#that doesn't mean that your writing is bad AT ALL

[jnnul]

mr. brawn and ms. brain

sum: you hate athletes. eunseok is an athlete. eunseok is in love with you. it doesn't take a genius to see that there's an issue with this equation. after a one-sided love for the past three years, eunseok is saved when the two of you are partnered to work on an english project together. which means that eunseok's first step of getting you to fall in love with him is done. next step: get you to give him the time of day... word count: 9.6k a/n: hehe i've been working on this for so long i can't believe it's finally out lol i hope that you all enjoy reading this as much as i loved writing this! <3 someone teach me how to make visually pleasing banners. quick note: feedback, comments, etc. GREATLY encourage writers! if you felt any sort of way (in a good or bad way!) about this fic, pls leave feedback warnings: mentions of reader's insecurities, sungchan being a horrible/amazing friend, simp eunseok, uhh love :D

EUNSEOK SHOULD HAVE KNOWN THAT TRYING TO WRAP HIS MIND AROUND YOUR SHEER GENIUS WAS A BAD IDEA. you were just so much smarter than him; he didn't know why he thought that he could even comprehend the meaning behind your actions anymore.

at least, this is what song eunseok gathers from your animated gestures and anger stained tone as you continue to motion at eunseok semi-offensively.

he's only half-listening (he's perfected the art of the blank stare) and you know that he's not listening too. but eunseok figures that if yelling at him to your heart's content is what would make you feel better, then he was glad to be your not-really listening ear.

"...and you know that i can't do it all on my own!" you yell finally, your distress coming to a climax. eunseok winces when your voice reaches a decibel he didn't know to be humanly possible. your chest is heaving and eunseok, from this, is now well aware that you're upset the fact you had to work on the partner project by yourself last night.

but he didn't know how else to explain to you that he had a soccer match last night that he couldn't just skip out to work on the project - even if it was a project that would more or less determine his grade in the class.

your arms are crossed against your torso, eyebrows furrowed as you wait for eunseok to say something. he's sat in front of you, looking akin to a statue, while you're standing up, glaring down at him and from this angle, eunseok is once again reminded of just why he lets you get away with saying pretty much anything to him.

eunseok is so incredibly in love with you that it takes every fiber of his being from telling you that any time the two of you were together. which was less often than he wanted but more often than you had had in the past so he was willing to take the wins he could get at this point.

"so you want me to the work on the project, that's it, right?" he says slowly and you damn near want to strangle him in that moment. you knew that eunseok wasn't dumb and that he had only sat through your entire lecture because you weren't going to let him hear the end of it anyway but would it kill him to at least pretend like he was remorseful?

"yes," you say finally, with an exasperated sigh. "i just want you to work on the project with me."

the corner of eunseok's lips twitch imperceptibly upwards in a soft smile before it disappears, bringing him back to his much more familiar bored expression. i just want you to work on the project with me.

that had to mean something, right? you wouldn't add the 'with me' without any particular reason, right? you actually meant to indicate something with that 'with me', right?

in all honesty, you're hadn't thought of what you were saying all that hard and had just said everything that came to mind in an attempt to rid yourself of your anger and eunseok knows that as well.

he's been in love with you for long enough to know that you didn't actually mean anything when he formed these delusions on his own but he couldn't help himself.

eunseok has loved you since the moment he saw you sitting inside the classroom, earbuds in your ears as you flipped through your notebook filled with notes while he was outside on the soccer field, squinting up at you against the relentless sun, three years ago.

he wasn't sure what it was. at first, he was sure that it was just the chase. the classic 'unattainable' trope where he was only attracted to you because of the challenge that you presented to him.

but it was strange.

eunseok wasn't a really big fan of cheesy clichés or overplayed poetry about something that he was sure didn't exist anymore but everything had changed when he saw you.

your looks, face, beauty - none of that seemed to be what clicked within him. the moment that you turned your head to peer out the window, your eyes landing on his, it was like his entire soul was breathing a sigh of relief.

if eunseok was any less of a realist, he would've genuinely believed that the two of you were soul tied lovers from previous lives.

the only issue was that eunseok was pretty sure his soulmate would give him the time of day. which you pretty much refused to do. it was like you were allergic to his type or something.

you kept to yourself in general, and didn't really have many friends but at the very least, you were friendly enough to those around you. no one really had anything bad to say about you bar the fact that you never allowed anyone to overtake you on your throne seated comfortably as number one in the whole school.

except for eunseok's friends. they all knew about eunseok's hopeless love for you and for the life of them could not understand why. you barely glanced in his direction in general, and seemed to always glare at any round object that could be used for a sport - and those who carried said offending objects.

which naturally meant that eunseok and the rest of his friends (all of whom unfortunately played some sport or another) were blacklisted by you.

he'd been curious at first why you had so much prejudice against sports and then one time, had seen you be forced to run laps around the field. needless to say, after he saw you nearly trip and fall on your face at least four times in one lap, he was vaguely aware of what prompted you to stay as far away from such activities as possible.

in fact, eunseok was relatively sure that he was going to have to graduate high school without ever actually having a proper conversation. until the fateful day that your english professor had assigned you and eunseok to work on the same project together for a final grade.

it was a simple research paper, but both of you had to submit outlines and drafts that showed how much you each contributed to the project, as well as how much of the project was done with each other - all of which contributed to your grade.

eunseok had thought that this was it! this would be his in!

he was wrong. to be honest, eunseok could count on one hand the number of conversations he'd had with you after starting work on the project together. and could count without any fingers the number of those conversations that were about anything other than project division.

which is why, when you're standing here, arms crossed against your heaving chest and looking at him with those eyes, eunseok has nothing running in his mind other than just how much he wants you to know what he feels.

"eunseok! are you even listening to me anymore?" you ask, waving a hand in his face. eunseok blinks before clearing his throat. he reaches out a long arm to pull out a chair in the desk next to his and indicates for you to sit down on it.

you eye the chair warily before sitting down, folding your skirt underneath your thighs as you sit gingerly, as if you were expecting it to explode.

the sight would normally make eunseok just roll his eyes for anyone else but with you, it makes him smile.

"okay, i'm sorry. with the game last night, i forgot to my part for the draft due friday. but i promise, i'm still going to make it up to you and finish all of the stuff i needed to do as soon as possible," eunseok says. you watch him for a moment before nodding and moving to get up out of the chair as eunseok rushes to come up with some reasoning to get you to stay with him a little longer.

"although, are you sure you're going to be able to finish the section by yourself? i had some issues with the first half of pride and prejudice because of the characterization and the time period," you say, although the last half of your thought seems to be much more reluctant than the first half, as if you didn't want to admit that you had any academic weaknesses to eunseok.

but eunseok barely pays it any mind, jumping on the opportunity as soon as he recognizes it. "oh...yeah, honestly i don't know if i can do it by myself. since we both have access to the late night study room anyway, do you wanna finish it together tonight?"

eunseok watches as the gears turn in your head, bottom lip caught between your teeth as you debate the possibilities in your mind. and even as you do, he tries to control the erratic beating of his heart at the chance of spending so much time with you.

if he could explain his feelings to anyone, which eunseok was not gifted with the vocabulary of attempting to do so, he was sure that they would ask if he was ripped straight from the novel the two of you were assigned to work on.

to be honest, eunseok thinks as he rests his temple against the heel of his palm, watching as you pull out a timetable and consult it with utmost seriousness, even he found it kinda silly.

well, not silly as in his crush on you was dumb per se (although, there were times where he realized just how unfounded his feelings truly were). more silly like i didn't even know these kinds of feelings could still exist in people.

silly like how a child discovering the world for the first time might be - awkward in their gait but curiosity shining brightly in their eyes, learning how to be human for the first time.

he knows that his whole 'true love' or 'soulmate' semantics were not for the weak of heart - and most definitely not for those who were too embroiled in the 'love' of today's day and age. but he couldn't bring himself to care.

it made him want to be a better person for you. to be the man that you would glance at in more than just passing. to be worthy of your love.

"alright. i'm scheduled for an english tutoring session but i'll ask them to meet me tomorrow instead. maybe i can use some of the stuff that we learn during our project," you say with a sigh, crossing out some of the timings written in your schedule and rearranging them.

eunseok's eyebrows furrow. "you take tutoring lessons? oh, like a private tutor?"

you eye eunseok strangely, as if you weren't sure if he was making a joke or not.

"no...i teach people. i tutor for english, mathematics, and some other subjects as well. it's how i'm adding to my resumé." the chair makes an awful noise when you push it back to stand up.

"oh," eunseok says. resumé? for what? college admissions? god, he really needed to start getting ready for that. his csat score was not high enough for him to even dream about getting into a good enough school for you to recognize him.

or, you know, secure brighter future in such a competitive job market. but that was mostly secondary.

"yeah. so..." you trail off awkwardly, toeing the ground with your arms behind your back. the sight of you being awkward or unsure of yourself was foreign to eunseok but nonetheless endearing.

"yeah. so i'll see you tonight then? after classes end?" eunseok prompts you and you seem to snap out of whatever reverie your mind was in.

"mhm." it's absent-minded and almost an afterthought, as you make your way out of the classroom, pausing at the door to look at him before leaving.

+++

classes end a couple of hours later, and eunseok is left waiting anxiously in the study rooms.

you'd agreed to meet after classes but eunseok realizes that he'd never asked for a specific time or your number to communicate with you, meaning that he'd been stuck in the study rooms for the past hour, unsure if and when you were going to show up.

eunseok had been productive with his time, of course. he'd tucked away the soccer ball he'd brought to school into one of the lockers in the back and popped a breath mint. not for any particular reason, but he didn't want you to think of him in the stereotypical 'jock who doesn't partake in hygiene'.

he'd even tried to make progress on the pride and prejudice chapters he'd been assigned (by you) to write about, only to give up three sentences in.

the one thing that eunseok had done incorrectly, however, was drinking too much water. see, eunseok had a strange habit of chugging water every time he got nervous. needless to say, about an hour of sheer anxiety of when you were going to show up made him down the whole waterbottle.

which was not good because now, eunseok had to relieve himself and you were still nowhere to be seen. and he couldn't just go use the restroom and come back because he was pretty sure you'd just leave and assume that he bailed on you if he left his post in the study rooms.

eunseok paces around the room, hoping that time would move faster if he moved faster (time-space was in same dimension after all, so technically...). he's taken about twenty-three laps around the study room when he finally hears the door click open and you enter the study room somewhat cautiously, looking worse for wear.

"I'LL BE RIGHT BACK!" eunseok manages to holler before sprinting out of the study room, not wanting to look back and see your undoubtedly bewildered face as he makes a mad dash for the men's restrooms.

it's not until eunseok finally relieves himself, washing his hands in the sink that was lower than his hips that he realizes what he'd just done.

eunseok berates himself more than once or twice in the bathroom, pacing back and forth once more when he realizes just how much of an idiot he must've looked like as he sprinted out of the room like a crazy man.

"it's ok. it's ok! having to use the restroom is natural! everyone needs to! it's not like y/n doesn't, right? don't worry, you look fine. you're so hot, she'll forget it happened."

you didn't forget. when eunseok slinked back into the study room, you can barely keep the silly smile off your face, trying your best to look understanding and apologetic instead.

"i'm - i'm so sorry for coming late eunseok. i heard there was soccer practice today so i figured you'd be late and decided to help mrs. kim with creating the study set for the upcoming math test," you explain, unable to keep the lighthearted giggle out of your voice.

eunseok offers an embarrassed half-grin as he waves you off.

"don't worry, i wasn't waiting long. i just got here too. uh, i asked coach to cancel practice since both captains wouldn't be able to make it," eunseok says, looking busily through his backpack in an effort to prevent you from looking at his red face.

"you asked the coach to cancel practice?" you ask incredulously and eunseok tries his best to act nonchalant.

"yeah. i mean, you're right after all. academics are more important than sports - it's not like i plan on going pro or anything so i figured that i should sit down and make some headway on this project," eunseok says with a shrug, and it brings him a strange sense of satisfaction when you glance at him as though you were suddenly looking at him for the first time.

"you don't plan on playing in college? i mean i've heard that you're good enough for it," you say, and you sound genuinely curious, rearranging the books in front of you.

"i mean i plan on playing in college but i can't exactly get into college just on sports. i'm not that good. i still need to have good grades and scores to get in," eunseok says and you frown, deep in thought, but eunseok can tell that it's not in a bad or malicious way.

"i'd never thought you would care that much about school," you say softly and eunseok can't help but shoot you a lopsided grin.

"we're not all just dumb jocks, y/n," he responds, his voice just as soft and he realizes just how much he likes the taste of your name on his tongue.

"yeah. i guess so," you say finally, offering him a small smile.

eunseok thinks he can die happy when he sees it.

+++

the two of you don't become best friends over the next couple weeks. in fact, you still don't have too many conversations with him other than about the project, but it's more than eunseok has been awarded with before.

you talk to him in between classes now, when you see him in the hallways, and ask him about soccer practice. eunseok always blushes, casting his eyes towards the windows so that he had something to look at other than your intelligent and probing eyes.

he even sees you wave at him during soccer practice, when you're headed out early for tutoring and eunseok nearly dies of heart attack, tripping over himself as he rushes to wave back.

wonbin didn't let him live that down for a full week after the incident occurred, laughing and waving in exaggerated motions every time he saw eunseok.

he even went as far as going up to you and asking you to come to one of the upcoming soccer matches, all in the name of good fun.

eunseok had had to literally tackle wonbin to the floor in order to keep him from spilling any vital information ("please come to the soccer match because our captain has been crushing on you since his first year and we can't see him like this anymore.") but it was clear that the message came through incorrectly.

"you don't want me to come to your match that much? i thought we were better friends than that, eunseok," you said with a frown, and eunseok had to scramble to his feet, kicking wonbin with his foot.

"no - no! it's not that. i do really want you to come to our soccer match. but i kinda wanted to be the one to ask you. you know, because you're so busy all the time and i thought you might say yes if i asked rather than this idiot," eunseok had explained, tripping over his words in an attempt to make sure that he didn't hurt your emotions.

you'd stared up at him, your face unreadable. that was the one thing that eunseok didn't like about you - he could never truly predict exactly what you were thinking unless you said it out loud. you were infamous for your poker face and it made eunseok incredibly nervous.

little did he know that that was the exact reason that eunseok made you nervous.

"i'll come if i have time," you had said simply, turning on your heel to flounce away.

"you're an idiot but goddamnit, i love you wonbin," eunseok had said, descending onto the right wing to tackle him to the floor once more with a hug.

"alright! i get it! get off of me, cap!" wonbin said, pawing at eunseok's arms to relieve himself from the bearhug he was trapped in. he'd just laughed, wrapping his arms around wonbin even tighter.

which brought eunseok to his current predicament.

not only had you come to the match, but you'd brought some of your friends with you. eunseok doesn't really recognize any of them but by the way that you're laughing as you're talking to them, eunseok figures that that you must be pretty close.

"if you could stop staring at the love of your life and finish warm-up drills, that would be great, cap," wonbin says and eunseok shivers, startled by the right wing's sudden presence.

"yeah. uh, team! keep up the drills for just two more minutes before debriefing," eunseok yells, finally forcing his head away from your direction to face his team.

"i invited her because i wanted to give you a chance to impress yourself in front of her. don't make this rare opportunity into a mess," wonbin suggests with a smirk, saluting to eunseok as he ran to sungchan to finish the last few drills with him.

"that brat. and he still wants to be captain next year," eunseok grumbles under his breath, begrudgingly joining the rest of the team. as much as he hated to admit it, wonbin was right.

getting you to come to this match was already more than eunseok had ever had in the past; there was no way that he was going to let himself fuck this up. that would be so incredibly embarrassing.

"alright!" eunseok shouts, clapping his hands and waiting for the team to huddle around him. "i don't need to remind anyone that just because our team has been doing well, we still need to play at our best, right? you all know how to play soccer so just do what you've been doing and don't let it get to your head. good and bad plays both."

he extends his hand out to the center of their huddle, and the rest of the team also extends their hands, chanting their school's soccer cheer before dispersing to discard any extra gear or possessions.

eunseok looks one last time to where you were sitting, just as a quick 'good luck glance' and he's startled to see you already staring back at him. you cock your head and smile slightly, offering him a thumbs up and eunseok feels as though he'd already won the match.

"seok, i've got an idea," sungchan, eunseok's fellow captain and one of his closest friend says, slinging an arm around his shoulders.

"what bullshit are you stirring up now?" eunseok says, his voice flat and unimpressed. sungchan grabs his chest where his heart was, as though he'd been shot, dramatically stumbling backwards.

"here i am, offering to relieve you of your pining and you say i'm stirring up bullshit," sungchan gasps. eunseok rolls his eyes, grabbing sungchan's jersey to pull him forward.

"what? match is starting soon," eunseok says, unable to keep the smile out of his voice.

"i'll make a bet with you," sungchan says. "if i score more goals than you do, you have to ask out y/n. but if you score more goals than i do, then you don't have to."

"this feels like a stupid bet. i'm not doing it," eunseok says, but he can already feel himself being swayed. he'd liked you for so long - at this point, he was just looking for the slightest push in the right direction to ask you out.

"alright fine. you don't have to. y/n's pretty cute, honestly, and she's hella smart too. so i'll make you a different deal. if i score more goals, i ask her out. if you score more goals, i won't ask her out," sungchan says, a devilish smile on his face.

eunseok's eyes look as though they'd burn sungchan to smithereens if they could but sungchan barely shivers, offering him a shit-eating grin and turning to blow a kiss to you.

"what the fuck? i should've known that you were up to something stupid," eunseok growls. "why the hell would you ask her out?"

"it's only an issue if i score more goals than you, right?" sungchan says, jogging backwards to join the team again, never breaking eye contact with eunseok.

eunseok knew that sungchan was a loyal friend and there was no way in hell that he was going to ask you out - even as a joke or as a push to get eunseok to confess his feelings - but eunseok was pissed. the idea of someone else confessing to you before he ever did made him see red.

the team barely sees eunseok the whole match. which is strange, because he's in for the entire match, but they barely even see him, his red uniform appearing as streaks up and down the field. he scores goal after goal, running towards the goalpost at speeds they'd never see the usually laidback captain move at.

and sungchan was no better than him. although his heart wasn't in it nearly as much, sungchan was hot on eunseok's heels, the two of them on opposite ends of the field and being the two people that the team relied on the most the entire match, carrying the entire team to victory.

which is why when the scoreboard reads 5 - 0, the team is shocked, but sungchan just has that stupid grin on his face. not only had eunseok scored one more goal than sungchan, he'd also gone mad, ensuring that the opposing team didn't score a single goal.

"what the hell did you do to cap?" wonbin asks sungchan, and the older boy just nods in your general direction.

"gave him the push he's been needing," he says, smirking with satisfaction when he sees eunseok jogging over to where you were sitting, after shaking hands with the opposing team and thanking the referees.

"thanks for coming, y/n," eunseok says, out of breath and sweaty when he reaches to where you were sitting. "i honestly didn't think you were coming - since sports aren't really your thing."

"i promised i would come, didn't i?" you quip, and a shy smile overtakes your face, making eunseok having to use every single ounce of his willpower to keep from squealing at how cute he found you. your friends slowly start to file out to leave the two of you standing there - you in the bleachers and him on the field.

"hm, yeah, you did." eunseok's face turns contemplative and for some reason, you rush to fill the silence, in a way that you'd never felt compelled to do with anyone else before.

"i have to admit...i had more fun than i thought," you say, choking on the words as you get them out. eunseok's eyebrows ascend into his hairline - which would be hilarious if you weren't the reason that they were doing so.

"you had fun? y/n l/n? having fun? that too, at a soccer match?" eunseok says incredulously, throwing his hands on his chest dramatically. "well, i'll be!"

you roll your eyes, but you can't help the silly smile you can feel start to form on your lips.

"i can have fun, you know. i'm not always studying and boring everyone. even at soccer games where all i see is a ball go up and down and i have no clue what's happening. i think you did well, though, since everyone was chattering a lot about your performance," you say, adding the last part to appease eunseok for inviting you.

"i don't care about what people say," eunseok says easily, waving his hand in the air as if to physically rid himself of the thought of other people disturbing his mental wellbeing.

"y/n! you have to get going; your tutoring starts soon and mrs. im is always super mad when anyone's the slightest second late!" one of your friends calls out, coming closer to physically drag you away from eunseok if need be.

even his ugliest stare doesn't work on discouraging them from approaching the two of you and eunseok figures that he should work on a mean glare instead of a blank stare; the latter wasn't helping as much anymore now that everyone just assumed that's what his natural face looked like.

"alright, alright. i'm coming," you say, stepping down the stairs of the bleachers carefully, tripping on the last step. eunseok's arm shoots out before he can even think of what he's doing, catching you as you fall.

"thank you," you say breathlessly, and suddenly, eunseok worries that you can hear the erratic beating of his heart from just how close you were to each other, your chests quite nearly touching.

"you wanna hang out some time? maybe prove that the academic queen, school topper, ms. brain knows how to have some fun?" eunseok asks, and he can feel the blood rushing throughout his body as his adrenaline is at an all-time high.

he doesn't think that he was nearly this nervous or that his heart was even pumping this hard during this match. but now, as he's looking down at the most beautiful woman he's ever seen in eighteen years of life, he can't help but feel weak in the knees and just a little too stupidly hopeful.

"i'm sorry eunseok. i'm pretty busy nowadays. especially with new people that i've been tutoring. i don't even have too much time to study myself; i don't think i can afford to take too many breaks now," you explain, somewhat sorry and somewhat sullen.

eunseok tries to keep the heartbreak from showing on his face and he nods, almost too excitedly.

"oh yeah, i get it! no worries! i mean, you are the number one student in the school! you've gotta keep those grades up!" his voice sounds fake even to his own ears and your friend winces apologetically but you don't even seem phased, flashing him a sweet smile.

"we'll 'hang out' when we work on the project next monday though right?" you ask, and eunseok nods, a plastic smile on his face.

"yeah, of course," he says, and for some reason, he can't help but wonder if you knew just how great you were at letting people down. eunseok knew that you were beautiful but no one had ever dared to ask you out, for fear of the fact that they would come second to your academics.

it's hard to ask someone out when you know what the answer is.

"well, i'll get going now then. mrs. im seems like a real tiger mom and i have my first tutoring session with her son today," you say, wrapping your sweater a little bit tighter around your body as you wave goodbye, retreating into the foggy afternoon.

"how did it go, cap?" wonbin asks, a knowing grin on his face, ready to tease/congratulate his captain on his definite success in asking you out.

eunseok doesn't even turn away from watching your figure until he's just staring at empty space and fog before saying, "tell the team we're running laps."

wonbin balks, looking in your direction to see if you'd come to save them. "but we won, cap!"

"no, sungchan and i won. the team is running laps," eunseok grinds out and wonbin immediately retreats backwards, understanding the situation a bit too clearly.

he sets off into a sprint and the team is quick to follow when they see the confusing expression on their captain's face. there was a mix of shame, heartbreak, confusion, guilt, and even some anger on his face and the team was just going to have to take the brunt of his emotions for now. he had a valid point, after all.

you were none the wiser about the soccer team's struggles until your friend, kim minjeong, looks back to see her friend, park wonbin, running in repeated circles before the fog starts to cover the soccer field. she shoves her hands into the pockets of her sweater before shaking her head.

"you know that eunseok was asking you out, right?" she asks and you scoff, pushing her slightly.

"you're insane minjeong. i think that jekyll and hyde is finally getting to you," you jest slightly, referencing her english project. "why the hell would eunseok ask me out?"

"because he wants to spend time with you? because you're a fun person when people get to know you? because he likes you, i don't know!" minjeong exclaims, stopping dead in her tracks and throwing her hands up.

"no, that can't be true," you say, but when you turn to look at what minjeong was looking at, you find that your eyes search the field until they lock with eunseok's eyes, which are trained on you and he cocks his head, causing you to shiver and face forward.

"are you sure?" minjeong asks, looking back and forth between you and eunseok as you march forward determinedly.

"i'm sure. there's no way that eunseok likes me."

+++

you were sure that eunseok didn't like you. that was what you had told minjeong and ning yizhuo, another one of your good friends, when the two of them had confronted you again later. that's the truth, as far as you're aware.

that's what made the most sense too; why the hell would the ace soccer captain be any level of interested in a person who spent all of their time studying and tutoring? someone who was known to be a reserved and kind enough person but a complete hardass when it came to their academics?

yizhuo's words echo in your mind as you sit on your bed, having completed your nightly routine of taking your vitamins and doing your skincare.

he'd never ask you if he wasn't interested.

you hated when she was right. especially when it meant that you were wrong about something. most especially because it meant that you were being emotionally unaware of something.

you stare at your phone, as if staring at it long enough would produce the answers you're searching for - the same thing you'd been doing for the past half hour. you know that you should go to sleep soon; you didn't have any tutoring tomorrow but you were planning on using the time to study, not having had much time over the weekdays to study.

but almost against your own reason and will, your arm reaches for your phone and types out a message recklessly, pressing send before your brain has the time to catch up to the antics of your foolish heart.

you: you wanna go to the arcade with me tomorrow?

you gasp at your own message, scandalized by your sudden initiative and something so out of character for you. you couldn't remember the last time you'd spent more than a couple minutes doing something fun.

actually, that was a lie. you'd just gone to eunseok's game. and you'd had fun. it was something about him that made you want to set down your pens and embrace life. or something else cheesy like that.

your heart jumps when eunseok's response comes, not even a minute after you'd sent the initial message.

song eunseok: i'd lvoe to. song eunseok: **love song eunseok: no tutoring tomorrow?

you type out a response, looking up to check the time on the desktop computer, catching a glimpse of your reflection. why the hell were you smiling?

you: not tomorrow. they canceled since they're going to busan for the weekend. song eunseok: ohhh i see. song eunseok: then let's do it! 1pm? you: sounds good. you: :)

you cast your phone aside on your nightstand, not bothering to read whatever messages eunseok had sent afterwards, instead drifting off into a somewhat peaceful and somewhat anticipatory sleep as you dreamt of the next day.

+++

you're uncharacteristically nervous, knee bouncing as you check your watch for the time for the third time in the past thirty seconds. much to your dismay, it was still very much 12:45 PM.

never had you been this nervous on the day of an important exam or a recital for violin. mostly because those were things that came somewhat easily to you - practice, practice, practice and you would succeed in any task given to you.

but friends? specifically friends who asked you on dates (according to yizhuo and minjeong, that's what this was)? you were somewhere between absolutely lost and crazy scared.

it's just eunseok, you have to breathe and remind yourself. just song eunseok. the stoic soccer team captain. your english project partner. the one that you've been getting a little too influenced by lately.

you consider turning around and heading home to safer territories (textbooks) and bailing on eunseok but before you can put your escape plan into action, the bane of your existence and cause for your issues appears in your vision, jogging over to you with the classic blank face that you've grown used to.

the shit-eating grin on his face that grows when he sees you already sitting on the bench outside the arcade is something that you're not used to, however, and it makes you blush at the implication.

"i'm a very punctual person," you say as soon as eunseok is in earshot, your ego smarting.

"i never said anything," eunseok retorts and you just harrumph, crossing your arms over your chest. "besides, i thought i'd definitely get here before you. you know, to practice."

your eyebrows knit together as you try to decipher the meaning behind his words. "to practice? practice what?"

eunseok's smile grows a little more bashful and sincere as he turns to face the arcade, unable to face you. "practice showing you that i'm worth wasting your saturday afternoon on instead of studying."

you fumble for words, leaping to your feet and marching into the arcade. "i'm not wasting my saturday afternoon on you! i'm - i'm showing you that i can be fun!"

eunseok just watches you enter the arcade, a dopey expression on his face and he jogs to follow you inside, slinging an arm around you in a casual motion that neither him nor you were expecting.

"you're plenty of fun, y/n. you have nothing to prove." eunseok's voice is soft and sweet above your head, and a little too sincere for you to pass over his words nonchalantly. you step just the slightest bit closer into his embrace, an action that doesn't go unnoticed by him and his grip, previously loose and lax so that you could push him off whenever, grows just the tightest bit stronger.

"that sounds like someone who's scared of getting their ass kicked in dance dance revolution."

"oh hell no. you're on, miss school topper."

+++

as much as you hate to admit it, you have an incredible time with eunseok at the arcade. although you don't live up to your own expectations of your performance at arcade games (you chalk it up to lack of practice), eunseok exceeds your expectations.

even games that he says that he's never attempted before come to him easily, and he beats you at every single one of them, even with handicaps such as shooting with one hand for the basketball game or closing his eyes and playing whack a mole.

it's somewhat damaging to your street cred (not that you were banking on any street cred, to be honest) but eunseok manages soothe your ego by winning you three plushies at the claw machine (which he was also good at; you were starting to think that he was ai). two of them were matching so you hand him one of them, saying that it could be a good way to remember this afternoon together.

"i don't think i forget this afternoon," eunseok says when you hand him the plushie.

"hm?" you ask, somewhat distracted by the cute plushies in your arms.

"nothing," he says, rubbing the back of his neck. "what do you say we go get some coffee? there's a really nice café nearby here."

"oh yeah, lets go. i love memories café; i study there all the time," you say, hugging the plushies to your chest.

"really? one of my friends works there! you should've told me before; i would've gotten you free coffee this whole time," eunseok exclaims, waving goodbye to the arcade employee that he'd become rather familiar with after all his visits to their establishment. the employee points to you subtly and gives him a thumbs up to indicate her approval of eunseok's type, and he just fake bows in agreement, walking out the arcade with a silly smile.

"which one? the tall one? i forget his name but he's pretty popular on campus, isn't he?" you say, your voice growing unsure as you try to place him in your memory.

"sungchan?" eunseok asks darkly, a troubled expression on his face. "yeah, he's pretty popular. for being pretty. and popular. and good at a lot of stuff."

"yeah, sungchan! he's the one who works there, isn't he? yizhuo always drags me to go when he's working because she thinks he's cute," you say before turning to eunseok with a gasp. "don't tell anyone i told you that! god, i can't believe i let that slip!"

eunseok chokes out a laugh, shaking his head. "i won't tell anyone, trust me. but, uh, do you think that he's cute? i mean you come to café pretty often right? is it because...because you think he's cute?"

you frown, trying to conjure his face in your mind before shrugging. "nah. i mean i see why people think he's cute but he's not really my type."

eunseok's heart leaps for joy before stopping at the end of your sentence. "uh, you have a type?"

he opens the door to the café for you when you reach it. you enter it, mumbling a quick thanks as you brush past him.

"sure. which teenage girl doesn't?" you quip, not even bothering to read the menu, already sure of what you were going to get.

eunseok scans the café, before groaning internally as his eyes land on his co-captain, flashing sweet smiles to every person that steps up to the register, never failing to make them swoon.

"care to share?" eunseok asks, shielding you from sungchan, wanting to prevent the clash for as long as possible.

"only if you do," you retort, and eunseok's stuck between figuring out how to keep you from seeing sungchan (or realistically, sungchan from seeing you) and how to tell you that you were his type, without actually saying your name.

he's saved and damned at the same time when sungchan calls out his name, and you peek around eunseok's body to see sungchan standing there in all of his tall, beautiful glory.

"sungchan, hey," eunseok says with a grumble, and you look up at him worriedly. he rushes to fix his tone, not wanting you to think that he was a salty or shitty friend.

"i see you've brought a friend," sungchan says smugly, and he extends his hand over the counter for you to shake. "hi! i'm sungchan, eunseok's co-captain."

you accept his hand, shaking it politely. "nice to meet you. eunseok's talked you up a lot. i'm y/n, by the way."

sungchan's eyes dart to eunseok at the mention of his praise, who's still brooding slightly, with a slight smile on his face. "trust me, there's no person at our school who doesn't know our resident number one academic. you haven't given up the throne since the day you stepped in our school."

you blush, trying to shrug casually. "i'm just really lucky to have the opportunities i do."

"intelligent, humble, and beautiful? how'd you get a girl like this to give you the time of day, seok-ie?" sungchan says, and it's like rubbing salt in the wound. sungchan is joking, and eunseok logically knows that he is just teasing him for finally working up the courage to ask you out three years after he developed feelings for you. but for some reason, the sweet smile on your face directed at sungchan instead of him made him upset.

"trust me, i have no clue either. she's pretty much perfect, isn't she?" eunseok says finally, and the sheer sincerity in his voice is enough for you to rip your gaze away from sungchan and to eunseok, who's looking at you with honey dripping from his eyes.

the sweetness in his eyes makes your heart race for some reason and you clear your throat, unable to turn away from eunseok for a good couple seconds before looking at the menu behind sungchan's head.

"well, uh, could i get a vanilla latte please? hot, not iced," you say, hating the quirk in your voice. eunseok's gaze is heavy on your face and he can barely find it in himself to turn away, ordering the same thing as you.

sungchan smirks, entering the order as his eyes dart between you and eunseok, both standing less than a foot apart but unable to look at each other.

"alright. i'll bring it over to your table, then. pro tip, the second floor has the best spot to watch the sunset in thirty minutes," sungchan says. eunseok nods in thanks, pulling out his wallet to offer sungchan a ten thousand won bill to cover your coffee and his own but sungchan just waves him away.

"today's coffee is on me. for the momentous occasion of song eunseok going on a date for the first time in his life," sungchan says and your head whips to see eunseok's reaction.

this was his first date? you think. but he's so popular! and so handsome...how has no one asked him out before?

almost as though sungchan can read your mind, he responds for eunseok. "he's been asked out so many times but he insisted that he was waiting for the one."

sungchan's words barely register in your mind, and your thoughts are still racing when eunseok guides you upstairs and to the table that sungchan had suggested.

"you've been waiting for the one?" you ask with an incredulous tone and eunseok tries his best to play it off casually.

"sungchan just says whatever. it's mostly because i didn't have the time," eunseok explains. and because none of the people who asked me out were you, he thinks, but doesn't voice aloud.

"hm. honestly, before you asked me out, i kinda thought i was going to die single," you admit after a couple moments of silence.

"why would you think that? we're only eighteen! and besides, you're smart, talented at violin, beautiful, and a bunch of other things i can't think of right now. anyone would be lucky to date you," eunseok says indignantly and you smile, but it doesn't quite reach your eyes.

"if i'm being honest with you, it's all just to cover up my own insecurities. in middle school, i wasn't that smart and i didn't really care about my grades. i had a crush on this kid - i think his name was shotaro? - but he didn't really notice me. i wasn't the smartest kid in the grade, or the prettiest one, or even rich enough to dress up nicely and wear the things i wanted to.

"i don't think he actually cared about any of that stuff but my own insecurities sabotaged me enough to convince myself that he wanted nothing to do with me because i wasn't good enough. so i threw myself into everything i could. violin, academics, working out - everything. i started getting quieter and quieter because i thought that no one would want to listen to what i had to say.

"and the more i did things like that, the more i got used to being like that. i got used to being alone and focusing on my academics and stuff. even minjeong and yizhuo have always been closer to each other than they have been to me. they do fun things without me and that's mostly my fault because i never truly let them in but i don't know. it's hard to remind myself that people want to be my friend.

"especially because everyone thinks that all i think about is stuff like my studies and violin. it's hard to have fun and make memories when there's no one to make memories with. i just wish that i could have days like this, where i go out and have fun and do the things i want to with someone who wants to make memories with me."

you sigh, brushing away the tears that had welled up in your eyes as you had spoke. eunseok is silent the whole time and you finally come to your senses, rushing to lean forward in your chair and explain your sudden outburst of emotions.

"i'm so sorry for talking your ear off! i have no clue what my problem is; i promise i'm not usually so full of myself. i don't know why i'm talking about myself so much - "

eunseok doesn't let you finish. before your brain can even process, eunseok's lips are on your cheek, and your entire body just freezes.

and before you can understand what's happening, eunseok's back in his chair, looking at you as if you were the one who had kissed him, rather than vice versa.

"sorry! i just - i didn't mean to kiss you without your consent. i'm sorry. i just really don't want you to continue berating yourself," eunseok says. "i really like you and it really sucks to know that the one person that you like the most - the person that you wish nothing but the best for - doesn't like themself nearly as much as you do."

he leans forward in his chair, turning his head so that his cheek was facing you.

"you should slap me. i can take it! i deserve it, anyway," eunseok says, squeezing his eyes shut when he feels a breeze descend on his cheek. but instead of the stinging of a slap, it feels as though a soft pillow has touched his cheek.

eunseok opens his eyes to see you leaning over the table to press your lips to his cheek and in his shock, he turns his head and suddenly his lips are on yours and you're kissing in this café.

it's like fireworks explode in eunseok's body, especially when you raise your hand to touch his cheek gently before pulling away, eunseok resting his forehead against yours.

"this is cute and all but do you mind doing this at home? i'm gonna lose my job and maybe my lunch if i have to watch this any longer," says sungchan's smug voice from behind eunseok, and the two of you leap backwards into your respective chairs.

"sorry man," eunseok manages to choke out, and you just hide your face in your hands, too embarrassed to look up.

"don't mind me," sungchan quips, setting down the two cups of coffee and retreating down the stairs, shoulders shaking from trying to hide his laughs.

"this is going to be all over school, isn't it?" you groan, your head letting a resounding thunk when you collapse against the table. eunseok gets up to hunt down and sungchan and swear (read: threaten) him to secrecy but you reach out, catching eunseok's sleeve.

you let go when eunseok stops to look at you, a hot flush on your cheeks. "i don't mind it, honestly. i mean, i was never expecting my first relationship to be such a public one but there's no sense in hiding things right?"

"wait, wait, wait. we're in a relationship? that you're okay with being public with?" eunseok says, and he can see you visibly debate back-peddling and taking back your statement or going forward with conviction.

it seems that you've chosen full throttle when you cross your arms over your chest, leaning on the table. "isn't that what you want too? a relationship? i'm assuming that you wouldn't kiss me if you didn't want me to be something more than a friend to you and i wouldn't kiss you if i wasn't open to exploring being that something more."

eunseok feels as though he's on cloud nine, slinking back into his chair with the satisfaction of a cat with a bowl of cream.

"trust me, there's nothing that i want more than that."

+++

as the two of you had expected, the school is quick to catch onto the budding relationship between you and eunseok and quite frankly, it feels refreshing for you to be associated with something other than excelling your academics.

eunseok breathes fresh air into your life just by his mere presence. he coerces you into coming to his soccer matches, never failing to run into the bleachers to scoop you up in his arms and kiss you like you're the only two people in the world.

the news of the resident ms. brain and mr. brawn dating had spread like wildfire, and an instagram post with eunseok spinning you and kissing you after winning the seoul championships garners over four hundred thousand views, your romance going viral. so viral, in fact, that someone had created an instagram account just to document your relationship - the account had over three thousand followers, as of the last time you checked.

you'd initially thought that the attention that your relationship spun up would cause issues between the two of you but more than anything, it caused you to work through any issues that came up with communication and healthy relationship counseling (sungchan flirting with you until eunseok finally got off his ass and apologized after fucking up - only whenever fights were about stupid things that either of you were too proud to give in about).

and just like that, months passed by within the blink of an eye. the instagram account (you're somewhat sure that park wonbin and kim minjeong were running the account from sheer amount of footage from close up the instagram page featured) posted a video of eunseok playing insanely well at a match after one of the times that sungchan had been called in reinforcements.

eunseok's dream college had extended a soccer scholarship, and he'd committed within twenty fours of receiving the offer and soon after, you committed to the same college.

when various people, eunseok included, asked you why you'd chosen to go to the same school as eunseok, rather than a bigger or more prestigious school (although this school was still top six in the nation), you'd just smiled and leaned into eunseok's embrace.

"i can study and do well anywhere. i can't make memories to cherish and share for the rest of my life if i go anywhere else." is all you say to everyone who asked and eunseok thanks his lucky stars that he'd kissed you that day in the café to be able to hold you and talk about a future with the two of you like this.

and just as fast the last couple months had passed by, a full ten years pass by. the ten years are filled with moments of happiness and sadness, laughs and tears, but filled with life that you wouldn't trade for the world.

and when you and eunseok walk together to the high school reunion held at someone's restaurant, hand in hand, looking the same as you had as stupidly in love teenagers ten years ago, next to no one is suprised.

"look who it is! it's mrs. brawn and mr. brain now," someone calls out, causing all of your classmates to erupt into laughter. the both of you just look at each other and smile, flagging down where sungchan and minjeong are sitting and taking your own seats next to them.

"by the way, eunseok, how'd you get our resident genius to go out with you anyway? or even fall in love hard enough to go to the same college as you?" someone you don't really recognize asks from the other side of the restaurant and the entire restaurant buzzes with excitement, waiting for eunseok's answer.

eunseok smiles and exchanges a look with sungchan, a teasing glint in his eyes. "let's just say that sungchan isn't allowed within ten feet of my wife."

and with that, the restaurant breaks out into cheers and laughter, everyone returning to their conversation, the attention turning to the most eligible bachelor of their grade, jung sungchan.

minjeong leans over to whisper in your ear. "it's a good thing you had a private wedding; i bet half of these people don't know that sungchan was eunseok's best man."

you shrug, laughing freely with everyone else. "half of these people also don't know that you and sungchan have been dating for the past three years."

eunseok's wedding band flashes under the light as he raises his glass to toast to the 'inside joke' that the four of you shared, clinking his beer with the three of you.

"to the bambi boy and the winter girl!"

"to mr. brawn and mrs. brain!"

"i can't believe i graduated from ms. brain to mrs. brain."

"and i can't believe that you and eunseok have been together for eleven years instead of fourteen because eunseok was too much of a pussy to ask you out when he started liking you."

"JUNG SUNGCHAN, I'M GOING TO FLAY YOU!"

"don't skin my fiancé please. you can do whatever you want after the wedding."

"i can't believe my fiancé hates me this much."

"i can't believe these people are our friends."

"i can't believe i finally scored mrs. brain."

[ao3commentoftheday]

I have new fandom anxiety. Sounds weird, but anytime I get the urge to write for a new fandom, I get anxious. I’ve written for the same two fandoms for years, and just last week I wrote for somewhere different for the first time. I was so excited, so into what I wrote too! Unfortunately, the fic got a ton of hits within the first two days… but no kudos or comments. I feel embarrassed. It makes me think the fic was bad or the characterization was something people disagree with, etc. I typically try to write characters as in-canon as possible, but I guess it fell flat or the idea didn’t land (I did an AU). I don’t know how to feel more confident in myself to write for other fandoms, and this definitely made me think maybe I shouldn’t write at all elsewhere. I feel silly sending this in general lol.

*hugs* this isn't silly at all. Lots of people run into this same anxiety. 💗

I think you have a few things to think about and consider while you're deciding how you want to move forward.

First of all, part of the anxiety might be performance-related. Performance anxiety feeds the self-doubt gremlin in the backs of our minds and leads to self-criticizing and focusing on failure. The longer you stay in that particular spiral, the more it stomps on your self-confidence and breeds a negative self-image. Posting a fic on the Archive isn't the same thing as standing up on a stage in front of a crowd, but it's not that different from it. You're taking your hard work and putting it somewhere that an audience can see it. It might not be a live performance, but that fear of judgement is still there.

It seems like your anxiety is tied pretty tightly to whether or not you receive kudos and comments. Receiving them makes you feel like a good writer. Not receiving them makes you feel like a bad one. A few years ago, I wrote a post about how to have a healthier relationship with stats that you might want to check out if you want to investigate those feelings further. [tumblr link | AO3 link]

Switching fandoms means changing audiences, too (although there could very well be overlap, depending on the fandoms). Your new audience doesn't necessarily know you. They don't necessarily interact with fics the same way as your old fandom. There might be fewer people who seek out AO3 as well.

If you're going into a new fandom with the expectations you have from the old one, you're probably going to have a rough time. At the outset, you could try just focusing on writing and not posting your work. Spend time with the fic on your own and learn how to love it without getting that reassurance from others.

[I feel like I've written about how to like a thing you wrote, but if so I can't find a link for it. Here's a substitute post in the meantime while I draft something new.]

The more you can separate your worth as a person and your skill as a writer from the number of comments and kudos you receive, the better off you'll be - especially in a new fandom. Remember that not getting comments and kudos doesn't mean your work is bad. It means that you didn't get any comments or kudos. There are a million reasons why people don't comment and only one of those reasons is not liking the fic.

I'll stop here because this is getting excessively long, but I hope you'll get some commiseration in the notes, as well as some advice for how to move forward. Best of luck, anon. I hope you keep trying. 💗

[dinogoofymutated]

Omg I love your headcanons/fics!! I really need to ask if you'd be willing to write an addendum for the jealousy headcanons for Wolverine? Of course no pressure if you can't/don't feel like, just thought I'd try to ask! :) Hope you have a nice day/night, and keep up the good work! 💗💗💗

Jealousy Headcannons!- Multi/GN!Reader - Wolverine, Morph, Angel, Sabretooth. You got it man!! Had a version of this requested for Logan so many times lol. I went ahead and added more characters to round it off into a full multi character hcs. Logan doesn't explicitly punch anyone in this one, so sorry if anyone was looking forward to that! (Sorry though, his is pretty similar to cable's) I'm also testing the waters while writing for Morph. I know everyone is starving for fics with them, but I'm not really used to writing for they/them characters (despite the fact that I try to avoid pronouns for the reader, weird I know, but its mostly due to me using you/your.) forgive me if I slip up with their pronouns, and let me know if I do so I can fix it! TWs: Violence (not towards reader, but some pretty mean names are called tho) Men can be creeps/harassment. Unnecessary changing scene with Warren bc I love non-sexual intimacy like that. Flirting, Barfights again but this time it's a little bloody (sabertooth) Drinking mentioned.

Wolverine

Okay, so Logan here is a bit of a mixed bag when it comes to jealousy. I really feel like it depends on the situation? In general, he trusts you more than just about anyone. When someone flirts with you, he's generally just very grouchy and most of the time, quiet. He glares a lot, and if you meet his gaze he'll raise an eyebrow, basically asking if you need an out, and then he'd act accordingly.

Buuuttt. If he's in a bad mood or has had a tough day, he's more likely to resort to threats and intimidation to handle any romantic attention you might receive. He gets more physically protective and will usually have an arm slung around you at all times.

That's not to say he only gets jealous of romantic attention though. I feel like he also get jealous of anything and anyone taking up your time, really. he'd probably stay quiet until he just kinda snaps and drags you away from whatever has your attention for smooches and cuddles. Don't let him fool you by telling you he's not cuddly, he totally is.

"Back. Up. Bub." Logan's rumbling voice is venomous, a growl of warning as he bows up on the man in front of you. The two of you had been out on a mission together, which normally would have gone perfectly fine. Unfortunately, you'd ended up running into some old acquaintances of his. Both of you were bristiling at the contact, but you knew that coaxing Logan into a fight was just what he wanted. The man had been making moves on you the entire time- and although you were practically an expert in ignoring the flirtation from asshole guys, you were beginning to get more and more uncomfortable with it. It was when the man had started to make sexual comments about your body that Logan snapped.

"Who you callin' bub, pipsqueak?" The man smirks, looking down on Logan with arrogance. Anxiety had begun to worm it's way into your stomach.

"You better learn to watch your mouth." Logan growls. His fists flex as his claws unsheath, the adamantium practically itching to dig into the guy's skin. This was escalating fast, and you needed to stop it now. You both needed to complete the mission without any complications, extra fights included.

"Logan, Please, can we just go?" You say, grabbing his wrist and tugging before he can launch himself at the man. Logan's angry face remains intact, but you can see the way his shoulders slightly loosen. He glances at you, before backing off from the man with a snarl. You sigh in relief as Logan turns to follow you as you drag him away, just thankful you've avoided a problem at that point.

" 'bitch's got you on a hellava tight leash. Who knew the wolverine would be so whipped over some cheap whore." Logan stops abruptly at the words, sighing deeply as he looks at you, rage burning in his eyes. Whatever reserved attitude you had about this fight was basically gone, evaporating at the insults. You let out a long sigh, before you pull your hands away from him and shrug your shoulders. Logan grins at you wickedly.

So what if he came home with a few more bruises than normal? His knuckles would heal- but the ass whooping he gave out would damage that guy's ego forever.

Angel

Warren is the silently jealous type. No matter how bad he's being cooked with jealousy, he's really just going to keep an eye on you from afar. Growing up as a rich kid, I feel like his dad was very strict on manners and how not to make a public scene, which has kinda carried over into his adulthood.

If someone just won't give it a rest and keeps trying to pursue you, Warren will be not low-key about it. He'll come over and set his hand on your back, or sling his arm around your shoulder, or if he's feeling really cocky, Shake the person's hand and introduce himself as your boyfriend/husband. He'll only outright tell them to back off if they start to get out of hand and he knows you're getting really uncomfortable.

"I just don't like him." Warren says, leaning against the doorframe of the bathroom. He's still in his suit from before, the red and bright white standing out starkly compared to the muted warm tones of your shared bedroom. You laugh at him as you begin to change.

"What? Why? I think Pietro is kinda funny." You ask, beginning to take off your shirt. Warren sighs in a petty way.

"Yeah, exactly." He mumbles under his breath, walking over to help you when your head gets stuck in the neckline like it always does. You give him a kiss on his cheek when you're free, not quite having heard him.

"Can't I dislike him just to dislike him? I don't need a reason." Warren speaks up this time, and you can't seem to hold back your amused smile as he digs his hole deeper. "-but, if I did, I'd say he's just too friendly with you. I don't like it." You can't help but laugh at that as you finish changing into more comfortable clothes. He turns around on autopilot, letting you unzip him from his suit- careful not to catch his blonde hair with the zipper.

"It's not like he's taking me away from you, Warren." You say, pressing a kisses to his exposed neck and back as you help him navigate his wings through. Warren huffs a little, his wings twitching as his voice goes soft.

"I never said that. I know he's not. I trust you enough to know so. I just..." He trails off, stepping out of his suit and left in his boxers. He lets you pull his shirt over him, stretching his wings in the confined space of the bathroom when its on correctly. You cock an eyebrow at him now that you're facing him, waiting for him to continue. He doesn't, simply looking away from you to avoid your knowing gaze. You let out an amused chuff before closing in on him.

"It's okay to be jealous, Warren, but I promise you, I'm not going anywhere." You say confidently, wrapping your arms around his shoulders. He sighs again, but smiles as he looks at you with a soft and loving gaze. His arms wrap around your waist as he rests his forehead against your own, closing his eyes as the two of you begin to sway a little.

"Yeah, I know."

Morph

I really think that Morph is more of an insecure jealous type, but they're more likely to hide it behind humor. If you're being flirted and don't seem to be overly uncomfortable, they're probably going to fade into the background. They know that you love them, and they trust you, but they're so used to being second best for everyone they know that they just feel like they're bothering you. Later on, when whoever is flirting with you leaves, Morph will shift into them and start joking about it. Don't let the humor fool you, they're hurting right now. Just give Morph some extra love and kisses and reassurance and they'll feel better eventually.

Now, if it's clear that someone is bothering you, Morph won't be afraid to roast the everloving shit out of them. They take the moment to really embarrass the person, and if you're in a bar he'd totattally shift into the dude just to offer a drink to everyone and then dip, sticking the asshole with the bill.

You really didn't like clubs. They were busy and loud, but you had a friend celebrating her birthday in one, so who were you to turn down the invite? You certainly couldn't go without your favorite shapeshifter by your side either. The only problem was that Morph wasn't the only one who had eyes for you that night. Morph hadn't said anything in the moment, but you knew stuff like this bothered them. Even while walking home from the club, they still seemed to be trying to brush it off.

"Hey, Good-lookin. You interested?" Morph says, having shifted into the guy who had been flirting with you earlier. They're leaning against the side of the payphone like a goofball, having waited there as you called the school to let the others know you were finally on the way home, tipsy, but still hoping the fresh air would sober the both of you up. You roll your eyes as you giggle at them, shoving their shoulder and sending them stubiling.

"In that guy? No way!" You laugh, walking past Morph before they quickly catch up to you.

"You gotta admit, he was pretty handsome for a POS." They joke, puckering their lips and making kissy faces at you.

"Mmhm. suuureeee." You hum, pushing their face away from yours as they laugh.

"Come on, you saying' that tall dark and handsome isn't your type?" Morph shifts from the man at the club, and into the blonde, blue-eyed Warren worthington, wings hidden underneath the supposed coat. "-Or maybe you'd prefer blondes. I hear Warren's quite at catch." You huff at them, and shake your head again. Something in their tone of voice just seems to set off alarms in your brain, and they doesn't seem to be acting as genuine with you anymore, a vulnerability creeping into their voice no matter how hard they were trying to hide it. This goes on for a rather solid minute, Morph shifting into different people you know and asking who you prefer with a laugh and a fake smile. You shake your head every time, but it's starting to become more than just a bit. You begin to lose your patience, your own hurt seeping through the cracks.

"You're into the gruff, muscly, Logan, right? Hafta' be if you're still-"

"Kevin." You finally cut them off with a stern tone of voice, grabbing their wrist as you abruptly stop walking. They flinch at the name, eyes blowing wide with concern as they shift from logan, then to the dark haired version of themselves- before then settling on the form you know so well.

"... Not the government name." They mumble, more caught up in the strict way you said their name rather than the words themselves. You grab them by the collar of their leather jacket, pulling them close to you as you look into their eyes.

"How many times to I have to tell you I love you for you to believe me?" You whisper after a moment, voice coming out a little broken. Morph's seems to panic a little, making a concerned face as their hands catch hold of your wrists gently.

"I- no, that's not what I..." Morph says, trying their best to fix the situation. They can't seem to come up with the right words, their eyes avoiding your gaze as their mouth opens and closes with no luck. You cup the side of their face, bringing them back to face you.

"I. Love. You." You say purposefully. "Not some guy at the club- you, Morph. Any part of you that you want to give me, Any form you want to take. As long as it's you, I don't care." Morph relaxes at your words, sighing as you bring them closer to you, resting their forehead against your own.

"Yeah?" They ask, eyes fluttering closed.

"Yeah." You reply, finally leaning in to kiss them lovingly. They return the kiss softly, only separating from you when you begin to drag them down the sidewalk with you once again, hand in hand.

Sabertooth

He does not handle jealousy well at all. Honestly, I wouldn't put it past him to put someone in the hospital. It doesn't matter if they're just flirting, or if they're actually bothering you, he's going to start some shit. The man loves to start fights, and he couldn't care less what the reason is for. I will say though, he's gonna be a lot less smiley if the person insults either of you. He may be a shitstarter, but he doesn't take disrespect, especially not disrespect towards his S/O.

He's never mad at you for it. If anything, he's glad you gave him the chance to take some anger out. He'll encourage you to wear sexy and revealing outfits because he wants to see you wear them, and also because he's gonna beat the shit out of the first guy (and every guy, honestly) to look at you the wrong way. ESPECIALLY if you have boobs. Those are his boobs. He wants them to be popping out of your clothes 24/7 but no one else is allowed to look at them. Did he just see someone glance at you? Say goodbye to your teeth, motherfucker. (and your balls too.)

Victor loved shitty dive bars, as gross and unsanitary they may be. He liked to bar hop a few of them every other night, and although you weren't necessarily the dive bar type, you did enjoy spending time with him. Normally you'd just wear casual clothes, but today you had wanted to dress up a little bit. Nothing too fancy, but your shirt was a little low cut compared to what you normally wear. Victor had been loving it, especially since he got to have you as his eye-candy. That was what you were going for, and you succeeded! The only problem was that he wasn't the only one appreciating the view.

You were sitting at the bar, watching Victor win another round of pool while sipping on your drink. A man had sat next to you earlier, but you didn't think anything of it at first. It was a busy saturday night, and there weren't that many seats open at the bar. At most, you had a uneasy tingling on the back of your neck, feeling that someone was watching you.

"What's a fine thing like you doing in this shitty place?" The man suddenly asks. You send him a questioning glance, almost baffled at the flirting. He must be new here, because every other regular of this place knew for a fact who you always come here with, and no other man is stupid enough to try their luck with you while he's lingering around.

"Who, me? Enjoying some peace and quiet, obviously." You say in a sarcastic tone. The man chuckles next to you.

"Aw, not interested, sweetheart? I swear I'll make it worth your while." You make an obviously disgusted face at that, beginning to wonder who this guy thinks he is. The tingling feeling you feel hasn't let up, in fact, it's only gotten stronger. The hairs on the back of your neck are standing up, and you can't help but feel like something is seriously wrong here. You brushed it off on the alcohol, but Victor had always been a bit more perceptive than you. He barely glanced over in your direction before he was storming over. For a split second you think he's mad at you, until he violently grabs the man next to you by the collar, his claws scraping across his collarbones and causing him to yelp as he shallow cuts begin to bleed.

"Did I just see you staring?" Victor huffs, glaring so hard you swear the man shrinks underneath his gaze. Every bit of confidence he had a minute ago had vanished completely.

"W-what? I... Uh..." The man stutters, unable to say a complete sentence through his fear. Victor turns to you slightly, his grip not letting up for a second.

"He say something to you, Doll?" He asks, and you wonder if you should tell him the truth. You almost felt bad for the guy in his grip, knowing that he was probably just stupid and new to this bar. You shake your head in response, even though the stranger had been giving you off vibes since the moment he sat down. Victor grins at you, a loving excitement in his eyes as his grip only gets tighter.

"Aww, you don't have to lie, sweet thing." Victor chuckles, and you grimace when you realise that he totally saw that lie coming a mile away. Vic turns back to the man, his smile dropping instantly as his other hand slips the guy's phone out and slams it on the counter of the bar. "Open your camera." Vic snarls. The man starts to panic now, squirming to get out of his grip.

"N-no! Let go of me Man!" The man stutters. Vic only begins to grin again.

"Nuh-uh. I want you to show my baby the photos you've been taking all night." Photos? You didn't know anything about any photos. Your brows furrow as the man begins to whine and panic, squirming to no avail. Vic smirks at you as he send you a nodd, and you grab the phone and open the creep's gallery. There has to have been over thirty photos of you from just tonight, sitting at the bar, ordering your first drink, even one from when you had gotten up to use the restroom.

"Oh, gross!" You say, recoiling from the phone and wiping your hands on your shirt, not wanting to know where this guys hands had been all night. The man in Victor's grip has gone completely pale, freezing at the sight of Vic's terrifying smile. He reaches over towards the phone with his free hand, picking up the device before crushing it with his bare hand.

"Why don't you head outside, honeybee. I'll take out the trash while you're gone."

[colemacgrathtkz]

Thank you, @emositecc

[Lyrics]

Husk: "Your fanfic's bad and you've hit a writer's block.

All your ideas seem freakin stupid.

Your whole mind's empty and you're thinking you're a hack.

Can't post a chapter cuz it's so mid.

One hate comment- makes you take your account down.

Well, let me just say, you're a clown!"

Angel Dust: "Wait, what?"

Husk: "You're a writer, mootsie. A writer writing fanfics. You write cringe filled little Mary sues."

Angel: "DUH!"

Husk: "You're an artist just like me."

Angel: "Your art sucks!" >:(

Husk: " You're a peoples pleaser. Got only one kudos from userer 'Loonlover69_Simper'. And they liked it, you see." :3

Angel: "That's just one comment! I want more!!" :(

Husk: " There was a time I thought that no could relate to the haters this artist is facing.

But practicing more.. it can make our slow burns great.

It's not other numbers we should be facing."

Angel: "There's one comment.... that said my writing's sh#t!" >:(

Husk: " That doesn't mean it can't be lit!

Let's collab, man!

We're both artists, buddy. We're artists. It's ok to start with...."

Angel: " Bad grammar? Sucky flow?"

Husk: " You'd still get art from me."<3

Angel: " I'm a writer and crazy for crackfics, kinks and cliches. But at least I warn when I write p@#n."

Both: "You're an artist just like me."

Husk: "I draw all the ships I'm stannin."

Angel: "I write all the tropes they're hatin.

Enemies to lovers is my jam!"

Husk: "Go ahead, let me see your drafts, come on!"

Angel: "They get together in chapter four."

Husk: "I'll draw you fan art; just make me more!

Even if there's no comments.."

Both: "We'll keep on breaking lore. Who needs a shower??????"

Angel: "You're an artist, mootsie."

Husk: " An artist, and just maybe if we...."

Both: " make stuff together, we'll be so much more happy."

Husk: "It's time to lose your self-loathing.

Just make art, go have fun and mootsie.

Post your ic!

Ignore the icks!"

Both: " An artist....

just....

like...."

Shark demon: "There's they are!

They like Hazbin?!?!

SHOOT EM!!"

[creativewritersposts]

"I am not!" - Lando Norris

summary; Lando Norris x f! reader

It's the first time Lando gets jealous, his dramatic moves can be very entertaining

warning(s); none, maybe grammar errors

author's note; requested. It was an honor to write it!

--------------------------------------------------------------

"hello, can you tell me where the hotel is?", a tall good looking man stands in front of you. He's taller than Lando. "Of course", you smirk, typical tourists. "thank you, your boyfriend looks familiar", the man stares at Lando. "He's famous ", you giggle, "formula one racer". The man laughs with you, "Lando Norris? Lucky girl", his shoulder flirts with yours. You can see Lando in the background, he hides that he's looking at you.

"We're in hurry, sorry. Have fun!", you wink at him and walk back to Lando. He looks up from his phone, sunglasses on. "hey love", you kiss his lips quickly and twist your hands together. Usually Lando would mock you for this nickname, but now he just nods. "I love you", you tell him whilst walking through the park. "until you have his number", his british accent gets sarcastic. "Are you jealous because I talked to a tourist?", you laugh out. Lando touches his forearm, straight poker face. "I am not jealous", he shakes his head, until he sees your smirk, "I am not!", he gets a dramatic move. "sure, you're not", you giggle. "Why would I? I'm a millionaire and I please you in every single way", he talks in a bittersweet voice. "mh", you mumble. "What the heck means mh?", Lando stops your weekly walk, completely outraged. It's just hilarious, like donald duck.

"Nothing ", you grin at him. He huffs, it's making him jealous. Of course he is. You know all bad sides about him. He loves you and doesn't want to lose this relationship.

"Are you telling me, I'm not the best boyfriend ever?", lando's voice gets higher and higher. "this man could be the one, too", you laugh tears. He should know you're just teasing.

"I can't live like that!", he is pissed and stops holding hands, walking back to this guy. "Lando -", you run after him. "Lando!-", you yell even more, your lungs are burning. You didn't know Lando is this athletic. "Land-", you finally grabbing his arm, but too late. The unknown man looks down to Lando, "hi man!". Lando's face looks not friendly. "stop flirting with my girlfriend!", he points at him. The unknown man looks confused, "what do you mean?", "stop flirting with her or I'll run over you with my car!", he growls. "dude you have serious problems. I'm taken, my wife is on toilet". Lando breathes out, "oh okay. Have a nice day mate", touching your shoulders with him to turn around. After a minute walking without any word, you can't hold back anymore. "Lando you're jealous!", you laugh so loud, the neighbors will hear you, for sure.

"Shut up", he is embarrassed. You hug him tight, "I only love you".

"I hope so, because I'm the best boyfriend ever"

[yellowocaballero]

Continuing the JJK posting: Gojo is such a mystifying character.

Action show where swinging out the gate you introduce a character who is so incredibly powerful you then have to, before every fight, establish why Gojo can't just show up and fix the problem in seconds. His existence weakens the stakes of everything. The rest of the show you are backflipping ridding yourself of him. He jobs two major bad guys off the gate and every subsequent extensive fight with them feels like cleaning up his leftovers. Put him in a box, he's ruining the game balance. So absolutely broken. As a writer it makes your job so difficult, but it's also the entire point of him. "Hey I want to write the single most badass character of all time who can do the most insane shit but I will also engage with that", rock on king.

I think he's most interesting when understood as somebody who is fundamentally alien and removed from ordinary human thought processes. In his world there is absolutely nothing he cannot do, and the thought 'maybe I can't do something' just doesn't occur to him. He is capable of doing whatever he wants and of killing anybody who tries to stop him from doing what he wants. If he is not doing something, it is because he does not want to do it. If he wants to do something (kill all of his superiors) and he's not doing it, it's because he doesn't think it's the most effective route towards what he has decided to do. I think this informs the majority of his actions (and, importantly, what he doesn't do)(murder). I think he's reasoned out that you should have a general reason to do things, and it feels like sheer luck that he places value and meaning in human life, and as such you shouldn't kill them without a strong reason. Watching the flashback arc, if I hadn't seen a) JJK and b) Naruto and you asked me which shitty teen became a law abiding school teacher and which became a mass murderer I would have guessed the wrong ones.

Anyway, the way I like to think of him, he's a raging narcissist with a god complex to match. Horrifically, he's actually a good teacher, but he is also a teacher as an ego/'raising my child army' thing. He would be the kind of mother who is a good mother but lowkey had kids also as an ego/unconditional love/lots of attention/'surely my child will worship me' thing. Gets randomly into new hobbies, obsesses over them, gorges himself on the novelty factor, before dropping them in a week once he gets too good at them. Rinse and repeat. The only hobby that does not eventually grow boring is annoying people, so it's his only hobby. Geto told him age 15 that he'll never have any friends if he keeps on casually reminding people that they live on his sufferance, so he developed another back-up hobby more conducive for friendship of helping people forget that they live on his sufferance. This has convinced him that he's a god of subterfuge, intrigue, and trickery. Does eat women out, but is convinced that this makes him God's gift to women, and is actually pretty terrible in bed because his partner's desires never even occur to him. Is convinced he's as good at sex as he is everything else. Sex is actually the one thing he's bad at, but he's not ready to hear that.

In S1 he overall left me with the general impression that his entire idea of how high school worked was sourced from anime, and as such decided that being a teacher involved nothing but field trips, sports games, beach episodes, sports festivals, etc. Did not know how the classroom component worked so he skips it. Jossed, but also left me convinced that it would be very funny if he was an immortal 150-whatever years old and had founded the high school himself out of, you guessed it, an ego thing, and never once properly learned how high schools worked and just arbitrarily made his own aging students the new principals so he could continue engaging in training the kids who are too Misfit (TM) to get apprenticeships and living his fun slice of life anime life and raising a child army of kids who will worship him any day now. Annnyyyy day now. Any day now.

[jarimaa]

Gojo Satoru

I said once in my sukuna vs gojo post, that he doesn't prioritise personal connection, but it's more nuanced than that, so very badly worded from my part.

Gojo very much understood personal connections and relationships.

Gojo however loves being the strongest, he loves his strength, revels in it infact and wouldn't give up on it for anything, even if it caused him loneliness and that's why his dehumanisation comes from HIMSELF too. He is fine being a tool and being lonely if it means he can have his strength. Yes, his mindset is fucked up, that's the point.

That's why I never subscribed to all the "bring back nerfed" theories because chapter 236 made it ever clear.

Sukuna calls him (and kashimo) greedy, because unlike sukuna who thinks "love" is worthless, gojo very much wants both connections AND strength.

It wasn't that people were not reaching out to him, it's just that, he wouldn't stoop to their level, he wanted them to become stronger so that they can become as strong as him, so no one is lonely, so that strength doesn't isolate them like it did with him.

He pushes away people while at the same time craves attachment and understanding, but since he would NEVER give up on his strength, that results into largening the gap/distance even more. He causes his own misery and is ready to live with it.

The recent chapter was pretty much very consistent with his portrayal, he fully committed to his role by becoming the monster he was stopping himself from being all these year, for his students. Even in this chapter yuta very much reached out to him, in a way gojo couldn't to geto during that kfc meet, but it's gojo who again decided that it's his burden to bear alone. His was being reached out, it's HIM who didn't close the gap.

People are not ok with him just being treated like a tool and just being seen for his strength, but my point is, when has he ever had any identity beyond being "The strongest," not to imply he doesn’t have any other identity at all, but everyone always prioritized his identity as the strongest, EVEN he himself.

That's the reason why he loved his youth so much and considered it the best time of his life, because then, he had BOTH, strength and a equal buddy (geto), that's why that friendship lasted such huge impact on him. (Also imma just say here, people both underestimate and overestimate his relationship with geto, it's very funny to watch)

People were complaining about characters seeing him as a tool, but they were quite unironically doing the very same thing. Putting him on pedestal, using him to continue being in series for their own happiness and enjoyment of the series, not respecting his wishes from chapter 236, and treating him the same way characters within the story do with him.

Also, you can dislike the way he was treated, that's precisely the point, but don't go around claiming the gege assassinated his own writing because your dislike ≠ bad writing. People are using morality of their real life within a story where everything is being questioned, the so called "good guys" of the story keep repeating that they are not heros, most of them are murderers themselves.

The curses are showing humanity, everything related to normal human morality is being questioned.

So the "he would be happy powerless" doesn't work because thats what YOUR morality tells you (its fine to feel that way), but he most likely wouldn't be happy with it, he isn't a real person either lol. Dude has nasty aspects to him, it’s one of them, they add more to his character, he is selfish (and selfless too), and let him be like that.

In the very end, Gojo very much managed to raise a bunch of students who will carry his will, he is alive in them.

Peace out ✌️

Pretty much my rant after this chapter because of the discourse going around is creating wayyy too many misinterpretations. Also I don't care what you think of the series as long as you just stop forcing your beliefs on others and saying its bad writing, when it's not. I don't think a character can exist outside of the narrative or story he was created in, gojo is amazing because of jujutsu kaisen story, outside of it, who is he?

[writers-potion]

I just found your account and really adore all of you prompts and tips! 💖I wanted to ask how to possibly display a teen character who is kind at first, then becomes more cold due to the heavy load of their trauma and even becoming a scary, calculated ,manipulative bully to their loved one. How could I portray the gradually shift/build up in their concerning behavior and attitude, as well as how they treat said loved one without immediately resorting to physical violence and name calling to show it?

Kind To Mean: Character Development

Hi! Thanks for the ask :)

When we experience bad things in life, there are broadly two ways to frame the situation: (1) finding responsibility in ourselves and (2) finding responsibility in the world.

The way we choose to distribute responsibility between the self and the external world is vary by circumstance. What's clear, however, is placing blame only on one side is almost never helpful.

For example: Child Abuse

The World's Responsibility: Child abuse is clearly something that a person can blame the abusers for. They can resent the neighbors who never helped them and be angry at the world for giving them such a bad, traumatising experience. If they keep living in this "blame the world" mindset for 20 years, however, their situation will not improve.

Individual's Responsibility: It is partly up to the individual to be responsible for their past trauma. They may have not chosen to be hurt but now that they are, they need to step up for themselves and work on a healing process. But if they swing too far and blame themselves for inducing abuse, it would be unhealthy too.

Show how your character swings like a pendulum between these two attitudes, slowly tipping more to an angry, blaming mindset.

Small Disappointments With the World

At first, your character will start in the middle. They may be suffering, but they're still open to trying to understand the world and maybe even find forgiveness/peace with it.

Then:

Show how they try to better the situation, but face failures. This doesn't have to be a big moment of rejection, but something that makes the character feel disappointed and hesitant.

Toxic meritocracy. Show side characters who have "you can do anything if you try" mindset. Slowly, your character will stop seeking help, believing that the people around them don't really want to help.

The loved one may be unable to fully understand/accept the feelings of the character. When someone is traumatized, it's a hard thing for their loved ones too; they may not know how they should react and sometimes, this can give rise to more friction between them.

Eventually, your character distances themselves from the world and kind of losses touch with reality. They feel lonely and cannot find any motivation to commuicate with the world.

Soon, they'll stop communicating rationally but only lash out emotionally at every little thing.

Small Disappointments With the Self

Your character will at times swing to the other side and blame themselves for the trauma.

Show how they become filled with hope, then fall even deeper into self hate. They may make an elaborate plan for "self development" but when it doesn't work out on Day 2, they abandon themselves.

Internalizing toxic meritocracy.

Show how they say harsh things they say to themselves at the loved one instead, knowing they shouldn't be saying it to them.

Lashing out can be a form of self protection. When the character knows that they're in a bad place, they may feel ashamed and not want to show it to their loved one. When the love one tries to help and get closer, the character will push.

Alternate between the extremes of self-blaming and world-blaming, especially when writing internal dialogue.

Your character will have moments when they "snap" and start lashing out suddenly. Build up to this moment by showing how the character "rehearses" such a thing in their head before they do it.

Here's an example:

Character: I'm such a loser who can't even go to the supermarket without trembling. Why am I like this? Loved One: "Hey, will you get some eggs for me?" Character: Oh no no no no no. I can't! She knows I'm scared of supermarkets, then why is she telling me to go? She wants to make me feel like a loser. God, she's looking at me as if I'm a loser that I probably am. I want to run, just run from this place -- Loved One: "You going or not?" [Character suddenly springs up from their chair, shoves the Loved One aside, and runs away]

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* . ───

💎If you like my blog, buy me a coffee☕ and find me on instagram! 

💎Before you ask, check out my masterpost part 1 and part 2 

💎For early access to my content and priority questions,  become a Writing Wizard 

[hacked-by-jake]

I thought about a little some some. Even though I doubt it myself a bit.

So, some people criticised that Moonvale feels less real than Duskwood did. (I don't mean like with the mini games etc.)

But in general the feeling. Also with the AI art and stuff. And I don't want to excuse the AI art, of course not)

Here my thought.

Maybe that wasn't "bad" work but somehow a way to protect younger fans. If you follow Everbyte on Instagram and you check the comments from time to time, you will also find very young people. Which is not the problem. The problem is, that many of them are not able to differentiate between between game and reality. Many younger fans seem not to understand that Duskwood is only a game.

Doesn't really sound like a huge thing now but it is. I saw comments so out of reality, it was really scary. And it's also very dangerous.

Of course they were commenting on Instagram so it should be clear it's just a game, but some of them do not really understand. And even if they do, they're attached to the characters in a way that is very unhealthy. And I say this as someone who's dealing with that behaviour myself. But I can confidently say that I can keep it apart and I know that Jake is not a real person.

But some people can't. And I do believe that Duskwood felt absolutely real. It is hard and you really tend to forget it's just a game. Especially the newer episodes make it hard. Which is usually a great thing because it means that Everbyte did a good job.

And sure, it's not Everbytes responsibility to keep an eye on younger people and to make sure it's not getting out of hand. It's a thing parents should take care of. But we were all younger and we all know that this is almost impossible. No child wants to give their phone to their parents to get it checked. So many parents don't do it. And even if, we all had secrets and were hiding things from your parents.

And I think, if you want or not, somehow you care about it as devolper etc.

And also a little story time, which is one reason why I came up with it and also a good example for that I mean.

For a long time, people always thought I'm the real Jake. And that's not a joke. I always had a disclaimer in my description, some of you might remember it. And sometimes people write to me, thinking I was the real Jake.

And one day, this happened:

I've got similar messages before. But none of them were this scary to me. I was completely shocked. And I was mad. I mean, I highly suspect this person was really young. And now imagine I would have been some weird guy saying yes. And especially, we're talking about adult characters.. Another thing.

So, this was just to show you what exactly I mean and how extremely this can be.

So maybe they made it a bit less real for younger people.

I don’t know if they even think about that. As I said, I don't really think it's like that, but it crossed my mind and I wanted to let it out.

And even if this might be absolute nonsense, that this is the reason Everbyte changed some things, it can’t hurt to point out that these young people exist. And how unhealthy that is.

[sneckoil]

ok so i haven't watched housemd since i was a kid and just finished s1 and i am just. why is cameron written like that. genuinely her thing with house had me so completely lost this season. feels like a waste of a great actress but?? maybe I'm wrong?? she just feels so. empty as a character to me. regardless i would love to know what your opinion is on the character bc from what i remember it doesn't get better from here

I dont blame you ban-joey and I really appreciate your courage to send this off anon. We probably have the same experience. I watched house as a kid too (when I was 14, like 10 yrs ago) and hated her for being contrarian and inconsistent and in the way. But since then i’ve looked inward and found i was imposing double standards wrought by internalized misogyny. Anyway.

My opinions on cameron:

Number 1, if i were her i would shoot my shot with house too. excuse me. as if most of us on here are not just twenny… thirty somethings pining after old men. happily going on a monster truck date? getting a date in return for the old man to have me back on my team? Yeah. I respect the hustle. fuck that old man or whatever. marry him when he’s sick. phantom thread him

Number 2, liking Cameron is easy once you accept. That she is really really really not normal. I know this may be something you already know. But internalize it. She says something righteous but it doesnt mean that that is her defining trait. There is something so deeply wrong with her. I know you’re still on season 1 and Yes she Gets Worse but if you are working with the same lens as i am (that there’s something WRONG with her) then everything that happens makes sense. [spoilers] Of course youre only attracted to people when they’re sick and dying. Of course your reaction to being told youre boring is getting high on your patient’s drugs a few weeks away from your HIV test results. Of course you wanted to cheat on your dying husband with his best friend who comforted you while your husband was dying but you didn’t and you still haven’t after the fact he died. Of course you kept your dead husband’s sperm. Of course you wanted to kill a dictator but didnt, and then got pissed at your husband who Did kill him, a husband you actually felt nothing for and was hesitant to even let propose to you [/end spoilers] she’s so funny. If she were a guy they’d call her a messy bitch and love her for it. she has uncategorizable mental illnesses masking as a savior complex.

Number 3, you’re right about the emptiness on some level though. They wanted to write her out of the show and they did her so bad. And I’d say yeah she’s inconsistent as a character, but that goes for Everyone in this show. House isn’t consistent. Wilson isn’t consistent. None of them are consistent. Cameron is only as well-written as the writer who knows how to write her. I’ve suspected the only reason i hated her when I was 14 was she got in the way of hilson. But nowadays that stuff is so unserious to me. All i care about now is messy people being messy about other people

Number 4, she compels me. I like that she’s interesting. I don’t like most of her decisions, I disagree with her the most, but it’s interesting. She’s fun to Watch. She’s no Foreman (that guy is a case study in layers of character depth but that’s for another ramble) but that’s more than i can say for her than someone like, say, Chase LMAO

That being said if you dont like cameron then that’s fine 👍 we live in a society etc etc

I end with this (thank you jackie for putting this image on my feed)

[sunnywalnut]

As someone who *was* a Helluva Boss fan for a really long time because of the obvious love and care that was put into the show by the animators and voice actors.... I really can't overlook the kind of things that Vivian has done.

And honestly?

Knowing that all of the money from views, likes, media, merch and so on goes into her pocket (and NONE of the people that actually put in the work to CREATE the show) just horrifies me to no end.

I know that all of us have heard about her tyrades on Twitter, or her tearing apart critics and cursing them out, or just her all around messy and rude attitude towards everyone and anyone who pokes even a LITTLE fun at her(like that one video of "The Amazing Digital Circus If It Was Written By Vivziepop). I know that we've all heard about it. And a lot of us have already made up our minds about her. Good or bad.

But the fact of the matter is that a lot of us don't have the full story. And for me, it was because a lot of it was either conspiracy, treated as a one off thing, or just an assholeish thing that happened years ago. And her fans defending her poor behavior and claiming she's apologized for it or that it's "okay" because she's been through trauma haven't really helped.

Plus. I'm a firm believer that you shouldn't have to put that much extensive research into figuring out if the person you are supporting(through watching videos, buying merch, etc etc) is a good person or not.

Which is why I want to share with you all a link to a post I found on Twitter. A compiled list of evidence of things that Vivziepop has said or done without additional commentary(besides simply just labeling what the screenshots consist of) so everyone can make their own decisions on what they want to believe or not.

I for one am not the kind of guy to care about what kind of things you do with fictional characters(or at least. What you write with them. All of us are capable of writing shitty stories and posting them online) and honestly? I don't care about what personal things you have going on in your life.

A lot of people do.

And that's not wrong, of course. Some people believe that it is a way to see what kind of person you are based off of how you treat your fictional characters or the ways that you interact with sexuality. Which has some truth to it. To some extent.

However. It holds a problem when that is the ONLY evidence you find against a person.

Making a shitty joke 3 years ago doesn't condemn you to hell. Or at least. It shouldn't.

Making a sexualized character? I mean. Who doesn't?

But running a hierarchy where you are running your friends mental health into the ground for the sake of a show you aren't even animating for anymore? Now that is something that I would like to educate myself on.

And this thread does just that.

I definitely recommend you read. Or at least bookmark for later. Because it has a LOT of new information that people might not know yet.

[g0dspeeed]

WIP MOOD BOARD: R E S P I T E

Rules: show a moodboard and an important phrase or dialogue from the current fic you are writing!

His dark eyes floated to the burning cigarette between her fingers, lingering with a thoughtfulness that piqued her own. She expected him to admonish her for it, for smoking-- "Those things are bad for your health" and the like. Thin lines adorned his eyes and some strands of silver colored the scruff of his beard. Maybe he was a killjoy, she guessed. Maybe he was uptight. But despite her empty presumptions, he didn't say anything.

"You like to stare," reflected Cappie with a smirk before taking another drag.

The man tracked the motion from the other side of the bar top. She could feel his stare on her lips, but unlike with other men, Cappie wasn't disgusted by his attention. There was an unspoken confidence in his shoulders and in the glint of amusement in his eyes. She could dig it.

When he returned her challenge, the man leaned closer. He gifted her with a honeyed hint of his cologne.

"I'm waiting," said the man with a smile that matched her own. His accented voice was heavy and rich like the gold chain around his neck.

"For what? An invitation?"

"Yes."

A quiet war was waged between them, both strangers smiling and dangling bait. She was a flirt through and through. Always was, always would be. Cappie gave in, for how could she not?

"An invitation for what?"

A bit smug from his victory, he reached into the breast pocket of his brown, leather jacket. From it, he retrieved a metal Zippo, the side of which was engraved in a language Cappie didn't understand.

"An invitation to light your next cigarette. That one is almost out, so I was waiting for you to smoke again so I could offer to light it, and then if you agreed, I'd ask for a smoke. And if you said yes and gave me a cigarette, then I'd ask you later--"

"Oh there's a later--"

"Of course. I'm not leaving unless I have to. Because later I would ask if I could smoke with you, alone, and I would go with you somewhere private. Maybe dinner. Maybe just the front of this bar. I don't know. I don't care. It doesn't matter, because then I would learn your actual name, and I would bask in the opportunity to know you more--Do you speak Russian?"

Cappie, whose cheeks burned from his forwardness, blinked at the question before finding the words.

"No. No, can't say I ever had a reason to," she chuckled.

That quirked the corners of the man's lips and alit his eyes with something warm.

"Good."

"That's rude--"

"For awhile it will be," agreed the man, watching as Cappie extinguished the butt of her cigarette in the ashtray. Just as he said, he flicked open the lighter when Cappie slid a new cigarette to her full lips. "But, fear not and know that I will only tell you deep, intimate things I think about you in Russian, things that I would be embarrassed for you to know--"

"Bullshit."

"Never. I won't bullshit you. Not much, because ya uznaiu lyubov kogda vizhu yeiu."

Their eyes locked, glittering from the small flame of his lighter between them. Cappie released the smoke, the white wisps fanning over her agitated expression. She knew what his answer would be should she ask, that he wouldn't tell her what the hell he said, but she'd rather try than not. After all, it wasn't every day that she gave a shit what the men at her bar told her.

"And what does that even fucking mean?"

The man beamed, delighted in her response, and offered the bartender his hand. After a miniscule of hesitation, Cappie went to shake it, humored when the stranger turned her hand. A kiss, gentle and warm, was then delivered to her knuckles.

"Learn Russian, beautiful, and you will know. You can call me Nikolai. Or whatever you want, so long as I hear you calling for me."

Still fleshing out how they meet, but I like this so far ❤️

Tagged by @icecutioner , @inafieldofdaisies , @socially-awkward-skeleton , @cloudofbutterflies92 💕

Tagging @noodlecupcakes , @la-grosse-patate , @carlosoliveiraa

@scorpiosleeps , @josephseedismyfather , @voidbuggg

@voidika , @strangefable , @cassietrn ,

@simonxriley , @imogenkol , @aceghosts

[meguwumibear]

very quick sfw togame writing warm up before i tackle some wips

If there's one think Togame is good at, it's starting and ending fights. Violence is familiar to him. He was weened on it, in a way. Aggression and anger are comforts, a balm.

"Who do you want me to be, huh," he spits at you. His fights with you are never physical but the bruises left by your words take longer to heal than those left by a fist. "Do us both favor and just tell me."

The look you give him is gentle, disappointed even, soft features slipping, sagging, until they finally come to rest in a pointed frown.

He isn't going for disappointment. He's going for angry. Punching low to knock you off balance. He wants to know your fury. He wants to watch you fight.

"I just want you to be yourself," you say.

And, what kind of sick, twisted shit is that?

Be himself?

Be himself?

When has he ever been anything other than what others want him to be. A doting son. A loyal second. A bad boy you can date to piss off you parents. He has never, not once in his entire fucking life, been himself.

Fuck, why do you have to make things so difficult? Why can't you just tell him who to be? Why won't you just fight him?

"What if..." his voice trails off. He averts his gaze. If he keeps looking at you, the words won't come out right. Reconciliation is unfamiliar to him. He doesn't know what it looks like, but he thinks it might feel like being lost at sea. The ocean waves have a way of smoothing out even the toughest of rocks, "What if I don't know how to do that?"

He chances a glace at you. You're still frowning. Damn, he hates it when you frown. Hates it even more when it's his fault you look like that, all mopey and sad and one wrong word away from tears.

"It isn't too late to learn," you reply. "I could help you if you'd like. It isn't easy, but you can start by identifying what you want, what you like."

He wraps himself around you, tightly, as if to anchor himself to a shore. His arms move ever so slightly with the rise and fall of your chest as you breath. It's soothing. You're soothing. He doesn't want to lose this.

"I want you," he mumbles carefully into the top of your head. "I like you."

You shuffle a bit in his arms as if to turn to face him, but Togame holds you still for him. He isn't ready to see whatever look has made its way onto your face. No one ever taught him to be fluent in sadness. If you frown at him now, he'll break.

"You have me," you whisper, still squirming around in his grip. "Togame, you have me. I promise."

Your words of reassurance should steady him, but he still feels adrift like his land legs haven't kicked in just yet. The room around him sways, tilted on some unseen axis.

Then your hand reaches up to caress his face and all at once everything slows, stops. He's able to get his bearings, to orient himself again.

You are here and you are in his arms and he has you. His hands so versed in fighting are also made for holding.

He suddenly wants your weight. All of it. He wants you to sit on him, to straddle him.

He pulls you down onto the sofa in that exact position. You let out a surprised gasp at the unexpected speed at which he manhandles you onto his lap, but you go easily. Was it not you who just told him that in order to be himself he first had to identify his wants?

He wants whatever you'll give him. Anything you'll give him. If only he could find the words to tell you.

But you must understand what he wants because you kindly press your perspiring forehead against his. Of course you are fluent in sadness. This is a conversation easily had.

He hopes you kiss him. Anywhere. Everywhere.

And maybe, just maybe, he can be himself if it means he'll get to spend an eternity with you.

[ccghastly]

Ooh! I’d love to hear about your head canon of Arthur speaking French if you don’t mind sharing!

For Sure! Thank you for asking!!

My headcanon is that Arthur's maternal grandparents were french immigrants and while Arthur's maman Beatrice is fluent in English she grew up primarily speaking French, so French is her first language and the one she has more confidence in speaking.

(Yes, Beatrice was totally the poor belaboured kid that had to act as a translator for her parents whose English skills were much worse than hers)

So, since Arthur's dad Lyle didn't have much of anything to do with Arthur while Arthur was in his formative years, Arthur's first language is also French because Beatrice preferred to use her mother-tongue when speaking with her baby.

This also, of course, means that Arthur did have a french accent when he was young, but after his maman's death Lyle didn't approve of Arthur not speaking 'plain English' and he worked hard to get rid of it.

Thus Arthur is fully fluent in conversational French.

This is also why Dutch and Hosea had to teach him to read after they met. Arthur learned to read from his maman, who learned to read from her parents, who only read and wrote in French. Arthur of course didn't tell the Odd Couple that he was already fully literate, just not literate in English. First because he'd learned that letting people think you're dumber than you are is never a bad thing, and then later because he was too deep into the lie to correct it.

Hosea did catch him in the act one day when he was sweet talking the horses (because he knew far more sweet pet-names in french) and Hosea cut him a deal. Hosea could mostly hold up his end of a conversation in french, but he was by no means fluent and lack of use only made him more rusty, so if Arthur would agree to talk with him in french once in a while when asked Hosea wouldn't tell Dutch.

Arthur agreed and Hosea kept his promise. No doubt saving Arthur from the innumerable hijinks Dutch would think up to take advantage of Arthur's polyglossal ways.

Arthur leaves notes for Hosea in French if he doesn't want Dutch or John (especially john) reading them. Dutch nearly caught on once because he knows Hosea speaks french and thus did assume that Hosea wrote the note, but the note didn't quite look like Hosea's writing. Hosea said that he'd just written it in a hurry, and Arthur took it upon himself to master mimicing Hosea's handwriting.

Hosea still finds it both funny and disconcerting to find notes that look exactly like he wrote them when he most definitely didn't. It's given him quite a few memory-loss scares when the notes are too vague or about common things that he could feasibly have wanted to note down to remember later.

Whoops that ran far longer than I meant it to, but it does hit all the highnotes of my Arthur speaks French headcanon. Thank you again for asking, I adore getting to rant about my unfounded brainchildren.

The fact that John is canonically learning to write in French has only solidified this particular idea, it's also a really fun coincidence.

[olderthannetfic]

https://www.tumblr.com/olderthannetfic/751011464262860800?source=share

Seeing the numbers compared, I realized that you are right, anon. It's a privilege to be able to write long fics, regardless of them thinking they're unable to write short fics because short fics are mostly scenes so it's not that long fic writers are incapable of writing short stories, deep down, they don't want to. Maybe it feels wrong for them since they've made an impression they always write long fics, maybe they find short fics less impressive, or believe that people won't give the same feedback as when they post something longer.

But I would like to argue that longer doesn't mean it has a plot. I've read 80k words of a character getting tortured with no chance of figuring things out or getting out of that situation and ended quite the same as the start. I've read 25k fic of characters just hogging. These fics have no stakes, no crisis, no buildup, no development, nothing just series of the same scene over and over with different sets or different positions.

Fanfic is free and that is why you encounter things that are, in a way, out of the box and technically are not allowed in the publishing world. But that's the beauty of it. Is it really that big of a gap for people who can write long fics vs people who can only write short fics? Because of how free fanfiction is, most things are okay to do, including only being able to write plotless or short.

One reason why I get jealous of other authors who manage to write longer fics than me is because I was too busy at the time. I found a good system for myself (dedicating a certain time to finish a chapter and then uploading them as I edit and so on) and you can build your own. I think with the right system, anyone can do it.

Pantsers, plotters, and hybrids are equal to me and it's true because how do you know that a person didn't just recycle the same plot they use from their previous fics, thus being able to write different versions of that story? We've seen the viral meme abt fic writers recycling the same thing and a lot of people admit to doing it. Does this mean they're mediocre or bad writers? It's not like that's against the TOS or illegal. Nobody paid us to keep making fresh new ground-breaking stories. The quality of a fanfic is decided from how you treat it. Do you still like it even after five years? Do you think about it sometimes? Do you feel so ashamed you'd rather put it in an anon collection or close your acc completely and orphan it? Do you wish for it gone to the point you delete every trace of it?

It's not from the amount of kudos, hits, or comments, tho yes it is easier to find good ones if you filter by kudos but there are lots of underrated ones and I've DNF a lot of fics that are not to my liking but have high-kudos because people keep rec-ing it. I want underrated fics to be more popular but not because it needs to be popular but because I hope to be in a community with more like-minded people. Fanfic has no publisher, we can't earn from it so traffic is merely informative so it's the community that matters the most.

In fact, to tell you the truth, after 17 years of being in ao3, I've curated my tag very specifically and stopped using the fandom tag and went straight to the ship tag. I also mostly rely on bookmarks, private collections, word from mouth of people I trust or believe to have the same writing style and taste as me. So it was very niche and limited.

Lots of stories have plots but not all must be in your favor so you gotta figure what you like to start. Are you team canon divergence or AU? what trope do you like? Telling someone to stop comparing is ineffective. We always compare because that's how we communicate. But people feel inferior because they don't feel worthy of themselves. If you start to know what you want, it's easier for you to write more. Whether you're still stuck on making 1k-2k, etc, at least you don't waste your time feeling sad or down and you keep writing. That'll help stimulate your brain and you will improve.

(Also maybe just don't listen to authors who you think are humblebragging. Mute or block them if you need to because I know, to some people who are in the same fandom, these types of attitude have more context to it. Idk abt anon, but in some cases maybe they were moots or the account was owned by another fan they've encountered on tumblr or other social media often, a BNF maybe, or just a popular author that other fans praise or talk about often, and things could get personal. Shit can go south quickly in the community tbh)

--

There's definitely an art to condensing one's thoughts into only a few words.

[atinyjules]

Eyes Off You Ft. Park Jisung {ch-4}

A/n: I am back! There's no current again loll, but it's enough for me to write one more chapter! I know that their moments aren't that much yet, but it's starting!

I'll leave the yapping for some other time so!

Here it iss

The mini masterlist for this series can be found here

Tw: The Dreamies being jerks, bullying, misunderstandings.

Jisung's

"Why did she ignore me, though?" Mark said as we all came back to the dorms.

"I don't know... but if that's Johnny's sister... I don't like her." Jeno said in a dark tone, making me feel a little uneasy. Jeno's been in a bad mood ever since lunchtime.

"What exactly did she do?" Mark asked as Jaemin snarled.

"We were just telling off a first year after he carelessly shovedus to the ground, and she came and pretended to be a hero. Slapped us in front of everyone." Jaemin said, making me feel uneasy.

Why would she do that? She was always a good person...

"Lia wouldn't just do that without-" Jeno cut Mark's words by banging on the table.

"Just because her brother is cool doesn't mean she is too. Not everyone is a Saint. I'm gonna make her regret doing that... anyone who tries to stop me will suffer the same consequences as her." Jeno said in a low tone before getting up and going to the bedroom, banging the door behind him.

"What now?" Chenle spoke up as Jaemin sighed.

"We just wait." Jaemin said before leaving for his bedroom.

"They're gonna crush her. Johnny won't be happy." Mark said when I cleared my throat.

"Should've have done that then." I mumbled, making Mark look at me, disappointed.

"We don't even know the full story. For all I know, that's just their part of the story." Mark said as Chenle sighed.

"I was hoping to be good friends with her." Chenle said as I stared outside the window.

"Don't just come to conclusions, Chenle. Those two always act on impulse." Renjun said as his eyes were fixed on his book.

After dinner, I went straight to bed, and I stared at the ceiling, unable to sleep when Chenle's voice brought me back to reality.

"You used to be best friends, right?" Chenle said making me sit up and look at him.

"How do you know that?" I asked as he shrugged.

"I heard what Johnny hyung said to you that day, so I figured you had something to do with his sister. So I asked Mark and he told me everything. You were quite a horrible person." Chenle said, his words piercing through my tough facade.

"I had my reasons." I said as Chenle chuckled.

"Too famous to pay attention to your friend?" He said as I sighed and sat up.

"We were a part of a friend group. Her, me, Haechan, and two other girls. After I started high school, I changed up my style and became popular. But a rumor spread that I was paying people money to support me... it destroyed me, but when she was about to join my high school, my other two friends told me that she was the one who spread the rumor because of jealousy." I said making Chenle sigh.

"Did you confront her?" He asked as I shook my head.

"No, her behavior was enough proof." I said, making Chenle chuckle.

"If you didn't even confront her, how could you believe it so fast?" He said, making me sigh.

"Me, Haechan, and the other two girls, we were all really popular by the time we started high school... except her. So they told me that she herself had said it." I said as we sat silently for a moment.

"Then why are you always so scared if you catch a glimpse of her?" Chenle asked making me sigh.

"She has a certain coldness to her. Makes me shiver when I look at her... just like Johnny hyung... but Johnny hyung is much calmer than her." I say, making Chenle hum in response.

"I haven't met her even once, but I know how Johnny hyung is... if she had a personality like that... he would've known and treated her accordingly. But Johnny hyung speaks so highly of her, so... I don't know whose story to believe." Chenle said as I looked over at him.

"So you'd rather take a strangers side?" I said making Chenle sigh.

"I don't mean it like that. I'm on no one's side. I don't want those two or you to cause a scene. Our reputation is already pretty bad." Chenle said as I looked up at the ceiling.

"It's not bad. People just assume we're bad." I said before turning away to sleep.

Lianna's

"Does it hurt?" I asked Anton, who winced almost immediately after I dabbed the cotton pad on his jaw.

"Of course it does... it's just the first day, and I already got in trouble with the popular kids." He whined as I sighed.

"Hey, don't worry. We'll protect you." Shotaro said to Anton who looked at me.

"Did you have to confront them like that? Now they'll come for you." Anton said as Seunghan helped cover his wound with a bandaid.

"It's fine. They were jerks anyway." I said when Sohee popped out of nowhere.

"Yah! You're in trouble now! I overheard Jeno saying that he's gonna take care of you tomorrow." Sohee said, making Wonbin shiver.

"Who are you? And don't just come and proclaim shit like that to us." Wonbin complained as I shrugged.

"No! Lia, you should escape as fast as you can!" Sohee said making me sigh.

"They're the ones who bullied Anton in the men's washroom for no reason. Why should we run when they picked a fight with Anton in the first place?" I said, feeling annoyed as I looked at the bruises and cuts around Anton's face.

"You're right." Seunghan said while patting Anton's shoulder.

"The urge to complain to the cops is brimming in my veins." Wonbin said while his hands shook.

"Everyone knows you're too scared to do it. Don't say things you can't do." Eunseok said, making Wonbin slap his arm.

"Okay, I admit I'm scared. But at the same time... even if we do complain... it's no use... their families are too strong. The government is really corrupt." Wonbin said as Anton stood up.

"Thank goodness I don't live with my parents. If they found out... I'm dead." Anton said as we began walking home.

"Let's all just go home. We'll discuss what to do over text." Sungchan said, making us all nod in agreement before bidding each other goodbye for the day.

×××

"I'm back." I said in an exhausted tone.

"How was the first day?" Johnny came with a big smile only for me to gasp and step away from him.

"What the hell are you wearing?!" I exclaimed in horror.

"Whatt? It's cute!" He said in a high-pitched tone while posing with his maid outfit.

"Eww! Get it off!" I exclaimed, making him break character and stand like he usually does without the exaggerated poses.

"I can't, I lost a bet against Yuta." He said, making me groan in frustration.

"Sometimes I wonder if you and your friends are high schoolers. This... this! Is not it!" I said, motioning to his face and his outfit. He laughed loudly before ruffling my hair.

"Aren't maid outfits the trend? You didn't answer my question." He said, making me sigh.

"It was exhausting... it should be illegal for that many students to attend at the same time." I said making him laugh.

"It's fun, more fish in the sea, no?" He teased, making me roll my eyes before going upstairs.

"Dinner will be ready by 8." Johnny reminded as I replied with a hum.

"You better not be wearing that when I come downstairs." I said while opening my bedroom door as he chuckled.

"Oh you bet I will!" He exclaimed before I went to my bedroom.

After dressing into my pj's, I did my skincare and sat in front of my computer. I let my head hit the keys of my piano as I sighed in defeat.

"It's only the first day, and I've already lost my peace." I mumbled to myself.

So this is what's become of Park Jisung, huh? A stuck-up popular kid who joined a group of bullies.

"Lianna Jade Suh... focus on class! I don't have time for this kind of drama." I mumbled to myself before slapping my face.

After giving myself a pep talk, I tied up my hair and pushed my glasses up before opening my computer to make some music and study. Due to exhaustion from my crazy first day of uni I dozed off after less than half an hour.

"Oi, didn't you hear me-" Johnny stopped his own words after catching sight of me asleep on my piano.

"This girl." He mumbled to himself before placing me on my bed and pressing a kiss to my forehead.

"I'll let you off from having dinner only for today." He whispered before smiling and letting me sleep.

The next morning, I groaned and let my head rest on Sungchan's shoulder.

"Today is gonna be a long day." I muttered, making Shotaro look at me from behind his seat.

"If we have to fight... we'll fight together!" Shotaro said with a brave face.

"Yeah!" The rest of the boys said in a courageous tone.

.....

"After proclaiming such big things...here we are... going home after bravely avoiding all the members of the Dream Squad today." Sohee said making Wonbin smack his head.

"Shut up! Avoiding those people is a very hard task." Wonbin said as Anton sighed, his hand clutching on to his bag.

"What happened to, 'we'll fight together' ?" Anton said, making me groan.

"I might have saved you, but that doesn't mean I'm some kind of fearless hero." I said, making Anton hum in response while sipping his Boba.

"I can see that." He said, making me hit his arm.

"Child abuse." He said in a monotone voice.

"We're only a year apart." I reminded Anton, who seemed unfazed.

After reaching home, I changed into some comfortable clothes and did my skincare before walking downstairs to the kitchen. I groaned at the thought of having to cook my own dinner since Johnny had a gig tonight and would be back really late.

"What should I eat? Ugh... but I'm too lazy to cook." I asked myself as I looked through the fridge and decided that Ramen and rice balls with some soup will have to do for tonight.

I groggily put on a jacket over the pj's before opening the door to go to the convenience store.

"Oh -" I look up to see Sungchan and Shotaro in the same get-up as me outside their door.

"Where you going?" I ask as they show me their purses.

"Convenience store... you too?" Shotaro asked, making me nod as we decided to go together.

"Where's Johnny hyung?" Sungchan asked as I shrugged.

"He has a gig tonight, and I'm too lazy to cook." I said, making them nod.

"Same." Shotaro said as we headed to the store.

While we searched what we wanted to eat, I got a text from Mark making me sigh in annoyance before replying to his text.

Mark lee: where are you? The door's locked.

Me: I'm out.

I replied and kept my phone in my pocket before searching for some ramen. While searching I bumped into a person.

"I'm so sorry-" I cut my own words the moment I looked at who it was.

Park fucking Jisung

He simply just walked past me and got some stuff before walking away to the next aisle.

Jerk.

I felt my body steam from anger as I tried calming myself down before getting my ramen and rice balls. After looking around and getting some drinks and snacks, I unfortunately met Jisung again at the checkout. Instead of backing up, he paid for his things first, making me boil. After paying he was about to leave when he turned to look at me.

"Stop messing with my hyungs and cause trouble like you did in high school, will you? It doesn't give Johnny hyung a good image." He said making my face go red with anger.

"Yah! You really are a jerk. Your stupid 'hyungs' hurt my friend first without any reason. I didn't do anything in high school as well. You were the one who caused trouble for me." I said in a cold tone.

"Lia, what's wrong-" Sungchan cut his own words as the both of them saw jisung in front of me.

"A stupid girl hanging out with stupid people. Guess you finally learned how to stay with people in your level." He mumbled making Sungchan come forward.

"Yah." Sungchan said in a warning tone, making Jisung chuckle before leaving.

"Who does he think he is?" Shotaro muttered under his breath as we watched his figure disappear into the night.

"A stuck-up asshole." The three of us turned to see Sohee calmly biting and eating his rice cracker as he stared at the place where Jisung walked through.

"What! Are you doing here?" I asked in an exasperated tone as he showed his rice cracker.

"I like the rice crackers from this store...want some?" He showed us his cracker, making me, Sungchan amd Shotaro facepalm.

I like how Sohee suddenly pops up in the most random times 🥹🤍

Well, that's all for this chapter 💖 ✨️

I hope you liked it! Although it seems like some dark shit... I PROMISE! it'll get brighter!

Chapter 5 can be found here

Likes and rebloggs are appreciated 💖 ✨️