored three hoops in a row at the arcade basketball game.

“It’s Stephen Curry,” Chenle corrects. “And no, let’s focus here. Our goals are—”

He points to the two figures by the DDR machine, looking like a real couple. He’s been acting as damage control for the rumours and making sure you don’t drift apart because of it. They really don’t make guys like him anymore, Chenle sighs. He should get a friendship award or something.

“—those two.”

Really, Sungchan better be thanking him by the end of this. He’s never met anyone quite like Jung Sungchan, especially because Chenle cannot picture himself liking the same person since elementary school.

“Man, now I wish I had a girlfriend,” Chenle mutters.

Ryujin snorts. “Who’s going to date you?”

“You don’t have a boyfriend either,” Chenle reminds and gets a basketball to the shoulder.

“Why are you playing that when you don’t even know how to use it?” Your voice rings through to them.

“I said I’ll figure it out!” Sungchan reasons.

Chenle and Ryujin stare at the two of you blankly, as you bicker over a claw machine game and they share a look.

“Do they need our help?” Ryujin whispers.

Chenle shakes his head. “I think they’ll figure it out from here.”

Soon enough, you were laughing at Sungchan’s failed attempts and trying to outplay him. Your friends have already given you the shove. Chenle and Ryujin share a high five and that’s where the new story begins.

You finally know the thrill of a teenage crush. It makes you so damn infuriated that it had to be Jung Sungchan.

Now every time he waves at you from the field or hands you a bottle of strawberry milk or explains the calc notes you missed or does the bare minimum, you need to deal with the quickening of your pulse and a few butterflies loose from their cage in your stomach. It doesn’t help that you’re almost always together.

The two of you currently sit by the school field, Sungchan tying his shoelaces while you cool off with the water bottle he offered you. Practice ended a while ago for you and the girls have receded into the air conditioned indoor gym. The indoor gym is apparently occupied by the gymnast club and you couldn’t be more disappointed that you didn’t join them instead.

If anything, however, you’d rather leave this whole thing and focus on your academics. Hobbies shouldn’t be draining you—they should feel like skateboarding on a lilac evening with the wind in your hair.

With a friend you like very, very much.

“Sungchan,” you call quietly.

“Hm?”

When he looks up, you can’t hold in the urge to fix the hair out of his eyes. You’ve never been very physically affectionate so it might have come off strange. Sungchan looks at you quietly, stars in his eyes and you clear your throat.

“How long have you been playing soccer? It was before we met, right?”

He hums, eyes traveling up and then back to you when he remembers. “Since I was six. You were there at my first soccer match actually.”

“I was? Oh my god, was it the one you lost horribly and the whole team started crying?”

“Yes. Yes, it was.”

You giggle. “Six year old you would be so in awe now.”

Sungchan beams at that.

“Who knows?” he smiles, looking into your eyes with firm determination. “Maybe I’ll be the next Son Heungmin.”

“Even I know who that is so… no.”

Sungchan pouts and you make a face in disgust. “Don’t act cute, it gives me hives.”

“Okay, maybe not Son Heungmin. I could definitely be the next Park Jisung—and I don’t mean him.”

Sungchan points to a boy passed out on the benches, his exhaustion typical of any high schooler while another boy sits beside him, fanning him with a bunch of assignment papers. Jisung and Chenle really are more entertaining than any game on this field.

You turn to look at Sungchan, who’s moving his head around trying to catch their attention. When he finally does, he waves at them and gets big grins in response. He’s not all that bad, you think. In fact, he’s quite possibly the most amiable boy in senior year.

“Just be Jung Sungchan,” you mutter. “Not Son Heungmin or Park Jisung.”

Sungchan turns to you, smiling wide. “Advice taken.”

You scoff. “Whatever.”

Maybe it’s just you but Sungchan has been glancing at your lips very frequently today and mentally thank Chaeryoung for letting you borrow her lip tint. You didn’t know something so subtle could get you this giddy.

“Are you… going to give the CSAT?” You ask, glancing at him nervously. Part of you is sad you only developed your first high school crush in the very last semester. Or if it’s comforting, you could believe you’ve liked him all this time.

“Nah. Sports scholarship,” he says nonchalantly. “I was going to tell you but… I’ve been scouted already.”

You gasp. “That’s… great. Your future’s all settled.”

Sungchan seems to dislike the idea, lips pursing. “I don’t think anything’s settled except for the next step.”

You nod, somewhat understanding.

“What about you?” He asks. “Any university in mind? SKY? I’ve seen you study extra hours at the library.”

You look away, not feeling ready for the conversation.

“I don’t know,” you say quietly. “I don’t know what I like and what I want. I don’t even like cheer anymore.”

Sungchan gazes at you wordlessly but it’s the most comfortable you’ve felt talking about this.

“Maybe I should quit,” you mumble.

You don’t want to commit to something you no longer have passion for. But then again, you’ve spent so much time on it that it’s hard to leave.

“You should,” he responds, honest.

You scoff, shaking yourself from that moment of vulnerability. “But why would I quit something I’m good at?”

“If you don’t like it. If it hurts to leave but isn’t any better when you stay, you should leave.”

You roll your eyes. “You’re quite the philosopher.”

“I’m smart, right?”

You smile.

“Oy, you two!” Chenle calls, making his way to you two with Jisung trailing behind. “I don’t mean to interrupt your flirting but you got a spare water bottle?”

“Are you two going out now?” Jisung asks as a follow-up, and you feel a hot flush for some reason, unlike the previous times you’ve been asked this question.

“No,” you answer. You don’t mind the idea though now.

“Don’t lie,” Chenle complains. “I saw that picture of Sungchan teaching you how to kick a ball. You? And soccer? Something’s up.”

You throw up your hands in exasperation. “Seriously, who keeps up posting to the school page? And where do they get the time?”

"Two people with this much compatibility will always be a hot topic."

"We're not compatible," you retort quickly.

"Wait," Jisung says. "I know how to resolve this."

You raise an eyebrow.

"How do you have your cereal?" He asks, looking from you to Sungchan.

"Cereal first, obviously," you answer.

Sungchan looks up, finger below his chin as he thinks. "I drink the milk first, then eat the cereal and then breakdance to mix it all together."

You pinch your nose. "I swear I question your sanity all the time."

"Hah! That means you're thinking about me all the time."

You look away, rolling your eyes. He responds with an open-mouthed smile and finger guns.

"See?" Jisung grins. "Compatible."

The gruff voice of Coach Lee startles the four of you and Sungchan leaves with a sigh and a promise of meeting after practice. Jisung leaves with Sungchan and Chenle gives you one last teasing smirk before sitting down and going through the assignment papers he was using as a fan previously. You will never understand his miraculous ways of performing his presidential duties.

You don’t have a good feeling about the next match. The only reason you’re even sticking around anymore—as embarrassing as it—is to spend more time with Sungchan. Being with him puts you at ease, even if the school tries to wrap the two of you in a rope of uneasiness. This is your very last practice, for the next match is the final one of this year and then you’ll be back to spending even longer hours at the library with a stack of textbooks. It’s supposed to be a carefree age. At least, adults say that. Your high school life seems to be riddled with worries, and with that thought, you head into the air conditioned room to take a breather off your anxieties.

Only one more match, you remind yourself.

The pre-match buzz is driving you to the edge.

Your form is off, you can feel it already and Coach Kim isn’t as sunshine-as-rainbows as she usually is, courtesy to it being the last match of your life. She’ll never know though, how much you don’t want to do this.

Sungchan waves at you as he usually does before a match, disappointing a third of his fangirls, but it helps you ease. One last time, (name).

Watching the crowd of people, parents and siblings and friends, all excited and talking makes you take a deep breath. You practiced but it wasn’t good enough. You can never do well at something you don’t like anymore. This time, you feel guilty for committing to things half-heartedly. You want to start that fresh new college chapter already, with all of this behind.

There’s ten minutes left. You go back to the empty hall outside the lockers only to pace. This isn’t helping.

“(name)!”

You turn around abruptly to find Sungchan’s tall figure, and you must be looking miserable because his smile falls.

He doesn’t even ask what’s wrong, only takes careful steps towards you. “Do you need water? Medicine?”

His hands hover over your shoulder but he doesn’t burden you with them. You put your face in your palms and sigh, sinking down to the floor in a crouch.

“I want to quit,” you whisper. Your voice comes off more brittle than you’d like, and you realize that Sungchan hasn’t seen you cry since seventh grade when you failed a math test. You didn’t tell him then but you appreciated him studying extra hours for math just to teach you.

“You don’t have to go out there if you don’t want to,” he says quietly, dropping to the floor beside you. “I’ll stay with you.”

You stare at him dumbfounded. “Don’t be ridiculous! They’ll lose without you—you’re the ace, Sungchan!”

“There will always be an ace,” he retorts. “Maybe Jisung will finally get to shine. Or anyone else. I don’t mind spending an hour with you alone.”

You feel a hot flush spread over your cheeks. Looking away to the side, you mumble an ‘alright’ and only glance from the corner of your eye to see him smiling. Jung Sungchan is the most unreasonable boy you’ve ever met. Perhaps it makes him somewhat loveable too.

“It’s your last match,” you whisper helplessly.

“I’ll join the college soccer club and get to play more matches.”

You sigh, giving in. If he’s so adamant, you think that perhaps there is something in you worth sacrificing his game over. It makes an oddly warm feeling bloom in your chest. Sungchan is so damn convincing with his words. You wonder if it’s really okay.

With shoulders touching, an awkward silence takes over in the next second. You turn to him and open your mouth, watch him do the same and close it at the same time he does.

“You know,” he begins, “I was kind of lying about not worrying because I get the feeling coach will evaporate me tomorrow but—I can handle it. Mostly.”

You stare at him with wide, worried eyes. “You don’t have to do this, Sungchan. I’m the one running away.”

You slouch, pulling your knees closer to your chest and burying your face in them. The urge to scream is boiling within you but you can’t get caught. Not now.

“Sometimes to run is the brave thing,” he responds, insightful. “If you’re not up for it, it’s better to quit early than to regret it in the long run.”

You don’t know if it’s the fact that he just quoted Taylor Swift or spoke like your old school counselor—but you find yourself laughing. He makes sense. Sungchan, in his weird, oddball ways, always makes sense. And in that same way, he feels like home.

“You’re so good to me,” you say, looking up at him and at a proximity you’ve never been before.

It’s his turn to fluster, though he doesn’t do so as visibly as you do. He clears his throat, shifting his eyes around before meeting yours. “I- This is bad timing but… I like you. I really do. Since third grade when you drew that birthday card for me. I have it in my bedside drawer, by the way.”

He looks away and makes a face, probably wondering why he said that out loud.

You press your lips tight to prevent the smile that tugs at them. He looks at you with a wobbly smile, trying his hardest to resume his usual dignity—but he’s just a boy, after all.

“My type is dumb and pretty, though?” You tease, the smile escaping. “You said it yourself.”

He blinks. “Well, I am pretty but if you want me to be stu—”

You shake your head. “I like you too. You don’t have to act cute.”

He pauses, thinking. “I have never acted cute in my life ever. I was born cu—”

You hold his face between your thumb and forefinger. “You do that again and you die.”

He breaks into a smile.

“I’ve never met someone quite like you,” you whisper, embarrassed of your own feelings bubbling up from the bottle you had kept them in.

He laughs, open-mouthed and pretty.

“Actually, hey, I didn’t like you all this time from fifth. I liked you and then I didn’t like you and then I liked you again—”

“Okay, I get it.”

His shoulders relax and he smiles at you. You look up at the clock on the wall by the entrance to the field and bite your lip. You don’t love performing anymore but you know all the girls do, even the stand-bys. Jisung might not have to take over Sungchan’s position but you bet one of those tenth graders would love to take yours, the same way you did back then. They’ve practiced harder than you too and it’s only a matter of deserving.

You take a deep breath and get up, pulling up Sungchan by the hand. He raises an eyebrow, inquisitive eyes scanning over your face and you smile at him, strengthening your resolve. You should have done this way sooner.

Sungchan plays. You don’t let him sit it out with you.

Halfway through, you cheer the hardest you ever have, plastic decorative gemstones stuck by your eyes borrowed from the other girls cheering. It’s much more fun, you think. You’ve never experienced soccer like this. You’d love to sit at stadiums and join in victory chants. There’s enough weight off your chest to yell your lungs out.

Sungchan scores a goal almost immediately after and sends a thumbs up over to you. You laugh. This is the best break you’ve ever taken from cheerleading.

“Ooh, is this perhaps the (name) effect?” Chenle’s voice rings through the speakers and you feel yourself shrink slightly under the eyes. Out of the corner of your eye, you can see your homeroom teacher signal very angrily to the commentator box. You shake yourself off it. So what if everyone’s looking?

Sungchan places his hands on his hips, chest heaving and sends another signal to you before beelining for a straight goal. You whoop and the girl with a notebook beside you is visibly annoyed at this point but you don’t care.

Without doubt, your school wins and you watch as Sungchan runs to his team, a big smile on his face. The second he’s done getting pet by the team, however, he rushes to the bleachers, skipping over the steps to you, panting when he stops. The risk he took was definitely not calculated. He holds up one finger while he heaves.

“My cheering worked best this time, it seems,” you say to him, laughing.

His face is flushed from the exertion but he laughs heartily. “You could be yelling profanity at me and it’d still encourage me.”

You shake your head at the cheesy line. He takes a step forward, well inside your space but you don’t mind. He leans in.

“Everyone is looking at us,” he says under his breath. “Is that a good or a bad thing?”

You look behind him to find the whole team, along with your girls sharing furtive glances and giggling at the sight of the two of you. A few of the junior girls slap each other’s arms, bouncing on the balls of their feet in excitement. You’re not a celebrity. But everyone wants to cheer things on once in a while, don’t they?

“Good,” you answer, before pulling him by the shirt into a chaste kiss. When you pull apart, Sungchan’s face is so struck with awe that you want to look away but instead you bite back an obvious smile. It’s about damn time, someone from the soccer team yells.

“Woah. I think I scored a goal either way,” he says, an offbeat smile on his face.

“Oh come on, we didn’t even get to chant ‘Kiss! Kiss! Kiss!’ yet—oh shit, the mic’s on.”

Chenle is definitely getting an earful from your teacher after this. The two of you wave at him at the box and end up laughing at him trying to hide behind the desk.

As expected, the whole crowd surrounds the two of you in less than a minute’s worth of time, with several congratulations and “good score” offered to the two of you. The boys mess up Sungchan’s hair while the girls compliment you on how cute a couple you are. There’s also the question of when you started dating that pauses the buzz and makes everyone look to the two of you for an answer. Sungchan turns to you and you turn to him, and there’s no way you’ll tell half the school that your confession came in a private hallway outside the field—teenage imaginations run wild.

Instead, you slip your hand into Sungchan’s and run down the bleachers and towards the exit, laughter spilling from your lips. There’s only one place you can think of going to spend a cool blue late afternoon with.

“Skate plaza?” He asks.

“Skate plaza,” you answer.

#cznnet #neowritingsnet #nct x reader #sungchan x reader #nct fluff #sungchan fluff #nct imagines #nct scenarios #sungchan imagines #sungchan scenarios #nct x you #sungchan x you #nct sungchan #jung sungchan #nct oneshot #sungchan oneshot #nct fanfic #sungchan fanfic #moonwrites

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babyboibucky · 3 years

Text

The Match

Pairing: CEO!Bucky Barnes x Reader

Summary: You come across your boss’ Tinder profile.

Word Count: 1,446

Warnings: HMMMM sexual tension 😏

A/N: I wrote this in a whirl and tried to format it through the app last night and it SUCKS so I’m posting this just now. Anyway, there will definitely be a smutty part two to this lmfao ya know it

Edit: PART 2 IS UP!!!

The Match Masterlist || MAIN MASTERLIST

Saturday night and you’re on your bed, wine-drunk and all as you mindlessly swiped through Tinder. You start to frown when none of the guys impressed you enough to swipe right. Their bios were all the same, revolving around their egos only to end up with the good ol’ “DTF” line.

Bored and disappointed, you almost exited the app until a very, very familiar face appeared on your screen.

“Holy shitballs, it’s our boss.” You sat up immediately, bringing your phone to your face for a close inspection.

Indeed, it was your boss James Barnes but he was using “Bucky” as his profile name. You wondered whether it was his real account or a poser one. But then you remembered his closest colleagues calling him that.

You snorted as you checked out his profile. He didn’t have a bio but had a couple of photos uploaded. And oh wow, is that a shirtless mirror photo?

You rarely worked closely with your boss but goddamn, sometimes you wished you did because he was a hot piece of ass.

“Should I swipe right...” you mumbled to yourself.

Would it be unprofessional to do so? But then again, you never really interacted with him that much. Just a couple of polite nods and greetings whenever you passed by him at the office. You weren’t even directly reporting to him.

That being said, you were quite sure that he wouldn’t swipe right on you given that you’re his employee. Of course he wouldn’t want to be the unprofessional one so being tipsy and all, you decided to take one for the team.

“Tss, what the hell.” You huffed out and swiped right.

Not even a second later, the “It’s a match!” message popped up on the screen almost immediately. You choked on your wine and dropped your phone, eyes wide and heart racing because you just matched with your fucking boss.

“Shit!” You hissed, diving onto the floor the pick your phone up.

If the message popped out as soon as you swiped right on him, then that means...

“He swiped right on me first, what the fuck!”

Monday came quickly and you’ve never been this restless before. You couldn’t wrap your head around the fact that you matched with your boss on Tinder. Neither of you messaged the other over the weekend but now that you were headed to work, you honestly didn’t know what to expect.

You debated whether to call in sick or maybe, pretend that you died? Pack your bags and perhaps fly to a different country and start anew? You were overacting but matching with your boss on a dating app known for hook-ups should be a valid reason to justify your thoughts.

Maybe James didn’t recognize you that’s why he swiped right. That was possible since you and him didn’t really work together. It’d be better if he swiped right by accident, his phone probably slipped from his hands. He probably doesn’t even know he matched with you, yeah, you decided to settle on that conclusion.

Taking a deep breath in, you fixed your hair before stepping out of your car. Mondays were meant for meetings so he probably wouldn’t be around the office anyway. You rushed over to the elevator and let out a sigh of relief when you didn’t have to share it with anyone.

That was until someone managed to slip a foot in between the doors, catching up to you before the elevators slammed shut.

“Oh.”

Well, well, well if it isn’t James “Bucky” Barnes. Out of all the people you had to share an elevator with, it just had to be him! And judging by how his eyes widened at the sight of you, the Tinder incident wasn’t simply an accident.

“Good morning.” He greeted, clearing his throat as he stood beside you.

James’ scent wafted in the air as soon as the doors slid close and he smelled divine. He smelled like a man, a man man and it almost made your eyes roll. You greeted him back with a soft voice, fighting so hard not to look at him because as always, he looked pretty damn good.

He was restless beside you, adjusting his suit and then his tie. You could see him through your peripheral vision, he kept on fixing his hair as well. Did he get a haircut? It was shorter than before, not that you were paying way too much attention to him.

Meanwhile, you too were fidgeting with your shoulder bag, picking at the leather and praying for this torture to be over before you could even lose control and slam your lips against his.

“How was your weekend?” James asked, glancing at you.

This was probably the longest conversation you had with your boss. You weren’t even sure which was more awkward, striking a conversation after the match or simply remaining quiet for the entire ride up.

“Um, it was good. Yours?” You asked, stammering a little as you stole a quick glance at him.

James nodded, “Good too. Interesting actually.”

Fuck! He knows, he so knows about the match.

You would have preferred complete silence over the elevator music echoing in the air while the both of you were obviously feeling the tension. Was the elevator really this slow?! And when did it get this hot?!

You started fanning yourself when you started to sweat from the awkwardness of it all. Bucky too could obviously feel it, the tension and the elephant in the room waiting to be acknowledged. He loosened his tie all of a sudden, popping the top buttons of his dress shirt which quickly reminded you of the shirtless pic in his profile.

You could feel the heat creep up to your neck and ears. With how bright the lights were in the elevator, it’d be easy for James to notice how red you turned.

“Kinda hot today, don’t you think?” He asked.

You let out a mirthless chuckle, “Yeah, really hot. I think the maintenance should have the air conditioning unit checked.” You breathed out, clearing your throat again as you wiped the sweat forming on your forehead.

For a couple of seconds there was nothing but the collective sounds of you and your boss clearing your throats. The tension was so thick you can literally touch it if you tried. You wanted to address the unspoken issue but how the hell were you going to do that? Jump on his bones? It would seem like a good idea to do so except that he was your boss and that would result to you losing your job.

You wanted to ask James though, whether he was aware that you were his employee when he swiped right. Actually, you just wanted to bring up the topic just to get it over with. Acknowledge the match and then pretend it didn’t happen to save you both from the embarrassment. Yeah, you could do that.

Unable to hold back anymore, you broke the silence to ask James a question.

“Did you swipe right on accident?”

“So are you down to fuck?”

You and James asked at the same time, his straightforward question making you weak in the knees because what the hell...

James bit his lip, shaking his head in response. “I didn’t.”

“Oh.” You blinked, unable to stop yourself from staring at James’ mouth when he ran his tongue over his lower lip before taking it in between his teeth as he looked you over with glazed eyes.

Damn that tongue, though. And damn those blue eyes too.

“Are you...?” He repeated again, reminding you of his question.

Your boss, whom you rarely interacted with in the office, just asked you whether you were down to fuck. Truthfully, you were only on Tinder because of boredom and it wasn’t your goal to actually hook-up with someone. But now that your hot boss swiped right on you and seemed to be really interested in you...

“I...uhh...” you stammered, not really knowing how to tell him that yes, you would very much like to be fucked by him.

The elevator dinged, interrupting the tension between you and James. The doors slid open and James quickly straightened up before walking ahead.

But not without turning around to look at you expectantly, waiting for a response.

Due to the pressure and the elevator doors beginning to close, you blurted out the first thing that you could muster.

“Yes, sir!”

You blushed at your response but it seemed to have stirred something in James because his eyes darkened as he smirked at you.

“Good. Then I’ll see you in my office in fifteen.”

Everything Bucky Tag List:

@ddowii @jessou893 @stealapizzamyheart @bagelofthelord @mxnt @dontputyourfckingdrinkonmytable @jeeperky @ohladymacbeth @wildflowergubler @supraveng @twinerd14 @buckysmar @bakugouswh0r3 @sweetcoldharmony @wintersfilm @charminivy @amelia-song-pond @iamvalentinaconstanza @mcubqrnes @i’m-squished @tcc-gizmachine @sipsteacasually @tcc-gizmachine @prettyintopeerpressure @weloveyasmin @est19xxshit @bloodhon3yx @dressed-in-prada @lizette50 @thatfangirl42 @sunflowerbunny2 @unmagically @okiegirl24 @sugarpunch-princess @enlyume @vvipgotbb @slimeyderp @lyoongx @just-deka @nobody-will @jaziona92 @elisebuitron @dpaccione @suvikamahes98blr @buckybarneshairpullingkink @earthtonav @x-judyjude-x @nani-kenobi @just-here-to-escape-from-reality @belladonnabarnes @iloveangstposts @weenersoldierr @asemistablehundredyearoldman @reidbuck @lizzarooni @girlfriday007 @5-seconds-of-mendes @whoth3hellisbucky @bonkywobble

#bbbwrites #oneshots: bucky barnes #bucky barnes #bucky #bucky barnes x reader #bucky x reader #bucky barnes x you #bucky x you #bucky barnes smut #bucky smut #sebastian stan

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batteryrose · 3 years

Text

Ikepri boys’ swords

I'm slacking off on my assignments but I AM thinking of swords. So now: ikepri boys and the kind of swords they use based on their sprite.

Disclaimer: I'm nowhere near a sword expert, am just an average Sword Fan looking at swords and pointing at them and going 'oooooooh!' and by the way, sword names and types are very subjective throughout history and there's no concrete taxonomy of them, so I'm mostly just going off what I know and seems right. You can add or correct me ofc but uh, be chill about it wuwu

Hopefully I also think... this could be helpful for artists and writers, I don't know, maybe perhaps

So, Leon, Chevalier, Clavis, and Licht: longswords! All these boys are super tall looking so the length confuses me but looking at the hilt, their swords are definitely made for two hands.

On foot, and one-on-one, fighting with swords like these are not all about just slashing as wide and hard as possible, it's more about twisting and pivoting your sword around your enemies' sword while at the same time keeping them from poking you (basically parrying and countering them.) Against full armor, especially, you have to thrust into narrow gaps of the plates.

https://64.media.tumblr.com/1d5acea2d003e14f16b324e816b46313/tumblr_njtlhw5F8R1rbgia9o1_500.gifv

In horseback tho, I guess you can only use one hand to slash them around. And if you're good on your horse you can do that without worrying about accuracy or getting poked too much. From what I've seen in Leon's route seems like they fight on horseback often (and no one here uses armor anyway..... Which is very silly of them.) If they're not against like, an army of people with spears, I can see how someone like Chevalier would be pretty hard to beat indeed.

I also notice they have em with pretty long hilts, esp Litch here, and long hilts gives extra leverage between your two hands and you can cut and slash harder. Those hand guards and pommel looks like it could pack a punch too. You can use a sword backwards sometimes, you know. In fact I think Leon's could hurt pretty bad. But hand guards are most important for parrying, stopping the enemies' blade as it slides against yours, and then you can push it away and slash around it, or something.

https://64.media.tumblr.com/196334a981ebffa26c1edb390632bf53/tumblr_nzt1016oki1s7lazuo4_400.gifv

Also! Licht bears a second arm, and the blade isn't visible but it could be an arming sword. A short sword, basically, one handed. It might also be a dagger of some sort. It's pretty common to bring a dagger to get up close and personal after wrestling with your longsword, especially against armor, again, to get into the narrow gaps. Definitely made him look like he's a master and efficient at fighting.

Jin here, I don't know if he's just very tall, but his sword seems shorter than the longswords. It could be just a shorter hilt. Though a shorter-longsword-but-longer-than-a-shortsword is usually called a bastard sword (one-and-a-half handed sword.) Swords are a spectrum and there's no clear line between them, hard to say. How it hangs lower on his waist made him more casual, and doesn't seem like the kind of leader that gets up to the heat of the fighting himself. Like Clavis, too. He looks more like someone that works in the background and his sword is only ceremonial. Am I actually talking about character design right now?

Yves! Idk why but I was excited to see that he wields a sabre. It's curved and one edged, one handed, and it's more of a slashing weapon than thrusting. It is more often used in modern eras, I think, since it's probably hard to use against those medieval plate armor. Sabers are very cool and based and very pretty and definitely suits him aaahhhhhh

Also Nokto's! I can't see Nokto's sword very well but by the look of the hilt, with that knuckle guard and a slight curve, it could be a saber too. Maybe a straight saber since it doesn't seem to curve much. Since it looks shorter than Yves', it could probably also be called a cutlass. (look, these terminologies... Don't think too much about it) Definitely suits his type of guy! Sleek and fast and sneaky. I really like how their weapons suits their design and personality hhhhhhh

Fighting with sabers is a lot of swishing and swooshing and clanging around and basically like how anime swordfights are really, which is why I like them. And sabers has a flamboyant vibe too, I think... Maybe just me…

And now, LUKE. With his thick ass sword. I don't know if he's just so tall that a greatsword only reaches his chest (when it usually reaches your chin) or it's just a longer, bigger longsword... Like I said, swords are a spectrum. Though since he has to carry it on his back, its safe to assume he got a greatsword.

Apparently greatswords has a specialty of being used against multiple enemies, enemies on either side of you, etc, etc, so you def swing around hard with this. Luke looks like a big tanky boy, and his beast is a bear, it fits a whole lot. At the same time, he's a chill dude, so he only wears it on his back. You can't draw that massive thing from your back by the way, if it's longer than your arm it's impossible. So it's like he's hiding his power level. And just be a chill but very big guy

Rio and Sariel doesn't seem to be carrying anything, but I guess Sariel got a whip on him. ANd i definitely know nothing about that

So that’s it, you’ve just watched me rant about swords for some hundred words through low quality low effort post. I’ll put the gif sources on the replies below. Go drink water.

#ikepri #ikemen prince #ikeseries #ikemen series

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totiredtowrite · 3 years

Text

Wolf In Sheeps Clothing

Warnings - Cursing because angry boy, reader being a cold mf, reader's clothes are described (but kind of vaguely so dw)

Note: I feel like I can hear the gif for some reason :D? Kind of self indulgent so reader is shorter than kyotani. Poor mad dog, always being put in his place by pretty boys. I'll have you know that I consult the wiki everytime I write something for character details by the way. (bragging shamelessly). Reader is also a second year and the student council president because this is fiction and I'm not sure if you have to be a third year hehe

this turned out longer than I thought it would, really popped off with this one

Male Reader

Kyotani Kentarou has a new enemy.

Whether or not you knew he though of you as an enemy didn't matter to him.

Suprisingly, it doesn't happen as often as some might think. His awful attitude and uncooperative nature ensures that he makes more enemies than friends, but most people are too afraid to approach him in order to become one of the two.

His new enemy?

You. (L/n) (y/n), Student Council President.

Kyotani never really though much of you. Not when you campaigned for the spot, (despite being in the second year), and not when you got the position. He's seen you, sure, you made that whole speech when you got the part and you oversaw detention sometimes.

Kyotani, (surprisingly), didn't get detention much. On the one time you oversaw the detention class when he was supposed to be there, he decided not to go.

So, overall, he hardly saw you at all. You were nothing but a passing thought in his mind when he heard people talking about you. He never expected to talk to you, much less consider you his worst enemy.

~~~

It really was a normal day for Kyotani. He woke up, took a shower, ate on his way to school, and slipped into class with his usual "fuck with me and you die" look on.

Practice was cancelled that day as the coach was out sick, so he didn't really have anything to do. Everything was all normal for him, right up until the end of the day. Kyotani was stalking through the hallways, the other second years moving out of his way and giving hushed whispers to their friends as they got ready to leave.

He was used to that, and even liked the feeling it gave him, knowing that these people were actually afraid of him. He was close to his locker when it happened.

He ran right into you, almost knocking you back. He glowered down at you, an angry spark in his eye that would have any other student running far away. You however, just stepped back to be clear of his general bubble, and looked up at him with a frown.

Truth be told, he had never really seen you up close. True he'd overheard some of his classmates talking about how 'intimidating' and 'handsome' you were, but Kentarou didn't expect to actually feel it coming off of you. He didn't expect to point out how attractive you were right off the bat.

The hard glisten in your eye faded as you scanned his face. You know this guy. Your expression changed from 'stone cold dictator' to 'unbothered student council president.'

Somehow feeling the tension, most of the students cleared out before either of you said a word.

"Kyotani Kentarou," you said, "Number 16 on our schools volleyball team. Infamous for your out of control aggression and prowess in your sport." You smirked at him quickly, straightening your blazer and standing up straight.

"The hell," he lifted his head to look down his nose at you, "why do you know me?"

You shrug. "I keep tabs on all the students I think are troublesome. Or interesting." He watched as you casually turned to your bag and pulled out a large binder. "You're on the first page, marked in red." you had a somewhat mocking tone in your voice, that coy smirk returning.

Kyotani growled, the noise sounding surprisingly like an animal. You were much more cocky up close. Cocky and aggravating. He moved closer to you so that your chests were almost touching while you put the binder away, and looked straight down at your face. "I can be much more troublesome," he said lowly.

You barked out a laugh. "Careful there Mad Dog." You advanced, causing Kyotani to step back. "Or I might just think you're threatening me," you continued to move forward. Kyotani took more steps back. The only way he could describe the feeling was like he was being herded like a sheep.

Another animalistic growl left his throat when his back hit the lockers. By now everyone had left, leaving just the two of you. "You aren't leaving a very good first impression on your president," you say dangerously, almost mocking your own title.

"Why do I need to leave a good impression on you," he muttered out. You didn't say anything and instead lifted your arm above his shoulder to slam it by his head. He recognized this feeling. Yet somehow, it felt all different.

Not once had the rumors spoken about the affect you had on people. You scanned his face again, those intimidating (e/c) eyes holding him steady in place. His breath hitched in his throat softly when you pulled your hand back to straighten his tie. "You don't," you said referring to his earlier question, eyes focused on his tie. "And you haven't."

You pulled away from him and stepped back, patting him on the shoulder before turning on your heel to head towards the doors. You turned your head just as you were about to leave, the blue grey light from the cloudy sky making you seem more threatening. "Take care, Mad Dog." You left the school building, leaving Kentarou breathing heavily and on guard at the lockers.

~~~

He really didn't expect that from you.

He had had a similar feeling, when Yahaba threw him into a wall and scolded him during the spring preliminary game against Karasuno. Similar, but not quite the same. It felt like you had him trapped. He still had your words replaying on repeat in his mind.

Those rumors he heard about you didn't do you any justice. He never heard anything about how easily you could make people feel... things. For once, he felt like he was the one being hunted. And oh boy did he not like that. All those times he'd seen you, he thought you looked like a regular goody two shoes who would report even the smallest wrongdoing to the teachers. He didn't expect a calculated, threatening boy who had a binder of 'troublemakers' and a heavy presence.

He didn't sleep more than 2 hours that night.

Maybe it was your eyes that were etched into his mind. Maybe it was your smooth voice, that look that made it seem like there was so much more under your surface.

So naturally he came to the conclusion that you were his rival.

He managed to avoid you all till the end of the week, Sunday rolling around like a saving grace. He didn't see you once for the rest of the week, but it still felt like you were watching him with those calculated eyes of yours. His shoulder still felt all weird and tingly from where you had touched him.

The weekend felt like an asylum to him, a feeling of safety and control returning to him when his older sister sent him out to go pick up some things from the store.

Kyotani had decided to cut through the park on his way back, but now he was quickly regretting his decision. It's not like he was afraid of you, he just thought that avoiding you would be the best option.

The last place he expected you to be was sitting in the park, staring out at the little man-made pond with a few birds at your feet. You had an overcoat on to compensate for the slightly chilly weather, a sweater visible underneath it. Your shoes were tapping the ground rhythmically.

You looked much less intimidating out of uniform. You had a neutral, content look on your face, cheek squished against your palm with your elbow resting on your knee. It was almost cute, he thought, if that was the right word for it.

"Are you just going to stand there forever," you turned your face towards him and regarded him with lidded eyes. "You can sit down you know."

He jumped, standing still for a second before slowly moving towards you. His guard up like a wall as memories of your last interaction replayed through his mind. His breath quickened ever so slightly, and his ears turned pink.

He slid into place on the bench next to you. You turned towards him again and smiled. He went bright red.

It was an actual smile. Not that cocky smirk, but a soft clad cute smile. You focused your attention back on to the pond.

"You live around here," Kyotani inquired gruffly.

You nodded. "I don't go out much. Usually cooped up in my room working on god knows what." You leaned back, draping your arms gracefully across the back of the bench. "Sorry about our little encounter, by the way. I must have come off way scary, right?" You gave him that soft smile again.

He looked away and hid his cheeks with his hand. "Like I'd be afraid of you," he muttered.

You hummed softly. A thought struck him. He regained his composure before speaking again. "You must have known that I live around here, right?"

You nodded wordlessly. "It was in your file."

Kyotani decided not to comment on how creepy that was, and instead muttered out a small "oh."

Neither of you said a word for a few moments.

"We really got off on the wrong foot, huh?" You turned your whole body towards him, watching his movements like a cat.

He just grunted.

You laughed a little bit, and extended your hand. "Why don't we start over. I'm (l/n) (y/n)."

Kyotani eyed your hand suspiciously before taking it. The tingly feeling returned, but this time it felt stronger as both your hands were bare. Your slightly smaller hand gripped his firmly, the slight size difference making Kyotani blush a bit.

You really weren't what he thought, were you? Even so, you were still his enemy. His cute, scary, calculated, calm enemy.

He doesn't even know what hit him.

#m!reader #hq x male reader #anime x male reader #male reader #x male reader #haikyuu x male reader #kyotani kentaro #kyotani x male reader #kyotani kentaro x male reader

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