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poodlejoonas · 3 years

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Dad!BC AU - the moms

So wow-ihateithere and I (because for some reason Tumblr won’t let me directly @ you) have been tossing out so many amazing ideas for the BC dad AU lately that we’ve thought of pretty much every scenario under the sun. One idea I’d like to throw in here is the group that is the moms who make up their own personal wolfpack. Since they’ll be brought in as stand-alone characters soon, it would be better to have a basic introduction for each and how they know/interact with each other.

(Under the read-more for length)

Joel - Emilia (”Millie”) Hokka - The absolute baddest bitch you will meet on this planet. She's a 5′1″ sweetheart, but if you lay a single finger on her kid, her husband, her BC brothers and sisters, or any of her nieces and nephews, she will become the human embodiment of that one line from “Wolfpack.” You know the one. She’s gone viral before for Joel needing to hold her back from fighting the mom of a kid who’s bullying Enkka at school, and literally watching this tiny woman become a human hurricane at the drop of a hat was enough for this kid to immediately leave him alone. From then on, kids at school know not to come after Viktor Hokka because his mom doesn’t play around. Why would she? After all, she dedicated 18 months of her life to trying to become a mom, and anyone who dares to come after her baby needs a running start to get away from her.

Sometimes even Joel has to hold her back from doing something she probably should regret but wouldn’t if it involved her family. He knows better than to cross a line with her. Then there are other times when they work together to be the shadiest power couple on earth, like when Aleksi’s ex-girlfriend Laila slanders him in the media for talking about taking custody of their son from her. If Joel comes home pissed about something, she’s the first one to jump on board with whatever plan he has to get his point across. She would totally have a stan account on Instagram dedicated to her called “milliehokkasupremacy”. And Joel loves his wife so much that he would eat every bit of this shit up. When she tells someone off, he writes down what she says and turns it into the lyrics of Blind Channel’s next single.

In short, Millie Hokka is 100 percent That Bitch™.

Bonus bit because this idea made me laugh: (in the comments section of a post slandering BC) @milliehokka: Bitch you better take this shit down before I puncture your fucking tires @joelhokka: She's my better half ❤️

Joonas - Kirsten Porko - Kirsten’s one of the quiet BC moms, and a hell of a lot more tame than Millie. But she has her shining moments every now and then, like when she was wondering why Millie took Joel with her knowing that she could’ve easily beaten that bully’s mom’s ass without him. She has the patience of a saint, being married to Joonas and raising two (soon to be three) kids with him. But she adores every minute of their chaotic little family. Since Sohvi was the first of the BC kids, the guys were quick to show up in support of her and Joonas. She was also pretty lonely until the others started dating their wives, and she was more than happy to have more friends to bond with.

She does the most to mother the rest of the kids when they need it. They love to come to their house because Kirsten will have a fresh pan of cookies ready for them. They also like hanging out with Joonas, but Kirsten is a fun aunt on her own. She’s typically the first to show up when one of the other moms tosses out a cry for help in taking care of their kids, especially when they’re newborns and the guys are away on tour. Kirsten’s total aesthetic is the absolute opposite of Joonas’s: she’s bubbly and wears nothing but pastel dresses and soft fabrics. A lot of people wonder what a “nice girl” like her is doing with a punk rocker like Joonas, until you see them interact and know that they’re crazy in love with each other and their kids. She’s the unassuming type, but she loves pranks as much as her husband and kids; she’ll play along whenever there’s a really good one and sometimes she can totally outdo them.

Niko - Jenna Moilanen - Jenna is Millie’s co-conspirator and partner-in-crime. If Millie needs someone to back her up and Joel’s trying to talk her out of whatever she’s thinking about doing, Jenna is the first to show up on the scene. She’s very much Niko’s type - she has just as many tattoos as him, several piercings, and hair that changes color depending on her mood. She’s naturally a blonde but you almost never see her as one. A lot of people tend to pass judgement on her abilities as a mom based on her appearance, but both of her and Niko’s kids adore her (especially their daughter Lahja) and they grow up happy with their loving parents. She’s a fantastic cook and works as a head chef at a five-star steakhouse, and she’s always willing to come home and cook for her family as well. She and Millie are the two shortest of the group, and it’s hilarious because they are both absolute spitfires.

Jenna has the best intuition when it comes to deciding who is trustworthy and who isn’t. There’s no “leader” in the group, but most of the others trust Jenna when someone gives her a bad feeling. She would be the one to raise the alarm on Laila years before she and Aleksi ever break up, and Laila would find the absolute worst way to end up on Jenna’s shit list. In her time with the group, Laila does nothing to help take care of the rest of the kids or try to fit in with the group. One day, when Leevi cries because he needs something, Jenna spots an annoyed expression out of the corner of her eye coming from Laila. It takes an intervention from God to stop Jenna from ripping her apart on the scene. The most important thing to note about Jenna: she calls her closest friends “bitch” affectionately. The moment it stops being affectionate, there’s no turning back.

Olli - Kaarina Matela - The quietest and calmest of the BC moms. She perfectly matches her husband’s energies, which is why they parent their daughters so well. She was definitely more calm than him on the day they learned they were having twins, and still is to this day. When he was panicking about their pregnancy scare, she was still managing to stay collected somehow (but just as relieved as he was). She’s very much like a suburban soccer mom type, but far from being a Karen because she’s aggressively kind to everyone around her, including hardworking people. And Olli just adores her so much, sometimes he doubts if he even deserves her. She’s always the first to remind him that there’s no one else she would rather be with.

Kaarina is the arts and crafts kind of aunt. During the summer, she likes to have the kids come over for day camp style hangout sessions where they mix in time outside with craft activities. She’s the reason why Olli’s stage outfits have been so cool lately, because she’s got a perfect eye for colors and is super skilled at hand-stitching patches. If the kids need anything repaired, they’ll know to go to Aunt Rina first because she’ll either make it as good as new, or turn it into some sick artwork. All the moms get along but she and Kirsten vibe together the best. They get together and plan the summer activities for the kids, which involve Rina planning the crafts and Kirsten baking for, and with, them.

Tommi - Marja Lalli - Marja is unique in her position as a BC mom because she joined the group when her son Miikka from a previous relationship was already almost 4. For a brief time, she was worried about herself and Miikka feeling left out of the group dynamic that was already there, but they were so quick to invite her in as one of them. A lot of it had to do with her being friends with Jenna since elementary school, and Jenna knew that the sisterhood would be more than happy to accept her. She and Niko help set her up with Tommi because they both know he would love her and accept Miikka as his own. She’s chill and reserved, but she’s still a ton of fun to be around. Along with Kaarina and Kirsten, she’s one of the level-headed moms and is typically the voice of reason for a lot of things (especially when it comes to trying to contain Millie and Jenna’s tempers).

The rest of the moms were thrilled when she told them she was pregnant with Anna, but constantly concerned and fretting over her when she was on occasional bed rest. If Tommi couldn’t be with her, it was one of them coming over to help take care of her and Miikka. Marja’s health showed the caring side of the sisterhood of the BC moms, how they are willing to take care of each other in sickness as well as celebrating the good times and defending each other from drama. Even months after Anna is born, they still come over from time to time to see if there’s any way they can help.

Aleksi - Laila Pekkanen (later on, marries Hanna Kaunisvesi) - So this one is a bit complicated. For about three years, Aleksi was in a high-profile relationship with Laila Pekkanen, a producer who worked with him on a solo single before joining BC. They meet again a couple years later and begin a relationship that last for about three years. But it was far from loving, as they were just in general not good for each other. A few weeks after their break-up, Laila calls Aleksi while he’s in the studio to break the news to him that she’s pregnant, which sends Aleksi into total emotional turmoil because he thought they were being careful. Of all the guys, he’s the most careful with avoiding this kind of thing, but it was her who missed one too many days of her birth control. They’re barely on speaking terms, but they agree to try to stay cordial until Aleksi can take full custody of the child himself. She admits to having no maternal instinct and wants nothing to do with the baby.

Here’s where it gets messy. Aleksi finally decides to break his silence on the matter and announces via Instagram that he will be a father and raise his son on his own. He does his best to tell his side of the story without dragging Laila down. But she takes it personally and goes on the radio to try to attack Aleksi, feeling like she’s being treated like a villain and a bad person for giving up her child. She feels like she’s being “exposed” in thinking that Aleksi publicly acknowledging their son’s existence would ruin her career, because she’d been trying everything possible to cover it up. It becomes a major feud between her and her team, and Aleksi and the BC team, but more industry people can back him up as a stand-up guy than they can come to her defense. She nearly ends up having Noah prematurely, and yet Aleksi still shows up in support, more so for their son than for her. When Noah is born months later, she refuses to hold him and immediately cuts off all contact with Aleksi.

Aleksi raises Noah alone and learns to support his son when he’s later diagnosed on the autism spectrum. Noah is semi-verbal and partially communicates with sign language. He uses sign in situations when he meets a stranger, and Aleksi respects his intuition when someone makes him uncomfortable. Noah has separation anxiety from losing his mom at a young age, so Aleksi refuses to date for years because he doesn’t want to bring a revolving door of strangers around him. But then he meets Hanna, who makes an almost instant connection with him. He’s hesitant to make a decision about a long-term relationship with her until he sees how well she works with Noah. She’s one of the first people he opens up to - mostly because of her experience as a child psychologist - but the moment that seals the deal is when Noah calls her “mom” for the first time (in sign to his cousins). Fans and people he works with can’t help but notice that Aleksi is so much happier with Hanna than Laila. And as much as he would like to have a baby with her, he’s happy having Noah and wants to invest his energy into ensuring his happiness. But Hanna understands, because she’s an angel and only wants the best for her family.

#blind channel #dad!blind channel #no idea what else to tag this as lol #this is a lot more fun than making them all reader inserts #i love writing reader inserts but it'll be nice to see them interacting with each other

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artisqueer · 4 years

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RetroBangBoy AU - My Time, Finale (ao3)

Word Count: 6.8k

Pairings: Jungkook x reader, OT7 x reader, ft namkook, namjin, taekook.

Warnings: Language, brief mentions of violence, death and alcohol.

“…oh yes, so pretty, Dear. Whoever receives this must be very special,” the old woman says as she wraps a small item for one of your classmates.

You peer over their shoulder to get a look. It’s a marbly bracelet. Each glass bead resembles a colorful beach stone, with one long pendant carved in the shape of a crescent moon. It's very pretty and must hold great significance. The classmate bows to the woman and turns around to leave.

Your eyes meet.

“Jungkook??”

His widened eyes match yours twice over.

Jungkook is on this trip too? But he’s a greaser…How did I not see this one coming!

Field Observation #6: You are not doing a good job avoiding boy drama, Bighead.

“Hi, big—I mean, Y/N…” Jungkook stammers. A camellia-hue blushes at his round cheeks as he moves aside for you to set your items on the counter. He drops his gaze down to his shoes and his long hair falls over his face.

The tone of surprise in your voice echoes in your ears. You cringe at yourself, hoping Jungkook didn’t notice and take offense. It just never occurred to you that Jungkook is the academic type. You round off the reasons in your head. He’s a greaser and rides in Joon’s motorcycle gang, you’ve never shared a class or seen him study, he’s always dressed like a punk and has skipped every school event ever, and, and… when you went on that date to the drive-in movie he never mentioned school. You get a flashback of him making out with the french fries and drinking two chocolate milkshakes. He had no interest in you at all.

Did he really keep this persona from you? That he’s so… cool?

The lady looks from you to Jungkook and back to you, very clearly enticed by the tension. You scramble out of the awkwardness, trying to make light talk. Jin made it so easy.

“How have you been? I didn’t see you on the bus earlier or else I would have—" you ramble on, quickly paying for your items.

“It’s OK. I tend to lay low. I was in the back…on the bus, I mean. Rode here with Tae, actually.” He rubs the back of his neck nervously.

The old woman slides a small card across the counter. “For the ring, Dear,” she gestures to the small ring in your hand and smiles at you both tenderly. “It’s from the future, so use it well.” She gives you a wink. (mood rings first appeared in 1970)

You tuck the small card into your jacket pocket along with your tangerines and slide the ring onto your middle finger. You both bow to the old woman and walk out of Yeongjusan House with your souvenirs in tow. Once outside, the ring changes color from amber to yellow.

“Oh, you rode with Tae? Is that…OK?” you pose curiously.

“What, because we’re into different subcultures?” he chuckles from behind his messy long hair. His voice is always so quiet speaking to you like if he used his full volume he could break something, or someone. “Pfft, Bighead really,” he continues, “I wonder how you even got nominated for this retreat.” He laughs as he runs away. You make to playfully hit his arm but miss as he pulls away with excellent reflexes, giggling behind his tiny travel bag while you gawk at the size of his arms. There’s no way. What do greasers, eat??? It’s like their muscles just pop out at the most inconvenient times, like right now.

“I thought greasers and jocks hate each other. It’s kind of the point. Having different class backgrounds and all…” You kick some tall grass.

“That’s a stereotype, Bighead. Just because an ideology is popular in a group doesn’t mean we all believe it. Tae isn’t like most jocks, he’s…different.” Jungkook’s smile seems to be the only thing visible behind his shaggy rockabilly.

“So you guys are…friends?” You ask hesitantly.

“I guess,” he plays with his tattooed fingers. “He’s been helping me with a project, so we’ve been hanging out a lot lately. But,” he pouts, “my gang doesn’t really know.”

“About the project or Taehyung?”

“Well, both,” he laughs nervously, “it’s a bit complicated.” He rubs the back of his neck again, and you notice the pulsing veinery dancing from his knuckles up to his forearms. Damn.

He doesn’t seem ready to talk about it. You clear your throat and change the subject. “Well, we have half an hour before the next group activity. Want a tangerine? It’s grown locally! ” You chuck one to him and he catches it with both hands.

You settle on the hillside, a shady patch of grass overlooking the northern face of the island.

“So,” you say between peels of the tiny fruit, “what subject were you nominated for?”

“Physics. I don’t usually participate in school stuff,” he stares down his tangerine, “but I really want to see the caves.” He reaches in his pocket and pulls out a ribbon. You stop peeling to watch him gather his hair and tie it up. When did it get so long? Now you can finally see his big eyes.

“Huh? Caves?” you weren’t listening because you were distracted by his beautiful side profile. What is it with these nerds and their caves?

Jungkook returns your gaze. “Have you heard of the Bermuda Triangle?” he says with big round eyes sparkling. He gets up and approaches the flat rock next to you. With one swift motion, he jumps and lands on top of it, no hands. Core strength. He stretches his arms above his head and his shirt rides up a bit. From your position on the ground, a glimpse of the unobtrusive trail below his navel invites your mind to fantasies of a very different kind of field trip. He looks down at you sweetly, waiting for your reply.

You shake your head, “I’m more of a biologist. Educate me?”

He gestures for you to join him up on the rock. Though Jungkook made it look easy, the climb for you is much more grueling. He lifts you up with the strength of one arm until you’re shoulder to shoulder. You try to get breath into your lungs without seeming too obvious. Struggling, your nostrils flare and the wind picks up. It carries hints of his musk and sweat. You can’t help but inhale deeply until his fragrance fills you with assurance. Glancing down at your hand, you notice the ring is bluish-green but you can’t recall what the card said.

The bluish-green ocean on the horizon looks like the perfect backdrop for Jungkook’s physics lesson. He starts, “Eight years ago, ships started disappearing out in the western sea. First a small fishing boat, then a big cargo ship, it didn’t matter how big or how many people. They just, vanished. No bodies, no debris, no trace. No one could explain the missing wreckage, so the papers wrote about violent storms to give the families of the lost some closure, something to blame. Only, it would happen again, within the exact same coordinates…The Bermuda Triangle. I think I have a theory. It can be explained with physics, the magnetic field, more specifically. Some physicists believe there’s something special about the Bermuda Triangle’s location in the magnetic field. There are believed to be other places like Bermuda,” Jungkook looks from you to the coast, “and one of them is here.”

“You mean, the legend of the caves? Where the pirates disappeared? I thought it’s just a local myth…"

“There’s more to it than the legend.” He leans in and whispers, “The government’s studying it closely too.”

“What,” you chortle loudly, “the government is funding myth-busters?”

Jungkook’s face is serious af. “It’s not a myth, Bighead. The Republic of Korea started building a naval base here in 1933.” He points to the east. The tall glass building of the research facility can be seen from here, shimmering in unnatural contrast to everything else on the island. You squint.

Field Observation #7: You definitely need specs..and to read more news.

Jungkook continues, “They started planning a naval base on the island some years ago. Construction started in Gangjeong village right over there,” he points west to the ferry docks where you first arrived. “The base was designed to be a mixed military-commercial port so that it could handle ferries, cruise ships, and…warships and submarines.”

“Why would they want a naval base here? It’s just a quiet little sanctuary…” you say as you both sit down on the rock.

He rests his arms over his knees. “That’s exactly what the local villagers said. They were strongly opposed to it. Many worried that the private lab was doing experiments hazardous to the environment. They organized many protests, but in the end, they could only slow down the process. The military moved in with force and built the complex anyway.”

“But that’s like, totally against everything this retreat is about. What about all these scientists working at the conservatory, aren’t they here to study wildlife and protect it?”

“Where do you think their funds come from, Y/N? The lab is backed by the military, which means everything they do is government research.”

“How do you know all this?”

“It’s the subject of my research.” He looks around again, the bun atop his head bobbing side to side. “That’s what Tae has been helping me with.”

“Jungkook, I don’t understand. What’s Tae helping you expose the lab for? What do you think they are hiding?” You stare down his side profile. He bites his bottom lip with his bunny teeth.

“It’d become very dangerous for you if you knew,” he reaches to fix your wind-tousled hair. “Trust me.”

Field Observation #8: Don’t trust men, unless they are Jungkook.

He gives you a warm, reassuring smile. “Let’s get going now, we don’t wanna miss the next activity.”

***

The chaperones lead everyone down the hill for the next activity on schedule. The Butterfly House.

Jin has not returned yet, you’re starting to miss his chaotic antics. At the front of the crowd, Professor Choi is desperately trying to get the class’s attention. Several stern scientists are hovering on the side, waiting for silence so they can deliver the welcome introduction. Once it quiets down, two of the scientists give a run-through on the Butterfly House rules. Among them, it is expected that all students keep their touching to a minimum and especially, keep out of the restricted areas marked by red fence. Hunger strikes your tummy, and you wish Jin were here to cure it with his magic snack bag. A nudge to your rib sends you out of your daydream. You turn to your side. Jungkook has a giant butterfly resting on the tip of his nose. Its shimmery blue wings gently tilting up and down. Jungkook is still, afraid it will fly away. You giggle at the sight of him holding the breath in his cheeks.

The class breaks off into groups to tour the facility.

“Good Afternoon, students. Welcome to our 30-by-15-meter glass atrium.” Your group leader reads off a script as student’s heads tilt back to observe the magnificent architecture above. “We are proud to receive you as guests of the first walk-through butterfly habitat in the eastern hemisphere. It first opened in 1957, so you are the first scholars to visit. Inside these walls, you will find some 500 free-flying butterflies of up to 25 different species. There are about 15,000 to 20,000 known species of butterflies found worldwide and many yet to be discovered. You may find swallowtails and birdwings, brightly colored, or camouflaged among the plants. Some might be difficult to spot, as butterflies can be as small as 3 mm, but can also be as large as 304 mm….”

A small butterfly floats past the guide’s shoulder and rests on it. “Ah, a Sasakia charonda, the great purple emperor. Native to the Korean Peninsula, Japan, China, and northern Taiwan, and Vietnam. As we see, butterflies can be orange, white, black, and even purple. However, they cannot see how beautiful they look because butterflies can only see red, green, and yellow. The journey to becoming a butterfly is always an inspiring tale.” The guide struggles to find their place on the script.

You tilt your head back and stare in awe, the scale of technology here is incredible. Your biologist brain buzzes with millions of questions. How did they replicate a tropical rainforest like this in 1958? Are there places like this in Japan too, or perhaps the United States? The facility is lush with amazon trees and exotic plants. It’s so dense. Thousands of vines cover the floors and wrap around the trees. Layers of moss and countless species of flora and fauna lie in the shaded canopies. Vines dominating the taller trees cross overhead, reaching over through air to dominate the other side. Some climb so high they span the atrium’s glass ceiling, where the sunlight pours in strongest. An astonishing vision of Darwin’s theory of natural selection.

The guide has found their place in the script and begins reading. “There are, um, four cycles of the butterfly’s life. A butterfly starts out as an egg. Then it hatches into a caterpillar, called the larva. The larva goes into a cocoon called the pupa stage, and finally, emerges as an adult butterfly free to spread their wings and fly. We have a display with pupa ready to hatch, please follow me…” The students clamor excitedly after the guide, who disappears down the pathway in the thick greenery.

Yelps can be heard in the distance as students and chaperones alike encounter all sorts of buzzing insects. You duck below the low-hanging vines. One thing they forgot to mention is the climate control in here. Somehow, the air in the atrium is kept very humid to mimic that of the Amazon rainforest. After a while, the moisture in the air becomes nearly suffocating. Jungkook, however, seems to be doing just fine. Suddenly, he reaches for your hand and clasps it in his, clammy.

“Look, there’s Jin!” you almost yell. Your hands are torn apart as you run over to the fence. Jin is working on the other side in a glass office. His face is buried in an apparatus that looks something like an advanced microscope. Dozens of flasks, books, and petri dishes are strewn across the bench before him. He looks like he’s busy.

“This area’s off-limits. I don’t think we can interrupt him.” Jungkook tugs at your sleeve. You expel air and look back at Jungkook to find that the blue butterfly has returned. Right atop his head, it sits, flitting its wings as Jungkook scrunches his nose. The butterfly doesn’t budge.

“Looks like Morpho adonis.” The angelic voice comes from behind you.

Jungkook rolls his eyes with the butterfly still on his head.

“Jin! You looked really preoccupied. What are you working on over there?” you indicate the room guarded by the fence.

“Oh, just some plant cell assays. They think they discovered a new species of moss in a cavern, so I’m helping look at samples. It’s promising. I’m running the RNA against the ones from my own research. If it matches, the cave is likely the one they’ve been looking for, a habitable location for—well, uh it’s confidential. Sorry, you understand.” His smile is still so genuine even when he’s withholding secret government information.

Jungkook tenses at the mention of “caves”.

“Have you seen it?” he asks.

“Seen what?” Jin returns.

“The cave. Have you been there?” Jungkook’s hands are shaking a little, so you move closer by his side and take his hand.

Jin’s eyes follow the movements of your hands. Just like they did back at the library the first time you met.

“I haven’t, no.” He lies.

“Sorry Choco, I’ll have to join you again tomorrow. Professor Moon asked for my help and it seems like it's going to take the rest of the evening. I’m sure Jungkook will keep you company for dinner in my place?” He gives you another sweet smile, but it has a bitter undertone. Much like Namjoon, when he had seen you with Yoongi’s jacket on that weird day.

Field Observation #9: Stop reading between the lines, they don’t like you like that.

“Before you both go—Jungkook, I have something for you,” Jin rolls up the sleeves of his lab coat and steps back into the room before returning.

He holds his hands out and you both peer down at the delicate thing sitting in his palms.

“What is it?” Jungkook nudges.

“Juniperus shimpaku,” Jin beams, “a bonsai.”

You watch Jin place the small tree in Jungkook’s outstretched hands.

“Give it to Namjoon, as my peace offering. Tell him it grows near the sea, so it will prefer regular misting. The foliage is needle-like now because it’s young, but as it grows older it will get scalier. One of the best things about Shimpaku is its hard resinous wood…ideal for advanced sculptural techniques such as jin, shari and sabamiki.” Jin bursts into his signature windshield laugh.

This time you roll your eyes, but Jungkook giggles along.

“Uh, thanks I guess,” Jungkook accepts the gift. “But I don’t know why you don't give it to him yourself. Knowing Joon, he’s pretty old-fashioned. If you've pissed him off, he can be really petty and hold a grudge. He holds things in until it gets really heavy—”

At that moment, a loud engine bang is heard from outside the atrium. The glass walls shake and the birds in the trees fly away in droves of panic.

“What the hell was that?” you say, but nothing else happens. The disturbance was momentary.

"Nothing to fear folks," one of the chaperones calls from a distance. "A small aircraft had to make an emergency landing nearby. Idiots over-estimated their weight capacity and ran out of gas. Carry on."

“Anyway,” Jin continues, “take good care of it until you can give it to him. Oh, and if you’re prone to Drosophila melanogaster with your regular houseplants, you might want to lay off drowning the soil...”

“Droso-whatagaster?” you both say.

“Fruit. Flies.” Jin sighs. “Now please, go before someone sees you here. I am restricted material!” He grins at you and waves you off.

On your way out, your hand finds Jungkook’s again. Less clammy than before.

“Thank you for visiting the Butterfly Habitat, we hope you’ll gain a greater appreciation for butterflies and their place in the world’s ecosystems. Before you leave though, remember to check your clothing for any hitchhikers and pose by the Heaven Lotus for a memorable photo!” the chaperones guide you out toward the Heaven Lotus, where Taehyung is snapping photos.

“Jungkook, are we still on for tomorrow?” Tae heavily eyes your locked hands before Jungkook lets it go. Jungkook nods. You both smile, ready for the flash. Click.

***

Jungkook eats dinner with you at a Haenyeo House. Four bowls of jeonbokjuk (abalone porridge) to be exact. Afterward, you browse the framed black and white photos on the wall. They tell the story of the haenyeo (sea women), the island’s legendary sea divers. Since the 18th century, deep-sea diving for fish became the work of women until their workforce outnumbered the men. So much so, the island has become a semi-matriarchal society, where the head of the heterosexual household is the woman, not the man. You and Jungkook remark if that is possible here in 1958, then why not on the mainland? The villages here seems to be ahead of their time. Patriarchy and heteronormative standards are still dominant in most places and probably will be for many years to come. After digesting your abalone with more discourse about dismantling the patriarchy and capitalism, you and Jungkook go out on the beach.

The sun has already gone down, marking the first day of the retreat over. The only light source radiating from the campfires along the beach and the star-lit sky. The campfire nearest your sleeping tent is vacant. The question of sharing a tent crosses your mind.

“Arent you going to tent up with your assigned travel buddy?” you ask Jungkook.

“My what?” he sips from his flask then stares expectantly at you.

“Your travel…buddy??” It’s not a weird question, right?

“Where did you hear that? I can guarantee there's no travel buddy list,” he giggles into his flask.

“But, Jin said…” You reflect on the words as you stare into the fire.

Water shoots from Jungkook’s nose as he tumbles forward. “He said he was your assigned travel buddy?! Ahahaha—”

Apparently, there was no such thing. Jin made it up just to have a reason to be with you during the trip. What are you supposed to think now?

You’ve had a long first day, to say the least. Jungkook helps you relax. The night passes too quickly as you exchange stories under the stars. At some point, you pass out asleep and feel Jungkook place his jacket over your chest. He carries you into the tent. You roll over onto your stomach and splay like a starfish. Jungkook struggles to remove your shoes and get you into the sleeping bag. Then the darkness swallows you and you drift into a deep sleep. Whatever comes tomorrow can’t possibly top the day you’ve had.

***

You wake the next morning to an empty tent and two layers of sleeping bag. The extra is not yours. Your back is stiff and you feel like your whole body has sunk two feet in the sand. After a little morning spruce, you find Jungkook having breakfast by the campfire. The bonsai tree sits on a rock in front of him and the souvenir bracelet rolls between his fingers.

“That’s a really nice souvenir!” you sit beside him.

“Thanks. It’s for, um, Namjoon actually. Ha ha. You think he’ll like it? Joon loves the sea but, he works so much. He’s studying part-time and can’t take advanced classes.” He scratches the back of his round head again.

“That’s lovely, Jungkook. I think he will definitely love it.” Jungkook is so sweet, you can’t help feel a little jealous after how aloof he was with you on your first date. “Oh, this is totally random but speaking of Namjoon, you haven’t heard anything from him, have you? Last time we spoke was kinda weird…I thought maybe he said someth—"

“Y/N. I have to tell you something,” he hesitates, lingering for permission.

“What is it?” you say. The morning wind on the beach is a little chilly. You fold your arms across your chest for some warmth.

“Do you remember that day? The day I was supposed to pick you up after work?” he fiddles with the bracelet.

Now it’s your turn to choke on your flask. Your stomach feels like it’s going to sink with all the emotions of that day returning. Jin completely avoided this conversation, but here goes Jungkook getting right into it.

“Yes, I remember it all too clearly,” you sigh. “I was on my way to the parking lot where I thought you were picking me up. I was walking by the court while the jocks were playing a game. Then the ball went out of bounds and hit me. I passed out and woke up after Yoongi, uh, resuscitated me. His hand was injured and he looked really mad. He still took me to Namjoon’s. Namjoon was acting all weird about it, but I still don't know why.”

“Well, that’s one version of it. But that’s not our version.” Jungkook explains.

“You see, I have um, I have a secret. The project I mentioned that Tae is helping me with, it’s a dangerous project. A few months ago, I discovered something while experimenting. I may have sort of opened a dimensional rift.” He waits anxiously for your response.

“What does that mean, Jungkook. You farted?”

“No! Haha. In quantum physics, there’s a theorem called the Casimir effect, it essentially says that if you conduct the right amount of energy through the right materials at the right time, you can open a door through space-time.”

“Time travel?” you question.

“Yes!!! Time travel.” He whispers. “I messed with it and got it right. That day you got hit with a basketball, it wasn’t the players' fault, it was me! Haha—.” He says it too happily for your taste.

“Hey!… I thought the jocks might have done it on purpose,” you pout.

“It was an accident, I swear to Namjoon! I haven't completely mastered control over this thing yet. That day I was running a bit late, so I thought, "why not?" . It worked obviously, but there was some, uh, glitching. It was not a clean jump. I injured some people when I jumped back, especially you. I'm really sorry. Only Yoongi and Namjoon knew about my jumping experiments then. Yoongi rushed there to stop me. It could have been a disaster, Y/N. But I figured out that I can do a cleaner jump if I have a stronger source of energy. The vacuum isn't it. ” his eyes are sparkly again.

You are quiet, thinking.

“So, let me see. You can travel through time using science, but you don’t have a good grip on the specifics yet. Yoongi, Jin, and basically everyone else knows about it now. You all got together while I was passed out and schemed a lie so I wouldn’t find out I got knocked by an experimental poltergeist. Am I understanding it correctly?”

He blinks. “That was easier than I thought.”

“Jungkook. You are so cool…”

He blushes, “I’d rather be dead than cool…”

“Since I’ve already been a victim of your jumping experiments. Can I know about the cave?”

Jungkook sighs. “I told you yesterday that the cave is like the Bermuda Triangle. Under ideal conditions, the cave can be a portal for time travel. The lab doesn’t know what conditions exactly, but I do. They aren’t up to anything good with it. If the lab got its hands on time portal capability, it would have the power to manipulate the past and future. Taehyung did some journalistic investigating on the lab. It's called Heaven, Inc. Before it got the military permission to colonize the island, they were just another underfunded private lab, doing shady work for shady leaders. Corrupt stuff. Tae discovered that the lab has already found the cave and they've closed it off. It’s not much time before they get the conditions right. Do you see why we have to intervene? Only we know about it. The cave would be weaponized. A weapon of dimensional shifting.”

“Jin can't know what he’s part of, right? I mean, he would never volunteer for something like that. He’s good…”

“I dunno, he definitely knows where the cave is. Tae and I have a plan. We’ll follow him to the cave and film it all. The video will be released to the papers and the government will have to shut down the complex.”

“That’s doesn’t sound like a good plan, Jungkook. It’s dangerous. They have the strictest enforcement here. What if they stop you?”

“Trust me, Y/N. They need a really big source of energy to open the portal. After my experiments, I think I figured out how it works, but I’ll need your help..." He looks at you with the same expression he’s had the whole time, “Can I kiss you?” Endearing and determined.

You are completely startled at the turn of confessions.“It's for science, right?”

“For science,” he grins.

“Ok, I trust you.”

He lunges forward and kisses you passionately on the lips. Your eyes shut tight and butterflies erupt in your atrium. Not counting Yoongi’s resuscitation technique, this is your first real kiss. Jungkook’s hand comes up to hold your face. He brushes your cheek and lingers, savoring you as long as he can.

At last, you break. “Wow,” he pants, “thank you.”

“Hey?” you pant back, “this better earn us the Nobel Prize.”

***

Taehyung joins you and Jungkook at 7 o’clock sharp, carrying several duffle bags. He sets them down and slicks back his hair. “The name’s Bond, James Bond,” he says with a deep voice. Jungkook ignores him, too deep in thought focusing on the surroundings. Tae turns to you for approval and flashes his adorable boxy smile. You are really about to embark on a covert operation with Taekook.

You squat behind the dense thicket, waiting. Jin passes by with a group of serious scientists. As usual, Jin looks too chippy first thing in the morning. He stands out like a sore thumb. The youngest in the group and the most enthusiastic. Still, he remains well-mannered and eagerly follows orders as they prep for their second day excavating the hidden site.

The three of you follow the group down to the north-facing coastline, staying out of view. The group you’re tailing disappears into a tunnel behind a glistening waterfall. You wait behind some big rocks. A branch cracks behind you and you spin around. Funny. You could swear you saw a glimpse of the big-breasted mathematician's ass hanging out of a tree. No way. You're probably still dazed from locking lips with Jungkook. There's no way Namjoon would ever be here. Then, Jin’s laughter emerges from the cave as he leads the group back out. He saunters past, delightedly chatting up the eldest scientist. You sigh. Poor Jin, he really believes this about some moss.

“Well, we found it.” Taehyung whispers. “That was easy.”

Too easy. An uneasy feeling settles in your stomach. Like right before you are about to lose something. You glance over to Jungkook who is contemplating the next move. Your lips are still tingling from his kiss. Was it real? During your first date, he seemed so aloof. Sure, he was always sweet and protective, but it didn’t mean anything. That’s just how Jungkook is.

Yoongi’s old words ring in your ears,

“Listen, Dove, it’s just a random coincidence. It could have been anybody…”

Yoongi really meant it. He knew. They all knew.

Taehyung holds the fence open for you and Jungkook to climb through. He leaves the duffle bags by the waterfall and only grabs the camera. He takes photos of the chain-link fence protecting the cave entrance. A sign reads “RESTRICTED ACCESS”. Inside, the cave is more like a tunnel. It's cold, dark, rocky, and slippery. Jungkook lights a match and asks you to stay while he explores the interior.

You stick with Taehyung as he takes more photos. “You knew about Jungkook’s experiments?” you probe.

“Sweetcheeks, I’ve always told you, haven’t I? I appreciate art.”

Jungkook runs back from the tunnel, excited. “Hey guys, come check this out!”

You both chase after him.

“Careful, it’s slippery in here!” he yells back through the darkness.

You reach a clearing lit by torches. There's a lot of industrial equipment. Looks like the scientists have come this far. Jungkook examines the mysterious gadgets laying around, one by one. Everything has the same logo, Heaven, Inc.

“Extensional tectonics,” Jungkook mumbles. He walks to the center of the clearing and looks at the wet floor. A man-made “X” marks the spot. “It’s here, inside the Manjjanggul Lava tube. This is the dimensional rift..."

In geology, a rift is a linear zone where the lithosphere is being pulled apart. They form over thousands of years, often at the central axis of most mid-ocean ridges. The new oceanic crust and lithosphere form at a divergent boundary between two tectonic plates. The Manjjanggul Lava tube tunnel is said to be one of the longest, measuring around 7.5 kilometers deep.

Extensional tectonics, as Jungkook said. The Manjjanggul Lava tube is the second Bermuda Triangle. Conditions just right for space-time travel, if supported with a powerful catalyst.

The kiss. The kiss was the energy. Jungkook is trying to manifest the kiss into the big energy he needs to open the portal. You must be…his catalyst.

A purple light begins forming in front of Jungkook as he stands still.

“Wait don't start yet, I need to get the video camera!”

"Well Taehyung, I don't know how it starts only when it starts...and it's starting now!"

Tae runs to retrieve the equipment from outside.

You flinch as water drips on your head from lava rock on the ceiling. The walls of the cavern start vibrating on rhythms, like the pace of a butterfly’s wings or a human heartbeat. The ring on your finger blackens as a void opens within you, a creeping bad feeling. You push it down.

“What’s happening?” you move to the edge of the wall.

“It’s stopped. I felt stronger energy a few minutes ago. It’s gotten weaker for some reason…” he concentrates hard. “I don’t know what I’m doing wrong.”

“Jungkook—” you start to say. But Taehyung runs back.

“Has it worked yet? Did I miss anything?” he tosses the bags down and starts to assemble the video camera as quickly as he can.

“Wait, I feel something…” Jungkook plants his feet on the marking and holds his arms out in front of him like there’s an invisible wall there. An obscure purple cloud glows before him and the tunnel vibrates with more strength.

Tae starts filming. You flatten your bodies against the wall as more water drips from the shaking ceiling.

“I feel it.” Jungkook closes his eyes, eyebrows furrowed. He extends his arms farther out, pushing against the translucid wall. “It’s….happening…” he grunts as he puts all his might into the force. Blue and white hues emerge from the vortex developing at his hands. The walls of the cavern pulse even harder. You cling to the wall as you brace for the unknown.

Then, an echo of running footsteps down the tunnel gets louder. Indiscernible yelling and swearing as the heavy steps approach.

One deep voice penetrates the cave and spikes the walls harder than the supernatural force at Jungkook’s fingertips can.

“Stop!” Namjoon shouts.

“Choco! Get away from him!” Jin appears behind Joon. Your eyes nearly pop out of your head. Jungkook is not listening anymore. The force in his hands surges and cave walls begin to give way. Tae fumbles with the camera, desperately trying to capture the phenomenon as the tunnel shakes more violently.

Jimin approaches calmly, “I think we would all like to live, so let’s all hold hands and walk out of here in one piece…”

“I can’t leave,” Jungkook replies through the translucent shimmer. "We have to destroy this place."

Namjoon steps closer, cautious of the rocks beginning to crumble overhead.

“Jungkook, please. You are putting yourself in danger…” he pleads. The leader’s fear growing with each passing second until Namjoon breaks down and tears flow from his eyes. With that, the portal opens, rendering Jungkook helpless to its mystical aura.

Everyone is puzzled. Yoongi’s level voice is heard over the rumbling, “What just happened, why is it getting worse?” Jungkook doesn’t know, but his mesmerization with the portal overtakes him and he can’t hear the others anymore. A deep part of his conscious is already elsewhere, they’re losing him.

Jungkook’s peaceful face shimmers with waves of violet and pink. His eyes wide open, soul entering into a new dimension while his body still hangs back. Grounded in something. Or someone.

Seokjin pulls you away, trying to get you out of the tunnel. Before he can get you very far, Namjoon grabs hold of your free arm. A massive pulse sends a long fissure across the floor, dividing the space in two. You’re being pulled in two directions, Jin on one side and Joon on the other. The tunnel begins to collapse. Hoseok yells for everyone to get out. You must pick a side or you'll die.

A segment of lava rock falls, nearly crushing Taehyung who has dropped the camera. He runs to Jungkook but more rock falls, blocking him. You’re held on both sides. You look up from Namjoon’s chest. His cheeks are soaked in tears.

“You put everyone at risk,” he glares at Jin.

“Me?” Jin argues back, tugging you to himself. “Your greasers are to blame! You let Jungkook and Taehyung do something dangerous. They even brought Y/N to the cave. I made you all swear, did I not, to keep Y/N out of this! What Jungkook was doing was never safe! We had a choice to stop the lab from finding the portal key. I mocked up the plant samples to destroy the evidence and convince them this is not the place. No one was going to get hurt! But Jungkook, he made his choice. He chose to destroy the site altogether. He chose violence!”

You’re suddenly thrust away from the pair as Namjoon lunges toward Jin. He throws the first punch. Jin collides with the wall behind them. Joon makes for another hit but Jin headbutts him first, tackling the six-foot-tall man to the ground, which is now being pelted with falling lava rocks. You lose balance on the shaky floor and start to fall backward. Yoongi catches you in time and shields you from the debris, looking for a way out.

Was that true? Was Taekook’s plan all along to destroy the cave? Who is right? Who is trusted? You remember Jungkook's words. Trust me.

NamJin curse at one another as they wrestle to the ground. The leader of the greasers and the leader of the jocks. Peace was never an option, was it.

Suddenly, the pulsing hum stops and there is silence. From Yoongi’s embrace, you can still see Jungkook. One moment he is there, standing on the X mark. Namjoon reaches for him but in a moment that feels frozen, lasting longer than a moment should, a whirring noise slices through the cold air, then…Jungkook vanishes. ZAP.

All that’s left in Namjoon’s large hand, the moon bracelet. Only the sounds of heavy breathing and dripping water fill the void. Jin rises from the ground and catches his breath. He looks up at Namjoon in confusion. Still silence.

Namjoon is about to say something. Then ZAP… he vanishes through thin air. The bracelet drops to the wet ground and rolls toward you. What the fuck! Everyone looks at each other. What is happening?! A moment later, Yoongi follows. ZAP. Jimin. Taehyung. Hoseok. ZAP ZAP ZAP.

Only you and Jin are left.

***

The following morning, your school formally announces the reported disappearance of six of its students, four of whom were not attending the retreat. Their names are printed in the paper, along with their photos.

Kim Namjoon. Min Yoongi. Jung Hoseok. Park Jimin. Kim Taehyung. Jeon Jungkook.

All Heaven, Inc. facilities are shut down for further investigation. The remaining students are sent home early in the morning. Police recover the Heaven, Inc. lab equipment from the Manjjanggul Lava tube, but can't find a single trace of the missing students. Seokjin's father gets a lawyer for the other families and files a civil suit.

The long bus ride home is melancholic. You were up all night being questioned by the police, nothing you said was written down. The reporters will dismiss the truth and release their own narrative in a few months.

The students had a secret party on a sailboat, they got drunk, had a dispute, forgot to tie it to the dock and drifted out in the middle of the night. No bodies were found. It was an accident. A simple mistake of rambunctious youth.

You and Seokjin remain quiet. Neither of you feel like talking. Six of your friends have just vanished. You fear the worst. You have endless questions. Where are they? Why did everyone but Jin jump? Did they make it through safe? Will they ever come back? What will their families do? The void inside only grows. Your racing mind exhausts and you lean your head on Jin’s shoulder. It’s big and sturdy and safe. Whatever happens from now on, at least you will have Jin by your side. You fall asleep.

***

The sound of Professor Choi quietly nudging you awake causes you to jump, “Wake up, Dear. You are home.”

“Huh, what year is it?” You rub the sleep from your eyes and feel a cramp in your neck. There’s no other student left on the bus but you. The spot next to you empty, with all but a snack left on the seat. You pick up the wrapped choco pie and stare at it. No way. Did Jin get time warped? He couldn’t have he was with me…

“It’s 1958, Dear,” Choi laughs. “Don’t forget your belongings. I’ll leave you to it.” The professor walks off the bus.

Jin got time-warped with the rest. This is not a dream. You are not dreaming.

All seven of them...left you.

Field Observation #10: It was a f*ckboy au after all. What did you expect, Bighead?

See you in 1985 :)

158 notes · View notes

sybright · 3 years

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The Deuteronomy Siblings

For day 5 of Jellicle Week of Demeter! I usually hc Demeter as not having any familial relationships, she’s a stray with no known/living biological family. Buuuuuut, in one of my longtime AUs, she does have family.

I’ve currently been calling this my mish-mash AU, because it feels like the most descriptive, yet brief name for this AU of mine. One of the primary aspects of this AU is the Deuteronomy family, which consists of Grizabella as the eldest child of Old Deuteronomy, then Munkustrap, the second eldest, and then Demeter and Tugger as the twins/youngest.

Even though I haven’t really talked about them that much, I will say that over time I have become EXTREMELY fond of this particular family unit, like more so than any other Cats family unit that I like hfdsjfhdsj. Anyway, enjoy some sibling dynamic hcs below the cut!

Demeter and Grizabella:

Everybody in the tribe looked up to and admired Grizabella in some way prior to her leaving, but out of all of them, Demeter admired her most. Griz being the only other girl in the family added to this, but Demeter always felt very connected to her sister. She wanted to be just like her when she was older, glamorous and confident. It’s for these reasons that Griz leaving impacted Demeter the most out of anybody in the tribe. Griz was her role model, and Demeter was so heartbroken over her abandonment that she left the tribe herself for a few years, before returning after she had more or less gotten over her grief.

Because of her strong connection to Griz, and because of her experience in living as a stray when she ran off, Demeter feels a sense of sympathy for Grizabella when she finally returns. But she still remains cautious and conflicted towards her sister until the moment of acceptance and forgiveness occurs from the whole tribe.

Demeter and Munkustrap:

Demeter and Munkustrap are by far the most mature and responsible of the siblings. They’re often in agreement with each other in family arguments, tend to hold the same opinions on most matters, and generally get along very well with minor teasing here and there. Also, despite Demeter being a twin (albeit the slightly older twin), she and Munk sort of share the role of middle child in the family. They both receive a little bit less attention compared to their very overly dramatic siblings (and both collectively shake their heads at Tugger’s youngest-child antics), and are pretty independent and self-reliant. When drama is occurring in the family, they’re both usually on the sidelines and try to stay out of it.

Demeter and Tugger:

So despite Demeter sharing many attributes with Munk, and being on common ground with him a lot of the time, she’s actually closest with Tugger, her slightly younger twin, out of all her siblings. Shocking, I know lol. But really, Demeter and Tugger are almost total opposites in personality. Demeter’s the level-headed, responsible one, while Tugger’s the immature, reckless one. They get on each other’s nerves quite a bit, but they do actually have a few things in common. Like many people, I’m quite fond of the idea of Demeter being very punk in human AUs, that’s her style to me, but I also imagine her cat form being very punk as well.

Despite their large difference in personality, I think Demeter and Tugger both enjoy and partake in punk/rock/alternative styles. In a human AU setting, I can see Demeter and Tugger having similar, if not some of the same taste in music and bands, and often attending concerts together. Outside of a human AU setting, I also think they both have a bit of a rebellious streak, it’s just that, in Tugger, that rebellious streak is much more prominent. But Demeter’s rebellious streak sure does show up every now and then.

If Tugger has a wild idea, Demeter is more likely to support him and back him up than Griz or Munk, because she’s able to decipher whether it’s a good wild idea, or a bad wild idea (cause she’s rebellious, but also more mature than Tugger). In the same vein, if Demeter has a wild idea (and hers are almost always good wild ideas), Tugger has her back 100%. The two of them are inseparable when they’re on the same page and being chaotic good together. So they may annoy each other a lot, but they’re tight-knit and thick as thieves.

#JellicleWeekOfDemeter #the deuteronomy siblings #mish-mash au #demeter #grizabella #munkustrap #rum tum tugger #old deuteronomy #long post #cats the musical #my rambles #my original posts

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sunflowerstalks · 3 years

Text

Maybe If Remus Had a Plan in the First Place This Fic Would Have Had a Name, Too

Remus is Remus, Roman is tired, and there’s a cat, too. Expected chaos ensues.

This is my gift for Pigeon, @the-pigeon, for @sanderssidesgiftxchange! I hope you enjoy your gift, and i hope your holidays were and continue to go well! Also, happy new year!! :D

word count: 2125

rating: teen and up (for slight language/innuendo)

content warnings: slight innuendo/language typical of remus, hair pulling as a stim, descriptions of bad things happening to animals (as an intrusive thought, it is dealt with accordingly), slight anxiety attack/sensory overload moment

relationships: platonic sides (all of em) with brotherly roman&remus focus, implied/background romantic roman/virgil and romantic patton/remus but it’s pretty subtle

characters: roman, remus, virgil, patton, logan, janus, c!thomas (meaning both character!thomas and cat!thomas asfhjakfh)

additional tags: high school au, punk au, heist fic, like slight conflict and then mostly fluff and comfort. also, side note, cain and abel are the twins’ cats sdhjgdskfh

“Remus.”

“Roman.”

A beat.

“Any chance you could explain… any of this?” Roman gestures wildly to the pile of metal scraps, receipts, the feral cat, and assorted other trinkets strewn across the sidewalk in front of Remus, before crossing his arms and impatiently awaiting an answer without his usual air of, well, put-together-ness.

“Well, I’d actually gotten around to finally cleaning my wallet, when—”

“The cat, Remus! Whose cat is this? Why do you have it? Why is it surrounded by trash?” Roman’s voice increased in both volume and shrillness as he went on, hands reaching unconsciously to tug at his hair.

“Hey, don’t do that shit,” Remus tugged at the cuffed jean at Roman’s ankle for emphasis, “Anyways, like I was saying, I was cleaning my wallet when I remembered that I was like, eighty assignments behind in anatomy, so I figured I could do some cool art or somethin’ with a cat! For… extra credit or something.” Remus faltered for a moment, “In all honesty, I didn’t think I’d get this far.” He had thought getting the cat would be the hard part, so now he was stuck in the swing of success without a direction to turn. Roman, however, was still stuck on the small details (in Remus’ humble opinion).

Roman took a deep breath, muttering something that sounded a lot like a prayer for forgiveness, before looking down at his brother yet again.

“Remus.”

“Yes, brother dearest?”

“Whose cat is this?”

“Do you want the honest answer?”

Roman looked moments away from manslaughter, yet managed to nod anyways. Remus’ face broke into a shit-eating grin;

“I have no fucking clue.”

---

“Let me get this straight—”

A chorus of ‘good luck with that’s and similar sentiments echoed Logan’s statement, much to his chagrin.

“Okay. Redo.”

“You can’t just say ‘redo’ IRL, Lo,” Virgil chuckled, not even bothering to look up from his phone—he had already checked out from the drama, but stayed for the simple pleasure of experiencing the familiar banter—and in fear of being called to the dean’s office for cutting class. Mostly the latter.

“And I would argue that you cannot say ‘IRL’ in a verbal conversation, yet here we are,” Logan paused for emphasis, adjusted his necklaces for the umpteenth time, and smoothed his hands over the table again before continuing, “Regardless. The situation that you—and I mean you two,” he gestured to the twins, “there is hardly a ‘we’ fault-wise here—have gotten into, is one of... feline larceny, without a known victim? Is that correct?” Remus nodded sheepishly—or as sheepish as his wolfish features could get, all teeth and eyes—while Roman just stewed in rage. Remus’ backpack laid halfway zipped on the lab table, and every once in a while a pink nose and whiskers would find its way into the light before being shoved back by a flurry of hands, aware of what yet another detention would mean for the twins. They couldn’t all just skip, though—they learned that the hard way from the last time one of Roman and Remus’ harebrained schemes had made its way from “a slight nuisance” to “an unignorable thorn in everyone’s side that also somehow ends with arson.” So, they had some past experience in handling the, well, experience that the twins brought along with their company—but they normally had at least a lead to work with.

“How,” Janus started, massaging his temples despite only just then contributing to the wreck of a conversation that their art class had devolved into, “do you steal a cat, and not know who from?” Remus just shrugged.

“It wasn’t intentional. I needed a cat, a guy had a cat, I didn’t ask questions. Was I supposed to?” Remus asked, eyebrows drawn together—normally, he’d be a sarcastic shit that would drive the group insane on (some level of) purpose, but now he just seemed genuinely afraid—of the consequences of his own actions, but, still—progress. Logan opened his mouth to offer his advice, but was silenced by the jarring ring of the bell. He sighed. This was going to be a long day of way more stress than he was qualified for—the twins were going to owe him another stick and poke if he had any say in the matter.

---

Remus must have been a wonderful, wonderful man in his past life. He had to have been. Because, somehow, by some good grace, he managed to make it through another two classes on his own, and to lunch in one piece, with a living cat by his side—well, in his backpack, but the merit stands. Logan could honestly say he was impressed—not that he would tell him that, though. Nevertheless, the six friends reconvened at lunch—still without a direction to turn.

“I could just put him back where I found him,” Remus started, attempting to break the icy silence at the table with a jackhammer as always.

“Do you even know where that is?” Roman scoffed, incredulous.

“Well, no, but I could get close.”

“This isn’t helping,” Logan interjected, “How about you bring it to a shelter? One nearby where you found it?” The table nodded in general agreement, but Remus only frowned.

“But that isn’t where I got it from. What if it has an owner? What if the closest shelter isn’t a no-kill shelter, and we go to all the trouble of saving the cat only for the fucks at the shelter to hurt it?” Remus’ pace picked up with his heart rate—despite only having this cat for maybe six hours, if anything happened to it, Remus had a pretty good idea of what he’d end up doing.

“We can check for that, can’t we, Lo?” Patton chimed in, placing a calming, steady hand on Remus’ shoulder, which sunk, relieved, at the touch.

“Possibly. But, regardless, it isn’t Remus’ cat. Our priority is to get it back to its original owner, if it has one,” Logan pointed out, “If that isn’t possible, then we need to reevaluate our plan, come up with another, and settle for a different goal.”

“Have we at any point today even actually had a plan?” Virgil snickered, ever the pessimist—it wasn’t like he was really helping as he was, once again, staring at his phone.

“Well, it’s not like you’ve done much besides stare at your phone today, edgelord,” Remus snarked, though it came out as more of a mumble—his face was pressed into the table, and his eyes were on the cat in the bag.

“You’re gonna have to get better nicknames, Dukey, we’re all edgelords here,” Janus deadpanned, smudging an unhealthy amount of eyeshadow around his eyes while Virgil and Remus argued over their respective contributions.

“Okay, can you, my brother,” Roman pointed to Remus, whose teeth clacked with how fast he shut up, ”and you, my boyfriend,” he pointed to Virgil, who could only look the smallest bit abashed, “calm all the way down? Stop arguing, holy shit—” Roman took another breath, relishing the silence that had fallen over the table before pushing on, “—how about we all go, together, and fix this shit? I mean, what could go wrong?”

---

The answer was a lot. A fucking lot could go wrong when six seventeen-year-olds tried to coordinate anything, let alone an amateur heist.

Remus managed to get through the rest of the school day without much incident, but the rest of them were not so lucky, managing to receive a grand total of three detentions and six failed tests from lunch to the end of seventh period between the five of them. The teens recounted the horror stories of sixth period; Patton gesturing wildly from the driver's seat, Remus sat quietly (for maybe the second time in his life) in the passenger seat, and the remaining accomplices squished together in the back seat (which would fit three people at most for any group that wasn’t them). Also in the back seat was the cat, who had been dubbed “Thomas” for the time being—he was sat in Janus’ lap, curled up around an abandoned ball of yarn that had been left under one of the seats. The car ride across town would have been incredibly tense and unbearably long without the feline, and for that, Remus was grateful—even if he still had a sinking feeling of guilt swirling in his stomach.

---

After a surprisingly uneventful car ride (except for the stop at a drive through for a morale boost (Patton’s words) of coffees and drinks which ended, after a rather nasty pothole, with a massive stain on the roof of the car), the party settled into the waiting room at the—no-kill, Remus triple checked—animal shelter. There weren’t enough chairs, so the group made more of a pile around Thomas, some of them standing, and the others sitting both on chairs and the floor. Juxtaposed with the sterile white of the walls, they stood out like the emo cousins that they basically were. Remus bounced his leg, up, down, up, down, over and over. He kept knocking his knee against Janus’, which jostled Thomas every time he did.

“Sorry,” Remus mumbled, trying to focus on holding still. But it itched in the back of his brain, guilt and stress and fault and all the wonderful, terrible feelings churning, over and over. The clock behind the desk was too loud, and Remus couldn’t do anything about it because they wouldn’t even have to be here if not for him. So he kept his mouth shut and tried not to cry—for all of two minutes, because that was when Janus decided that he had had enough, and shoved a ball of fur into his arms. For a moment, Remus was terrified he was going to fuck it up, hurting Thomas or himself or causing some other inevitable disaster, but Thomas just pushed his warm face into Remus’ palm, and suddenly, somehow the only thing Remus could feel was loved. He choked out a wet laugh, unable to contain the bubbling build-up of emotions that had been brewing since he first saw Thomas that morning. His friends all looked at him, concerned at first, but all they could do was coo at Remus being the softest they had ever seen him. He sniffed, and gave them all a watery smile.

“Thanks, guys.”

“Sincerity? In my brother? It’s more likely than you think!” Roman teased, poking his brother in the arm. Remus stuck his tongue out at him, and the teens devolved into familiarity, playful taunts and sincere joy, waiting to be called back for Thomas’ check up.

---

While the veterinarian had been momentarily taken aback at the request for all six visitors to be in the room during the appointment, she also hadn’t seen a reason to say no at the time. Thus, once again, like the clowns they were, they piled into the room and crowded around the table, Thomas at the heart of it all—confoundingly calm given the situation, at least to the onlookers.

The veterinarian introduced herself to each of them, and began examining the cat for any injuries, microchips, or anything out of place.

“He seems to be healthy, no broken bones or infections…” The doctor said, reaching for a handheld device, “If he’s microchipped, and I’m able to reach the owner, you boys will be off the hook, okay?” Remus cringed, but nodded—he needed to remember that Thomas wasn’t his before he got hurt. She ran the scanner over Thomas’ back, and hummed.

“I’m… actually not finding anything. You said he was lost?”

“I don’t know for sure,” Remus confessed, “I found him on the street, so he could be a stray.”

“It seems he was a very lucky one, for sure. Most cats his age are incredibly susceptible to outside bacteria—finding you guys likely saved his life.” Remus’ eyes widened, and his hand reached for Thomas almost instinctively.

“You said that he doesn’t have an owner?”

“Not that I can determine, no. Did he have a collar, any sort of identification?”

Remus shook his head.

“Well, there are two options in the meantime; we can hold on to him, and put him up for adoption through our services, or you could adopt him. He needs to be immunized and neutered, first, but where he ends up is up to you guys.” Remus thought to himself for a moment.

“Hey, Roman. How mad do you think Mom would be if we brought Cain and Abel home a new friend?”

---

The answer? Not mad enough to outweigh her happiness at Remus’ smile with Thomas in his arms. And even though he didn’t end up getting the extra credit in anatomy, Remus’ circle of best friends grew by one, so he thinks he did alright in the end.

#sanders sides #creativitwins #intruality #prinxiety #ts roman #ts remus #ts virgil #ts patton #ts janus #ts logan #c!thomas #cat!thomas

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tottymatsuno · 3 years

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Fics I'm working on! Updated Feb 2nd, 2023. Includes the multichapter Ichi ideas I have. Last update Jan 24th, 2022.

I didnt unfortunately finish this upsate bc im tired, but heres some of the new stuff

Totty fics up front!

Apostasy - demon au based off of the Akuma riders hesokuri set. Todomatsu steals a traumatized skitzo virgins soul bc she just so happens to be the only one who ever found him attractive. 9.5/18 parts completed. NSFW. 😈

Equal Footing: A tsundere office worker totally hates her rival Todomatsu because he's an asshole! She definitely hates his cute lil smile and no longer has any good will towards his sexist ass. Nope, not at all. 4/6 parts completed. NSFW

Peach Boy: Currently being reworked but childhood friends having an equally inexperienced hot and cold relationship with one another because they're both petty and rude. Somehow they might make it work?? 8/??? parts completed. NSFW

I believe he's not my butler: Snobby rich girl falls for ugly man who has no prospects or capital despite his shitty personality. 1/2 parts completed. SFW

It's not cheating if we're broken up: Identity theft as a small plot point, reader goes on a romantic rendezvous with her soon to be ex's high school chum. Fucks him and then steals ex boyfriends money. Catches feelings specifically because she understands that Todomatsu is an awful piece of shit and that terribleness is an extremely attractive quality in a man for her. 2/3 parts completed. NSFW

Idol Worship: Fujio Rock/Idol au. Skeptical assistant hates her boss' attempts at romance bc he was such an asshole she can't believe he's a decent guy. Meanwhile Totty is in love and is sick from it. 3/4 parts completed. SFW for now.

Oh please, oh please: Totty and reader are annoyingly cutesy and then fuck. 1/2 parts completed. NSFW obv.

Pink Angel From hell: Host club au based off of the drama cd. Yall better do the required reading this time I s2g. Toxic Totty realizing he is worth love bc of the only dumb virgin who is in lust with him. A character exploration about parallels and oscillating expectations between two people who care for each other but do not express it in the same ways trying to meet each other finally in the middle. There's direct parallels, inversed and subverted parallels, there's symbolism and direct hypocrisy! It's gonna be good I promise to see these two and their arcs work out. Love isn't bought its cultivated and grows over time, not bc someone pays for it. You cannot expect a transactional relationship to become a romantic one right off the bat. Plus I find asshole evil Totty super hot so begone if u want initially healthy loving Todomatsu. Dip ur feet in the acid, my dear. The toxic is great this time in spring! 5/??? SFW for now, will be NSFW later.

Your body often finds my coffin: vampire au, half inspired by the lines in Love me dead, the horror of our love by Ludo and also the song twisted teeth from the 35mm musical. One of my rare serious fics and a lesson in open communication and consent. It's lust to hate to accepting to love story. I've only written the original one shot at this point but I really wanna write more and a multichapter fic of it. SFW as of now but idk it could get spicy.

In the peach pit, saw you fake it: punk rock bookstore worker has an enemies to friends to lovers with Todomatsu after they go on a bad tinder date. They're coworkers too. One of the few Totty fics I actually establish an entire initially platonic relationship on screen instead of in the background. If you love edgy traumatized autistic punk girls who are tryna recover and be her most authentic and happy self and Todomatsus ugly ass you'll enjoy this. Oh yeah and Totty and Karamatsu go to substance abuse counseling! ???/??? current chapters uploaded are sfw but it doesnt stay it. I'm nearing the end writing it though? I just need to bump it with some content and get everything in one document and in order.

Pure Snow, Muddied Tracks: Totty at a mixer bags an equally inexperienced virgin. They fuck and then enter once again an unhealthy relationship. It's really weird but this one was written because I wanted to see how Todomatsu would be an a legit fucked up boyfriend. I'll trigger warn it. There's no sexual abuse but Todomatsu does get gaslighty and possessive. This was written explicitly bc I wanted to see him be evil, it does not fully go into outright abusive territory and stuff but yeah I mean viewer descrection. Wouldn't read this one if you've been in an emotionally manipulative relationship. ???/??? NSFW Changed the title too.

Talked refine: based off of the Hozier song Talk and that one set where the matsunos get blackout drunk. Totty actually has game for once but still fumbles the bag. Doesn't lose his virginity even tho his brothers didn't even fuck it up for him. 0/2 parts completed. Suggestive with an alt NSFW ending.

The Dust Settled Under your Starry Night eyes: trans guy reader and trans Tottimi. Outlaw western au. Reader is a bank robber who spots Tottimi on a hit with her brothers. It's love at first sight, they become their most naked and real selves within the dusty night. 0/3 parts completed. Suggestive but like in a poetic way :^)

Eyes Always Seeking: Story about death and rebirth. Todomatsu buries his dead spouse in a pet cemetery and they come back wrong. Mostly completed. SFW...I dont really have a pervy idea for it tbh. I might later?

Mutually Creepy: Two virgins hit on each other in the most bizarre and frankly creepy ways. NSFW One-shot (this ones almost done)

Codependency: A coworker of the girl Todomatsu and Karamatsu fought over has DPD and a crush on Todomatsu. He takes advantage of it (another bad guy totty fic??) Based a little bit off of the song June 6th/Boyish by Japanese Breakfast. Anyways these two are codependent in a weird little way. 0/2 SFW.

Better To Eat You With: This one is kinda weird, sorry. There's a new cast member on Osomatsu-san who keeps trying to seduce Todomatsu. First skit Todomatsu has with this new character is her as the big bad wolf and him as Little Red Riding Hood. It's a character study, it's a deconstruction of ososan's reality, it's about how the mechanics of the characters reality works, its about loneliness and desire and wanting to be wanted and infatuation and a critical analysis! It's a lot! Todomatsu kisses his hand! It's sexy im sorry. It's a oneshot but is over 8k so I'll have to post it on ao3. NSFW

Cracked Vanity Mirror: no actual love interest, just Todomatsu being lonely scrolling through tinder. sfw

What Do You Call This Emotion?: Todomatsu tries to play games but isn't experienced enough to win them. sfw so far

Ash To Ash, Back To Back: punk band au. probably nsfw

Broke and Dusty: love and collecting old electronics. sfw And They Were Roommates: An exchange student comes back to Japan after cutting off her narc family and decides to live her best life rebelling and not listening to what shes told! She's supposed to rent out and manage a rental property but says fuck it lol. Asks her bffs Sacchi and Aida who should move in w her and they say "Totty, go save that boy PLEASE!" bc they wuv him. anyways Totty and the reader link up and become like best friends forever!! There's not REALLY tension at first, they're literally just friends and its very cute, like vibing really hard. anyways yeah they were roommates! I havent written much for this one yet but im trying to figure out what's gonna make it shift to a romantic dynamic. Anyways best friends to lovers. I think its gonna be nsfw. 3 chapters written so far.

Wait, Why Am I Your Second Choice?!: Todomatsu has a unionized rotation of girlfriends bc Sacchi and Aida want him off those damn sugar apps. He's too naive and stupid to be getting into that so his very good friends have been taking applications to join his platonic girlfriend roation. The requirements is that each person has to be in a pair. Anyways reader and her bff joins and they become good friends w Totty! But Totty likes the reader's friend and not really the reader intitally. Friendship, unrequited affection, rejection and mutal understanding are the major themes here. i havent decided how it ends yet! sfw

Bambina: Vaguely based off of my experiences with my baby lol! Very personal djkjkdsg....todomatsu gets hired as a handy-man after he and matsuyo spend sometime watching a milf get attacked by an infant for a few weeks. The reader is related to Kin-chan! Kin's her older sister <3 anyways reader lives with her grandma after her divorce and Totty is paid to fix shit around the house. they fall in WUV <3 ????/???? i havent written any nsfw yet for it but itll be there

With Ya Old Ass: Totty takes reader to his fishin hole and is an old man about it. They are bi4bi. sfw

THE PERSONALS!!! AKA I probably wont be posting all of these

Quit Playin': this one is me getting my feelings hurt lol...

DieTai: I literally will never post this but its about if I were an anime character and the genre it'd be and if Todomatsu would like me the same amount I like him. A deconstruction of the OI ive been reading, a deconstruction and critique of whump as a genre. its about thinking you know someone until you meet them, and about romanticising bad traits because you cant be harmed by them bc theres a level of safety and the fear of rejection is gone when youre kissing a screen and not another set of lips. this one makes me SO sad!!!!! its cathartic. its nsfw because of its many themes

Green Ribbon: It's a very personalized story about my trauma that involves some body mutaliation and extreme depictions of child abuse. Makes reference to the Scary Stories about the green ribbon. this one makes me sad so i havent finished it, but Totty asks me a question during my grieving season and I cant answer him. sfw and unsexy too

Crying Over Spilled Milk: Idk it was october and I wanted to process my grief a bit better. It's about if Totty saw me the day my mama died lol.....it's a very realistic take on the ososan universe imo where theyre just actors and like regular ppl w/o any weird reality bending or anything. just the brothers as childhood actors w references to kun and other akatsuka characters. anyways like totty goes out peacocking after the 2nd episode airs and sees me and tries to nonverbally flirt and eavesdrops on my phone convo and then watches me have an entire breakdown on the trainplatform bc i found out my mama died! I literally will never ever post this but im typing it here so i can remember it by next october. this did not stay sfw

I'll Be Back Tomorrow Or The Next Day: based very much off of my real life and real marriage and if totty was there ig. nsfw

Strip Yourself Bare For Me: By The Layers about tottys year in America in 2017. We were penpals and he moves in w me after being homeless in Japan. we fall in love-love. ends sadly bc he goes back to Japan and we break up </3 nsfw

Don’t lead me on!: posted. 1/2 done. Im best friends with todomatsu and i tell him i love you like i say to all of my friends constantly and forever and he takes it WAAAAYYY too seriously.

I’LL KILL YOU!!: @itchypinefield is here! First words said to you by your soulmate au. He’s threatening to kill me, im doing the same <3

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HOW COULD I FORGET TO ADD MY TOTOKO SET!!

For Someone Like Me: based off of susie save your love, totoko has unrequited feelings for me while i rush head first into a pretty unhealthy relationship with todomatsu. We become girlfriends <3

You’re a star, baby!: Choromatsu gets fired and Totoko replaces him with a brand new social media manager that leans into her heel with a babyface behaviors but she realizes that her new agent/secretary/assistant/sns marketer is kinda cute and really into her.

Shred me with your teeth: making out with totoko but shes got shark teeth and shes cute and needy 🥰

Summer Crush: in tottys pov, and an ot3 fic with me, him and totoko. Todomatsu and Totoko are roommates living in America trying to get their careers to take off after their sketch comedy reboot fails flat in the water. Ex child stars who want to be taken seriously in their prospective niches, Todomatsu in theater and Totoko as a television actress. They both have a lot of sexual tension but Todomatsu has a crush on me bc he sees me on hjs jogs. Totoko is initially jealous and investigates until she also gets a crush on me bc i truly am adorable. Anyways we eventually all date

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AUS WITH FRIENDS/SERIES WITH FRIENDS! These all have porn im sorry

Erina section! @girlymatsu co-owns these aus with me! Some if not most of these have very little actually written 😭

You're Kinda Just Some Guy, Huh?: Normiematsu au with Erina, Benimatsu are actually very well respected actors in their gag anime, and are still virgins. They're just some guy though, very practical, not particularly innocent but they do respect women and try not to be creeps. They end up trying to hard to not be creeps they become majorly repressed freaks. Nsfw

Mixer Set!: One of these includes @ichikos but the rest are me and Erina ending up at mixers with benimatsu. one involves the matsunoir au thingy. Another one is they get yucky at a mixer and then do public stuff on a train like a week later sorry, and the final one i fogor

Won’t You Be Mine, Earth Angel: osomatsu and todomatsu are incredibly good at their angelic duties, and have been tasked with saving two lost souls from damnation in an experimental therapy. Lots of worldbuilding but despite being super nsfw its a ton of wishful fulfillment for me personally about unconditional love and family.

Mechanical: mecha au! Erina is an intergalactic warrior princess, Osomatsu is a half mixture of himself and proper Osomatsu. He has mixed feelings about his duties, osokun still canon but the brothers are child soldiers and this is NOT a good thing! 18!Todomatsu is assigned evil by playing gta v in what should’ve been a 2 minute simulation and is given a service dog mecha/friend who he then eventually marries

Sleepover slumber party!!: benimatsu go to a sleepover with us and slut it up <3

Mononoke au (i dont have a title sorry): this one splinters but idk theyre cute theyre the mononoke i have no brain to type out the plot but theres a plot I swear nsfw

Two slow dancers: based off of that s3 episode and is Evan’s au! Osomatsu is divorced, behind on child support, living alone in a house he can barely afford bc of his gambling addiction, and the woman he flirts with at holiday parties moved across the street from him. He starts getting his life together but has to deal with the guilt of ruining his first relationship and thinking his three kids hate him, but also dealing with the fact he still has a life to live and wants to he in love. On the flip todomatsu has dead wife syndrome and is very confused by his work wife because we look exactly alike. Anyways a marriage by convenience and then falling in love or w/e. Nsfw

Put a collar on that mutt: based off of the billionaires werewolf au, i dont think theres really a plot i think its just sex tbh.

Magical Girls: osoko has a big comphet problem, and erina is bisexual but then dates osoko’s sleezy alternative self! And also Totoko also has a problem, her evil alternative self is getting married to her true love!

Investment: based off of e3.5 or whatever where they’re the unused brothers. Todomatsu flirts with me, gets my number, then gets up and flirts with erina and i get mad. I see him again when we’re both getting pressured at a mlm conference, we get lost on the way home and i realize whar a cringe fail loser he is (osoeri are falling in love btw) and Totty gets a crush on me bc i dont throw him ina river.

Eros’ Arrow: cupid au, ough i wish i had the energy but its VERY lore heavy, very based off of greek mythology along with world building about cupids as a society, as a species, as a job, and like how love is crushed out of ppl bc of capitalism. Cupids falling in love with humans is an expected flight of fancy that they have to grow out of, but these two dont.

Dragon au: inspired by @chorotchi’s dragon au, very lore and fairytale inspired. Erina is a “cursed sacrificial bride” but actually is a witch, im a holy knight. Beni kissing.

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Mobile Games Are Lame!: An otome isekai but with Ichimatsu! The reader played a mobile game for a while but died and got reincarnated and realized that she was gonna have to get married to one of these brothers. she picks Ichimatsu and they have a veeery sweet romance where they communicate through notes bc ichi is shy <3 sfw and a oneshot project with my friends, and also splinters off. I’ll probably write the whole idea down when i get the chance, but every major character gets a route. This is also the villainess au with my friends and where it alll originated from

I Don't Love You: Reader falls in love with the weird guy who keeps feeding her cats. NSFW 1/4

Sakura Petals: childhood friends who lost connection and then fall in love. I started writing this years ago but didnt get very far. sfw

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Loving You Is Easy Because You're Dead: ghost boyfriends! All of the brothers have died except for the ones that arent dead! You some how manage to date them. 6/6 done, epilogue planned

Who You Actually Are: Story about all the brothers growing up, moving out and becoming healthier people. Involves LOTS of growing pain and looks at their relationships under a critical lense. Has a happy ending but its really hard getting there. There's probably like 5/20 chapters done. SFW

Valentines Day/White Day: Preplanning this, hoping to have my queue cleared out before these dates tho!

Ache & Bake: Request! Outlines done! Just need to get the emotional stamina to write them. Multichapter fic based off a request 2/6

Birthday Bash: Request, outlines done. Christmas Party: Request, outlines done. Road trip: Request, outlines done! Another multi chapter request.

Through Rain or Shine: Request with shy!Karamats taking the lead.

#my WIP page!#roros projects #screaming and crying why do i have so many open projects asjkskjkjefs #roros wips #hard hat is on!

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virgil-is-a-cutie · 3 years

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Can y'all imagine how Total Drama World Tour would go if Duncan had kissed Heather in the confessional instead of Gwen?

Like...imagine that au where Older!Heather is sad about her life bc she misses Alejandro and wishes she didnt push him away. And she's suddenly sent back to her teen body near the end TD Action, she spends the months before the 3rd season developing a better relationship with her mother, having a better personality in school.

And for the homecoming dance that she had originally not gone to she went with a green haired punk girl who coincidentally her parents were cops. They went as friends

But when that segment with Blainely and the other guy go about talking with Sierra about the past contestants. They bring up Heather and how she must be bi and into Duncan.

This causes unnecessary tension with Courtney and Heather who tries in vain to not cause chemistry with her and Duncan.

Imagine the difference with a nice Heather with TD World Tour

#jenny speaks #total drama series #total drama world tour #tdi heather #i saw a fic like this in ff.net but it hasnt been updated for 2 years

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twopoppies · 4 years

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hello! i’ll be traveling a lot for the holidays this year which means i need some good fics to read! would you be so kind as to rec me some long fics with a lot of smut and also a good plot/storyline? thank you sooooo much if you can i love your fic recs xxx

Oooh…holiday travel is a perfect time for reading fics. I have to say, the newer fics I’ve read don’t have a whole lot of smut (sadly), so quite a few of these are older, but hopefully you haven’t read all of them yet! I would also suggest checking out my Classics fic rec as I didn’t include them, but many are quite long and have a great plot/smut.

Danger I Can’t Hide by CelticSky (E, 227K) This one’s got all the tension and drama you’d expect of a World War II story—life and death high stakes, friends and lovers unexpectedly torn apart, battles and heroism, plus the added stakes of classism and homophobia—then add a slow burn, high risk, scorching love affair spanning years. If you want a story that’s complex and fantastically researched, plus lovers to root for, read it. It’s long. But I couldn’t put it down.

babydoll blues by devilinmybrain / @thedevilinmybrain (E, 112K) At last, the full-fledged, dirty, sugar baby fic we needed. Harry's character is so layered and so beautifully drawn, I just fell in love with him. Louis is sexy and powerful and also tender and sweet, just how I imagine the actual Louis to be. This author wrote one of my favorite fics of 2021, so I was really excited to dive into this one. They really know how to set a scene and draw you in to their characters. Scorching smut scenes, excellent use of side characters, and some angst that fully made me cry. Definitely worth a read!

Walk That Mile by purpledaisy (E, 150K) I’ve read this one multiple times and still love it. Their bickering is so realistic, their resistance to their attraction to each other is perfect, the way the author portrays all of their weird quirks and differences but still makes it believable that they’d fall fo reach other is such fun to read….I love this fic.

Collision by itjustkindahappened (NR, 225K) This fic is really unique and interesting. The characterizations are a bit OOC (in my opinion), but it’s such a cool story, that this didn’t get in my way of enjoying it. The author has written an epilogue since I read it, which might expand the ending, which felt a little abrupt at the time.

In Vogue by otpwhatever / @thecelineharry (M, 121K) This one is just….so much. The intensity of the characters, the crazy hot smut (oh god, the window scene), the FASHION, the angst (I had to take a walk around the block after reading it), the epic love story between two men who could rule the world if they could just figure their shit out. Love. (this fic has been deleted, link is to a download)

somewhere in between lightning by jassy117, nauticalleeds, shiningdistractionwrites / @nauticalleeds @shiningdistrction (E, 100K) SO, I don’t know what took me so long to read this one, but I just finished it last night and it was so much fun. It’s lighthearted and sexy and satisfying. I loved the way the authors used flashbacks in a really organic way to fill in the backstory.

of the divine by @thedevilinmybrain (Mixed ratings, 2-part series, 104K) Oh my god. This series. I cried buckets. It’s so beautifully written. The sex scenes are so tender and sexy, but in such a pure way. Their relationship is so good… you can totally feel how much they love each other, the climactic scene OH MY GOD so intense. It’s also got great zouis friendship and a very sweet narry friendship. Tender punk Louis and guardian angel Harry. Read it.

everything that shine ain't always gonna be gold by sarcasticfluentry (E, 49K) You don’t need to know anything about the movie that inspired this fic (it’s an Inception AU). What you do need to know is that it’s got great OT5, it’s super sexy, it’s got a terrific story line, and the pacing is just right for a nail biter. Extractor Harry and Louis.

But If This Ends by nonsensedarling / @absoloutenonsense (E, 107K) This author referred to this fic as their “depressed vampire” fic while they were writing, and it is that. But it’s also a unique story with beautifully fleshed out characters, plot twists, and super hot smut. Go check it out!

every universe but ours by @28finelines (E, 50K) How this fic doesn’t even have 3K hits is beyond me. It’s so touching and funny and sexy and I read it all in one go––thankfully just before I published this post! Please go read it because it’s like reading multiple Larry fics in one, each one with that “I would find you in any lifetime” vibe.

Our Lives, Non Fiction by @indiaalphawhiskey (E, 114K) this is, quite literally, the best fic I’ve read in years. It’s so well written, clever, funny, emotional, and sexy. Its draw you in immediately and you’ll end up falling in love with these characters before you know it. Don’t miss this one.

An Invincible Summer by Brooklyn_Babylon / @twopoppies (E, 45K)

Never content to stay in one place for long, a few months down south researching for his novel seemed like an idyllic, slow-paced summer to Louis. He wasn't ready for the blistering heat, the backbreaking work of watermelon picking, or how stifling the attitudes in rural Georgia would feel. And he definitely hadn’t anticipated falling in love with the farmer’s son.

The summer of 1946 would turn out to be everything worth writing about.

Seeing Blind by zedi (E, 47K) I really liked the way this author gave a twist to both Omega Harry and Alpha Louis’ characteristics. It’s a whole lot of smut and miscommunication and, of course, a happy ending.

and i’m weeping warm honey and milk (that you stay surrounding me) by FangirlFlailings/ @wooltobravetheseason (M, 78K) This fic digs deep into therapy and recovery from PTSD and anxiety. It included everything from great Ot5 friendship, great side Ziam, coming out, commitment phobic Harry, and of course, vulnerable Louis. I really enjoyed this one.

Mine Would Be You by @crinkle-eyed-boo (E, 115K) Beautifully written, flawed characters and an emotionally engaging and ANGSTY plot. Super hot smut that made me cry like a fool. Banter, OT5 friendship, and the gritty realness of New York as a backdrop. Loved this one.

We’ll Be Seamless by @dinosaursmate (E, 52K) Inspired by Tumblr (back in the days when porn was actually allowed), this one is filled with super sexy teasing and flirting.

Sing When You’re Winning by hazmesentir (NR, 91K) another one I read ages ago, but I always like this author’s writing and the premise of newly out footballer Louis and journalist intern Harry who somehow snags the interview, is such a fun one. And I don’t know why it has an NR rating, there’s plenty of smut.

just a flicker in the dark by @falsegoodnight (E, 57K) I just finished this one last night and it was so good! The super original story and great pacing definitely had me on the edge of my seat. It had everything in it: hate to love, exes to lovers, scary supernatural elements, warm friendships, plus a sexy and emotional smut scene. Highly recommend it!

we can take the long road home by @pinkcords (E, 46K) This was absolutely gorgeous. And it made me cry, damn it. Seriously though, the writing is so beautiful. I loved the characterizations and the way they both showed their vulnerability. I loved the slow pace and the hot smut. I loved this fic

Amor Victorious by HappyPrincess / @pattern-pals (E, 39K) Beautiful writing, gorgeous use of description, a slow meandering trip through Italy, but never boring. Beautifully paced. This author is fairly new to me, and I’m loving all of their fics. This one has a bit of a sad undercurrent of internalized homophobia, but I thought it was handled very well and the way Louis gives in at last is so delicately done.

Nothing But You On My Mind by nonsensedarling / @absoloutenonsense (E, 84K) I couldn’t put this down from the minute I started. Everything about it was such fun. Terrific banter, great chemistry, unique story, beautiful writing. I literally read the first 9 chapters in one sitting. Starting at 1:30 in the morning (like an idiot).

My Lights Stay Up, But Your City Sleeps by PearlyDewdrops (E, 108K) Featuring lots of pining, really well done internal monologue from Louis, and excellent smut. It also has some really lovely writing that I felt captured the pain of mental illness/anxiety very well.

sex shop fic (dildornado ‘verse) by istajmaal, LoadedGunn (E, 2-part series, 97K). If you like a story that’s chock full of BDSM smut (and just sexy smut), these two authors are a sure thing. One of the things I really like about this series is that the second one has switching POV and one author writes Dom/Louis and the other writes Sub/Harry. It’s a great dynamic and a great read!

no pressure, no diamonds ‘verse by karamelised (E, 5 works, 71K) This series is SO good -- really fun, original story, great characterizations, crazy hot smut... what are you waiting for?

Speaking of Marvels by navigator, quitter (E, 101K) This was one of the first fics I read in this fandom, but I read it again recently and had forgotten how really wonderful it is. The writing is so lovely and the characters feel so well developed. I especially loved how the authors explored how differently the two of them would respond to their relationship given the different stages of life they were in. It made the romance and the attraction and the angst feel really real.

Tainted Saints and Velvet Vices by Toomanytears (E, 126K) Yes, a Harry Potter crossover, but I don’t even like HP and this one was so good. Great story, enemies to lovers that works, layered backstories, and the smut is worth the wait (even though it’s a long wait).

The Finish Line (Is A Good Place For Us To Start) by LoadedGunn (E, 122K) It’s been years since I read this one, but this author is a sure bet for a great story and super hot smut.

Destined For More by karamelised (E, 77K) This one is an OT5 polyamory soul bond fic, so you have to be up for OT5 in every variation to enjoy it, But, if you are, this is a fun one with great OT5 friendships and a LOT of smut.

Lightening Strikes Twice by @dinosaursmate (E, 104K) Really meaty storyline, in-depth characterizations, lots of smutty goodness, and a really moving character arc for Harry, especially.

For Reasons Wretched and Divine by @indiaalphawhiskey (E, 95K) Really well written, angsty, emotional fic. I love this author’s ability to draw you in so deeply (and the excellent smut).

Symphony Hall Series by @helloamhere (E, 3-part series, 138K) I’ve only read the first two parts (the 3rd is Ziam and I haven’t gotten to it yet), but it’s one of my favorites. Great writing, unique and compelling story, great smut scenes.

(Take Me Home) Country Roads by Awriterwrites / @a-writerwrites (E, 87K) A Northern Exposure AU with Harry as an Appalachian healer and Louis as a “big city” London doctor. Somehow this author makes you feel not only as though you’re there in the middle of Appalachia, but also like you don’t want to leave. It’s funny, sexy, sweet, and an all around great read.

Walk That Mile by purpledaisy (E, 150K) Enemies to lovers with two characters who are at once both flawed and perfect for each other. It’s a beautifully written, perfectly paced road trip fic. SO good.

Don’t Want Shelter by @kingsofeverything (E, 77K) More enemies to lovers! I love it! One of the few “older Larry” fics and this author does it so well. Really layered characterizations, realistic bitterness and insecurities, and super steamy smut.

To the Ends of the Earth by stylinsoncity (M, 68K) I read this one years ago, so I don’t have great notes, but this author has written some of my favorite fics. What I do recall is that it was beautifully written, painful but ultimately so lovely, and of course...sexy.

Like An Endless Summer by objectlesson (E, 87K) Summer camp pining and flirting and falling in love. Featuring Harry in the yellow shorts and Louis in jodphurs (and a riding crop scene that’s hella hot). Link is to a download

Take My Breath Away by @realitybetterthanfiction (E, 154K) Also known as The Top Gun Fic, this one has such a great story that is only loosely based on the film. The angst is super angsty and the OT5 friendship and banter is brilliant.

Tug-of-War by cherrystreet (E, 63K) Speaking of angst…this one got me good. The smut is hot af, the story is so well written, and the characterizations are really well done.

Wings to Break Your Fall by karamelised (E, 103K) I mean…Harry doing a striptease in angel wings.

Your Name is Tattooed On My Heart by mcpofife (E, 87K) Just read this for a second time recently, and it’s truly delightful. The characterizations are so well done. Harry is so endearing – I cried over his heartbreak. And the smut is both hot and really emotional. Loved this one.

The light to guide me home by Star_Henderson / @tommosgun (E, 65K) I don’t know what it is about this fic but I’ve read it so many times and I just really love the instant chemistry, the smut is stupid hot and fuels the character growth, and even with the angst, the whole thing is just lighthearted and sexy.

Tug-of-War by cherrystreet (E, 63K) I read this one a while ago, so I can’t remember a lot of specifics, but this author is pretty much a sure bet. My notes on this one make me chuckle: “So touching. Tears. Great characterizations. Angst is heart breaking, but relatively brief. Smut is hot af”. Well, there you go!

Can I lay by your side? by Star_Henderson / @tommosgun (E, 60K) There are a few of this author’s fics that I’ve read multiple times. This is one of them. It’s just sexy and soft and a little heartbreaking. But a happy ending, of course!

Some Things Take Root by navigator, quitter (E, 50) I pretty much love everything these authors have written. This one is sweet, charming, and sexy.

we've got the world in our hands by sarcasticfluentry (E, 55K) A Mutants AU. I read this one ages ago with very little interest in superhero movies and I literally couldn’t put this down. It’s just really well paced and has great dialogue and characterizations and I could easily read this fic if it’d had been twice as long.

May We Stay Lost On Our Way Home by LoadedGunn (E, 74K) Famous!Harry meets fairy!Louis. Yep. Mix in this author’s always incredibly hot smut, magic, quirky characters, and this is just a great read.

You Drive Me Round The Bend by TheCellarDoor (M, 77K) This is another I read ages ago, so I can’t recall details except that I loved rich, spoiled brat Louis and struggling musician Harry and instant chemistry followed by instant dislike and misunderstandings. Followed, of course, by ultimately falling in love.

#larry fic recs #longer fics #smut fics #Anonymous #my fic rec

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toodarnhaughtt · 4 years

Text

Wynonna Earp High School AU Headcanons:

Dolls is a total jock

he plays almost every sport

of course Waverly is a cheerleader

cheer captain to be specific

she’s also in the drama club

Nicole joins the club to be closer to Waverly

Nicole and Wynonna played basketball for a little while together

however Wynonna didn’t stay on the team long

she missed a lot of practices and games

Wynonna has kind of a punk style

Nicole is kinda a skater girl

she’s also a really good kid and all the teachers love her

Waverly and Nicole play in a midnight summer’s dream together

they insist that it would be more interesting of their characters also fall for each other

the director finds it an edgy take on the play and accepts their idea

really they just wanted an excuse to “practice” kissing together

Wynonna hardly ever comes to class

and when she does she usually sleep through it

Jeremy a band and drama geek

he gets bullied a lot

but Dolls looks out for him

Nicole tutors Wynonna sometimes

the sport Wynonna eventually connects with is hockey

she and dolls practice together all the time

she’s the only girl on the team

#wynonna earp #wearp #wearp headcanons #wayhuaght #waverly earp #nicole haught #dolls #jeremy #headcanons #wynonna earp headcanons #we headcanons

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jnjlen-ou-skinjbir · 3 years

Note

Can you do A, C, O, P, S, and/or T :)

(Fandom ask -> Trailer Park Boys Edition)

A - My OTP(s), OT3(s), OTX(s)

Is this really a question ?

Ricky/Julian. Since ep.3 of S1 and tbh there's tons of mlm moments between the two that I'm beginning to get annoyed at waiting for them to finally realize they're meant for each other

(Sadly one of the reasons I think we will never see such an ending of the series is that if they end up in a romantic/sexual relationships, the braindead fans will come out of the woodwork "uuurrdurr SJW snowflake shit" and forgetting that the show has had a lot of nonhet characters/characters that could be read as nonhet before 2012/whenever the SJW "meme" took off)

And not really an OTP, but Lucy/Sarah is growing on me thanks to you!

C - A pairing I don't like and never will

Lucy/Ricky and Susan/Ricky bc I don't think they have enough chemistry (esp.compared to ) and they weren't healthy relationships.

Also Jacob/Trinity. Same thing, no chemistry (Jacob looks just like a glorified roomie) and it's a bit weird that he married Trinity after having dated Sarah... Like he's almost Ricky's age and dated Trin when she was a young adult. Make no mistake, despite the age difference I don't think Jacob's smart enough to be manipulating her into sth she doesn't want to do (and Trin can probably defend herself against the squiggly alien) , but I'm not a fan of the age gap.

O - Pick a random song, which ship/character does it make you think of?

I let my phone do the choosing and it fell on Moonspell's "Fireseason". It's a song I'd associate with Julian bc a) I headcanon him as goth/metalhead but also liking sad and melancolical songs and b) bc it's a song he could've been playing when he went to live outside of the park, with no one else (it's a recent song and was released before that season took place).

Alternatively I'd associate it with Bubbles, bc I can totally picture him playing the guitar part and singing

Or, if we wanna give the secondary characters a bit of love, Korpiklaani's "Vodka" for JRoc and the Rocpile, due to their vodka business

P - A new AU idea for the fandom

An AU where Ricky/Julian and Lucy/Sarah are in non-exclusive relationships and have some kind of poly ship going on. The four of them are formally co-parenting Trin, despite the "official parents" (=parents on the official papers) being Ricky and Lucy. But when it comes to school, it's usually Julian and Sarah who go to the meetings and pretend to be Ricky and Lucy, except Ricky and Lucy, even though they find the meetings boring and show up tipsy/slightly high, want to be involved in that aspect of their daughter's life so they end up barging in the room ten minutes late.

And another AUish situation where it is disclosed later on that Barb and Jim's child is nb, goes by Tristane, is a renowned actor who attended drama in university thanks to a scholarship and has had some kind of relationship with Trin. (Sadly, the return of Elliot to the show and playing a non female character seems impossible bc "hurrdurr SJW bad I identify as an attack helicopter" crowd. But it could be a great episode/scene about sexuality/gender punctuated with Rickyisms and Ricky showing acceptation and parental-like love but still being a bit confused, prompting Julian and Bubbles to correct him)

S - Personal headcanon

Julian's grandma was kind of a psychic, so that's why he thought he would be dying soon and listening to the psychics. And why he accepted Barb's crystals in the later seasons (but you already knew about that one)

T - Hard headcanons

Noone in the (extended) main cast is hetero what do you mean it's not a hc because it's the truth ?

Like I said a month-ish ago, I totally agree with the people who headcannoned Julian as a goth/fan of Sisters of Mercy. I can totally see Julian being into the new wave/post-punk/gothrock/early industrial scene and wearing the fishnets tops, band tees and leather pants with com at boots, maybe a choker, so that's why Lahey calls him Sexian. Julian dropped the style when he went to prison. He still listens to the music (hem hem new wave Madonna pic in his cell in TPB Jail hem hem) but he also listens to other stuff

At the beginning Ricky was making fun of him for listening to "post-park" and "golf rock", but Sisters of Mercy grew on him and Julian soon surprised himself to sing SoM's songs with the Rickyfied version of the lyrics (if anyone's interested I could provide an example)

(That's all. Sorry I couldn't answer sooner, I wanted to answer with little doodles and stuff but I counted on my uni's scan to be available but it's not until the 12th of February at least so I figured I'd better answer now)

#tpb #trailer park boys #tpb ask

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silentglory22 · 4 years

Text

Over-done YouTuber AU let's go

1. Virgil is a ~hair youtuber~. Basically Brad Mondo but emo and mean. He doesn't hold back from roasting the absolute shit out of his followers for doing everything wrong. A major part of his following comes from his videos where he reacts to hair vids from his subscribers. He knows this so he doesn't do them very often. He's actually a really good hair stylist that has his own business for hair dye and shampoos and conditioners. Along with stuff that helps keep your hair healthy.

2. Janus is a tattoo consultant as well as artist that make vids about getting tattoos. That's where the scales come from. They tell their audience the do's and don'ts of tattoos and have fun shitting on other people's failures along the way.

3. Roman is a beautuber with two styles of content: actual makeup tips, and Jenna's Ratchet Salon esc vids. Total goblin energy. He says he has a fabulous boyfriend but he's no where in the vids for literally no reason so everyone thinks he's lying. More then once he's been in the middle of drama because someone claimed to be his boyfriend. It was false everytime.

4. Logan is a clothes YouTuber that has a sizable amount of subscribers that are just thirst follows. He can make anything work. He makes his own clothes, shows you how to make clothes, and helps you throw together hot outfits. All the while showing off how handsome he is.

5. Patton is a piercing YouTuber but only because I wanted him to be punk. He goes through his experiences with his piercings (he has a lot) and shows you what happens, how long it takes to heal, etc. He's a sweetheart but he'll eat your knee caps if you're mean.

6. Okay, so. Remus is a nail YouTuber. But only because I want him to have long, hot pink acrylic nails. He is, in fact, a nail tech but he uses his skills to create ungodly abominations. Any weird nail trend that happened on YouTube he probably started.

7. Thomas is the same but obv no sanders sides. The only difference is that he's friends with all of them and frequently collabs with them. They're a whole friend group and collab all the time on each other's channels which has... erupted quite a few ships.

#sanders sides #virgil sanders #thomas sanders #logan sanders #roman sanders #patton sanders #remus sanders #ts roman #ts remus #ts virgil #ts patton #ts logan #ts janus #ts deceit #janus sanders

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edxwin-elric · 4 years

Text

Darkest Roads - Ch. 1

Chapter 1: 30k Cens

(art by @ayanthos)

Rating: T

Pairing: Edwin/Edward Elric x Winry Rockbell

Disclaimer: I don’t own Fullmetal Alchemist.

Total Word Count: 15k

Chapter Word Count: 4.5k

Description: Edwin Street Race AU - fluff/drama

Edward, an angst-ridden teenage daredevil, has it rough. Practically living on the streets, constantly worrying about his younger brother, and always looking over his shoulder has hardened him, giving him a reputation on the streets of Central City. Though, in truth, his bark is worse than his bite—something Winry finds out when a search for a rare car part lands her in the middle of illegal street racing. One look at the innocent blonde mechanic standing alone among the loud voices, revving engines, and squealing breaks, in a haze of exhaust and cigarette smoke has Ed ready to throw himself at her feet. But his sins are piling up, and he knows better than to try to involve an adorable auto shop princess in his mess. But Winry has secrets of her own, and despite all of his efforts, she’s impossible to resist.

A/N: It's finally here! FMA Big Bang!! I had a lot of fun writing this, and I'm super grateful to @ayanthos for her AMAZING art contribution to this collab! I hope you all enjoy it! Let me know in the comments, and please check out the other works from this event!! @fmabigbangs

ffn || ao3 || tag

next chapter

Winry

Glancing at the GPS on my phone, I stop walking and look at the street sign. I lean forward a little, my feet shifting on the sidewalk, and glance down the dark alley. A shiver runs down my spine, but I take a deep breath. I bite my lip and look at the time. Past midnight. This is a reckless idea… but I can’t go home now, not when I’ve come this far.

“Okay,” I concede softly to myself, trying to calm my nerves. “I mean, this is where it says to turn.”

I step off the main road into the shadows, pulling my jacket closer to me. I hear something scurrying to my right, and I start to walk faster. Gripping my phone tight in my pocket, I continue to follow the twists and turns it gives me until I turn left onto Cardinal Street, which actually looks almost habitable, and hear engines revving nearby.

As I get closer, the blind panic starts to dissipate, only to be replaced by a new kind of anxiety.

“Paninya, what have you gotten me into?” I mutter to myself as I turn the last corner and—

Choke.

I’m suddenly lost in a haze of cigarette smoke. Coughing, I stumble to the side, only to find a tall, angry person, who pushes me away.

“Sorry,” I sputter.

Crap. This is not going well. I move away, and wave my hands around my face. The air clears enough to give me a decent view of the stretch of crowded road in the hazy streetlights.

Yep. This is definitely the place. Sinners’ Lane. (That’s not the official name of course, but…it might as well be.)

To my right, loud bass music thumps out of various car speakers. On top of those cars are couples in various positions of…intimacy. I feel a blush spread down my neck, and I turn the other way. To my left are the angry smoking guy and some other guys who are also smoking and look just as angry, though some of them seem to be holding cigarettes while some are holding what I can only assume are joints. Past them are clusters of girls dressed…scantily. Not necessarily distastefully, though, I just don’t think I’d ever be able to pull off a look like that. I squint at them… Is that a shirt or a bra?

The loud sound of an engine revving makes me jerk. I look past the girls to the main attraction.

A street race.

Two rumbling sports cars inch forward until they’re waved at to stop at the makeshift starting line. I see the two drivers throwing up rude hand gestures to each other, and one says something that makes the other one jerk his neck and rev his engine.

“Remember,” a spiky-haired guy wearing a fur-collar vest calls out, as he walks in between the cars. “It’s the first one to the second stop sign. Winner take all. Anything goes.”

He slaps his hands on the hoods of both cars and spins around, facing the drivers.

“You can go when my lady, Lust, gives you the signal. Good luck!”

He walks off to the side, and a lady with hair down to her knees walks out in his place. Her hips sway in ways that shouldn’t even be possible, and the way her chest is contained in that strapless dress defies the laws of gravity and…other physics.

“Play nice, boys,” she calls seductively, and the guys in the surrounding crowd whoop and whistle.

Then she whips out a green flag from…somewhere and the two cars fly past her. I barely have time to turn my head before they’ve roared by, heading for the end of the street. The Dodge wins by a split second. They slow and turn down opposite side streets, and I can only assume they’re driving back around to settle things.

But I didn’t really come here to watch. I’m on a mission.

“So…” I whisper under my breath. “If I were selling car parts to these guys, where would I be…”

I scan the street again, and…honestly, I have no clue. Looking back at the starting line, two new cars are setting up to go. The guy with the leather and fur looks like he’s in charge. I guess maybe he can help me.

Moving through the crowd, I inch past different groups of people, trying not to make eye contact with anyone, until I’m fairly close to where the guy was standing during the last race.

A loud bang! catches me off guard, and I jump. I look toward the sound to see the boss guy holding one of the potential racers by the front of his shirt. He’s got him pulled halfway out of his driver’s side window, and they’re practically nose to nose.

I feel my throat lock up as cold races down my spine.

“Don’t you ever try to short me again, little punk.”

“I’m s-sorry, Mr. Greed, sir,” the driver whimpers. “I swear, it’ll never happen again.”

“Damn right it won’t,” the boss guy snarls, “or you know what’ll happen.”

The driver visibly swallows, and I can almost see his fear like an aura surrounding him.

“Good.” The boss sets him down in his car and pats his shoulder. “Glad we understand each other.”

When he moves away, he turns toward me, and I freeze when his eyes meet mine. Or rather, his circle sunglasses. Who the hell wears circle sunglasses at night? Or at all?

He grins at me, and I take a step back, stumbling into someone.

“Hey! Watch it!”

I turn around and duck my head. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t see you.”

“Oh really?” a sarcastic voice snaps back. “Is that some sort of short joke!”

“What?” I blink and look up at the guy talking.

He’s a very angry blonde guy wearing a red leather jacket, black leather pants, and black combat boots. The leather gloves are a nice touch. His hair is tied up in a ponytail except for his bangs that fall in his eyes. Honestly, he’d be kind of cute if he weren’t vibrating with rage.

“You trying to say I’m some kind of pipsqueak!?”

“N-no,” I say softly, confusion muddling my brain. I mean, he’s taller than me—only by a few inches, but still. Plus, I don’t even know him. “I j-just…”

“You are a pipsqueak, Elric.” A guy with a dog collar walks up and throws his arm around him.

“WHAT?” Blonde Guy twists violently out of the guy’s embrace, looking murderous. “Get your hands off me, Dolcetto!”

“Give the girl a break, kid. She’s clearly lost.”

Oh no. Is it that obvious I don’t belong here?

“I’m not lost,” I protest, but my voice wavers, and I know I’m blushing.

The blonde guy looks at me again, and his face loses some of its anger. And I was right. He is kind of cute.

“No, seriously, what are you doing here, princess?” he asks, crossing his arms. “Aside from assaulting the locals.”

“Don’t call me ‘princess,” I snarl, “and I wasn’t assaulting–”

“Giving our guest a hard time, Edward?”

I feel a shadow fall over me, and I shiver at the smooth voice behind me.

“What? No. I was just talking to–”

The shadow moves closer, and the blonde guy drops his arms, his hands clenching into fists. I catch his eye, and it’s like I can hear him telling me to run for it. But I can’t move. There’s a moment of deafening noise as the cars behind us take off, and then the voice speaks again.

“Did you need something, Miss?”

Slowly, I turn to face him, the guy with the circle sunglasses, the one who is way scarier than I first realized.

“Um, n-no. I was just… I was just–”

“Are you cold?” he offers gently, his current demeanor nothing like the guy who threatened the driver a few seconds ago. “I can get you something warm to drink. My name is Greed. I’m sort of the boss around here.”

“No.” I shake my head, hugging myself tighter. “No, thank you, Mr.…Greed.”

I might be shivering, but it’s not from the cold.

“Just Greed is fine.”

“Oh, okay. Um. Actually, I was hoping to find someone who sells rare engine parts,” I tell him in a rush before softly adding, “I’m a mechanic.”

“Oh, a mechanic?” He grins broadly and holds out his arm, his other sliding around my shoulder. “Why didn’t you say so?”

He starts pulling me down the street, and I feel panic flood my veins.

“I know just the person to help you with–”

“I can help you.”

I jerk my head toward the voice only to find the blonde guy—Edward, I guess—watching us intently. I plead to him with my eyes to save me. I’m not sure if he’s really any more trustworthy than Greed, but something about him feels…safe.

Or safer, I guess.

“It’s no trouble, Elric,” Greed tells him, his voice thinning slightly. “I can take care of Miss…”

“Rockbell,” I supply without thinking.

I immediately want to rip my tongue out when I see Edward wince. I’m so dumb. Obviously, I shouldn’t tell any of these people my name.

“Miss Rockbell,” Greed finishes, his voice clearly sugar-coated now.

“But aren’t you busy with the races?” Edward cuts in quickly.

“Dolcetto and Martel–”

“I just saw three half-drunk guys with a ‘Vette pull up in the back. They look like the usual trust funders and ripe for the picking.”

“A ‘Vette you say?” Greed’s tune changes sharply. “Hmm. Still…Dolcetto and Martel should be able to handle a few–”

“And you know I know all the best dealers on this block,” Edward jumps in again. “It would make more sense for me to take her.”

Greed releases me slowly and looks between me and Edward before nodding.

“Aha. I think I see what’s going on here.” He grins again and waves me toward the blonde boy. “Go ahead, Elric. Show her the, uh, dealers. Just make sure you wrap up first.”

I blink at him confused before Edward mutters some profanity under his breath and shoves his gloved fingers through his bangs.

Did I say he was cute? Because he’s not. I’m not sure what happened, but all of the sudden, he turned…hot. Like really hot.

Oh my God. I don’t have time to be thinking about that right now.

Greed saunters off wearing a smirk, and I take a step toward my attractive would-be savior.

At least, I hope.

Edward

Shit. How did I end up here?

Not racing, like I want to be, but instead staring at a perfect blonde princess that Greed basically just told me to go fuck in an alley somewhere.

“What was he talking about?” she asks quietly.

“Huh?”

“What he said just now—Greed. What did he mean?”

I blink at her, and glance away in bewilderment, before looking back.

“What exactly are you referring to?” I return slowly, hoping her question doesn’t mean what I think it meant.

“About you ‘wrapping up first?’ What does that have to do with auto part dealers?”

I press my lips together, and reach up to rub the back of my neck. I mean, did she really not get he was referring to use having sex? Fuck. She really wound up in the wrong place tonight.

“Nothing,” I mutter when I realize she’s still waiting on an answer. “Just, um…ignore that.”

“Oh. Okay.” She nods, not quite meeting my eyes. “So, you were going to show me where to get engine parts?”

“Yeah. Follow me.”

I turn around and start down the sidewalk. I figure I’ll start with Donovan. If he doesn’t have what she needs, he’ll know who does. I pause at the corner of the alley and look over my shoulder, only the princess isn’t there.

“What the hell?” I hiss. “Where did she go?”

Weaving back through the crowd, I find her where I left her, shivering and looking around wildly.

“I told you to follow me,” I growl, grabbing her hand.

“What?” she gasps. “Oh!”

I pull her out of the way of some stumbling drunken assholes, pushing her against the wall and shielding her with my body.

“You okay?”

She licks her lips and looks anywhere but at my face.

“I’m fine,” she whispers finally, and it’s hard to ignore her flushed cheeks. “I didn’t see where you went, and I…”

“Don’t worry about it.”

I step back when they’ve moved off down the sidewalk and start to pull her after me again.

“Hey, Edward?” she calls, practically jogging to keep up with me.

“Yeah?”

“Is your hand, um, automail?”

I freeze mid-step and round on her again. “What of it? Is that a problem for you?”

“No,” she glares, and I’m almost surprised. The princess has more guts than I realized. “I was just curious. You don’t have to be a jerk about it.”

I wince, and then shake my head. I don’t have time to feel sorry for hurting some random girl’s feelings.

“Come on. I thought you needed auto parts.”

Without waiting for her to answer, I grab her hand again and take off. We reach Donovan’s without any more interruptions, but his lights are off, so I stop at the bottom of the stairs and tell her to wait while I go knock.

She nods, and I go up slowly, knocking on the cracked doorframe three times, and waiting. I hear the sound of bolts sliding back, and finally, the door cracks a few millimeters.

“Who is it?” a low voice asks.

“Tell Donovan it’s me,” I answer, leaning on the frame.

“Elric? I thought he told you to piss off. He won’t do business with the Devil’s Nesters anymore.”

“I’m not here for them,” I say quickly before the door shuts. “I have a new buyer looking for engine parts.”

“Name?”

“Rockbell.”

I hear the princess gasp, and I wave at her to shut up.

“Wait here.”

I sigh as the door clicks shut. After a few seconds, I jump over the stairs onto the street, landing in a crouch in front of the girl. She flinches in surprise, and I laugh silently.

“Don’t scare me like that,” she hisses. “What did he say?”

“I’m waiting to see. If Donovan will see you, you’ll probably find what you need.”

“Oh. Good.”

“You said your name was Rockbell?” I turn to her, and she tucks her hair behind her ear.

I instantly notice a string of piercings along the delicate curve. I’m tempted to touch them.

“Yes.” She nods.

“Is there a first name to go with that?”

“Well… I mean…”

“You know mine,” I remind her. “And if you don’t tell me, I’m going to have to keep calling you, ‘princess,’ all night.”

“Winry,” she tells me with a huff. “I’m Winry.”

“See, that wasn’t so hard.”

She opens her mouth to say something I can only expect will be sassy when the door opens and Donovan’s huge frame fills the entry.

“Come in, and make it quick.”

I lead us in, and he locks the door immediately. Winry stares at the five deadbolts and two chains with wide eyes, and I bite my lip. She’s fucking adorable.

“Don’t panic,” I say, as she squeezes my automail tighter. “He’s just paranoid.”

“I think you mean cautious,” Donovan booms as he moves past us to his living room. “Come this way.”

Winry sits close to me on the couch while Donovan takes up residence in a large chair. There’s no sign of whoever I spoke to at the door, but that’s not really a concern right now.

“What is it you need, Miss Rockbell?”

“I’m looking for this.”

She reaches into her jacket and pulls out a detailed design drawn on a thinning piece of graph paper.

Donovan takes it, and I watch his eyes squint with a frown.

“This is…hmm.” He studies the image closer. “What did you say you needed this for again?”

“I didn’t,” Winry answers softly. “But that shouldn’t matter, should it?”

She looks over at me, and I shrug one shoulder. I’m not curious about her reasons, and when I contact dealers for parts, they all know better than to ask me what I need them for. That probably has to do more with my relationship with the Devil’s Nest than my street cred, but either way.

“I suppose not,” he mutters gruffly, still scrutinizing the paper.

Eventually, he sets it down and turns to her. “That piece is very rare. Difficult to track down.”

“I know,” she murmurs. “That’s why I came here.”

“I can get it for you, but it’ll be a few days, and it won’t be cheap.”

“I can pay.”

“Edward, will you be running point on this?” Donovan looks at me before turning to Winry. “Or how should I expect to get it to you when I have it?”

“I, um…”

“I’ll take care of it,” I volunteer. “Just let me know when it’s in, and I’ll handle the exchange.”

“Fine.” The large man stands. “In total, the cost is two hundred. I require half now, and half after Ed delivers the part.”

“Two hundred cens?” her musical voice pipes up, and I shoot a look at Donavan, who is frowning deeply.

“Thousand,” I hiss at her.

“What?” she gasps.

“Two hundred thousand cens,” I clarify, hoping she catches on quickly.

“Right, um, okay.” Winry reaches into her jacket again, looking flustered. “I have… I have, um…”

Her hands are shaking as she pulls out a wrinkled envelope. I reach out and put my hand on hers, fully aware of Donovan’s eagle eyes on us.

“Do you have it?” I whisper, trying not to let her hear the dread in my voice.

Her eyes take on a sheen of tears, and I already know the answer.

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck!

She doesn’t have the money, and Donovan will be pissed we wasted his time. Even more pissed at me because I knew better than to bring in a buyer who couldn’t pay.

Shit.

“Is there a problem?”

“Just give us a second,” I answer without taking my eyes off of her, trying not to let her see my panic. “How much do you need?”

“Thirty thousand,” she ekes out, glancing at Donovan and then back at me. “I get paid tomorrow, and I have the rest at home, I just didn’t know I needed that much at once. I–”

“Don’t worry about it. I’ll cover the difference.”

It’ll suck but it’s way worse than the alternative.

She stares at me like I’ve grown a second head, but before I overthink it, I slide three bills out of my wallet and into her envelope.

“Edward–”

“Here you go.” I grab the envelope out of her frozen fingers and stand, handing it to him.

“Excellent.”

I stand there while he counts it, and then turn to collect Winry as he leads us to the door.

“Thank you for your business, Miss Rockbell.” He shakes her small hand in his large one before turning to me. “Edward, I’ll be in touch.”

“Until then.”

We duck out, and the door closes behind us.

“Now what?” Winry asks as we walk down the steps to the abandoned sidewalk. “Do we go back to the race?”

“No. Now, I go back to the race, and you go home to your castle.”

“I don’t live in a castle–”

“You do in comparison to this shithole,” I interrupt her harshly. “But that’s not even my point. You can’t come down here again. Ever.”

“But…then how am I supposed to get the part I need?”

Not by coming to the Lane.

“I’ll bring it to you.”

Somehow. My baby’s sitting on blocks at the Devil’s Nest garage. That thirty thousand I just gave her was supposed to be the last payment I needed to finish her body work. And since I spent tonight leading Winry around, I didn’t get any racing in, so Greed won’t be inclined to give me a cut of the profits. Usually I can make at least a hundred grand on a night like this. Plus, I told Al I’d go to the grocery store this week. We need bread and milk—milk, ew, I might forgo getting any of that—and I think the toilet paper is running low.

“You have a cell phone?”

“Um, of course.”

“Give me your number.”

She freezes, and I tilt my head at her, waiting.

“You want my number? Why?”

I roll my eyes slightly and then back to her. “So I can text you when your part comes in and we can meet somewhere?”

I watch her eyes close and her face turn pink.

“Right. I’m an idiot.” She shakes her head. “Here, give me your phone, and I’ll put it in.”

“Sorry. Battery’s dead.”

She blinks as if that’s an entirely foreign concept to her, which it probably is.

“Okay, then let me write it down.”

She reaches into her jacket again, and I wait.

“Oh. I forgot. I don’t have a pen or anything.” She meets my eyes again. “Um…”

“Just tell it to me,” I say, trying not to grin. She’s too adorable to be real.

“What?”

“Your number. Just tell me. I’ll remember it.”

“Are you sure? I bet I can, um–”

“You’re not going to find a pen around here if that’s what you were about to say. Seriously, just tell me the number.”

She exhales, and I’m temporarily stunned by the way her lips part.

“Okay then.”

She says it slowly, and then repeats it, giving me time to commit each digit to memory. After, I echo it back to her, just to be sure.

“Yeah. That’s it.”

“Excellent. I’ll text you when I have it.”

“Should you give me your number, so I know it’s you?”

“Will you remember it?”

She rolls her eyes, and I bite my cheek, so I won’t smile at her. Fuck, this girl is dangerous to my reputation. If Greed caught me smiling at a girl, he’d own me for life.

“I have my phone right here.” She pulls it out of her pocket and holds it out to me. “You can just save your number right now.”

I could, but…where’s the fun in that?

“That’s okay.” I wave her off. “Trust me, you’ll know it’s me.”

“For some reason, I don’t doubt that,” she mumbles. “Well, I guess this is goodbye then.”

“Do you know how to get home?”

She holds up her fancy cell phone. “It has GPS, so I think I’ll be okay.”

“Right.” I glance over my shoulder and then back at her. “Listen, go straight home. Don’t follow me back toward the race, and don’t wander around. Walk fast and try to stay in better lit areas if you can. This area isn’t safe, especially for pretty girls on their own.”

God, it’s a miracle she even made it here, now that I think about it. Especially with that huge amount of cash in her purse.

“You think I’m pretty?”

“What?” I frown at her. “No.”

She raises her eyebrows, and my hands clench into fists.

“You’re completely missing my point,” I growl. “This area is dangerous.”

“I can take care of myself.”

She tosses her head, and I feel some of my irritation fade. She is just so damn cute. And that’s the problem.

“Somehow, I don’t doubt that,” I confess gently, “but all the same you need to be careful.”

“I could text you when I get home,” she suggests jokingly, “but you’d have to give me your number for that.”

I’m half-tempted to take her up on it, but the last thing my piece-of-shit phone needs are texts from a girl to kill its crappy battery even faster. Fuck, I need to put a new phone on my list of Shit I Need But Can’t Afford.

“That’s okay. As long as you go straight there you should be fine.” I slide my hands into my jacket pockets and start toward the race.

“Okay. Bye.”

I nod at her over my shoulder just in time to see her turn around and start typing into her phone. I shake my head and take a left down the alley. When I make it back to Dolcetto, I feel a surge of guilt.

What if she gets lost? Or mugged? Or worse.

A sickening feeling spreads through my stomach, and I start to turn back.

“Edward, what happened to your pretty new friend?” I groan internally at Greed’s voice. “Did you two get the part she needed?”

“Yes,” I answer flatly, turning to face him.

“And did you get what you needed?”

“I didn’t fuck her, if that’s what you’re thinking.”

“Ah, but you wanted to.”

My jaw pops, and I tilt my head back to glare at him. He doesn’t need to know he’s a tiny bit right.

“There’s no point in denying it,” Solaris, or Lust, I guess, since we’re in public, sidles up to him, and slides under his arm. “I could practically smell the desire rolling off of you.”

“Leave her alone,” I snap. “Besides, it’s not like she’s coming back anyway.”

“Ouch.” Greed fakes a wince. “You struck out that bad?”

“Aw, let him be, Greed,” Lust smirks at me, resting her cheek against Greed’s fur collar. “Can’t you see he’s trying to be a gentleman?”

“Elric? A gentleman,” he scoffs with laughter. “Please.”

“Look, you made his face all red,” Lust purrs.

“I’m pretty sure I can find something better to be doing right now,” I mutter, turning away.

“Wait, Elric,” Greed calls me back, and I sigh because as much as I’m ready to get out of here, he’s sort of someone I can’t ignore.

“What now?”

“Tomorrow I expect you to actually race something. As short-fused as you are, you’re the best driver I can put behind a wheel. Tomorrow is the start of winter break for Central U, so I expect more of a turnout than tonight. Don’t miss it.”

I open my mouth to tell him I’m supposed to close tomorrow at the butcher shop where I work part time, but then I shut it. If I tell Sig I need to take off early to go to the grocery store, he’ll probably let me, even though he’ll also probably know I’m lying. Still, it should be fine unless his wife is around. I can never get a lie past her.

But I can’t worry about that right now.

“I’ll be here.”

“That’s what I like to hear,” Greed grins. “Now, go home to that brother of yours and get some sleep.”

He turns away, and I feel like I can breathe again. Getting mixed up with the Devil’s Nest was never something I planned on doing, but when you grow up on these streets you don’t have a lot of options. Still, I can hold my own better than most, and generally, I just keep my head down and do what I have to.

Someday, I’ll get out of here, and I’ll take Al with me. Until then, I just have to stay focused.

No distractions.

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