#1 year posting anniversary challenge

[penny00dreadful]

Before He Cheats

AO3

“Munson Home for the Recently Deceased, you stab ‘em we slab ‘em. How may I direct your call?”

There was silence on the other end of the line for a few seconds before a light chuckle crackled through the speaker.

“Is that really how you answer the phone?”

Eddie smiled to himself. “Got you to laugh didn’t it?”

“Suppose.”

“Plus, no one calls the landline anymore unless they’re trying to sell something. You trying to sell me something?”

“No. No, I uh… I’m looking for an Eddie Munson?”

“Only an Eddie Munson? Only one? What a terrible fate. Well you’re in luck, my good sir. This is he. What can I do you for?”

The voice on the end of the line gave a light laugh once again but went silent almost immediately after. 

Eddie stared at the wall in his apartment, waiting for something to happen. In the quiet he could hear the guy letting out little nervous breaths before one big inhale.

“I um. I’m sorry to have to tell you like this, I’d prefer to do it face to face but I don’t know where you live and you probably wouldn’t even want me at your house afterwards and I did find you on social media but it’s not something I wanted to do in DM’s, you deserve better than that-”

“Okay, hold on, slow down.” Eddie tried to ignore the panic starting to kick around in his heart. “Is someone dead? Is someone injured?”

“No! No, Jesus, I’m sorry. I told Robin that I’d be terrible at this but I couldn’t just let it go on without saying anything-”

“You haven’t really said anything. You’re just rambling.”

“Right. Sorry. Again, blame Robin. I’m around her too much. But… okay. Do you know Rick Lipton?”

Eddie felt the panic leave him, replaced only by irritation as he sighed through his nose. “What did he do now?”

“He… um. I’m sorry to ask this but are you his partner? Like, romantic partner?”

Eddie scowled. “And if I am?”

There was movement against the line, almost as if the other guy was nodding. 

“Shit.” He muttered before picking back up in volume again. “Listen, I didn’t know. He told me he was single and I only found out because Robin lives in the same building as you and she saw him with you and asked the neighbours and they said you’d been a thing for like two years and you have to believe me if I’d known I wouldn’t have touched him, I don’t fuck around with cheaters-”

“How long?”

Eddie had expected to feel betrayal or sadness, devastation or heartbreak and they were there. 

They were just lost under a tidal wave of anger and indignation. He was even surprised at himself that he didn’t feel more caught off guard. 

Rick had never cheated before (that Eddie was aware of) but he had always had a wandering eye and a few off-colour jokes about 'going to find someone more his speed’. 

They’d never really felt all that funny.

Maybe it was because their relationship had felt dead for the last few months. 

They barely talked, they just existed around each other. The sex had all but dried up as well and whenever they did have it, it was completely impersonal. Get in, get out, move back to separate parts of the apartment if either of them even bothered to stay over. 

More often than not one of them would make a quick exit back to their home.

Eddie had been thinking a breakup was on the horizon for a while. 

But that was no excuse to cheat. 

At least have the fucking decency to end the relationship first before going out and chasing tail. 

“Um, like four or five weeks." The guy on the phone muttered, clearly ashamed. "I’m so sorry Eddie, I swear to god if I knew I would never… I have- I have proof if you need it.”

“If it’s a sex tape I don’t think I want to see it.” Eddie was trying really hard to maintain his calm and not snap through the phone. 

If what the guy was saying was true, then he was an innocent party in this.

Didn’t make it hurt any fucking less though.

Didn’t make him any less pissed.

“If- no it’s not a sex tape.” The voice sounded scandalised. “Fucking hell, do people actually do that?”

“Yes.”

There was a pause, as though the guy was waiting for Eddie to continue but Eddie just let it hang in the air. He wasn’t ashamed. 

But he was definitely going to have to purge those files now.

“Okay well… It's just a photo. I posted it to my insta a week ago but he was really weird about it being up, which in hindsight makes a lot of sense, so I took it down.” He said, quiet and sad. “I can send it to you if you want.”

Eddie pursed his lips. 

“Please hold.”

He unceremoniously dropped the phone with a clatter, leaving it dangling from the cord, bouncing against the wall and probably blowing the guy’s ear out. 

Maybe in the morning Eddie would feel a little bad about that, but for now it just felt very satisfying. 

He rifled around in his bedsheets for his phone before making his way back to the landline. 

“Still there?”

“Yes. Ow, by the way.”

Eddie just shrugged, well aware the guy couldn’t see him but whatever. He wasn’t in the mood. 

“Send it on.”

Only a moment later his phone pinged with a notification and Eddie opened the photo.

Well. 

Shit. 

There was Rick, in amongst a crowd at some nightclub, plastered to the side of some pretty boy who looked like he had a regular workout routine. 

Ugh.

Eddie couldn’t handle gym bunnies, the amount they could bench or whatever was all they ever talked about. But this must be the guy on the other end of the phone. 

@King.Steve.Of.House.Hair

Rick had King Steve’s earlobe in between his teeth and from the angle of the selfie Eddie could see his hands were wandering.

It looked like some kind of Halloween night, if the teeny tiny little sailor outfit was anything to go by.

God damn.

But even so, Eddie still wanted to be sure that what he was seeing was… well. What he was seeing. 

“Steve, is it?”

“Oh, uh, yeah. Sorry, I didn’t realise I hadn’t given you my name yet.” Steve let out a nervous laugh, like he was expecting Eddie to jump through the phone and strangle him.

Eddie was fit to strangle someone but Steve wasn’t in his crosshairs.

“Don’t worry about it. Tell me, what does Rick have tattooed on his ass?”

“Uh…” Steve paused. “He doesn’t have a tattoo on his ass? Not that I’ve seen anyway. But I can tell you he does have his taint pierced. For some fucking reason.”

Eddie gave a quiet laugh at that, despite the monumentally fucked up situation and the final cracking piece of his heart breaking away. Rick had that piercing by the time Eddie had met him. He insisted he’d gotten it because it was sexy. Eddie was pretty sure he’d just lost a bet.

Eddie was no stranger to intimate piercings himself. He had his frenum done a while back. 

That one he’d definitely done because it felt sexy.

He looked back down at his phone, idly flipping through Steve’s profile and all of his other photos. 

He probably shouldn’t be thinking about how hot Steve was, how it was juxtaposed with a soft cuteness that almost felt like it didn’t belong to someone with such broad shoulders and defined arms. 

He hated himself for thinking about Steve’s attractiveness. 

It felt wrong.

Even though he was pretty much single now.

Even if Rick didn’t know it yet. 

But fuck him. 

He’d find out.

One way or the other.

And Eddie was nothing if not a drama queen.

But he wouldn’t do anything tonight.

No tonight he would just… hurt.

And smoke.

A lot.

“Eddie?” Steve’s voice came through to him. “You okay?”

Eddie swallowed, finding it a little more difficult than he expected it to be and realised he’d just been staring down at his phone in silence. 

The screen had gone black.

“Yeah.” He answered, his voice thick. “I’m fine.”

Steve hummed. “Is there anything I can do to help?”

Eddie laughed. It was wet and sniffly and vulnerable and horrible. “What are you gonna do from over the phone far away… wherever you are?”

“I dunno. I could just… talk to you I guess? Help you plot Rick's murder?”

Eddie laughed again, a little brighter this time. "Yeah, that could be good. But if I'm plotting murder I want to be a little more comfortable." He unlocked his phone and hit the follow button on Steve’s account. “This conversation requires lounging, not standing by the landline.”

“Oh-”

“How do you feel about a video call?”

A notification popped up on his phone, letting him know Steve had followed him back.

“A video call is fine.”

“Great.” Eddie paused. He wasn’t even sure how to end this call with the guy his boyfriend of two years had been cheating on him with and who he’d just asked if he wanted to video call so Eddie could smoke his feelings away. 

He just didn’t want to feel alone right now. 

He could have called Chrissy or one of the boys to come hang out with him but that would require explaining everything over again and he really didn’t want to do that right now. 

Before he could think much more on it Eddie said a quick “Okay bye,” and hung up.

Steve knew the story and Steve had been wronged too and maybe they could just be mad and sad together. 

He unlocked his phone again as he walked back into his bedroom and hit the video call button, not even bothering to turn his light on, leaving himself and his room shrouded in darkness. He propped his phone up on his desk, angled towards the window where he sat on the sil and started to roll, using the streetlights streaming in the window to see.

Steve picked up only a moment later and Eddie got his first good look at the guy live in action and not through a photo online.

He was sitting at what looked like a kitchen table fully lit by the overhead lights, a pair of wire framed glasses perched on his nose and his hair messy and dishevelled, like he’d been stressfully running his hands through it, which he probably had been. 

Eddie didn’t know how stressed he would be if he had to make a call to someone to tell them their long term partner had been cheating.

He was leaning forward, elbows on the table in a cosy yellow sweater with a slight worry between his eyebrows. 

He looked so soft. 

Nothing at all like the nautical sea queen look he’d been giving in those photos. He looked comfortable and gentle and a little worried.

“Eddie?”

“Mm-hm?” He hummed, bringing the joint to his mouth and lighting it up before pushing open the window a little more and exhaling out into the dark rainfall outside.

“You okay?”

He shrugged. “I will be.”

“I’m not asking about whether you will be, I‘m asking about now.”

Eddie looked over and watched Steve as Steve watched him through the screen.

“Alright, then no. I’m not okay.” He took another drag. “I’m fucking pissed. I’m sad, I’m upset, I’m hurt, I’m angry, I’m disappointed and I don’t know if all of that is directed more at him for doing this to me or me for not expecting it.”

“How were you supposed to expect it?” Steve shook his head in disbelief. “No one should have to expect to be cheated on.”

“Dunno.” Eddie shrugged, looking back out the window. “Relationship was dying anyway.”

“Okay, and? That doesn’t make cheating okay.”

“Suppose not.”

“I’m sorry, for what it’s worth. For my part in it.”

Eddie glanced back over, taking in the downward tilt of Steve’s mouth and his big sad eyes.

“S’not your fault. You were wronged too.”

“I guess, but…” Steve bit his lip and looked up from the screen, casting his eyes around his kitchen like something was going to pop out and answer whatever question was running through his head. 

Eddie waited. The guy had been very gracious so far and he seemed to genuinely feel bad for all the mess he’d been wrapped up in. 

“I…” Steve continued. “I know how this thing usually goes. You find out you’ve been cheated on and you still love your partner so you tend to focus all your anger towards the person they cheated with rather than the person who actually wronged you.” He looked down, fiddling with some kind of flash card on the table in front of him.

“Sounds like you’re speaking from experience.” Eddie stubbed his joint out, happy enough with his current buzz. He was sufficiently mellowed, he hadn’t cried yet though that would probably come once he was in bed, but his anger had simmered down to a level where he didn’t feel like putting his fist through a wall but still angry enough to plot.

“I am, I guess.”

Eddie nodded. “This happened to you before?” 

That was probably rude. His filter malfunctioned at the best of times but when he smoked it was all but gone.

“Yeah.” Steve stared down at the cards in his hands. “My mom had to put up with my dad’s infidelity a lot. And my ex-girlfriend cheated on me a while back.” Steve paused before taking a deep breath. “Rick was actually my first attempt to get back into the dating world so…”

“So we can both be sad and angry together.”

“Yeah.” Steve smiled and Eddie stood up, plucking his phone from his desk and settling it on his bedside table, switching his lamp on and throwing himself face down on his bed, probably barely visible to Steve.

“We can be sad and angry together.”

Eddie glanced up. Now that he was closer to his phone, he could better see exactly what Steve was fiddling with, he could read some of the text on the card.

“Stevie.” Eddie sat up, moving closer to the phone and unable to stop the smirk running over his face. Steve’s eyes snapped up towards him. “Did you write out flash cards for when you called me?”

Steve’s eyes widened before he unceremoniously swept all the cards off the table in front of him, his cheeks turning a terrific shade of red and he leaned his face on his hand, trying to act as nonchalant as possible. 

“No.”

It was adorable. Incredibly dorky and adorable.

Eddie laughed, full on braying belly laughs, collapsing backwards onto his bed. When he peeked back up to look at his phone through his giggles, Steve’s face was somehow even redder. 

“Oh my god.” Eddie breathed. “That’s darling.”

“Shut up.”

“No, no. It’s really very sweet.”

“Ugh. Whatever.” Steve rolled his eyes but was still smiling, still had a blush lighting up his cheeks.

Eddie settled himself back against his headboard. “Actually, listen, let me ask you something.”

“Okay?”

“Does Rick know? Does he know that you know? Or that you told me?”

“No.” Steve answered, finally relaxing his fake nonchalance into real relaxation, folding his hands on the table and propping his chin up on them. “I figured if anyone had the right to rip his balls off it would be you.”

Eddie nodded. 

That he could understand. 

“I get that, but there’ll be no ball ripping from where I stand. No, I want to hit him where it hurts.”

“Woulda hurt me plenty.”

“Oh, I’m sure. But the only thing Rick loves more than his own balls is his car.”

Steve nodded. “Yeah, he’s like, obsessed with that thing. It’s weird. It’s not even that nice of a car.”

“I’d love to say he has bad taste but considering he picked the both of us, I’m pretty sure his tastes are actually immaculate.”

“Just his decisions are bad.”

“Exactly.”

“Well.” Steve sighed. “I’d love to help any way I can. I hate that I was involved in this, in what he did to you.”

“To us, Stevie. To us.”

“Right, so what’s the plan then?”

“When are you due to see him next?”

Eddie pulled his van into the parking lot of the bar. It was halfway across town and a place that he never frequented if he could help it. Rick liked it though, always had. Eddie just liked other places around town more.

But it could be cute, he supposed. A small little country and sports type place that had a rainbow flag behind the bar and a small number of regulars who, according to Steve, wouldn’t do anything unless you got between them and their drink. 

He knew that Steve was inside with Rick, playing up the flirty angle and acting tipsier than he actually was to put him at ease.

Steve had mentioned one of his signature moves involved pool, bending over the table and wiggling a little bit to keep the attention on him. Pulling out a little pout whenever he missed a shot or asking for help to line up his cue.

Eddie would be more upset by the fact that he was missing the sight of it if he didn't know he'd have the opportunity to see it himself at some point in the future.

They had talked for so long that first night, long enough that the sun was starting to come up by the time they'd both dragged themselves away from their phones to sleep.

They’d talked about their families, their friends, what they were doing in life right now as opposed to what they had hoped they would be doing when they were teenagers. They talked about their school selves and their dating lives and as the conversation wore on Eddie found himself thinking again and again about how long it had been since it had felt so easy to talk to someone like that.

It had been a very long time since Rick had put any effort into getting to know him as he grew through their two years together, like he expected Eddie to stay the same person as he was at the start of the relationship.

After that first night where they’d figured out their master plan, he and Steve had just… kept talking. Throughout the rest of the week up until tonight, they were in almost constant contact, only really taking a break to sleep and work.

Eddie felt connected to Steve and in some roundabout way he was thankful to Rick for bringing him into his life.

He’d even met Robin in passing one day, living two floors below him, holding the door open for him as he tried to wrestle with grocery bags. 

She was so weird. He kind of loved her the second she opened her mouth. Honest, but with the sharpest tongue he’d ever met on a person. 

She had knocked on his apartment door later that evening to tell him Steve was calling over to visit and asking if he wanted to come around to meet him. 

Steve had apparently delegated the asking to her because he was too nervous to do it himself.

Again, adorable.

Steve was somehow even sweeter and even saltier in person than he was over the phone and Eddie tried hard, he tried really hard not to look too much or let his fucking horomones run away with him but Jesus. H. Christ it was difficult. 

The sweetness of his soft sweaters and polos, his gentle smiles and understanding words matched with his salty mean girl attitude that would slip out every so often and the bitchiest of eye rolls that made Eddie’s heart jump.

Eddie was also trying to feel bad about what was happening but honestly, he was losing reasons to care that much.

He hadn’t texted or called Rick once in the last week and Rick himself had never reached out which all at once made Eddie realise he was the primary communicator in the relationship and it hadn’t been reciprocated in a long, long time. 

Adding onto that was the knowledge that Rick was still fucking cheating on him and was in regular contact with Steve left Eddie only half heartedly feeling bad.

He and Steve would go over the screenshots of the conversation together every night and every night Eddie found it harder and harder to hang up the phone.

He was pretty sure Steve was feeling the same way. 

They kept just catching each other staring. Or smiling or, pulling back from touching too much and he was almost sure that as soon as Rick was out of the picture for the both of them, something was going to blossom.

Even now, with Steve inside, flirting up a storm with Eddie’s ex-boyfriend who didn’t know he was an ex yet, they would be ending the night together. 

Robin was waiting back at her apartment with an alibi ready if Eddie needed it though he suspected he wouldn’t.

Neither he nor Rick had a great track record with the police and it would be more trouble than it was worth to get them involved.

Speaking of, Eddie spotted Rick’s car, some souped up four wheel drive monstrosity of small dick syndrome sitting in the shadows and away from the cameras of the bar where Steve had convinced him to park with a suggestion of something happening in those shadows later on. 

He hopped out of his van and threw open the back doors, grabbing his bag of goodies before sidling around Rick’s car to wait.

When the chords of some Shania Twain number started to leak through the walls, the signal he’d been waiting for, the sound loud enough to drown out what Eddie would be doing, he dropped his bag to the floor.

Curling his keys into his fingers and with almost a skip in his step Eddie began to carve a stripe through the immaculate and expensive paint work. Working his way around to the drivers side, he lifted the key up before bringing it back down.

With a little bit of sickening glee, he hacked the word CHEATER into the side of the car, the side that would be immediately visible from the bar door and the side Rick would have to see every time he wanted to get in and get out of the driver's seat.

At least until he paid a bomb to get it fixed.

Eddie had connections in this town. Working as a mechanic here for years would do wonderful things to extend this pain. 

Rick knew fuck all about cars. 

Tucking his keys back into his pocket, he sidled back around to his duffel bag, unzipping it and pulling out his Stanley blade.

Unsheathing it, he gripped it tight in his hand and punched it down into the nearest tyre, listening with satisfaction as the thing slowly deflated before moving onto the other three.

A second Shania song had started up. 

He could hear Steve crooning out from inside, getting louder and Eddie knew he was running out of time. 

He pulled Steve’s baseball bat from the duffle and gave it a little twirl, the same one he’d seen Steve do when he’d first handed it off and he had tried so hard not to be attracted to it. 

He’d failed miserably. 

Maybe Eddie could deal with a gym bunny if that gym bunny was Steve.

With an almighty swing, he brought the bat down, shattering one of the headlights with an almighty crash that wasn’t quite drowned out by the karaoke inside.

Rearing back Eddie swung again, smashing the other headlight and while the music didn’t cut off, he could clearly hear Steve inside calling out for Rick to “Wait!”

Okay, only a few seconds left.

Pulling the bat back and letting the anger and betrayal and indignation flow through him, he brought the bat down hard into the windshield where it embedded itself, the spider cracks of the tempered glass making the thing practically opaque.

The bat was fucking stuck.

Eddie knew that if he was able to pull hard enough he would be able to release the whole windshield from the car but he didn’t even have the strength in him to budge the bat.

“What the fuck?!”

Eddie slowly released his hands from the bat and turned, looking at Rick standing in the doorway of the bar, his mouth hanging wide open in shock, unable to believe what he was seeing. Steve was standing just behind him, with one hand over Rick’s chest.

To anyone else it would look like a comforting gesture, maybe. A show of support. 

But Eddie could tell the hand was there to hold Rick back if he decided to lunge. 

Both Steve and Rick dragged their gaze over the flat tyres, the word carved into the side, the bat stuck in the windshield.

“Hey sweetheart.” Eddie called across the distance, feeling comfortable enough to turn his back to pick up his bag, trusting Steve to at least shout if Rick was about to tackle him.

“Eddie,” Rick breathed, still open-mouthed somehow. “What in the god damned hell has gotten into you?!”

“I wasn’t talking to you.” He slung the bag over his shoulder and held his hand out.

Steve patted Rick twice on the chest and stepped out from behind him. 

Rick watched him walk away looking even more bewildered than before.

With one hand Steve took Eddie’s and with the other he grabbed the bat, wiggling it a few times before pulling it free. 

They broke apart as they reached Eddie’s van, Steve climbing into the passenger seat and Eddie throwing his bag in the back before starting up the van from his position in the driver's seat.

He leaned over Steve to shout out of the window, “Have a nice life, asshole!”

As the van tore out of the lot, Steve stretched both hands out of the window, two middle fingers extended until Rick, still frozen on the spot, was out of sight.

When he pulled himself back inside, Eddie saw him glance his way, a huge grin on his face.

Eddie had a smile to match, whooping into the night as they sped down the road.

AO3

@geekymagicalpotato

Big thanks as always to @hbyrde36 for her magnificent beta work and to the STWG for their motivation.

#steddie #stranger things #eddie munson #steve x eddie #steve harrington #eddie x steve #penny00dreadful #before he cheats fic #anniversary #1 year posting anniversary challenge #pennys anniversary event #steddie fanfic #steddie fic #fanfic #tw cheating

[heartkyeom]

fine line

figure skater!joshua hong x f!reader

synopsis: as a joshua fangirl, getting the chance to interview him as a teenager was an absolute dream. 10 years later with a flourishing career as a writer and a strained relationship with him, he wants to do a 10 year reunion interview about his path to the upcoming Olympics. there’s only one problem: you’re staying at his house and trying not to address your old feelings for him.

word count: 19.9k

tag list: @junhui-recs @bfwonu @huiranghaes

warnings: figure skater!joshua, writer/fangirl!reader, best friend!jeonghan, dad!seungcheol, smut, fluff, angst, some occasional skating jargon, this is a lot about the Olympics

a/n: y’all. this fic has been reworked over and over and over since spring 2022, it’s the longest fic I’ve ever done. it’s given me so much trouble and seen me through so many changes in my life. doing my final undergrad dance show, writing my undergrad capstone, finishing undergrad, and finding my first apartment. it is my baby and has grown as much as I have since march. thank you to the sports au discord for being so lovely <3 I hope you enjoy it as always and I hope you can feel how much heart I put into this! this is for @gyukult’s sports au collab + this is loosely based on the plot of the book “funny you should ask” by elissa sussman which I can’t recommend enough! title also inspired by the harry styles song ok bye lmao <3

Work isn’t particularly difficult, in your opinion. You’re used to hearing the people around you complain about how much their workload consumes them to a point of no return, but as you made your way into your first adult job as a writer, you tried to stop that from happening.

It’s not exactly easy when you have to navigate the entertainment industry while writing, but the idea of trying to craft new narratives about celebrities that the public is convinced that they know inside and out still excites you.

Even if you’re not exactly fond of whoever you’re writing about, the challenge still intrigues you. Thus, the conversations surrounding ideas for new profiles are always equal parts captivating and nerve-wracking.

“How do you feel about Joshua Hong?” Your manager asks. You look up to see her balancing her weight on the side of your desk, a neutral expression paints her face.

She knows this is a loaded question, all things considered.

“You know how I feel about him,” You blink at her before facing your computer again.

“I do, but I need an updated response considering the anniversary,” She persists. You sigh, swiveling around to face her again before responding.

“He’s great. I like him,” Your voice trails off, you try to nod to convince her, but it’s not working.

Your life has been so intertwined with Joshua Hong’s career as a professional figure skater that it’s hard to delineate life before and after him. He wasn't there, then one day he seemed to consume your life completely.

Before your start as a journalist, you ran a very well-known, albeit secretive, blog about Joshua Hong as a teenager. It was relatively harmless and safe for work, spare the occasional thirst posts sprinkled in. It mostly contained updates about the then emerging skater’s career, offering illegal torrent links for broadcasts of his performances that weren’t available worldwide and communicating with other fans about your love for him. Yet, some random post about him qualifying for the Olympics went insanely viral when you were 17, garnering over 1 million shares in under a week.

It was substantial enough to get his management's attention, and you had the opportunity to interview him not only for your blog but for a major publication for their Winter Olympics coverage series.

With two opportunities to write about him, you were able to fulfill the fan service pleas from your fellow fans for the blog and write a serious piece that made the general public interested in him from the perspective of a fan that knew the general timeline of his career.

The quick success felt like a fluke, but it led you to an undergraduate degree and a dream job as an entertainment writer at one of your favorite companies almost immediately after graduation.

He technically made your career, whether you wanted to admit it or not.

You’ve been trying to forget about the anniversary, but everyone in your life seems determined to bring it up whenever they see you.

“Well, we want you to do a 10-year reunion interview piece with him. That’s only if you want to,” Her voice was sympathetic, but you’re mainly focused on the number. It really had been 10 years, hadn’t it?

You were both incredibly established in your respective careers, him as a 5-time gold medalist with appearances at 3 Olympic Games, and you with a prolific image as a relatable yet incisive celebrity interviewer. It completely makes sense for you two to meet again, considering how much the first interview changed the trajectory of your lives.

It would feed into the nostalgia of Joshua fans that grew up alongside you as readers of your blog and new fans that clamored for any new Joshua content.

Yet, you weren’t exactly convinced.

“I mean, his team could’ve had anyone else write a big profile on him. We’re not the only website in the world with an entertainment section,” You fight the urge to bite your nails and instead choose to wring your hands together.

“He asked us to do it,” She admits.

You try not to look too shocked, but that definitely changes things. You were not close with Joshua whatsoever. Sure, he’d occasionally like your social media posts and wish you a happy birthday every year, but that was the extent of your relationship.

Your teenage self thinks it might be him looking for closure, wondering what might have happened if you stayed in touch.

Yet, you can’t let yourself dive back into the fantasy of him again.

You search for a response, but you can’t land on anything substantial. “What would I have to do?” You ask, you barely notice the unconscious habit of biting the inside of your cheek.

“Well, in addition to the profile, you can attend his practices and any private schedules he invites you to. It’s mostly up to the discretion of him and his team,” She offers and you nod. You’re good with that, you can watch him practice and go to a random professional event he’s booked for.

“He did offer something else, if you’re up for it,” She gives you a pointed look which makes you a bit hesitant.

“What is it?”

“He asked if you were open to staying at his house,” She smiled through her answer, but you’re sure your face was completely pale.

You didn’t know if you were more shocked or nervous at the idea of it. It was ambitious, considering that you haven’t spent more than a few hours in the same room with him at a time, much less stay with him.

You think you might die if you go through with it.

“He’s not serious,” You find yourself laughing in disbelief. You can’t even fathom the idea of being further sucked into Joshua’s life after so long.

“He really is. You don’t have to give me an answer right now, but within the next day or so,” She leaves your desk without giving you a chance to respond, but you revel in the opportunity to think about everything.

It’s a bit too much to wrap your head around, so much so that you don’t remember much else of the work day.

For the first time in a long time, Joshua Hong was all you could think about.

—

The more you think about the interview, the more it gives you anxiety.

All of the possible outcomes float around in your head during the commute home that you can barely enjoy the music blaring in your headphones.

Once you arrive home, you figure that you need a second opinion on the matter, so you decide to call your far more opinionated best friend for his input.

The phone only rings for a few seconds before he picks up.

“What happened?”

“Joshua wants to do this 10-year anniversary interview where I follow him around,” You sigh.

“No fucking way,” He burst into laughter, his giggles echoing loudly through the phone.

“Jeonghan, this isn’t funny,” You whine. He was probably the last person you needed to call, seeing as he almost never had a sympathetic response to your pain.

“It’s hilarious, and this is karma for trying to ignore his existence for the past 5 years,” He replies with a teasing lilt.

You hate that he’s right.

You were very proud of Joshua’s successes, in a “retired fan celebrating from a distance” sort of way. Yet, you tried to distance yourself so much from the blog that he inadvertently got caught in the crossfire. You cared about him so deeply for so long that you lost yourself in that, so you tried to cope with the state of your uneven relationship with him in your own little fucked up way.

You let out a frustrated sigh. “I just didn’t think he’d be the one to do it, you know? I thought I’d get a polite email from his assistant, not my manager telling me he wanted to do a profile.”

“That means it’s personal to him, then. That’s actually kinda charming of him,” You feel your phone vibrate, so you check the notification.

Joshua messaged you on Instagram, and from a quick glance at your lockscreen, it’s long.

Your heart drops to your stomach.

“Wait, he just messaged me,” You quickly put Jeonghan on speaker and opened the app without a second thought. You read his message out loud:

joshuahong: Hi! Not sure if you’ve heard my request yet about the anniversary profile, but I would really love it if we could make it happen. I know it’s been a really long time, but I think it’d be fun to do it again. You’ve always supported me from the beginning of my career, so it would mean a lot to me. I miss talking to you, so we would definitely be catching up in more ways than one. We’ll only do it if you’re up for it though, please don’t ghost me this time lol

“Holy shit,” Jeonghan fills the silence immediately. You were pretty much lost for words, but you managed to speak. “Holy shit is right,” You mumble to yourself.

You suddenly feel guilty for trying to bury him out of your life, especially when he clearly said he misses you.

Were you trying to set your boundaries by pushing him away or were you just being an asshole?

“I feel really stupid,” You hate that you want to cry. You can’t reckon with the fact that Joshua has wanted to reconcile for so long that he had to do this to get your attention.

At least, that’s what the selfish part of you thinks. You know the interview is so much bigger than yourself, but then again, it is a symbol of you and the years of effort you put into your blog.

“You’re not stupid, but you need to worry about what you’re gonna say. Are you gonna say yes?” He asks.

Admittedly, you do feel the pull to say yes.

“I think I might. Is that a bad idea?” Internally, you know the answer, but your insecurities need some validation.

He clears his throat before responding. “I think you’ll regret it if you say no. I think it’ll hurt you more to not have closure with him.”

You don’t think you necessarily want anything out of this besides becoming friendly with him.

You’d like to think that’s what would’ve happened if you didn’t completely ice him out.

“That’s true. It’s gonna be so hard to see him again,” A whine pulls your lips into a pout and you already know Jeonghan will protest.

“Stop talking yourself out of it. Who knows, you might end up enjoying everything,” he suggests openly.

“That’s possible. His house is supposed to be insanely big,” You shake your head at the idea of how a 27-year-old millionaire pro figure skater would be living, definitely far better than your current apartment.

“You can only know for sure if you say yes.”

“I know,” You figure you need a vacation anyways, even if it means facing some unresolved emotional baggage.

“So, you know your answer then. I need to get back to work, but don’t blow him off. Respond to him tonight or I’m not giving you the deluxe massage package gift certificate like I promised,” Jeonghan was not above threatening you into action, and this one had the right level of stakes.

“Fine, okay,” You huff out, already opening the Instagram app again to motivate you into typing a proper response.

You exchange quick goodbyes and you let yourself look, albeit for far too long, at the message again to gain some inspiration.

Before you know it, you’re sending him a formal reply.

you: Hi! You’re right about ghosting, no excuses for that so I’m sorry lol. I’ve thought about it and I’d be happy to do it, it’s been too long since we’ve talked. Let me know the timeline you’re thinking of and I’ll get my schedule figured out

You figure that’s just enough to ease your nerves. It’s not exactly as earnest as his original message, but it’ll work for now.

You even send a screenshot of the message to Jeonghan as proof for the sake of accountability and the state of your deluxe massage package gift certificate. You place your phone on your nightstand to avoid fixating on another response, letting yourself go fix dinner and get ready for bed without thinking.

It’s only when you’re about to settle into bed that you remember your phone. You reach for it and Joshua, who is somehow extremely prompt with his messages, sends you another reply 10 minutes after your message.

joshuahong: Great! We’ll start sorting out more details then. I’m really glad you said yes

He’s already trying to pull at your heartstrings and it’s working. Despite everything, Joshua has always been kind. He doesn’t just seem nice, like what most celebrities are assumed to be around other people, he’s always made sure you know he cares about you even if you hadn’t known what to do about it.

You type out another quick response before going to bed.

you: Of course, it’s gonna be a lot of fun

You hope that’s true, you hope that you’re not already in over your head with the situation. He still seems to have faith in you, so why not trust that instinct?

—

During pre-trip preparations, you found yourself talking to Joshua far more often than before.

The conversations didn’t go too deep of course, you couldn’t get everything out of him before you even had a chance to conduct the interview, but the harmless banter seemed to slowly bridge that treacherous gap left between you two.

You even thought it would make your first meeting less awkward, but that wasn’t even remotely possible. It had only taken a few days for the entirety of the trip to be confirmed by your workplace and his team, and the final itinerary made your head spin.

You would follow Joshua around for a week, primarily to his private daily practices in an effort to show his infamous dedication to Olympics training.

All while you stayed in his guest room.

You couldn’t get out of that obligation, no matter how much you tried to convince him that you would be perfectly fine staying in a luxury hotel room paid for by your employer. He was confident that you could get a better view into his life while staying at his house which you reluctantly agreed with.

His idea definitely didn’t cross any professional boundaries at all, none whatsoever! This is what he’d do as a friend if you were coming to visit anyways, right?

You were still slightly afraid to hear his voice, you weren’t exactly sure why, but you were hoping it would keep the image of him unchanged in your mind until you saw him in person again.

You knew you were heavily biased going into this situation, so why not protect your heart for a little bit longer?

joshuahong: Are you nervous about tomorrow?

you: Not really

joshuahong: Y/N, please don’t lie.

you: I’m not!

joshuahong: I’m kinda nervous to see you, though

you: Really? Why?

joshuahong: I think it’s been 6 years since I’ve seen you in person. That’s scary to think about

you: The passing of time is scary

joshuahong: Definitely. Promise to not be awkward?

you: I’ll try my best!

joshuahong: That’s not a promise!

you: Fine, I promise but you have to promise too!

joshuahong: I promise :) now get some sleep, I don’t want to hear you complain when you have plenty of time to get 8 hours of sleep

you: You’re so mean!! but you too, get lots of rest so you can give me a good show tomorrow

He doesn’t reply to that last message, only using a heart emoji reaction instead.

The weight of the trip suddenly sits on your heart, and the main objective of writing an exceptional interview is somehow the least of your worries now.

—

The flight to Korea is unceremoniously long, you have far too much time and anxiety to let yourself fall asleep. You go through all the Netflix episodes you downloaded for the flight, finish the book that’s been sitting on your shelf for ages, and write down some preliminary notes about what you’d like to cover in the interview.

You decide to keep your ideas vague so that you’re not overexerting your brain during the flight.

First, a general discussion of the Olympics. That’s the main appeal of the article, seeing what his main preparations are like and hopefully getting some better insight about his feelings surrounding everything.

The second is his recovery from his last Olympics injury. He landed the most ambitious jump of his free skate program completely wrong, breaking his ankle in the process. It was during the last event of his Olympics run for that year, and he still placed third in the men’s individual skate program overall, but it’s been a sore subject for him in most interviews he’s done since the incident.

The footage is as agonizing as you can imagine, but the fact that he finished the routine at all is stunning. You figure that you can get some in-depth reaction about that moment and the subsequent recovery, more than the extremely media-trained answer he’s given about it before.

Lastly, the prospect of retirement. He’s said almost nothing about his plans after the upcoming Olympic games, but Olympics experts are convinced that the news is looming over his upcoming appearance.

You knew better than to ask him outright about it because he definitely wouldn’t give you a straight answer. From watching his recent interviews, you realized that Joshua has a tendency to go into a subtle apathetic mood when the interviewer hits something he’s not comfortable with. You hope that you can breach the subject without things going completely south. This interview was supposed to hit some darker aspects of the state of Joshua’s career, but you never wanted to make him uncomfortable.

Other than those topics, anything else he wanted to divulge to you would be a bonus. You wanted him to have a reasonable amount of control over what would go into the interview, so you’re not opposed to adjusting your interview material if needed.

The thought of his reactions to your questions swarms your brain in a frenzy, but you know you’re getting ahead of yourself.

The flight lands without any problems and you’re still trying to figure your thoughts out by the time you’re picking up your suitcase from baggage claim.

You’re soon greeted by Joshua’s driver, a tall man who holds a sign with your name printed on it, nodding in affirmation when you confirm your identity with him. He’s distantly kind to you, but it’s enough to put you at ease for the moment. You’re escorted to a tinted black SUV with a gentle hand opening the back car door for you. Your suitcase is carefully stowed into the back of the truck while you click your seatbelt into place across your lap.

You don’t realize how tired you are until the car starts moving. You didn’t bother to orient yourself with the time once you got off the flight, but you figure it’s somewhere between late morning and early afternoon by the way the clouds create a gray atmosphere in the sky.

Nonetheless, looking out the window is enough to pull you into sleep, and you indulge yourself in a short nap, barely considering where you may be headed.

—

It turns out that Joshua wanted to meet you at his home rink first which explains why you were waking up to the sight of a massive stadium.

You were slightly annoyed that you weren’t at a stable location yet, your body started to feel vaguely sick at the constant movement of the car.

You’re grateful that the car stops for a moment, you’re hoping Joshua takes a bit longer than expected to come out of the rink so that your body can stop feeling off center.

Unfortunately, he’s quite prompt, you notice him walking out only a few minutes later. He’s accompanied by two other staff members, seemingly debriefing him on your arrival as you see one of them point to the car.

You suddenly feel acutely aware of how disheveled you look in your inconspicuous airport outfit, barely awake enough to make proper conversation with him.

He arrives at the other back car door quickly, opening it with a big smile.

“Y/N! Hi, I’m so happy to finally see you again,” He’s excited, settling into the backseat across from you, slightly more perky than you expected.

“Hi,” You wave back politely, pushing your voice up an octave to match his energy that is nearly impossible to replicate in your current mood.

“I’m sure you must be exhausted, it was a long flight wasn’t it?” His brows furrow slightly, and his concern is evident on his face.

“Yeah, I’m still pretty tired,” You offer him a halfhearted smile.

“Well, we can recover once we’re at my place. We’ll have time to catch up on everything,” He reassures you with a nod.

He notices you’re still out of it, so you don’t talk for the rest of the ride to his house.

Through heavy eyelids, you steal a few looks at him and he really is as pretty as you remember. His boyish features filled out his face much better now, although he was always handsome.

You’re not sure how long his practice day was, but it surely didn’t show in his features. He caught you looking at him only once, you tried to be discreet while he was looking at his phone, but he still saw you.

It seemed like he had a sixth sense to know when someone was looking at him which, if anything, made it a bit more embarrassing to get caught.

He let you off easy though, smiling at you before turning his attention back to his phone.

It was a tiny gesture, but it reminds you just how much he seems to notice you.

—

You wouldn’t say you’re best friends or anything, but talking to Joshua for an extended period of time has made you miss being around him in person. His energy has always been the same after so long.

“So you just casually stumbled into an interview with Dwayne the Rock Johnson?” He’s somehow fully astonished at your celebrity interview stories, you notice the sparkle in his eyes and his smile is radiant, but you think that’s just the alcohol creeping up on him.

You both agreed to a drink after coming back to the house, you chose wine while he opted for beer. This has made the mood considerably less awkward and you’re grateful that you both pushed past the mandatory small talk.

“Yeah, the interviewer before me canceled so I got more time with him than I intended. Then the whole viral interview video happened,” You wave your hand before taking another sip of your glass.

“You say that as if it’s normal,” He pushes his hair back, slightly exposing his forehead. That was surprising coming from him, considering that he is far more famous than you would ever be. Yet, you assume that it’s because he’s famous in a more traditional sense, so content creation was never a part of his job to begin with.

“Well, it is if you’re good at it, which I am,” You brag, receiving a hearty laugh from him.

“Look at you, big shot,” He playfully swats your arm. “You really made it, huh?” He’s fond, his glance is soft and yearning for more. It’s far too sentimental for where you wanted this to go tonight, but you play along for a moment.

“I did,” Your cheeks are slightly too warm as you avoid his eye contact with a small smile, but you still have control over yourself. You decide to take advantage of it.

“I want to get some stuff recorded for the interview if that’s okay?” You don’t know why you ask for permission to start interviewing, seeing as it’s the entire reason you’re here in the first place.

“That’s fine,” He straightens up a bit, he doesn’t seem too affected by the alcohol either which will make this a bit easier.

“We’ll keep it pretty light today, considering this is just the first day.”

“I’m good with that,” He chuckles lightly. You know he’s watching you struggle to figure out the best way to interview him. It’s too much effort to find your laptop which is somewhere tucked away in a carry-on bag, so you settle for your phone.

“Ok, so,” you fumble with your phone’s record button on the Voice Memos app for a moment, “tell me your general feelings about the Olympics coming up.”

“I’m excited, I missed being in full competition prep mode. It’s an indescribable feeling, but everything is coming together nicely which is all I can ask for on the 4th time around,” He had a vague joy in his eyes, but you didn’t want to scrutinize the answer just yet, it was only the first question.

“What does full competition prep mode look like for you?”

“My practice days are much longer than usual, so I’m in the rink most days from sunrise to sunset, if I can help it,” He smiles sheepishly. That charm seems like it’s going to seep through every response he gives you, so he can possibly get away with some things.

“What do you like to do to destress after such long practice days?”

His eyes light up at the idea and he readjusts his position on the couch. “I like taking a cold shower and catching up on reality TV, I honestly like anything trashy.”

You didn’t peg Joshua to be a reality TV person, but it’s the exact kind of pop culture talk that his fans will eat up.

“Okay, then which one do you prefer, The Bachelor or Love Island?” You ask curiously.

“Love Island, easily,” He replies immediately. He smirks and you nod in affirmation. You knew he had good taste, you figure you’d have to ask him about some other TV preferences later.

“Good, that was the right answer,” You shoot back. You decide to drink the rest of your wine instead of nursing it any longer.

“Asking the tough questions, clearly,” He’s way too smug about it and it makes you roll your eyes.

“Shut up, I told you we’re keeping it light! Unless you want to be asked about the future of your career while we drink,” Now it’s your turn to touch his arm, your hand intentionally doesn’t linger for too long though.

“I don’t, you’re right,” You know he’s not lying by the way he lets out a deep breath. There’s an unspoken tension at the thought of you bringing everything up.

“Okay, one more dumb non-skating question.”

“They’re not dumb,” He immediately catches your words and you blink at him, silently watching his face. He stares back, but his expression is slightly tender. Again, his face is almost too sweet for you to process. It threw you off this time though, so you have to look at the floor. You don’t even remember the question you meant to ask him, so you opt for a way out.

“Stop it.”

“What?” He genuinely looks confused, as if he’s not unconsciously doing the standard heartthrob boyfriend-esque banter.

“That was too nice,” You pick up your phone to stop the recording, still not facing him. Your body language is slightly more closed off.

“You act like you’ve never been complimented before,” He retorts.

You couldn’t say that it was different because he said it, you couldn’t give a shit if some random A-lister made you feel better about your work, but it was him.

“I’m not used to your compliments,” You indirectly emphasize him.

“Well, we’ll have to change that then,” He smirks.

That stirs something up in your chest, but you can’t quite name it. You decide it’s best to ignore it.

“Great. So are you gonna make me dinner or are we ordering somewhere?”

“I’m definitely not cooking,” He lets out a clipped laugh, shaking his head in disapproval. To be fair, he exerted more physical effort in a day than you’d do in an entire calendar year, so you weren’t exactly offended.

The night spun on with cheap pizza and varying levels of conversations. He even convinced you to watch Love Island, albeit one episode, until he decided he was too tired to continue.

He gives you a short tour of the guest room before retreating to his own room, and you finally get a moment to sit with your thoughts.

Joshua is friendlier than you expected and that was going to cause problems whether you liked it or not.

—

Although it was your first full day in town, the jetlag caught up with you almost immediately. Joshua mentioned last night that he would be at meetings throughout the afternoon, so you were grateful that you didn’t have to tag along.

Once you were thoroughly awake, you decided to investigate the house. As you suspected, it was far too big for him, especially considering he wasn’t home enough to enjoy it anyways.

The style of the house is typical celebrity fare, far too angular and minimalist for your taste. The shades of white, gray, and black that decorated his furniture and appliances were anything but inviting. It was all far too muted in your opinion and it made you miss the character of your apartment.

Besides a few framed photos of what you assume to be his family and friends along with some light decor, it looks like it could be plucked right off of a Zillow listing.

Even if you wanted to write some flowery prose about his house for the article, it leaves much to be desired.

“Are you settled in?” Your manager asks over the phone. She promised not to call you after this initial check in, but you figured she’d find other ways to be nosy about how things are going. She was a fan of Joshua, so her prying for extra details wouldn’t be completely unexpected.

“Yeah, everything’s been good,” You shared, completely nestled onto the couch with a blanket.

“How’s Joshua?” She inquires with a slight lilt.

“He’s doing well. We’ve already got some parts for the interview, but I haven’t seen him skate yet,” You recall the banter of last night with a small smile. You were both being friendly, it was completely harmless.

“Well, you still have a lot of time for that, but I’m glad you’ve made some progress. I’ll let you go, but let me know if you need anything.”

“I will,” You respond. You exchange goodbyes and go back to mindlessly scrolling on Twitter.

“Were you talking shit about me?” Joshua asks. You whip your head around to notice him watching you, completely unsuspecting in his business casual attire. You shriek in fear, clutching the blanket before reaching over to throw a pillow at his face. He narrowly avoids it with a massive grin on his face.

“Jesus, you scared the hell out of me,” You sigh, pressing a hand to your chest to check your racing pulse.

“I’m light on my feet.”

“Yeah, clearly,” You grumbled.

“You look very comfortable,” He teases, pointing to your current seating position with a chuckle. Your body is completely wrapped up minus your head. It probably looks quite funny by the way he bites his tongue with a childish smile.

“I am. How were the meetings?” You deflect the attention onto him instead.

“Productive,” He walks around to join you on the couch, landing next to you with a sigh.

“Anything worth breaking an NDA over?”

He rolls his eyes. “Absolutely not,” He scoffed.

“Worth a try,” You finally free your arms from the blanket, but you’re still wearing a hoodie.

“Why did you need the blanket if you’re wearing a hoodie?” He asks politely, pointing to your chest.

“I get cold easily!” You protest.

This oversized maroon hoodie was your signature writing piece, you absolutely needed to wear it for big projects or else you wrote pure shit.

You’ve had it since you started writing professionally, a random thrift store find that has given you incredible luck over the years. It’s helped you through many long nights of writing and editing throughout your career.

Thus, you put it on in an attempt to stir up some inspiration, but to no avail.

Joshua is charmed by this backstory though, nodding along with his head in the palm of his hand.

“You think it’s dumb,” You’re projecting onto him, without a doubt.

“No, it’s not! It’s actually very cute. You can wear it to the rink later.”

“We’re still doing that?” You grimace. He joked that he was going to take you out onto the ice, but doing it this early into the trip felt like overkill.

“Unfortunately, yes,” He pouts. “I’m forcing you out of the house so that you don’t steal my blankets.”

“Very rude.”

—

The rink is far bigger than you could’ve imagined. You haven’t been in many throughout your life, but since it functions partly as a stadium, it makes you feel even smaller.

He leads you to the check in booth to introduce you to the staff onsite for the day. If he’s coming to practice solo, he remarks that the employees only door is typically unlocked for him, and his suspicions are correct.

“Hey, man, it’s good to see you again,” Joshua embraces a taller man into a hug once he walks through the door. “Cheol, this is Y/N,” He glances between the two of you with a hopeful smile.

“Y/N, this is Seungcheol.”

“Hi,” You wave politely and everything starts to register for you. You’ve known of Seungcheol for a long time through Joshua’s social media, you knew they were longtime friends and Joshua was always open about being close with Seungcheol’s family.

“It’s nice to finally meet you. Josh has told me a lot about you, you’re always a hot topic around here,” Seungcheol smirks to Joshua’s dismay.

“Not in a bad way, everybody loves your writing,” Joshua tries to diffuse the tension with a short smile.

“Is Sumin here?” He switches the topic completely, looking around to the back door for any sign of life.

“Yeah, she’s just with her mom. I’ll go get her,” Seungcheol replies before heading further back into the venue.

It’s another minute or two before he comes back with a toddler in his arms, her eyes lighting up at the sight of Joshua. She squirms in Seungcheol’s hold until he puts her down, and she takes off running until Joshua catches her in his arms.

“Joshie,” she screams into his ear. He spins her around for a moment until she’s giggling uncontrollably. It was absolutely adorable, it even got a smile out of you.

“Hi Minnie, how are you?” He’s beaming from ear to ear at her.

“Good,” she nods decisively. He points to you before introducing you to her.

“That’s Y/N. She’s a good friend of mine, can you say hi?” He coaxes her with a gentle voice.

“Hi,” She waves and Joshua is celebrating her again with a small kiss on the cheek. He seems like such a natural with her, it’s as if she’s his own daughter.

“Hi, it’s nice to meet you,” You wave back and she offers you a shy smile.

“I have to go, but I’ll just be skating out there with Y/N, okay?” He reassures her with a sweet pat to her hair before handing her off to Seungcheol.

She puts her head on Seungcheol’s shoulder with another nod. “Out there,” she points to the ice.

“Yep. Be good for dad, I’ll see you later,” He winks at her before leading you both out to the ice.

Your heart is warm from the entire interaction. He sits down on the bleachers and you land next to him, silently placing his duffel bag onto the ground.

He unzips it to reveal your skates. He ordered them before you arrived, promising that he would get you to skate at some point during the trip. You just didn’t predict it would be this early on.

“How old is she?” You asked, toeing off your sneakers before putting on the skates one at a time.

“Two,” He smiles fondly at the thought of her. “Cheol and his wife are such good parents, they were worried about being too young but they’re perfect to her.”

“So you’re her godfather, I assume?”

“Is it that obvious?” He scrunches his face. He turns his attention to his skates for a moment, quickly lacing them up and tightening them. You didn’t even notice him taking off his other shoes.

“Yeah, you definitely gave off dad vibes, but it was sweet.”

“Him and his family have done so much for me, I couldn’t say no. I also helped him ask out his wife on their first date, so it was inevitable,” He pushes his hair out of his face with a grin.

“They helped you adjust here, right?”

“Yeah, I’ll always be grateful for them. It started with discounted rental fees because I couldn’t afford to use the space, so I owe a lot to them. I pay them back in any way I can,” He nodded solemnly.

He has a deep sense of gratitude that is admirable, it makes you wonder what it’s like to be so deeply initiated into someone’s life that there’s no question if you’ll be there forever, it’s just a matter of what role you’ll play.

It made sense that Joshua knew the place so intimately, he was clearly a member of Seungcheol’s family. He grew up in this rink, watched his friends grow and start their families. It was a safe haven.

“Are you ready to skate?”

“Barely.”

“That’s the spirit,” He rubs your shoulder before standing up. You also stand up, albeit far more slowly, facing toward the ice.

You’ve gone ice skating multiple times in your life, but not enough to remember anything past the basics. You step onto the ice, but you already feel like the surface is going to give out any second.

Joshua notices you start to flail and rushes to place a protective arm around your waist. “Are you okay?”

“No,” You squeeze your eyes shut and are already considering admitting defeat. The idea of voluntarily skating with an Olympic gold medalist had to be the worst idea you’ve had in a long time.

“Do you want me to get you the walker?” He asks sweetly. There’s absolutely no malice there, but it still feels slightly patronizing.

“Joshua, that’s not funny,” You whine, anxiously looking down at your skates.

“I’m not joking, I’m just giving you options!”

“No, I don’t need it. I just got nervous,” You reassure yourself. That was the truth, it was mostly the shock of being on the ice again after such a long time.

“Ok, so if I let go, you’ll be fine?”

“Yes.”

“Okay, I’m letting go. Just bend your knees if you think you’re gonna fall,” He slowly moves away from you, looking expectantly to see how you’ll fare on your own. His advice works and you find your balance without too much effort. You do remember how to move forward on skates, so you decide to impress him a bit.

You move easily, pushing your back leg out and to the side before alternating legs, making your way across the ice without much issue. He is visibly impressed, gasping at you with his arms crossed.

“You’re so good! I thought you were a beginner,” He praises you while skating over to your side.

“I am! I don’t know anything other than this.”

“That’s fine, then we can just expand on that skill today. Nothing crazy, I promise,” He calms your nerves with a gentle hand on your shoulder.

The skill in question is extending the standard forward movements into drawn out strokes, so it appears as though you’re gliding instead of walking on the ice. You would leave that back leg out for longer periods to create a more elegant appearance when you move forward. When he demonstrates the move, you’re mesmerized. No matter how many times you’ve seen him do the same moves, there’s still an enchanting quality to his skating.

He can elevate any move without much effort, but that is clearly from years worth of work and persistence into making his moves clean.

Joshua is an incredibly patient teacher, far more than you expected. There’s absolutely no frustration when you make a mistake, just a quiet encouragement to keep going.

When you unexpectedly lose your balance, he’s making sure you fall backwards so as to not injure your hands. When you’re visibly frustrated, he lets you take a break for a few minutes to regroup. There’s a level of care you didn’t expect, but then again, it’s Joshua. He couldn’t ignore your requests for help even if he wanted to.

You’re not ready to do full out spins or jumps yet, but you are instilled with a new confidence that you can at least try something new without getting immediately discouraged.

“Are you good with finishing up there?”

“Yeah, I feel good. I do need something from you, though.”

“And what is that?”

“Your best jump.”

“Best jump?” He looks back at the ice before facing you again, seemingly considering all his options. Despite all of your years of supporting him, you still didn’t know the difference between the jumps, but you figure it’s best not to ask for more explanation than this.

“Pretty please?” You flash a smile that he can’t deny. He lets out a quiet laugh and his eyes search the ground for a moment before he nods.

“Okay, I’ll do a quadruple jump combo, but only because you asked so nicely,” He sighs, squaring his shoulders for a moment.

“I appreciate it a lot,” You amp up the compliments in hopes that he doesn’t change his mind.

“Yeah, yeah, whatever you say,” He skates away from you to find a solid starting position. You move to a corner wall to observe and stay out of the way.

He takes a deep breath before starting his entrance, snapping through both jumps with ease. He landed evenly, coming out into a pose for you, his arms pointed up with flair before putting them down again.

“Very impressive,” You compliment him.

“It was, wasn’t it?” His breathing is a bit uneven once he comes up to you again. You smile at his cockiness, but it’s well earned.

He restrains himself from practicing any further or else he’ll be here for hours on end, but that’s not too different from most days. He tells you this is one of his shorter visits, somehow being here for under 3 hours is an accomplishment worth celebrating.

You both say goodbye to Seungcheol and Sumin before heading out to his car. You climb into the passenger seat while he adjusts his seatbelt. He decides to let you interview him while he’s driving although you were fine with waiting until you were back at his home.

“So this current practice routine is the most intense level you’ve been at in the past 4 years?”

“Yeah, I slowly had to work it up to this point after the injury. It was almost painful to slow down that much, but I needed to,” He focuses on the road while responding. You’ve opted for writing notes on your phone and recording at the same time.

“How did it initially feel for you to go through it?”

“I hated it. I didn’t break my ankle normally either, so it wasn’t just the typical advice of staying off your ankle for 8 weeks. It took so much longer than everyone anticipated and I had to genuinely stop everything I was doing,” He tightens his grip on the steering wheel to your slight shock.

“I’m sure it was frustrating to not be able to enjoy that podium moment either.”

“Right, it was as if I didn’t even make the podium. I got 3rd place, but it was so excruciating to even be up there, I didn’t feel like I earned it,” He looks visibly upset just recounting it to you. It hurts to hear just how insecure he became afterwards. In hindsight, it makes sense that he didn’t want to spend time discussing it. Back then, the radio silence just made you hope that he was taking care of himself, not feeling pressured to keep anyone updated. Why would he want to constantly relive and dissect that kind of trauma?

“Do you ultimately want to redeem that moment?”

“I hope so. There’s always pressure to constantly outdo yourself, but I just want to finish the routines safely. That’s all I want,” He nods solemnly and you automatically believe him. Although he’s safely finished the other competitions within a season, there’s still an underlying fear of things going wrong at the worst possible moment.

“From what I saw today, you’re being careful,” You assure him. It’s not wrong to say that either, especially when he was helping you with the execution of the moves earlier. When he was done showing you a certain idea, he didn’t linger in the pose too long at all. It felt like he was overly cautious if anything, but you didn’t want to shift the mood too drastically.

“That’s from all the paranoia, trust me. I don’t want to feel afraid to compete, I want to break out of that habit,” He finally glances at you for a moment.

You’re grateful that he seems to echo your internal sentiment. There was never an air of hesitation around his skating, he was always quite self-assured in himself, but you both know that never conquering your fears could indefinitely stunt your growth. He obviously needed as long as possible to rebuild his self image and confront his fears.

“For what it’s worth, I think you’ll find that courage again,” You place a hand on his shoulder. The tension settles almost immediately at your touch.

“You think so?”

“I know you will. It’s either that or withdrawing from the Olympics which just sounds like a lot of paperwork, honestly,” You joke.

“You’re right, it’s a shit ton of paperwork,” He giggles and readjusts his hands on the wheel again.

You knew that last part wouldn’t be used for your final work, but it’s nice to hear him joke about it all. You liked being there for him as a friend, even if you’d never know exactly what it’s like to be in his position. He deserves that kind of empathy that’s not hollow or backhanded, you figure that’s the least you could do for him while being here.

You could finally even out the foundation of friendship in this way, silently repairing all the mistakes you’ve made in the past in regards to your relationship.

He’s able to talk a bit more about his recovery before the end of the drive and you feel satisfied by the end of the night. Over dinner, it feels like everything is evolving, not just the article itself. He’s opened himself up a bit further and you’d like to treasure that.

—

“You don’t have to stay the entire time, you know that right?” He turns his glance toward you away from the ice with a smirk playing on his lips.

The infamous 12-hour practice day had arrived, and you were dreading it the most out of the week’s schedule. Yet, you were committed to being as involved in his daily life as possible, despite your natural aversion to waking up at dawn. You didn’t want to be one of those writers that holed up in their hotel room to write their assigned article. It was typically out of your control how much time you were allowed to spend with a subject, but if given the option to spend more time with them, you wanted to take it.

Since it was Joshua, you still felt obliged to play catch up on spending time with him in any way you could, even if it meant watching him from the bleachers for an entire work day. Plus, you were already at the rink this early, there was no use in leaving to do touristy things alone when you didn’t necessarily want to do that anyways.

“I know, but I want to,” You retorted. He gives you that “you’re gonna eat your words” look, but he still accepts your answer.

“Are you still up to be interviewed once you’re done practicing?”

“Yeah, I should be good,” He takes a deep breath once he replies, seemingly preparing himself for the painstakingly long day ahead of him.

“Okay, I’ll leave you to it then,” You wave at him and he returns it immediately. You head up the bleachers to find a good seat, ending up somewhere towards the lower half of the seating. You wanted to be in a good position where you could view the full scope of his skating, but also capture the details of his face. Your position ends up being perfect, it makes watching him even more fascinating.

He does most of his stretches further away from you, so you’re caught craning your neck to see him. His muscles are well defined, a fact that you’ve been trying to ignore as the bulk of his arms seem to fight against the sleeves of his shirt as he stretches his limbs above his head.

His warm-up is calm yet still dynamic to watch. His jumps are so effortless that your head spins just thinking about the physics of jumping up into a spin and somehow not falling on your ass as you land.

Yet, he lands them perfectly every time. You know that’s not possible, that there’s probably some small tweak he’d make to the way he entered a jump or a correction he’d make to the angle of his landing, but you were fine living in ignorant bliss of the technical aspects of his skating.

You wanted yourself to enjoy being a spectator, to not fixate on every single detail, and simply enjoy an elite athlete being good at their sport.

He takes a small breather but soon goes into his assumed short program. Most diehard Olympics fans would kill to see even a glimpse of his routines for the impending games, but like any other figure skater, the details are carefully kept under lock and key until the competition begins.

You try to savor the image of him without the full theatrics of the actual performance, and the sight of him is enchanting.

His short program music is a bombastic and dynamic classical piece that forces you to focus on every detail of the performance. It’s a triumphant number, one that exudes the confidence and charisma of an experienced skater that knows the nuances of the song like the back of their hand. You decide that it suits him perfectly as he expresses the power of the song through cutthroat expressions and sharp movements.

After running through the full routine a few times, you notice him stop to take an extended break. He skates back to your side of the rink with a smile on his face.

“Falling asleep yet?” He jokes.

“Not yet,” you return the smile, your cheeks practically hurt just looking at him. It’s nearly impossible to avoid watching him, he’s always had this magnetic charm on the ice that makes him hard to ignore.

“Good, I haven’t bored you yet. How’s the writing coming?”

You glance at your laptop on the seat next to you, accompanied by scattered papers on top of the keyboard. The writing was mostly on pause considering the unusual environment, you didn’t ever write with the same classical song blasting in your ears on repeat.

Also, he was skating, so every time you thought you got into a good rhythm with writing, your eyes drifted back to him gliding across the ice. The sound of his skates hitting the ice was hard to ignore.

“It’s coming,” You lie easily. A quick tilt of his head signals that he knows you’re bluffing.

“Lots of strategizing, huh?” He doesn’t let on though, pointing at your notes instead and you’re nodding slowly.

“You’re not an easy person to write about,” You give him a pointed look and he’s grinning.

“So I’ve heard,” You’re glad he has some level of self-awareness. You’re not trying to give writers who are purposefully uninformed about his career when tasked to write a meaningful piece about him any credit, but he was a somewhat difficult subject.

Not in the traditional ways, of course, he’s not storming out of interviews over small details, but he’s so polished that it’s impossible to get much depth out of him beyond his typical media-trained answers.

You always heard the same things about him from other entertainment writers. He was perfectly kind and respectful to work with, but you would have to try especially hard to break him out of his mold.

Even if you felt that you knew him, you didn’t really know him at all.

The thought sits in the back of your mind like an unwanted guest.

“That means you actually have to keep giving me something to work with,” You sigh, gesturing your hands out toward him.

“We’ll see,” He playfully eyes you up and down, but it has a serious undertone. You’ve made some good progress, but you didn’t want to torture him for details. It wasn’t worth being invasive of his boundaries just to make a better article.

He skates off without another word and he’s back in the throes of practicing the routine. After a bit more technical work on the short program, he moves on to the free program.

The music is drastically calmer, it creates a stark contrast to his first routine. It’s still classical, you’d have to inquire exactly what track it was, but the mood of the piece was much lighter. It was smart of him to represent the full duality of his skating abilities.

His movements are almost fairylike, his delicate spins are effortless to watch. This doesn’t undercut the power of his jumps though, still as dramatic as ever. This routine contains far more quadruple jumps than the short program, likely in an effort to show off his technical prowess.

He wasn’t called the “technical prince” for nothing. It’s a nickname that’s been floating around the fandom since your early blog days, first used when fans noticed that young Joshua’s technical scores at competitions were almost always perfect. It’s followed him for years, evolving to show how clean his technique is.

He’s the textbook example of a good figure skater.

Once he finishes the routine, you can tell his stamina is reasonably depleted. From your occasional glances, you can tell it’s quite taxing to do multiple quadruple jump combinations in a row, yet he pulls it off every time.

The rest of the day consisted of him alternating between the routines, cleaning up details that he wasn’t happy with, and practicing the execution of his moves until he finally seemed satisfied with them. After a while, you figure you can’t write much else for this portion of the article without interviewing him again, so you settle further into the unforgivingly cold seats to watch him intently.

“Y/N!” He calls your name suddenly, waving his hand from across the rink.

“What?”

“It’s time to go home,” He beckons his hand for you to come toward him. You don’t hesitate to pack your laptop and assorted notes back into your purse, rushing over to meet up with him on his side of the rink. You don’t exactly know how to process being included in the concept of his home, even though you know it’s a harmless statement.

By the time you reach the other side, he’s already taken his skates off and replaced them with sneakers, his leg anxiously bouncing up and down as he watches you come over. He’s sat toward the end of the bleachers and you can sense that his body is ready to get moving.

“I just have to get a few things from the locker room and I’ll be ready to go. Do you want to go back there with me?” He looks toward the lengthy hallway behind him before looking back at you in anticipation. You didn’t go the first day he invited you to the rink out of an abundance of caution, mostly for your own heart’s sake.

You could keep yourself under control watching him collect his things, right?

“Yeah, I’ll go,” You nod decisively. He gets up and leads you through the hallway until you arrive at a private locker room, the door is adorned with a small nameplate with his name on it. He downplays how fancy it actually is, but it feels like a miniature hotel suite. In addition to the dressing room itself, it also contains a full private bathroom and sizable closet.

“Damn,” you mutter under your breath, looking around the room and taking in the full scope of it.

“Yeah, it’s pretty nice,” He adds. You’re still looking around and trying not to touch anything in fear of breaking something.

You turn around to voice your opinions, but you notice something else.

Joshua is shirtless. You weren’t exactly objectifying him, but it was definitely hard to not look at him. He’s taking a moment to wipe off the sweat across his chest, it feels a bit pornographic to keep looking at that point. The next time you look, he thankfully has a shirt on so your cheeks can stop fully burning at the sight of him.

He doesn’t notice your stare, but you do observe the shirts that fall to the floor when Joshua accidentally knocks his duffel bag onto the ground.

“I’ve got it,” You chirp, already reaching down to pick everything up.

“It’s okay,” Joshua hurriedly shoulders the bag back onto the bench, double checking that it’s not hanging off precariously like last time.

Your heads both come up at the same time, your faces only a few inches away from each other.

“Are you gonna move?” You inquire quietly. He stares back, obviously in no rush to fold. His glance is tempting, everything about him is tempting.

“Do you want me to move?” He counters.

Shit.

You didn’t want him to at all, the idea of him walking away makes you want to scream. The tension has been mounting the past few days whether you wanted to admit it or not. At first, you chalked it up to him just being a gentleman, but there was always a hint of something else there. His politeness toward his staff was completely different to the kindness he offered you.

The lingering glances on you when he’s cooking, his particularly fond smiles while you talk about something, and the soft touches all add up in your brain.

Now that you were in a different setting, it was crystal clear to you. If there was ever a sign, this was it.

“No,” You shake your head.

“Can I?” He asks and your heart has already melted into a puddle. No one ever asks you for a kiss. You’re not sure if you would’ve rejected him to begin with, but the tenderness leaves you enthralled.

You nod and he meets your lips with ease. He tastes better than you could’ve ever imagined. It doesn’t take long for you to move further into the kiss, pushing your tongue into his mouth. He accepts you and naturally picks up the pace, capturing your lips over and over again leaving you few chances to catch your breath.

“Shit,” You step back first and he’s clearly confused.

“Are you ok? We don’t have to do this,” His voice is far too worried for what you’re actually thinking about, poor thing.

“No, I’m fine, I just remembered that I didn’t get to interview you,” You pout. You genuinely feel guilty for not mentioning it before the lust took over your mind, but it still needed to get off your chest.

“That’s okay, we can just do it here,” He reassures you with a nod.

“No,” you caress his arm, “not here.”

It clicks once you start running your hand up and down his bicep, eventually resting your palm on the side of his neck. The gesture is enough to make him arrange his bag faster than you’ve seen him move the entire trip.

—

“God, you taste so fucking good,” Joshua moans into your ear, momentarily taking his lips off yours to catch his breath. You can’t even form sentences at this point, only quiet moans that show your dissolving restraint. He can tell you’re getting tired of holding back too, in fact it seems to bother him quite a bit.

“I wanna hear you,” He whispers again, he suddenly nips your ear in retaliation for being quiet.

It forces a whiny moan out of your throat, it’s embarrassing to bend so easily to him but his quiet humming on your neck is enough indication to you that he’s satisfied.

He insisted on driving you both home and for good reason, he was so helplessly horny that he couldn’t keep his hand off your thigh for the entire drive home. You felt him snake his hand underneath your skirt, but he didn’t go much further than that, his thumb idly rubbing circles on your inner thigh.

The moment you both walked inside the house, Joshua couldn’t contain himself at all against your lips, thus you were barely standing up against the door.

“Josh, please,” you breathe out. Your voice is weak, you can’t even pretend to have your guard up anymore.

“What’s up?” He barely gets it out before his lips are on yours again. You whimper into the kiss again, tapping your hands against his chest to get his attention. You manage to pull away to speak up.

“Please tell me you’re not gonna fuck me against the door,” You pant, looking up at him with a smirk.

He takes a deep breath and tilts his head to look at you intently. You almost think he’s angry until he suddenly picks you up bridal style, ignoring your startled scream with a smile.

He leads you upstairs into his bedroom and tosses you on the bed lightly, you lean back onto your elbows as he inches closer to you.

“You’re so fucking impatient, you know that?” He giggles at you, hands slowly prying open your thighs with gentle hands. You try not to hold your breath in anticipation, but the touch of his fingertips against your skin is already driving you insane.

“You made us rush home because you swore that you needed to get more material for the interview,” He speaks in a low tone, sliding his hands underneath your skirt again, but his hands stop at your hips, massaging the fabric of your underwear.

“I did, I mean, I do,” You stutter out, making eye contact with him. He laughs at your attempt to be coherent and hooks his fingers under both sides of your underwear. He decides to slip the entirety of his hands underneath, seizing your hips with outstretched palms. He yanks you down the bed in one swift movement, making you gasp.

“You kept teasing me with this skirt, ignoring me and acting like you weren’t already soaked for me back at the rink,” He palms the front of your cunt, confirming how desperate you’ve been for him. It makes you shudder and squeeze your eyes closed.

“No no no, baby, keep your eyes open. You’re gonna interview me right now,” He nods at you and your heart drops to your stomach. You’re already somewhat close to cumming, you’re convinced that a single touch to your clit would send you over the edge.

How the hell were you meant to interview him like this?

“Fuck,” You whine, hips already lifting off the bed to gain more friction.

“I know, honey, you have to focus. Can you do that or do you need my cock that badly?” He teases you with lustful eyes and you clench your jaw. You’re determined to prove him wrong, so you put your energy into contemplating a question to start with.

“I can focus, asshole,” You begrudgingly shift your hips to give him better access. You shake your head and come up with a question on the spot, eyes trained on his expectantly.

“What’s a common misconception about your public persona that you hate?” Your voice holds steady and he slides your underwear off quickly.

He hums to himself for a moment, deciding to graze a finger lazily against your folds. “I’m not a people pleaser or a pushover. People think me being a gentleman means I take all kinds of shit, but I don’t,” He slips two fingers into your core, a light smile plays on his lips when he feels you clench around him.

“So you think people in the industry look down on you for that?” You hear your voice lilt for a second as he finds a steady rhythm, curling his fingers instinctively. Your hips are rocking subtly and he clocks this immediately, he moves to cage you between his legs.

“I know they do,” He confirms with a lift of his eyebrows, “especially when I was younger. It fucked with my mentality a lot, but I know better now,” He adds when he sees your pout. He moves up to your chest, tugging your shirt up slightly. He moves back to let you take off your top and bra, but his fingers are still expertly moving inside your walls. The sound of your wetness is absolutely stealing your focus, especially when Joshua decides to force his fingers inside you even harder with low grunts.

He’s an absolute menace, you’re sure of it.

You only nod to his answer, but he disapproves at your silence. “Come on, you know the rules,” He moves up to capture your nipple in his mouth, eliciting soft moans out of you. Your orgasm is definitely on the horizon, the coil in the pit of your stomach is tightening with every bite to your chest.

“So I assume you channel a lot of frustration into your-” He hits your g-spot particularly hard, you let out a strangled cry that forces a tear down your cheek. You clamp a hand over your mouth, but Joshua is already pushing it off your face to leave a peck on your lips.

“Your skating, shit,” You whisper, you force his head back down to meet your lips in a heated kiss. Your tongue enters his mouth with no hesitation and he returns the kiss just as eagerly. He pulls back after a few seconds and leaves a kiss on your cheek.

“Definitely. People can say whatever they want about me, but I know I’m talented. I don’t have to resort to making shit up about my competitors to compensate for a lack of talent,” He laughs at the idea of being that desperate for attention. It makes your walls flutter around his fingers.

“You like it when I hype myself up, huh?” You watch him move to the crook of your neck, biting down hard on an exposed part of your skin.

“Yes, yes yes,” You slur out, eyes fluttering shut. He giggles at your temporary lack of attention before kissing across your jaw. He retreats back down to your thighs again, placing a finger against your clit.

“One more question and you can cum, I promise,” He nods at you and you return it after a moment, but it’s going to be an uphill battle to arrange your mushy brain into a proper thought.

“Do you think you’re the best figure skater in the world?” You sigh into the air, eyes rolling to the back of your head in frustration. It’s an absolutely loaded question, but you know his ego is massive right now since you’re in the palm of his hands.

His fingers still, the pressure remains deep in your core and he runs his free hand through his hair. The whole act would be far sexier than it already is if you weren’t seconds away from covering his fingers in cum.

He laughs quietly before speaking up again. “I do. We both know I am,” His voice is far too cocky for his own good. His stare is stone cold, he holds so much control over you that it’s almost unbearable.

“Now cum,” His nonchalance sends you over the edge instantly. Your high pitched moan goes completely silent, your mouth agape while your neck tilts back in an effort to regain control. Joshua slips his fingers out and moves up to your face, pressing them gently on your bottom lip. You suck them off immediately and watch him coo at you. “Good job, baby. Ready for anything else?”

“Can I take a nap?” You furrow your eyebrows at him, heart full of malice for his unexpectedly great oral skills, yet he’s still smitten with you.

Honestly, Joshua Hong was always gonna be great in bed. It’s not like you didn’t fantasize about having sex with him over the years, but you didn’t expect the prophecy to fulfill itself this easily.

Somehow, he got you all whiny and pliant when you didn’t expect it at all. It was annoying how well he could please you. You were slightly tired, but you didn’t want him to be a cocky shit on top of you again just yet. You needed to recover.

“Sure,” He finally got off the bed, presumably to help you clean up and your suspicions were correct when he returned a minute later with a damp washcloth. You started to sit up, but he made you lie down again.

Who were you to fight Joshua when he offered to tend to your shaking thighs and messy cunt? It was the least he could do after making you work for your orgasm.

—

The next morning, you’re shocked that Joshua is in bed next to you. He was always up and moving pretty early, deep into his morning routine while you were barely conscious.

You, on the other hand, were trying to treat this week partially as a vacation. When Joshua wanted to bring you along to his private schedules, you were still insistent on taking your time to get ready, much to his dismay.

Thus, you were grateful that he could actually slow down for one day while you were here. As your eyes adjusted to the sunlight filtering through the curtains, you realized this was the rest day placed onto his schedule for the week.

You look over to his sleeping form and realize that you’re deeply entangled with his body. Although you’re lying flat on your back, his head is tucked in the crook of your neck. You don’t dare to move your arms or legs though, as his body keeps you essentially trapped into place next to him.

Your minimal movements still stir him awake.

“Hi,” you whisper. He’s still forcing himself into consciousness, but he waves at you. You sit in silence for a few minutes, silently waking each other up with random touches on each other’s face or arms.

“We had sex three times last night, correct?” You ask out of the blue. He’s visibly confused at your sudden line of questioning.

“Not even a good morning?” He mutters, letting out a big yawn immediately after.

“No. I wanna know because I know you remember.”

“After that first part? I’m pretty sure it was three,” His voice is slightly hesitant, but you trust his answer considering he was dominant the entire time. You also wanted to know because it was becoming increasingly harder to deny how much you like him.

You have to admit, it was nice being able to have him like this, to watch him rub the sleep out of his eyes and cuddle without questioning if he wanted you back. He clearly did, even if his pride wouldn’t let himself say it. It was a matter of who would crack first, now that you’ve established the fact that you have undeniable sexual chemistry.

“How did you get me to go three more times?” This question is especially pertinent now that your muscles felt the aches to match that number. You can barely sit up against the headboard without wincing.

“You asked me to,” He put his hands up in defense.

You now remember that you did ask to keep going. The first time was standard, being called a cockslut during the second round made you go feral enough for a third, and the absolute filth of the last round knocked you out completely.

You were fucked, considering that you didn’t want to have sex with anyone else but only had access to said person for a few more days.

“Right,” You sigh.

“What are you planning to do today?”

“I’m gonna edit the article a bit, I’ve been putting it off. What about you?”

“Chores. I need to get a lot of things done, but remind me to run you a bath at some point today. Your muscles hurt, right?” He’s already out of the bed, stretching his arms above his head.

“Yeah, but I don’t-”

“No, I’m running you a bath. Us, technically since my muscles hurt too,” He raises his eyebrows at the thought of pampering himself, but he’s still insistent on the idea.

“Fine,” You bite back the rest of your response and he picks up on it immediately.

“No rebuttal?”

“No,” You pout, jutting your lip out to garner some kind of sympathy. He falls for it, approaching the bed again.

He leans down to leave a chaste kiss on your lips, his mouth naturally moving up to kiss your cheek as well.

“I promise it’ll be worth it, you’ll feel a lot better,” He softens his delivery for you and it barely hurts once he pulls away. He’s had that effect on you lately, his affection so irresistible that even the worst news has a slightly sweet aftertaste coming from him.

“Come on,” He taps his side of the bed to coax you up, and you slowly follow him.

The encouragement works though, as you’re both propelled into a productive afternoon. Joshua gets all of his chores done, somehow doing three loads of laundry and other assorted tasks while you’re editing.

Meanwhile, you’re firmly planted on the couch, trying to make the interview sound cohesive. You don't need to fully edit while you’re on the trip, that’s not even possible with what you have, but you wouldn’t feel right just leaving the entire process until you arrived home.

Joshua gives you an adequate amount of space, only stopping you to make sure you ate lunch or took a break from looking at your laptop screen.

They were welcome distractions, truly. If the process of trying to capture Joshua accurately in the article didn’t make any sense, it was nice to know the real Joshua was somewhere flitting around the house doing the dishes or vacuuming the living room.

Plus, it was nice to paint domestic scenes about him in your mind.

Joshua doesn’t take breaks much at all, this has been true for his entire career. He’s always competing, always performing, always doing someone a favor by being a guest of honor or special performer. It was nice to see him just exist, to fret over if he had enough laundry detergent for his next load and watch him sort his white clothes from his colorful wardrobe.

You wonder if these moments add up for him too, if he craves this kind of quiet domesticity at times.

He places a gentle hand on your shoulder and you look up at him.

“Can we take a bath now? Is it a bad time?” He worries, but you’re ready to pause.

“No, I’m ready,” You confirm. He helps you off the couch with a steady hand. You walk side by side on the way up the staircase this time, arms linked with hands untouched.

His master bathroom is just as simplistically ornate as you figured it would be. The bathtub overlooks the backyard, displaying a gorgeous view of the city skyline right above the trees.

The sun was about to set, so the view was even more picturesque than you could’ve imagined.

Throughout the day, your aches have been pressing at the back of your brain, interrupting your thought process multiple times, so much so that you don’t know why you fought him against this in the first place.

He opts for picking the right temperature for the water while he leaves you to pick out a calming scent to include in the bath.

You pick an expensive looking lavender bubble bath and he smiles when you place the bottle in his hands.

“I’ve been meaning to use this one, actually,” His eyes light up.

“Sure you have,” You sit down next to him, placing your head on his shoulder. You both observe the water slowly filling up the tub, he silently squeezes the bottle under the running water before retreating once the bubbles start to spread throughout the surface.

You both sit in silence just watching the water fill up, the sound of the faucet echoing throughout the room. Once the tub becomes noticeably fuller, he adds more bubble bath until the top is visibly covered with bubbles.

He insists on getting in first, stripping his clothes easily before settling into the tub slowly. You can already see the tension leave his muscles, especially on his face. His jaw loosens and he takes a deep breath.

He opens one eye and giggles when he sees you hesitate to enter. “Come on, I don’t bite,” He reassures you.

You move to take your clothes off in a few quick movements. He watches you with adoration, as if he’s never seen you naked before and he’d like to take it all in for a moment. Stepping into the tub isn’t too difficult, but when he suddenly pulls your waist down, the splashing startles you.

“Josh, you’re gonna get water everywhere,” you whine.

“You’re supposed to be relaxing, remember?” He pulls you flush against his chest. He punctuates his question with kisses behind your ear.

Right. You force yourself to take a breath and settle into his skin.

You know your skin is littered with light bruises from the night before and he seems to notice this, his hand silently tracing over the red marks before stopping near your collarbone.

Once he stops moving and you stop overthinking, the silence is perfect.

It’s not entirely silent, there’s still the hum of the overhead fan creating ambiance, but the dim lights pull you into the fantasy of it all.

You realize that you haven’t felt this peaceful in a long time. Perhaps it’s his presence or the fact that you haven’t sat in silence on your own in so long, but you want it more often.

You want him to envelop your life with his gentle reminders and caring gazes, silently telling you that there’s no point in working yourself to death if there’s no life for you to live outside of that.

“Joshua?”

“Yeah?”

“Do you ever want your career to slow down?”

He sighs so deeply that you feel it in your chest. “Is this off the record?”

“Yeah.”

“Then yes. I want to slow down so badly, it feels like my body is fighting back against how much I work sometimes,” His response is slightly pained, adjusting his body underneath you.

You pause for a few moments before speaking up again. “What’s stopping you?”

“I don’t-,” He hesitates.

“It’s okay,” Your voice mirrors the softness that he’s given you throughout the day. He gathers his thoughts for a second before trying again.

“I don’t know who I am as a person if I don’t work. This has been my entire life, if I get a few days to myself I feel like I’m going insane,” He sounds so tired of keeping up the charade, tired of being everyone’s perfect gentleman, just tired of it all.

“Have you told your team?”

“Yeah. After this Olympics cycle, I’m pulling back. I need to before it’s too late, you know?”

“Absolutely. I don’t want you to burn out even more.”

“I’ve been burnt out for ages, so what’s a little bit longer,” He chuckles bitterly. It felt like a poor response the moment you said it, but something in you hoped it wasn’t wrong to be concerned.

“So you’re gonna do the charity skate tomorrow even though you’re burnt out,” You predict.

“I mean, yeah, the skating itself isn’t the problem. I love performing, I’m just not built to keep going without consistent breaks anymore,” He reasoned.

It made complete sense knowing how quickly his career ascended once he entered the elite circuit. He hasn’t left the top 10 of the World Standings since his first full elite competition season which is incredibly hard for anyone to keep up throughout their career.

It’s no wonder that he’s tired of keeping an unmanageable pace.

“I’m sorry,” You whisper. You don’t know what else to say. What could you even tell him?

“Please, it’s not your fault.”

“Do you want me to put this in the interview? Or just write some filler paragraph about it?” You giggle through the last question and he's amused as well.

“Filler, please. I’m confident you won’t make me sound like a dick,” He plants a kiss on your cheek as a silent thank you.

“I promise I won’t.”

“I am excited for the show tomorrow though,” He shifts the conversation and it’s a welcome change.

“Anything fun planned for your number?” You asked.

From what you’ve read, Joshua’s rink held the annual charity skate event in order to honor the professional skaters who train in their facilities, allowing them space to perform routines that they may not have had the chance to otherwise. Notoriously, skaters were extremely flashy with their songs and costumes since there was significant creative freedom.

“Not really, it’s nostalgic of my old numbers.”

“Will I remember it?”

“Definitely, it made your ranking of my best performances forever ago,” His laugh vibrates through your body.

“That list definitely holds up, by the way,” You defend your teenage choices blindly, you definitely hadn’t seen it since you posted it, but it’s nice that he actually remembered some of the content you posted.

“I know you’ll love it,” He presses a long kiss on your cheek once again, but lingers against your face this time.

You’re back to silence again for a few minutes.

“I’m sorry it’s been so long since we’ve seen each other,” You apologized. You can sense that he’s already shaking his head no at your words before you can finish your sentence.

“It’s just as much my fault as it’s yours.”

“You know I was avoiding you, though,” You clarified.

“I noticed that,” You could tell that he was smiling through the response, it makes your cheeks burn.

“I was definitely doing the same though,” He immediately follows it up. In all honesty, it was a relief that both of you decided to bury yourselves in shaping your respective careers. You were unintentionally coping in the same ways, silently hoping the other person was making better choices.

Alas, you were too similar for that to be true.

“But you know what?”

“Hm?”

“I’m really proud of you. I haven’t told you that enough and I feel terrible. I should’ve been there for you,” he replies earnestly.

After all this time, he was proud of you. In retrospect, you thought you were too obsessive or had unintentionally crossed his boundaries as a fan. Yet, that was never the case. He was always grateful that you supported him at every turn, so why wouldn’t he return that gratitude to you?

You didn’t need his validation, the initial interview all those years ago was enough to satisfy you a million times over, but he needed to express it.

You were eternally grateful that he acted on that need.

However, that last part of the confession urges you to sit up completely. You turn your body as much as possible to face him without splashing the water too much.

“You were there for me.”

“Leaving comments on your Instagram is not supporting you in the way you need, you know that,” He counters.

He’s right. You adjusted your expectations for Joshua years ago, you weren’t happy with how things were, but you accepted that your communication would always be limited.

You didn’t have the courage to talk to him, you figured things would never change. It wasn’t smart, you wasted far too much time refusing to invest in your relationship simply because of your own cowardice.

It seems he also became content with barely doing enough.

“I’m sorry for doing the same thing.”

“This can be a truce, then. I want us to be closer if you want that,” He holds out his hand and you take it immediately.

“I absolutely want that,” You're grinning so hard that your cheeks hurt. “So this means you want to kiss me again?”

“You have a massive hickey on your neck and you don’t think I want to kiss you again?” He’s almost fed up, but that smirk tells you otherwise.

“I’m just making sure,” You lower your head coyly. “Come here, babe,” He beckons you over, but he’s too eager to let you make the entire distance. He captures your lips with ease, placing his hand on your cheek. You steady yourself with your hand on his arm, leaning into the kiss with a sense of urgency.

It’s only a few moments before you pull back. “Josh, the water is so fucking cold,” You laugh through your shivers.

He reaches behind you to open the drain and kisses you again. You can’t help but smile against his lips.

The new uncharted territory you’ve forged with him makes your skin burn with excitement.

—

As soon as you arrive at the backstage area of the rink, Joshua’s whisked away by his stylist and assistants to the dressing room. You’re escorted to a VIP viewing area towards the top of the rink, a lounge with access to multi-view screens and a bird’s eye view of the ice.

Before the show starts, you familiarize yourself with the other figure skaters performing tonight. You’ve heard of all of them to some extent, having watched them in anticipation of Joshua’s performances in the past at invitationals and other competitions. Tonight was no different, as Joshua would be the last skater performing tonight.

The marketing team knew exactly what they were doing with that decision.

There were definitely fans of the other skaters dispersed throughout the stadium, but most people you saw were Joshua fans, carrying slogans and wearing merch with his name on it.

Some people even recognize you on the way up to the VIP section which throws you for a loop. They were mainly shocked that you were even at this kind of event in the first place, but it felt validating to be complimented for something outside of him.

Although the other skaters are highly entertaining to watch, your mind feels ready to see Joshua perform. Their performances are satisfying, but that particular spark is missing. It feels reminiscent of when you’d anxiously stay up to watch livestreams of his performances at 3 am, live updating your followers on the exact time when Joshua would be performing.

It was bittersweet to be able to watch him in person. It’s been years since you’ve watched him perform in the flesh, but the circumstances feel perfectly aligned.

“Performing Every moment of you, please welcome Joshua Hong,” The announcer’s voice booms through the stadium speakers and the stadium erupts into cheers. The sight of him waving to the camera is enough to leave the stadium in shambles, so his steps onto the ice are even more precious.

The pink top was the right choice now that he’s about to perform. He made you pick between a few options earlier in the day, but the sheer sleeves and pastel color match the mood perfectly. His side parted hair is neatly styled and light makeup highlights his soft features. The lighting really does his face justice as he purses his lips slightly, adjusting his head slightly down to enter his starting pose.

He moves a hand onto his heart and tucks his right leg behind his left.

As soon as the music starts, your heart clenches.

He chose this particular song, out of all his older routines. This song was in constant rotation throughout his first elite competition season, you could practically see it in your sleep.

When you watch him, you notice that the routine has barely changed either, the step sequences are just as smooth as you remember with delicate flairs of his new style.

The music is somehow more emotional than you remember, a sign that his artistry evokes such a vivid image that you can only think of him and this particular routine when you hear the song.

The execution of his combination jumps are flawless as always, and the audience agrees with loud applause every time he lands them. It seems as though he doesn’t have to try as he glides around the rink, a dreamy expression paints his face as he visibly connects with the lyrics.

He always transformed into a new character in every routine while still maintaining his own distinct style, it was something you deeply admired about his skating.

Before you know it, the song slowly comes to a close and Joshua stands in that final pose you remember so well, his face settling into a soft smile.

The crowd is absolutely obsessed with him, you look to see that many people were on their feet for a standing ovation. You immediately join in, looking toward his reaction. The cameras capture his shock, he’s pleasantly surprised by all the fanfare. He takes it in for another minute or so, looking up at the people in the stands with appreciative eyes. He finally bows his head and waves before skating off the ice.

When the entire group is called back onstage for final bows and the closing ceremony, he is once again dazzled by how intensely the crowd cheers for him once he’s introduced onstage. It’s precious to watch him try to shake it off with his hands on his face, looking to his fellow performers for a way to avoid the attention. He has always been appreciative of his support, always remaining humble in the face of his popularity constantly growing.

It doesn’t take as long as you expected for him to meet up with you. He asks you to wait in the hallway outside his dressing room, and he soon emerges; he barely lets you get a word out before enveloping you in a hug.

“What did you think?”

“I didn’t think you’d pick that one, honestly!” Your enthusiasm quiets when he kisses you and you suddenly feel acutely aware of the staff around you. He notices your shyness and pulls himself against your ear again.

“We’ll be alone soon, okay? I’m glad you liked it,” He punctuates his sentence with a kiss on the cheek. It made you relax into his touch and hold your hand while you were still in the venue.

Once outside, he lets go to briefly wave at the crowd of his fans before placing his hand on the small of your back.

You hear the gasps when he does it, but you don’t look back at the crowd. The judgment stays in your skin once you’re both escorted into the SUV, even when Joshua’s trying to get your attention with kisses to your hand.

“What are you thinking about, babe?”

“Nothing,” It’s easier to lie in the moment. He eyes you for a bit longer but ultimately doesn't question you any further.

You can’t tell him that everything feels especially temporary now. You know what it’s like to be on the opposite side of it as a fan, the initial feeling of seeing him make contact with a new romantic interest is always shocking. Neither of you owed them anything, you never had to reveal the depth of relationship if that’s what you both wanted.

He says he wants you, but that inevitable “what happens next” conversation hasn’t happened and you’re leaving in the next 48 hours. If there was any time to figure out the definition of your relationship, it was now.

Although the conversation in the bath last night was enlightening, you needed some kind of finality. You wouldn’t let yourself fall for vague promises anymore.

Will he make you a priority when his schedule is about to amp up even more?

If you needed to move on, you’d rather know now before you’re on another 13 hour flight left to your own devices.

—

You’re able to tag along with Joshua to his practice session with his coach on your last full day in town.

Although the conclusion of the trip takes up most of your brain space, it’s still interesting to watch his skating become informed by a new perspective. You couldn’t hear all of the critiques in detail, but it was enough to understand how Joshua’s energy was shaped through their leveled guidance.

He switched from his longtime coach once he broke his ankle, understandably citing that the old coach had pushed him to the point of collapse, no matter how grateful he may have been for his old coach’s support thus far.

The dynamic was far more supportive, you concluded. You were able to get more writing done, but your eyes drift to him more often than not.

He practices intensely for around 6 hours today, still a considerate amount of time considering the other practice days in his schedule. He didn’t appear distracted when you were watching him, but he was clearly eager to be alone with you again. He was practically pulling you into the front door once you arrived at his home.

He leads you upstairs to his bedroom before closing the door quickly.

“Kiss me,” His request is urgent, and you oblige despite feeling hesitant.

It’s best to just kiss him, to enjoy a good thing standing right in front of you while you have it.

He’s showing all his tells that he wants more than just kisses, cradling the back of your head, moaning into your mouth. It all still feels so enticing.

Yet, as always, he seems to notice something’s off before you can. He must notice the tension in your body that you tried your best to will away. He pulls out of the kiss and examines your eyes.

“Are you ok?” He’s slightly panting. You force yourself to close your eyes to steady your nerves.

“No,” you admit.

“What’s wrong?”

“I can’t do this, you know that.” He knows exactly what you mean by the way his shoulders drop. He looks nervous, not sure if he’s about to lose you.

“Why not? What would be so wrong about being with me?” He’s genuinely upset, fighting your answer almost instantly. Therein lies the problem, there’s nothing wrong about dating him as a person. It was simply the logistics that made everything far more complicated than your heart could bear.

“Nothing,” your voice trembles. “It would be great,” A tear falls from your eye and he’s already reaching up to wipe it away. You don’t stop him from touching your face.

“But I can’t be halfway across the world from you, I can’t watch you pretend to love me and then start dating someone else right in front of my face again.”

“You know dating Ara wasn’t my choice, I wouldn’t do that to you again,” His voice is strangely quiet.

Ara was a famous Korean actress who was practically a critic’s darling at this point in her career. She dated Joshua for 4 years, long enough for the Korean public to become absolutely enamored with the idea of them. The concept of Korea’s charming upcoming actress and Korea’s technical skating prince dating each other was obviously popular among netizens, so their sudden breakup was quite shocking.

Their conflicting schedules made it a perfect storm for them to stop speaking to each other.

It all ended very publicly, but somehow Joshua was still beloved in the end. He always was.

At a work gala he was the guest of honor for, he told you that he wanted to be with you over drinks. There were many kisses exchanged in a secluded hallway, promises linger against your skin and you thought they were real.

She was his plus one, but he insisted that they were just friends.

You trusted him, and their relationship was announced a few days later. You were crushed, it made you regret ever thinking you could be more than a fan who simply pushed her luck.

“You stayed with her for 4 years, you loved her,” You persisted.

“No, I didn’t.”

“She said you did,” It bites harder than you expect, but it’s true. There were numerous interviews of her confirming the depths of their relationship. Whenever she mentioned him, there was always long-term commitment implied.

“I promise you I didn’t.” He squares his jaw as he insists on it being false.

“Why did you lie? Why didn’t you just let me down easy? You do it with literally every fan,” You shake your head, knowing exactly what he’s been through. You’ve seen the death threats, ultimatums, and invasive love offers that he’s received over the years. If he could handle that with grace, he could at least give you a proper response.

“You know you mean more to me than that,” He begged.

“If I mean more to you, then you shouldn’t have done it,” You respond. It’s selfish, you know it is.

“You can’t be fucking serious! It was to further my career, you of all people should know that,” He yelled. His voice doesn’t deter you, it simply makes you more determined.

“You could’ve fought back like you’ve done at any other point of your career. You should have fought for me,” You try to yell back but your voice falters again.

“This is me fighting for you, I want you,” He pleaded, moving closer to you out of desperation. Yet, you avoid his eye contact to close your eyes.

“You know that’s not what I meant,” You griped, shaking your head out of frustration. You hate that he’s dodging the question. You’ve seen him fight over much less, you’re not sure why he can’t recognize that he could’ve tried for you.

“You’re fighting me over hypotheticals, shit that hasn’t even happened yet.”

“You had another reason,” You state unremarkably, finally opening your eyes again. It was never a black or white situation, not with him.

“What?”

“You stayed with her for another reason.”

He takes a deep breath, closes his eyes, and internally resets before looking at you again.

“I didn’t want you to feel tied to me. I already knew what people were saying about you because of me, I knew you didn’t want me overshadowing your career. I didn’t want to haunt you,” He seems desperate to make you see his side of it.

“But you did, from the moment I met you. I knew I’d never be able to get over you. I built up a picture of you in my mind for years, and you actually fit it. I was stupid enough to think that my dumb luck would actually let me date you,” You confessed. You lower your head by the time you finish speaking.

He didn’t seem to understand that the dynamic would’ve always been uneven between you, but you were willing to risk it.

“Y/N,” He starts.

“I was fucking devastated that I still needed you,” you interrupt him, “I was doing perfectly fine, but I knew I would regret not doing this interview. I let you in one last time, to see if it’d be different than before, but you’re not ready. You’re still not ready and it was my fault for expecting too much of you.”

The silence is loud, you both have to process all of the feelings stirred up between you.

“I’m sorry.”

You’re not sure if that’s enough.

“Just indulge me for a second, do you love me?” You ask desperately.

He doesn’t speak. He looks torn, as if he wants to but something deep inside himself still hesitated to admit it. It confirms your worst fear, that even when there’s no other obstacles in the way, he can’t be what you need.

You scoff, wiping your face once again.

“Thanks for letting me stay here, I guess,” You walk back to your room and shut the door behind you. You unconsciously listen for any movement outside the door, to see if he would chase after you.

He doesn’t.

He does a variety of tasks in the kitchen, you hear running water and the sound of cabinet doors shutting, but he never approaches the door.

The kitchen light turns off and you hear his bedroom door shut.

You’re honestly glad he left you alone, but it doesn’t make it any easier to swallow.

As you settle into bed, you remember that he wanted to drive you to the airport tomorrow.

You’d rather walk the entire way than let him see you like this.

—

Joshua is an idiot, all things considered.

It was right there, he had the chance to tell you everything and give you his entire heart, but the words were stuck in his throat. He can barely go to sleep that night, but he could at least send you off to the airport the next morning.

It was wishful thinking that the drive would be any less painful, but he could at least fulfill his promise of taking you there. Thus, he doesn’t expect the guest room to be empty when he stumbles out of his room to go make himself breakfast.

He’s suddenly on high alert, thinking of all the things that could’ve possibly happened to you.

His internal monologue stops when he sees a note downstairs on the kitchen counter. He picks it up and curses under his breath.

“Changed my flight, your driver took me to the airport. Thanks again for letting me stay. - Y/N”

The message feels so stiff, it lacks any of your personality. Yet, he couldn’t pity himself for too long, he had to find you.

He had no idea if your flight had already taken off or not, but he at least had a location. Your original flight wasn’t until late afternoon, so he figured you must have been really fed up to change it to a mid-morning flight. The anger you felt transcended your hatred of mornings, and that was enough to really get Joshua moving.

He decided to stick with the clothes he had on to minimize the amount of time in the house. He wasn’t sure if it was smart to buy an impulse ticket for a flight he wasn’t going on, but he did it anyway.

As he sat in his car, he wasn’t sure if he locked the front door, but the adrenaline made him forget altogether.

The drive to the airport was a complete blur, he was certain that he blew through a few just-turned-red lights in an effort to get there. Once he arrives, he is anything but discreet.

He thanks his lucky stars that he gets a short security line so that he can run through the airport to find you. He only stops to check the massive flight board for flights to your city before picking up the pace again, almost running into a few people on the way.

He just had to make it to gate 12.

He spots the gate out of the corner of his eye, almost missing it due to his haste. He scans his eyes quickly across the group of people to see if you could possibly be there.

He’s almost given up on searching for you, but just like the movies, he finds you sitting in the corner wearing that particular writing hoodie.

He knows whatever way he chooses to approach you, it’ll scare you. Yet, he opts for the least terrifying option.

He walks over, taking a small breath before speaking up.

“Hi,” It comes out far too hesitant, but it still gets your attention. You look up at him, evidently confused but annoyance shows up quicker.

“What are you doing here?” You’re not moved at all, he felt like an inconvenience.

“We need to talk. Can I sit with you?” He points to the empty chair and you stare at him for a moment. You quietly oblige, giving a quick nod. You didn’t reject him outright, so that’s a win in his book.

“I’m really sorry about last night. I should’ve told you how I felt,” His voice is hushed so as to not disturb anyone else around you. Most people were sitting further away, but he didn’t want to take any chances. You only look forward, not acknowledging him at all.

“I thought about everything and you were right to be worried. I haven’t shown you that you can trust me to commit,” He continues.

“Whatever you want to do, that’s fine. I just,” He stops his train of thought to take a breath.

“I love you. I should’ve told you the moment you asked me, I should’ve told you the first day you came to town. I always knew,” He finishes with a shaky breath. You both sit in silence for longer than he’d like, but it’s understandable. Your longtime crush lets you down then admits he’s loved you for ages, it’s a lot for anyone to process.

“Joshua?”

He turns to face you. “Yeah?”

“That was corny as fuck,” You let out a laugh, covering your mouth with your hand. He’s happy to see you smile for a bit, even if it’s at his expense.

“I know, I just needed to tell you before you left,” He laughs quietly. It covers up the temporary embarrassment he feels. No matter what you tell him, he figures that it was worth it to put everything on the line.

“I forgive you, though. And I love you too,” You smile through the reply and your voice is the softest he’s ever heard it.

The newness of it all makes him blush.

“Still can’t look at me, huh? Do I make you nervous?” He touches your shoulder in a silent plea for you to let him in.

“Fuck off,” You finally make eye contact with him and grab his hand, fingers automatically intertwined with his. You press the back of his hand to your mouth for a kiss. The gesture quiets all his lingering fears.

“I’m not relocating for you though, I like my apartment and my job,” You give him a pointed look.

“I wouldn’t ask you to do that. Plus I told you I’m trying to slow down, remember?” The realization hits your face and it makes him giggle.

“Does that mean you’re moving in with me?”

“It might,” He suggests. He thinks he’s a pretty decent roommate, but he’d change his bad habits in a heartbeat if it meant you were more comfortable.

“Not before the Olympics though. And you’d need to sell the house, right?”

“Yeah. Shit, you’re really getting ahead of me here,” He didn’t really consider all the details yet, especially thinking about how shocked his management team would be at the decision, but he knew you were too good to lose.

He lived enough of his life without you, and it was time to switch things up.

“Just making sure you’re aware of what all of this would mean,” You remind him. It was a completely fair critique considering how many directions his life was currently being pulled in.

“Of course, but I’m coming to visit before I move. Many times,” He’s already mentally planning out a schedule in his head, plotting out weekend getaways and week-long trips just to spend time with you again.

“You won’t have your own room though, sorry,” You sigh in fake concern.

“I think we can make that work,” He assured you with a smile.

“I still can’t believe you bought a fucking plane ticket to get past security to come find me. You’re insane,” You shake your head at him in disbelief.

“Your boyfriend is insane,” He stresses the term, “and it was the right thing to do. I couldn’t let you get away like that.”

You both talk for a while, just drinking in each other’s presence as a new couple. While you’re recounting your metal detector encounters, it hits him that he doesn’t know when he’ll see you again.

Everything keeps getting busier between the two of you, and the possible timeframe of him moving seems further and further away with each passing moment.

He desperately wants to slow everything down in his career immediately, for all of his responsibilities to be taken care of for him.

The boarding process begins and he’s wistful, he didn’t think it would hurt so deeply to let you go home. He pulls you into a tight hug, his head nestled into the crook of your neck. “I love you so much, baby,” His voice wavers.

“Don’t fucking cry, you’ll make me cry,” You whisper, curling into his body even further. It makes him smile despite the tears streaming down his cheeks.

“I’ll see you soon, okay? I promise,” He attempts to steady his voice, but it’s no use. The moment he has the love of his life, you’re already leaving.

You lean back and press your lips to his, you move as quickly as time permits. It’s not the kiss he wants, but it’s enough to sate him.

He pulls away first, kissing your cheek before standing back to get a good look at you.

“Now go, they’re about to finish up your section,” He pointed to the gate with a watery laugh, finally wiping his cheeks from the tears.

You wave one last time as your ticket gets scanned and you’re no longer in view.

He’s not ready to go back to an empty house, one without you sitting on the couch bundled up in his blankets, staring at your computer with squinted eyes. He’s not ready to fall asleep without you next to him and wake up the next day knowing you wouldn’t be up until midday.

You’ve worked your way into his life and he can’t picture another second without you in it.

He decides that whenever you’re available to talk on the phone, you would plan his first visit.

That was the only way he could cope with the time and distance that seemed impossible to cross.

—

The Joshua profile is edited and completed in due time, somehow without losing your sanity.

Joshua is always sending you his edits, many of which are rejected the moment he comments them. Yet, you promise him that he can have input on another piece.

Once it’s approved through final edits, the profile is received well, all things considered. While there are unavoidable critiques, it still resonates with fans and writers alike. It goes considerably less viral than your other content with him, but viral nonetheless. It gets another boost in attention when Joshua reveals your relationship to the public exactly two months after it’s posted, and people are now re-examining the profile for signs of love blooming in between the lines.

These recent post-profile interviews he did were keeping you company during your downtime after work. You’d find yourself watching them on your laptop in bed, craving the sound of his voice when he was caught up in practice. He told you to watch this one specifically when it was uploaded though, so you decided to listen to him.

“So we have to talk about your relationship and the article,” The late night host segues into the new topic and Joshua handles it with ease.

“Of course,” He’s nodding along.

“So you fall in love with one of your biggest fans and do this reunion interview after 10 years? What’s the whole story?”

“Well, she’s been a fan of mine for my entire career and we first met when she made this viral blog post about me qualifying for my first Olympics,” He recounts the story for what feels like the millionth time, but you still eat it up every time. He has an exact script that you can almost know how he’ll phrase it.

“We film an interview and that goes even more viral, like 20 million views or something crazy,” He stops to laugh for a moment and the audience laughs along with him.

“We met up a few times over the years, but I finally suggested we do something for the 10 year anniversary of the interview. That’s how it all came together,” He nods with a grin.

“That’s amazing, is there anything you want to tell her?”

He looks directly into the camera and takes a breath. “Just that I miss you and love you very much,” His voice softens and the audience lights up with applause. He blows a kiss to the camera before the host switches topics once again, moving on to more Olympics talk for the rest of the video.

The declaration of love is simple, he’s not the kind of guy to make these big sweeping gestures of love, but it’s more than enough for you. You send him a quick text approving of the video and your heart is extremely full.

He moves in right after the Olympics end, but he’ll have a chance to properly decompress from the competition. The anticipation is enough to almost drive you insane, but the wait will be worth it.

—

The Olympics are a complete blur, as expected. You try to enjoy other events during your time there, but the men’s individual skate is the only thing on your mind. Joshua tried to make things for you as comfortable as possible despite living in the designated Olympic Village. He always complained that he wasn’t able to see you by sending you lots of heartfelt texts, but you teased him that he just needed to focus on competition.

Joshua won the gold medal, as expected by numerous sports networks and prediction experts.

You knew he’d win too, obviously.

Although he performed last in the final group, moving his rank down to 5th before his free skate performance, his final showing put him 10 full points above 2nd place.

Your boyfriend, who has been swept up in podium ceremonies, post-skate interviews, and a celebratory dinner is finally alone with you in your hotel room and you intend to make the most of it.

“Congratulations,” You’re practically yelling in his ear as he smothers you in a hug, clutching the back of your head. He’s free of the costume and makeup from earlier in the night, even his team tracksuit was exchanged for an old shirt and shorts.

“Thank you, baby,” His response is muffled against your shirt. You pull away to admire his face for a moment before leaning in for a deep kiss.

He’s feeling just as desperate as you are, swiping his tongue into your mouth with ease. It’s been so long since you’ve had a chance to just kiss him, let alone see him for more than a few minutes at a time. There were still press circuits and endless events for him to attend, but for a moment he was simply your gold medalist.

You barely come up for air for the next few minutes, getting all of the long distance reunion induced kisses out of your system. You step away to breathe against his neck and collect your thoughts.

“I’m so proud of you, like I was fully sobbing in my seat after the scores.”

“You were?” He questions, eyes widening.

“Of course, you’ve worked so hard to get here after everything. It makes me wanna cry all over again,” You’re so fond that it makes your heart swell for him.

“My poor baby, crying her eyes out over me like the good old days,” He coos.

“Yeah,” You let out a shaky laugh and wiped a stray tear from your eye. There were no ways to describe how it felt to watch the love of your life succeed from so many points of view, in some ways your relationship is a time capsule of your adolescence.

Joshua is simultaneously the object of your youth and the promise of a better future.

The journey is never lost on you, all of the time spent learning each other all over again reinvigorated your spirit.

“I’m ready to go home with you, I’m just so tired,” He whispers. The collective stress of the past few years is catching up with him now that the hardest part is over, that sense of normalcy needed to come sooner rather than later.

“I know, love. Just a few more days and we can sleep in as much as we want,” You think out loud, but he seems to like the idea as you cup his face in your hands. The tension melts from his face the longer you stay still and he lets out a quiet hum.

“Can we cuddle?”

“Of course,” You would’ve wanted to do it anyway, but you couldn’t say no to him in this state.

Once you both crawled onto the bed, he naturally put his head on your chest. It doesn’t take long before you’ve both fully relaxed into each other’s touch. The silence is needed after nonstop stimulation from the outside world.

“Y/N?”

“Yes?”

“I love you.” He doesn’t hesitate this time, it's saturated with adoration for you. You feel the warmth on your cheeks and respond accordingly.

“I love you too.”

He sits up, staring at you with so much love in his eyes. He kisses you just to do it, but it’s perfectly fine by you.

You swear that you could live in this moment forever. There would always be deadlines approaching, endless amounts of work waiting for you, but these moments were too precious to take for granted.

There’s so much love for him in your body that it doesn’t know where to go, but you figure that you’ll find somewhere to place it within due time.

There’s no use in grieving wasted time when his love is nestled so neatly in your heart, allowing you to indulge in the infinite futures you’re able to build together.

He’s not going anywhere, there’s still time.

There will always be time.

#YALLLLLLL ITS DONEEEEEEE #I’m so fucking happy you have no idea #this is quite literally a novel so sorry lol #joshua smut #joshua fluff #joshua scenarios #joshua angst #joshua fic #svt fluff #svt smut #svt angst #seventeen smut

[voxofthevoid]

April Anniversary Final List

I've compiled the 15 fics/ideas you guys picked in response to this post into a detailed list (under the cut). The numbers (51, 43, etc.) are now obsolete because I've added another idea to the list—yes, the total is 94 now, 77 untouched—and plan to keep doing it, which will alter the numbers owing to the way they're organized by ship(s). The doc will stay publicly available (...though I should really go through it and fix all the typos and errors).

Like I said in the OG post, I want to write a scene of approximately 1k for each of these. That's easy enough, usually, but I also want these to be coherent, standalone scenes—connected to the overall fic 'verse, yes, but a self-contained short story nonetheless. And we all know that's not my forte. So, yeah, it's gonna be a hell of a challenge.

These WIPs are not getting struck from my list once I'm done though. I'll be poking at them later, the way I do now—one at a time, until I'm out of the fandom.

Also, the usual disclaimer: If health/IRL fuckery pops up, I'll postpone or cancel the project. Hoping that won't happen, but you never know.

#1. 51 @nearalways

Canonverse pet play featuring a developing relationship, in which Yuuji jokingly says Gojou’s like a puppy and Gojou takes it and runs with it. Yuuji discovers the dubious joys of pet ownership.

#2. 43 @naeldeus

Satoru and her bigass tits single-handedly turn Yuuji from an ass woman into a chest woman, and Satoru’s reaction to Yuuji staring at her tits is to basically smother Yuuji in them in the guise of a hug. It escalates predictably.

#3. 31 @fluffys-nightmare

Yuuji makes a binding vow with the Angel to let her kill him and Sukuna after Gojou’s unsealed, except it doesn’t go as planned and the end result is Yuuji and Sukuna completely merged.

#4. 55 @laughing-sock

A curse user’s failed technique leaves Yuuji with a plush-like replica of Gojou, which Gojou lets him keep. It’s harmless until Yuuji accidentally activates a connection between the doll and Gojou.

#5. 36 (anon)

Sukuna kills the Angel so they can’t unseal Gojou. Teen!Gojou drops into the timeline and retrieves the PR, but they can’t open it. Yuuji has complicated emotional sex with teen!Gojou and spends every spare hour gazing plaintively at the PR. Teen!Gojou is in it mostly for the sex at first, except that doesn’t last.

#6. 45 (anon)

Post-canon where defeating Sukuna still leaves Yuuji with all his loved ones dead. He’s trying to busy himself by helping rebuild society when a new 6E+Limitless user is born, named “Satoru” to honor the last one, and a few years later, the Gojou clan asks for him to be the kid’s bodyguard.

#7. 71 (anon)

Gojou dubcons Megumi in his dorm room while mocking him about his crush on Yuuji, and when Yuuji bursts in after hearing concerning noises, Gojou offers Megumi to him.

#8. 67 @yaoshifollower

Canonverse breakup-makeup AU in a no-Shibuya context, spanning the time from Yuuji’s first year to his early-mid twenties. The sukuita parts are hatesex culminating in cannibalism; goyuu is the endgame.

#9. 03 @lo-55

Gojou tries to seduce Yuuji by rapebaiting him—sleeping on and near him in provocative clothing. Yuuji resists until he doesn’t.

#10. 73 (anon)

Yuuji semi-accidentally seduces Higuruma after their fight in the Culling Games, and during the one-month time skip after Gojou’s unsealed, he manages to semi-accidentally romance both men to the point of inevitable heartache.

#11. 74 @kubo-chan

Pre-canon where Kenjaku pays their favorite child a few in-person visits, finds that Yuuji’s body is rejecting Sukuna’s fingers, and lets their scientific curiosity run a little wilder than usual. Years later, Gojou finds Yuuji while investigating unusual curse activity.

#12. 08 @cunt-recesses

Omegaverse-canonverse alpha/alpha where 20-something Gojou adopts Yuuji, who was being raised by a Sukuna-focused cult.

#13. 50 @zalondra

Omegaverse-canonverse alpha/alpha where becoming Sukuna’s vessel triggers Yuuji’s rut early, a couple of days after he’s accepted into Jujutsu Tech, and since the higher-ups aren’t willing to risk Sukuna’s vessel losing control during that hormonal mess, Gojou volunteers to help him through it.

#14. 42 (anon)

Someone makes the mistake of letting Gojou teach sex-ed to the first-years. It’s a pretty typical class for Nobara and Megumi, but Yuuji's living a different porn scenario every week.

#15. 24 (anon)

Sukuna–Yuuji role reversal where Yuuji’s more interested in his vessel’s teacher than the vessel himself, and Gojou gets too much of a thrill from playing with fire.

#vox unhinged #i've picked the scenes for each one #will probably start in march #alongside the shibuya swap

[shuchu]

oh and maybe if u dont mind you could add some nsfw headcanons to touching drunk boys at my last request (〃ω〃) u dont have to if u dont want to ofc !!!!!! <333

༶•┈┈┈♛ drunk luxiem & shoto at a party ♛┈┈┈•༶

characters: vox akuma ; mysta rias ; luca kaneshiro ; ike eveland ; shu yamino ; shoto

cameos: elira pendora ; pomu rainpuff ; finana ryugu ; reimu endou ; nina kosaka ; millie parfait ; alban knox ; sonny brisko ; uki violeta ; fulgur ovid

take note: gn!reader ; streamer!reader ; contains NSFW material (minors dni) ; reader is in a relationship with the boys ; all of nijien meets up in person to throw a party celebrating the 1 year anniversary of nijien (to make writing the headcanons a little easier)

author notes: thank you anon for the request & the kind words!! ♡( ◡‿◡ ) your first ask is now in the shadow realm because when i was copying the rough draft onto here from my notes, i accidentally posted the unfinished work with your previous ask (ﾒ﹏ﾒ) but anyways, putting my idiocy aside (≧▽≦). this is my first official nsfw post so i hope that i did well and that this was to your liking! i found this kinda tough to write. i had to think of different party games the boys could play with other nijien members for the sfw part because i didn’t want there to be too many repeats (it gets boring imo). if any of the boys are ooc i’m sorry o(TヘTo). as usual, feel free to leave some feedback and/or send in requests! decorative dividers credit to: @/mykaesu on twt  *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

enjoy lovelies! ♡

vox

sfw

you and vox rocked up to the party, fashionably late

a few of the nijien members would come up to say hi to the both of you upon your arrival

you then split up with vox to go hang out and chat with people 

you were in the middle of a conversation with pomu when you hear nina call you over to a table

when you get to the table you see that they’ve set it up for beer pong except that you’ve been told, they put shots of vodka in the plastic cups

you’d be put in a team with alban, reimu and mysta

when you ask, “who’s going to challenge us?”

you’d hear a familiar voice come from the opposite side of the table saying, “and that would be us my dear.”

you see vox, sonny, uki and finana standing opposite the 4 of you, with vox smirking at you

“well well well, if it isn’t my dear boyfriend…ready to be midrunk?”

“such bold words my love, let’s find out shall we?”

you take the ping pong ball and throw it skilfully into the plastic cup at the very front

“bingo, drink up babe.” vox downs it in one go and licks his lips after, looking right at you as he did that

it was vox’s go and he also, got it in the cup at the very front, he looks at you waiting for you to pick it up

you huff and down it in one go as well before moving to the side to let alban have his turn

as the game went on, it was obvious that both you and vox were pretty good at aiming because the both of you were the ones downing most of the shots

in the end, your group won and vox had to down the remaining shots on behalf of his group as a punishment

you walked to vox and smiled, “you have to eat your words now because i won.”

“hmm…i only lost because uki and finana kept missing the balls, alban and reimu were surprisingly pretty good so you had an advantage. don’t let the win get to your head my love.” he chuckles and leans down to give you a kiss

as the night goes on, you and vox had many drinks with your friends, having fun chatting and hanging out with them

nsfw

reimu, pomu and nina pulled you onto the dance floor to dance and by that time you were already drunk

the four of you were dancing to your hearts’ content before you feel a hand snake around your waist and your back met a firm wall of muscle

“having fun my love?” you hear a familiar voice whisper in your right ear.

you know that it’s your boyfriend, so you smirk, a devious plan forming in your head 

you started moving your hips slowly, swaying to the rhythm of the music, hearing vox groan in your ear

“sweet thing, you better take responsibility for what’s about to come after this.” vox leans down, pressing a kiss to the side of your neck

after a while, you feel something hard pressing against your ass and you smile knowing you’ve achieved your goal

vox spins you around, presses you close to him and captures your lips in a heated kiss

as the both of you are making out, vox slides his hand down from your waist to your ass, gently kneading it 

vox pulls away from you and leads you to a secluded area, he sits down and you straddle him

“now that we’re alone…kinda…” he chuckles. “shall we…continue what you started darling?”

you giggled and started moving your hips again slowly, vox planted his hands on your hips and squeezed, admiring how incredibly sexy you looked right now

vox groaned again and moved his hand to your lower back, pulling you close to him and latching his lips onto your neck, leaving open mouthed kisses on the sensitive skin

you moan softly and tilt your head back, giving him more access to your neck. you feel a slight pain and you gasp, as vox leaves a hickey on your neck

vox kisses up to your jaw then your lips, pulling apart briefly just to say, “we’re going back to the hotel sweet thing, you can’t keep teasing me like this.”

mysta

sfw

when you and mysta arrive at the party, you’d both go round saying hi and chatting with your friends for a little bit

mysta then suggests that the both of you play some mario kart with shu and luca

you both have such a fun time playing mario kart with them

mysta would mald because he would get last place every cup, making you laugh when he rages

“ohhh COME ON!! i was 1st place and all because i got fucked by so many red shells, i got pushed all the way down to last!”

luca laughs and makes that funny snoring noise from tik tok, “AAAAUUGGGHH.” 

mysta chuckles and makes the same noise too, “AAAAUUUGGGHHH red shells.”

after mario kart, both you and mysta decided to challenge each other to beer pong and to make it even more fun, you replaced the beer with vodka

“ready to get trashed in vodka pong babe?”

“says you, you’re going to be drunk by the end of this from all the shots that you’ll have to down.”

“nah nah nah…i’m sure i’m going to win, my aim is pretty good if i do say so myself.”

mysta was able to get the first few ping pong balls in and so did you, however, the vodka shots were impacting mysta’s ability to throw his ping pong ball properly for his following attempts so he ended up having to down more vodka shots

you, on the other hand, didn’t have to down as many as mysta did because he kept missing the cups

you ended up winning and having 3 cups untouched on your side

“what were you saying earlier babe? about winning?” you taunted

mysta hiccups and says, “s-shut up, the alcohol impacted my ability to throw the ball well okay? down the rest of your shots babe.”

“hmm okay, why not?” you say as you pick up the remaining cups to down them

after that, the both of you split off to hang out and chat with different friends, playing different party games with them as well

nsfw

while you were chatting with nina and uki, you didn’t notice mysta sneak up behind you until you feel his arms wrap around you and his chin on your shoulder

you put your hand on his arm and brush your thumb slowly against it. “hey babe, what’s up?”

“i missed you baby so i wanted to come see you.”

you giggle and excuse yourself from the conversation to tend to your obviously drunk boyfriend

nina and uki see what’s going on, they give each other a look, chuckle and wish you good luck before walking away

you turn around in mysta’s embrace to face him, cupping his cheeks in your hands and giving him a few pecks on the lips. “you’re adorable.”

mysta pouts at that and says, “no i’m not, i’m cool. not cute, cool, babe.”

you hum and giggle at your boyfriend’s words

mysta leans forward to kiss you again, this time deepening the kiss, nipping at your lower lip slightly

when you pull back a little to catch your breath, mysta looks into your eyes, then down to your lips with hooded eyes and back to your eyes before licking his lips. “you’re so sexy, you know that right?”

you chuckle and kiss the tip of his nose gently. “oookay you’re DRUNK drunk…”

“noooo, i’m not drunk” he hiccups. “i…i…i want more…” mysta leans in again to kiss you

he kisses from your lips to your jaw then down to your neck, leaving sloppy kisses on your neck and sucking on the sensitive skin a little, eliciting a soft moan from you

he takes your hand in his and guides it to his crotch, you gasp feeling how hard he is under the fabric

“b-babe, we shouldn’t do this here…let’s continue this back at the hotel okay?” you feel your face burning and you try to pull away from mysta, hoping that none of your friends were watching your obvious pda

after much whining from mysta, you managed to convince him to return with you to the hotel where the both of you continued your fun. wink wonk

luca

sfw

“oi, luca! i challenge both you and y/n to darts, loser drinks!” alban shouts across the room.

“sure! we’re coming!” luca grabs your hand and walks to where alban is

“what’s the punishment drink alban?” you question

“tequilla.” alban gives you a cheeky grin

the game commences and the three of you were surprisingly tied in score

“alright one last dart for the each of us” alban announces

alban hits a bullseye, you hit a double 20 and luca hits a single 20

“arrghhh nauuurrr, i lost.” luca grumbles

“you gotta drink the shot of tequilla now luca!” alban says gleafully

luca shakes a little bit of salt on the back of his hand, licks it up, takes the cup and drains it before sucking on a lime

after that, you and luca went to chat with your friends

mysta, elira, pomu and shoto would ask the both of you to join them for karaoke

you and luca would sing so many different songs with your friends, having a ton of fun singing fun songs like all stars, barbie girl and the rick roll song 

you and luca would take turns getting drinks from the bar for each other if the other is singing

luca ends up drinking many mixed drinks throughout the night — vodka cranberries, lemon martinis and espresso martinis

whereas you end up drinking a few sangrias and raspberry cosmopoliltans

you were tipsy at best but luca was gone, he was drunk from all those mixed drinks he was drinking

nsfw

luca and you were sitting together on the couch, chatting with millie, pomu, finana, sonny, uki and fulgur with a bunch of tequilla shots on the table in the middle in case any of you wanted some

out of the blue, luca leaned to the right to whisper in your ear, “sit on my lap babe, i wanna cuddle you.”

the request seemed innocent enough so you obliged, lifting yourself up and moving to the left to sit on luca’s lap

luca’s big tattooed arms wrap around you once you made yourself comfortable on his lap

you then start engaging in conversation again with your friends that were sitting around the table

luca would reach out to grab the salt shaker and a shot of tequilla with a lime resting on the side of the cup to drink to a few more shots

luca waits till you finish your conversation before whispering in your ear again, “babe, can i borrow your hand for a second?”

you would think that he wanted to hold your hand but luca holds your hand gently, flips it over so your palm’s facing down and pours a small amount of salt on it

luca reaches out to grab a shot of tequilla, licks up the salt on the back of your hand slowly, downing the shot and sucking on the lime that was perched on the side of the cup

after he was done with the lime, he brought the back of your hand back up to his lips placing soft gentle kisses all over

luca turned his attention to your neck, leaving kisses on it as well

“mmm…babe…your skin is so soft, i just wanna bite it and kiss it.” b-boss? o_O

your face burned up from luca’s actions and words, “l-luca, don’t…we’re still with our friends. you can do that later…”

luca hums and grabs your face gently by your chin, turning you to face him. he leans in and brushes his lips against yours slowly, whispering against your lips, “it’s okay, it’s not like they are paying attention to us now. but if you really want we can move to the other side of the room where there’s lesser people.”

you nod and stand up, excusing the both of you from the conversation with your friends

after luca plops down onto the couch, he pulls you onto his lap again, making you straddle him

he leans forward and captures your lips in a passionate kiss, with his hands running up and down your back leisurely

he kisses you till you’re lightheaded and you had to pull back to come up for breath, he chases your lips, wanting more

“honey…i don’t think i can control myself any longer, i want more.”

“l-let’s head back to the hotel then luca, we can continue there okay?”

ike

sfw

“babe shall we go play some mario kart? with shu and mysta perhaps?”

“yeah sure babe, let’s go ask them.”

after the both of got a hold of shu and mysta, you guys headed towards the bean bags set up around the tv near the centre of the room

ike looks at you with a playful grin, “you’re going down babe.”

you smirk at him, “oh yeah? watch me eveland.”

the first round, you got 1st place with ike close behind in 2nd, shu in 3rd and mysta in 4th

“oh COME ON! if i had hit you with that red shell just seconds before you crossed the finish line, i would’ve won.” ike grumbles

“sorry ikey, maybe you’ll beat me in the next round.” you taunt

true enough, ike won the second match with you in second, mysta in 3rd and shu in 4th

at the end of the cup, you ended up with the most points, with ike 1 point behind you, shu in 3rd and mysta in 4th

you and ike laugh as the both of you watch mysta rage at losing to shu by a point

ike interlocks his fingers with yours, “congrats on the win my love, would you like some drinks? we can chill at the bar for a little bit and chat with whoever’s there.”

you both head to the bar and you see vox and nina sipping on some cocktails and chatting

you and ike both greet them before ordering your drinks

you got a margarita, whereas ike got a sapphire martini

ike and you sat at the bar sipping and chatting away with vox and nina

after a few drinks you start to see the effects of alcohol hitting ike, he was getting a little louder and bolder as he spoke

ike kept drinking a few more different drinks, ordering a blue lagoon margarita and a lagoon punch, whereas you had stopped for the night, knowing that if you went any further, you’d be drunk

after chatting a bit more, vox and nina took their leave, so did the both of you

you guided ike to a couch where ike plopped down and rested his head against the back of the couch

you chuckled, knowing that ike was definitely intoxicated 

nsfw

you were looking at your phone, scrolling through twitter and seeing your twitter feed fill up with fan art of all of nijien partying so you like a few of them and retweet a few

“you look so adorable when you smile babe.”

you turn your head around to see ike grinning at you, then, you realise that while you've been looking through all the fan art you must've been smiling

"aww thank you ikey, you're pretty adorable right now too." you giggle

ike turns to his right slightly so that he can face you and moves closer to you

you put your phone away and turn to face ike too

he grabs your chin gently with his slender fingers to tilt your head up slightly and leans forward to gently press a soft kiss to your lips

he pulls away slowly, his hot breath fanning your lips

he looks into your eyes, back to your lips and back to your eyes again before leaning in to kiss you again

ike's hands moved from your chin, down your neck and finally resting on your chest

he brushes over your nipple slightly through the fabric, making you gasp into the kiss

ike takes the opportunity to deepen the kiss, your tongues tangling with each other

ike pulls back just a little to let you catch your breath, he hums and licks his lips, "you taste sweet, sweetheart...i want more of you."

you both scurried back to the hotel as fast as you could wanting to finish what was started

shu

sfw

“omg no way, they even have super smash bros? who’s nintendo switch is this? might be vox’s…” you hummed as you look through the different games on the nintendo switch

“let’s play some smash bros then, i’ll go ask 2 more people to join us. wait right here babe.” shu says before walking off

after a few minutes, you see shu walking towards you with luca and reimu walking alongside him

while luca and reimu were picking their characters, shu turned to you saying, “ready to lose babe?”

you roll your eyes and chuckle, “bring it on yamino, let’s see what you’ve got.”

after a minute and a half, luca and reimu were eliminated, leaving both you and shu to face off

you were at a slight disadvantage, left with only 1 stock whereas shu had 2

you charge towards him and just as shu prepares to counter whatever attack you had planned, you jump over his head and dealt a smash attack from behind, leaving shu no time to react

-1 stock for shu, you both were now tied and luca was commentating the whole thing with reimu giggling on the side

shu keeps running after you trying to finish you once and for all with a smash attack but you kept dodging and grabbing power-ups to help you take down shu’s health

“omg y/n how are you not dead yet, what the heck? i knocked you off the stage 3 times now.”

finally you see an opportunity to finish shu, you grab him and do a smash attack, sending him flying off the stage, resulting in a K.O from how low his health was

“oh gosh that was close, one more smash attack from you and i would’ve been the one who lost.” you sigh in relief

you and shu made an agreement earlier that whoever loses has to drink

you look at shu expectantly and shu groans, “fine fine…i’ll go order a drink from the bar. do you want anything babe?”

shu got a purple rain and for you, a sangria

with your drinks, you and shu head off into the crowd, mingling and chatting with your friends all whilst sipping on your drinks and getting more when they run out

shu ends up getting drunk because vox and mysta would get him to drink with them, you stopped 1-2 drinks before shu, so that you could bring him back to your hotel safely

nsfw

you were an arms length away from shu, catching up with pomu, finana, alban and uki when you suddenly felt shu intertwine his fingers with yours, brushing his thumb against the back of your hand gently

you smile and continue on with the conversation

a few minutes pass and shu moved to stand behind you, wrapping his arms around you and leaving little kisses on your nape

another few minutes pass and people from the group that you were chatting with slowly left one by one to go do something else

you turn around in shu’s embrace to give him a few soft pecks on his lips

when you pull back, shu leans forwards and captures your lips again, kissing you with a bit more fervour

shu holds you and rotates the both of you so that you guys switch positions, you didn’t realise you were standing that close to the wall till your back hit it

you gasp and shu took the chance to slip his tongue in, making you groan softly

as your tongues dance with each other, you moan softly and shu groans a little in response to that

shu pulls back slightly to catch his breath and you do the same

when you open your eyes you realise that shu has caged you in against the wall, one hand on each side of your head

you look at shu and he’s looking at you with hooded eyes. his eyes move down from your eyes to your lips and he licks his lips

“b-babe? are you okay?” you ask him softly

“mhm, yeah, i’m good. i’m very good actually. the sounds you make when i kiss you is intoxicating. i wanna hear more.”

at that your eyes widen and you blush all the way up to the tips of your ears and you struggle to even say anything — becoming a stuttering and spluttering mess

you suggest that the both of you head back to the hotel so that shu could continue whatever he wanted to do in private

sfw

“hey shoto, y/n! come play beer pong with us!” vox calls out to the both of you from the table on the right side of the room

shoto and you walk over to vox, seeing millie, pomu, finana, fulgur and uki surrounding the table

you both say hi to all of them and vox starts splitting you guys up into two teams

you, vox, pomu and uki end up on the same team, with shoto on a team with fulgur, finana and millie

you and shoto both go first, you throw your ping pong ball into the middle cup with ease whereas, shoto missed

“ohhh my god. that should’ve been in what the fuck?” shoto says exasperatedly

vox chuckles and says, “drink up boy.”

shoto downs the beer and hands the ping pong ball over to fulgur

the game ends and shoto’s team has 2 cups more than your team does

uki looks at shoto and says, “finish the beer shoto.”

“wait what? why do i have to?”

“unless you’re a pussy and don’t want to.” uki chortles

shoto tuts and says, “alright fine bitch, i’ll finish it,” finishing the rest of the beer, “there, done.”

you give shoto a peck on the cheek for finishing the beer, he chuckles and gives you a peck on the lips

shoto spots a twister mat and starts pulling you towards it

shoto calls over finana and uki to join the both of you for twister and the game commences once they arrive

as the game progresses, your body is being stretched and twisted in ways that you didn’t think was possible

“your ass looks amazing from this view that i have babe.” shoto smirks

“babeeee.” you whine

“what? i can’t admire my partner’s ass?”

shoto was the first to fall to the ground, getting disqualified. “nah…there was no way in hell i’d be able to move my hand all the way back there and not fall.” shoto huffs

finana was the next to fall and then uki, making you the winner of twister

“pretty flexible huh babe?” shoto smirks at you

you swat at him, getting him to stop. istg this demon slayer hangs out with that demon way too much (≧▽≦)

you both then head to the bar to get some drinks which will help cool the both of you down after playing twister

nsfw

you and shoto both had about 4-5 mixed drinks, shoto was intoxicated but you were tipsy at best

the both of you had moved away from the bar and were chilling on a couch scrolling through twitter

shoto moves a little closer to you and shows you a very nsfw fan art of the both of you

you gasp and shoto chuckles, “this fan art’s kinda hot not gonna lie. they drew your thighs and ass so well.”

“babeeee!” you whine at him again

shoto leans in and kisses you, your lips moving against his naturally, kissing him back

shoto leans away a little and says against your lips, “i love your ass and thighs, you’re so sexy…”

he then pushes you down gently on the couch and captures your lips again, kissing you passionately

his hand that was cupping your cheek moves down your neck to your waist and stopping at your inner thighs, slowly rubbing it

you moan softly and shoto groans in response

you pull back slightly and breathed out, “w-we should continue this back at the hotel babe…”

“we better hurry because i don’t think i can wait.” shoto says as he licks his lips, flicking his eyes down to your lips

#vox akuma #mysta rias #luca kaneshiro #ike eveland #shu yamino #shoto #shxtou #nijisanji en #luxiem #luxiem x reader #luxiem x you #luxiem headcanons #shxtou headcanons #shoto x reader #shxtou x reader #vox akuma x reader #mysta rias x reader #luca kaneshiro x reader #ike eveland x reader #shu yamino x reader #vox akuma fluff #vox akuma smut #mysta rias fluff #mysta rias smut #luca kaneshiro fluff #luca kaneshiro smut #ike eveland fluff #ike eveland smut #shu yamino smut #shu yamino fluff

[tmsource]

15 YEARS OF THE MENTALIST

The 15th year anniversary of the show is near (23/9/2023) and we at @tmsource are hosting a week creator challenge event to celebrate! The event will run from the 17th of September to the 23rd and each day will be dedicated to different prompt themes. You are all invited to participate with any type of content: gifs, edits, fanfics, fancams, etc. More info & prompt list below the cut!

In order to participate, simply post your contributions on your own blog according to the theme(s) of each day of the event and tag #15yearsofmentalist & #tmsource for us to see your posts and reblog them on here. Also, make sure that the day/prompt you are posting for is stated somewhere in the post.

There are prompts that are more oriented to edits and a separate prompt for fanfics. For edits, there are two themes for each day, you can pick either or both of them. Generally, feel free to mix&match according to what creatively speaks to you the most.

PROMPT LIST Day 1 — 17/9/2023: Songs, quotes or poems / Beloved quote Day 2 — 18/9/2023: Parallels / Beloved platonic relationship Day 3 — 19/9/2023: Cinematography / Beloved scene Day 4 — 20/9/2023: TV Tropes / Beloved romantic relationship Day 5 — 21/9/2023: Fashion / Beloved antagonist Day 6 — 22/9/2023: Colors / Beloved plotline Day 7 — 23/9/2023: Free choice

FANFICS Go to this website, select a number of characters and generate a random dialogue prompt. Then decide who says what and write a story around it. Do this for each day of the event.

We can't wait to see what you create!

— With love, the mods

#the mentalist #15yearsofmentalist #thementalistedit #mentalistedit #tuserkers #useremsi #userhella #userlolo #userharumi #userjochi #userastrid #userkitkat #userairi #usercrime #tvedit #userkarissa #tusereve #tuserthay #userelliee #tusersel

[dickgraysonweek]

🩵💙 ONE WEEK LEFT 💙🩵

From April 6th to 12th, we are celebrating 84 Years of Dick Grayson 🐦 with the following amazing prompts you voted for:

DICK GRAYSON ANNIVERSARY WEEK 2024 PROMPTS

Day 1: Leader of the Titans | Dick’s Undervalued Competency | Spyral Crew Day 2: Captivity | The Meaning of Robin | Rescue from Juvie Day 3: DILF Dick Grayson | Apologizing To Dick | Time Loop Day 4: Batman’s Most Trusted | Trauma Reveal | Reverse Robins Day 5: Dick (Helen) of Troy | Batfam Meets Agent 37 | Polyamory Day 6: Supernatural Creature AU | Dick Pushed to the Limit | Identity Porn Day 7: A Celebration of 84 Years

‘A Celebration of 84 Years’ is the free prompt.

➡️ HOW TO SHARE YOUR FANWORKS ⬅️

Simply @ us as @dickgraysonweek to your post, and we'll reblog your fanwork. The AO3 Collection is open as well!

For the Muse:

If you’d like to challenge yourself, how about… - using all three prompts of one day for one fanwork. - writing a multi-chapter fic that uses one prompt of each day. - drawing sequential art that uses one prompt of each day

Join us on the Dick Grayson Discord server ‘Green Booty Shorts’ (18+, ship friendly) to keep your muse going or to talk all things Dick Grayson!

Any questions left? If you can’t find an answer in About or Rules, be sure to send an ask.

YOU CAN DO IT! 🤸‍♂️🤸‍♂️

#dick grayson #robin #nightwing #batman #agent 37 #dickgraysonweek #dickgraysonweek2024 #batfamily #titans

[cuffmeinblack]

Ominis Gaunt masterlist

Ao3: cuffmeinblack

Buy me a cuppa 🖤

Full masterlist for all characters is here

Reader inserts female unless specified otherwise.

Ominis Gaunt x reader

Old habits die hard - smut, angst, 112k words 🔞

You find yourself once again in the arms of Sebastian Sallow, but with the added complication of your unexpected feelings towards your friend, Ominis Gaunt. Love rivalry.

About time (series) - fluff with sexual content in final work, 6.6k words

You regret never telling Ominis your feelings for him. Sebastian decides to give you some time alone. Start of relationship/new experiences.

Sanctuary - fluff, gn!reader, 1.3k words

You show Ominis the Room of Requirement.

Companion - fluff, gn!reader, 2k words

Sort-of sequel to Sanctuary. Gregory the puffskein.

Kindred spirits - fluff, 1.4k words

Ominis bonds with you over your pet snake.

Legilimens (ao3 link) - smut, explicit, 2.3k words 🔞

Ominis uses his unique Legilimency to find out your deepest desires.

Career Perks (ao3 link) - smut, explicit, 3k words 🔞

Ominis' career leaves little room for excitement or challenge, but his unique brand of legilimency makes for a more interesting job when he finds himself in the company of a lonely witch. Audio excerpt.

The boggart in the tower - fluff, 1.1k words

Mostly just silly Ominis & Sebastian friendship stuff, pranks and Ominis having a crush on you.

Two little words - fluff, 1k words

Ominis hears you singing in the Undercroft and falls hard.

You're welcome - fluff, 1k words

Ominis asks Sebastian to describe you, realising that they both like you.

Hold me close - hurt/comfort, gn!reader, 1k words

Post-Crucio comfort, rewrite of In the Shadow of the Study.

The end and the beginning - hurt/comfort, gn!reader, 1k words

Post-final battle comfort.

Beauty marks - fluff, gn!reader, 380 words

I am obsessed with his moles.

Snake whispers - smut, mature audience, 500 words 🔞

Ominis speaks parseltongue to you at your request.

Overture - smut, 500 words 🔞

Ominis uses his hands to distract you.

Deft hands - smut, mature audience, 300 words 🔞

Ominis explores your body.

Parting gift - fluff, gn!reader, 850 words

Ominis gives you something precious to take with you on your travels.

A touch of sage - fluff, gn!MC, 800 words

Accidental touches lead to something more.

New beginnings - romance, poem

The year after leaving Hogwarts.

Ominis Gaunt x f!OC

Retribution (ao3 link) - angst, smut, 9k words 🔞

Ominis has kept his romantic involvement with Maerys a secret from his family for her own safety, but a pending betrothal causes complications. Maerys confronts his family with the hope of acceptance but gets more than she bargained for. Audio excerpt.

Sebastian Sallow x reader x Ominis Gaunt

Give him something to listen to (ao3 link)- smut, explicit, 1.7k words 🔞

You give in to Sebastian's flirtations and Ominis is along for the ride.

Ominis Gaunt x Sebastian Sallow

Crave - angst, slow burn romance (WIP, hiatus)

The anniversary of the worst day of Sebastian's life approaches and brings with it the familiar nightmares, the only comfort being Ominis' presence.

Silk and Lace (ao3 link) - smut, explicit, 3.9k words 🔞

Sebastian's teasing plants an idea in Ominis' head for a night of indulgent roleplay; and he isn't one to do things by halves.

The experiment (ao3 link) - smut, explicit, 1.7k words 🔞

Ominis admits he isn't sure whether he has a sexual preference given his woeful inexperience. Sebastian offers to be his guinea pig.

Because you're mine - smut, explicit 🔞

Garreth shows an interest in Ominis, Sebastian gets jealous. Rewrite/what-if of You need only ask.

Ominis Gaunt x Garreth Weasley

You need only ask - fluff, smut, 36.1k words 🔞

Garreth Weasley has admired Ominis Gaunt from afar, offering his secret assistance in their shared potions classes. Ominis finds out and wants to know why.

Excerpt audios: chapter 1 | chapter 2 | chapter 3

Lost and Found (ao3 link) - fluff, angst, 5.4k words 🔞

A love story told in five scenes.

Repercussions (ao3 link) - smut, 2.4k words 🔞

Ominis is driven to distraction by Garreth's voice.

My own

Ominis and Garreth adopt a baby' drabble. Audio.

Ominis Gaunt x reader x Garreth Weasley

Proposition (v1) (ao3 link) - f!reader, smut, 4.3k words (audio excerpt) 🔞

Proposition (v2) (ao3 link) - m!reader, smut, 4k words 🔞

You've always held an affection for your best friend, Garreth Weasley, but he is very much taken by Ominis Gaunt. You weren't expecting Ominis to come to you with an intriguing proposition.

Audios

Ominis x Garreth 🔞

Ominis x f!MC 🔞 (snippet from Career Perks

Receiving a blowjob (f!listener) 🔞

Ominis x f!MC x Garreth 🔞

Ominis x f!OC 🔞

Ominis x Sebastian 🔞

Ominis x Sebastian (Dominis/Subastian) 🔞

Ominis x Sebastian (Dominis/Subastian) 🔞

Ominis and Garreth adopt a baby

#ominis gaunt #ominis gaunt fanfiction #ominis gaunt x reader #ominis gaunt x sebastian sallow #ominis gaunt x garreth weasley #sebinis #garrinis #ominis gaunt masterlist #hogwarts legacy masterlist #cuff writes

[blouisparadise]

Here are some amazing bottom Louis fics that were posted or completed during the month of July. We really hope you enjoy this list. Happy reading!

1) Louis' Wish / Harry's Daydream | Mature | 1987words

Louis and Harry are best friends. Louis is in love with Harry. Harry is in love with Louis. Neither of them knows it. What will happen if Harry catches Louis masturbating and screaming his name? Come and find out

2) It Was Worth The Wait, I Think You Deserve A Taste | Explicit | 1945 words

Louis wants to be fucked but Harry has something else planned for him.

3) To Walk Out of My Life | Mature | 1981 words

This time it was Niall and his stupid group chats that had gotten them in this situation. Harry and Louis have had a multitude of "one last times," they always end up the same, two men panting on the bed using their bodies to convey the words they'd never say.

4) A Messy Show | Explicit | 2,094 words

“Need you now, yeah. Bathroom?” Harry reached into his pocket and shook his head. “Nah. Niall has a girl in there. And Ed’s with someone in our room. And-,” “I get the picture,” Louis said, glaring up at Harry and palming his dick. “You have room here,” Luke said, causing them to both snap their heads his way. He gestured at the people lazying around their living room. “What? It’s your space. Besides, everyone is so high if anyone notices, they won’t care. Or they’ll find it hot and watch. Like me.” Harry combed a hand down his face, and when Louis squeezed his dick, he made the decision for them both. “Sure. Lou, take off your pants.”

5) Can't Believe You | Explicit | 2096 words

Barricade has always been hot to watch. Seeing the fans grab and caress Louis as if they own him. But this barricade went a little too far. “Ripping his entire fucking shirt,” Harry mumbles angrily to himself, bringing up the messages with a certain ginger. 

6) Doctor | Mature | 2378 words

Harry and Louis are best friends that like each other but are too afraid to say anything. Harry is an ER doctor and one day Louis has to go to the ER because he couldn't pull out the sex toy that he was using to get off as he thought about Harry. What happens when Harry is his doctor? Maybe it will turn out better than Louis thought.

7) Except It Wasn’t | Explicit | 5469 words

It was a normal day, except that it was their five-year bonding anniversary. It was a normal day, except that they were going to finally start trying for pups. It was a normal day, except something awful happened to Louis. It was a normal day, except it wasn’t.

8) On That Note | Explicit | 6237 words

Louis’ office job on an omega only floor would be absolutely fine, if not for the alphas he and his friends have to deal with in the building. But although they’ve never met face to face, the friendly notes sent between him and Harry in Purchasing help him get through the day.

9) Your Right Now, Your Forever, Your Last Call, Your Whatever | Mature | 6361 words

“We should kiss.” So they kiss.

10) It’s Only Sunny Cause The Planet’s Dying | Explicit | 13643 words

The man leans back in his chair and looks down at the tarot cards in front of him. “Wow, that was really impressive. How long did it take you to memorize all this bullshit?” He raises a brow and that challenging look is back on his face, but he’s not even bothering to mask it this time. It makes Louis’ blood run cold. “I beg your pardon?” The man chuckles, but there’s no humor in it. “If you take a peek in my wallet that you just stole, you’ll see there’s a detective’s badge in there. Why don’t you come on down to the police station with me and you can explain your methods to me there?”

11) The Boy In The Café | Mature | 14624 words

Where Harry serves Louis his morning tea while writing him silly jokes and dropping his Number there too.

12) This Could Either Break My Heart, Or Bring It Back To Life | Not Rated | 18349 words

Harry never really cared for love: he has two children he needs to care for, and a Country to rule. Love is just not in his cards. Enter Louis, who spins his children's lives but most importantly Harry's.

13) Blue Moon | General Audiances |20351 words

Note: This fic is locked and can only be read by AO3 users.

What happens when Louis moves away from the busy city life to a small village in the middle of nowhere and meets Harry, the sweetest and most understanding Alpha? Will Harry be able to get Louis' walls down? Will he be able to adjust to the slower pace of life in the village and open up to Harry's love? As they navigate their new relationship, will they be able to overcome the obstacles from Louis’ past?

14) Not Safe For Work | Explicit | 23295 words

I want to drown myself in Harry’s scent until I smell like him. “I think I'm open to trying that too. Sounds very good.” Louis shakes his head a little to get out of the Harry’s-scent-spiral. “Huh?” “The dish your finger's pointing at. I thought that might be what you’re choosing?” “Oh. Yeah.”

15) 'Cause I Want You (For The Worse And For The Better) | Not Rated | 26375 words

Note: This fic is locked and can only be read by AO3 users.

When Louis gets invited along to Anne's wedding, Harry is prepared to let people think whatever they want about their relationship. That's what Louis said -- let people think whatever they want. That changes when Louis sees his ex, who turns out to be Anne's future husband's son. Now, Louis wants to prove that he's an omega that an alpha could want, and Harry wants to get through this weekend without letting his best friend figure out he's in love with him.

16) Deep Sea, Baby | Explicit | 28170 words

“Bunny, what’s wrong? Did something happen?” And just with that, Louis knew he wasn’t kidnapped or being pranked. He really was in his personal hell where the ex-love of his life still cared for him enough to make him breakfast, call him pet names and worry about him. And let’s not forget the part where his best friend apparently  was no longer his friend. “I’m…” ‘You’re what??’ He thought. He couldn’t tell his mother he didn’t have any idea how he went from having a nice apartment in Hampstead to wake up in a “Didn’t Know I was Fucking Married and had a Distasteful Taste in Sheets.” episode. She was just going to worry and think he just lost his marbles. No one would believe him—to be frank, he wouldn’t believe himself either.

17) The Property Girl | Explicit | 31428 words

"YOU'RE THE PROPERTY GIRL!" Property what?!

18) Home Calls The Heart | Mature | 44091 words

A series of unfortunate events lands Louis Tomlinson in the heart of Texas. After running from his life in London and a performative marriage, he leaves a scandal in his wake. Home calls the heart, as his Nana always said. Though her words couldn't be truer when he decides to take up her offer to watch over Hyacinth ranch while she travels abroad. He figured the worst he'd have to deal with would be the meddlesome goats, some repairs and an errant spirit or two. That is, until the gorgeous Cowboy next door makes his presence known.

19) Men of Steel, Men of Power | Explicit | 58849 words

“You’ve been watching me,” Styles said. Louis swallowed around nothing. He tried for light. “You’re the newest addition, people are bound to be curious,” he said. “Sure,” said Styles, in a somewhat condescending tone. “I’m not that daft, I do notice the curiosity regarding my clothes. That’s not what you’re doing though, hm?” Styles’ gaze was intense, and Louis could feel it burn on the side of his face, but kept his eyes stubbornly on the coffee cup. “I,” he said, licked his lips. Took a deep breath, tried to look open, confident, dominant. Alpha.

20) The Habit I Can't Break | Explicit | 63140 words

While searching for a healthy alternative to fill the void that one habit left, Louis gets hooked on something and someone totally different. This new experience pushes him way out of his comfort zone, making Louis realize he’s capable of so much more than he could’ve ever imagined.

21) King Of My Heart | Explicit | 83712 words

Harry shrugged, his shoulders brushing against Louis’. “I think since I was young, I craved that feeling, though. I didn’t always hate being a prince, but over time, certain aspects of it just bothered me so much. I remember being four years old and realizing that every person in the world knew my name, and I wasn’t sure if I wanted that. I told my mum as much and she tried telling me that being a prince is not a punishment. That it was a privilege that I should be happy about it, but no one asked me if I was. But looking up at the sky, I remember that all of this will one day mean nothing, and neither will I. All the pressure will then disappear and I could just be.” Louis stayed quiet, allowing Harry the space to open up because he knew Harry wasn’t looking for advice, but just someone to confide in. What he wished he could tell him was that in the short amount of time that he’d known the prince, in Louis’ eyes, he couldn’t be insignificant if he tried. He was brighter than every star up there in the sky. He was all Louis could look at and think about.

22) Wind Beneath My Wings | Explicit | 93131 words

“You shouldn’t be here,” Harry gritted out, wild-eyed. “You should be scared of me.” Louis opened his mouth to speak, to cut him off, to disagree, but Harry was pushing. “I could hurt you.” “You won’t hurt me,” Louis said, simple and assuredly. Calm. “I’m capable of hurting you.” “But you won’t. That’s not who you are, Harry. I trust you,” Louis whispered. As an omega carer that works at a rescue and rehabilitation centre for feral alphas and omegas, Louis has experienced all sides of ferality. So Harry- a cold, near mute, non-receptive alpha- was a challenging case for everyone at Phoenix Rehab Centre. Louis wasn’t expecting to feel drawn towards an aloof Harry, or to form a slow bond with him. He certainly was not expecting for his entire life to change in unforeseen ways.

Check out our other fic rec lists by category here and by title here.

You can find other monthly roundup fic rec lists here.

#bottom louis #top harry #larry #fic recs #blp fic recs #monthly fic recs

[whosluce]

ᰔ G⃨e⃨o⃨r⃨g⃨e⃨ c⃨l⃨a⃨r⃨k⃨e⃨y⃨ h⃨e⃨a⃨d⃨c⃨a⃨n⃨n⃨o⃨n⃨s⃨ ᰔ

ᰔ D⃨a⃨t⃨i⃨n⃨g⃨ ᰔ

Him always repeat what you say in videos in accents but will apologise straight after but you will do the same thing back and all he’s friends laugh but George just stares at you in awe.

Inviting you to the useless hotline pod cast, think you and him would talk but max and you tell funny stories about George the whole time.

You stealing his jokes in videos leaving him flabbergasted after everyone said your way of saying it is funnier.

Calling you babe because every other name to him is cringe

“Babe can you open my TikToks please”

Him tagging you in every tiktok on his for you page just for giggles

George and Arthur hill will make you do platform roulette, and Arthurtv will take Funny photos of you two drunk

You always giving each other side eye in awkward situations

Once you finally have the courage to start your own YouTube channel you get a lot of your fame from George who shoutouts you in every video of his.

“Um guys you should go subscribe to my girlfriend y/n YouTube channel she’s pretty cool, annoying but cool”

Alex invites you to be in his videos and when on call you and George giggle and bully each other the entire time.

After a night out he will come home VERY drunk but VERY touchy

You and both the Arthur’s bullying George in any video you are in together like platform roulette.

For his birthday you buy him a full cart of peroni’s because of how much he drinks them in every video.

Plus these things

And him for your birthday getting you a Paul breach pillow and he posted a TikTok of you opening it and it got 1.5 million likes because of your reaction.

When George is invited to a Chrismd video, he always ask if you can come and Chris always says yes because the two of you together creates amazing content.

Every time George bullies one of his friends you tell them something funny about him and he just sits there one call while the boys laugh at him.

“Y/N THATS SUPPOSED TO BE A SECRET”

For your 1 year anniversary, you guys decided to do a challenge which you each get 500 pounds to spend on each other.

He got you a CAT even though he doesn’t like most animals but the look on your face was priceless.

You got him a trip around Europe for 3 weeks with all his friends plus you

(Arthur 1,Arthur 2, Max, Chip, Danny,Chris)

At the end of every video, he calls you just to check in and during the video talks about you ALL THE TIME.

#george clarkey x reader #harry lewis x reader #george x reader #arthur hill #arthurtv #headcannons

[tgm-all4one]

On May 27, 2022, Top Gun: Maverick was released exclusively into theaters. Almost overnight, it became a cultural phenomenon with a fandom of individuals from all over the globe who loved the movie and its characters.

One of the fantastic things about the TG and TGM fandom is the diverse and innovative creators who have used these movies as inspiration for their art. Whether that be in the form of writing, fanart, GIFs, moodboards, edits, etc, we have all taken the same 4 hours and 1 minute of film to create unbelievably varied and original content. And that is what this challenge is about.

What is the "It's not the prompt. It's the creator." challenge?

The idea behind the "It's not the prompt. It's the creator." challenge is to show that even though we might all use similar tropes or AUs, or create GIFs of the same scenes, or use the same moodboard themes, it is our own personal creativity, innovation, and preferences that make our work unique.

So unlike other challenges, everyone will be using the exact same prompt. That's it. One prompt. And an unlimited amount of participants.

And yes, there will probably be art that is similar (either the tropes, themes, characters, etc), however the point is to show that even when two creators have similar independent ideas, their final creation is unique because they put their own original spin on it that only they could do.

What is the prompt?

To celebrate the one-year anniversary of Top Gun: Maverick being released, the prompt is:

"Last summer was one no one could ever forget. Now, a year later, character(s) still feel(s) the effects of that time."

Be as creative as you want and feel free to use any characters from Top Gun (1986) and/or Top Gun: Maverick (2022). Also, while the prompt says a year has passed, there is no set time your art has to be set. It can be pre-canon, post-canon, during-canon, and AU setting, etc. Whatever inspires you!

What is allowed?

Whatever you want. It can be SFW, NSFW, slash, reader insert, OC, no relationship, poly, AU, fluff, smut, angst, whump, etc.

You can also use whatever your preferred medium is to fill the prompt. Writing, artworks, GIF sets, edits, moodboards, playlists, Pinterest boards, etc. Or think out of the box and build a scene out of Legos, make a stop-motion video, draw a flipbook. Whatever inspires you and your creativity! If you created it, it counts.

And there are no minimums or maximums limits for words, time, number of GIFs, etc. Just however much or little you want to share, even if it is still a WIP.

There are only three requirements:

TAG YOUR WORK APPROPRIATELY so others can filter out what they might not be comfortable with. Each post will be checked before being reblogged, however, mistakes can be made so please tag them correctly.

You must be 18+ to participate. Due to the freedom of the event and the fact NSFW content is allowed, only those 18 or older may participate. And if your blog does not have any age indicated on it (18+, 20s, over 21, 35, etc.), your post will not be reblogged. I am very sorry to any minors hoping to participate at this time.

No AI resources can be used as part of a submission. While AI can create cool works of art, they aren't your works of art. As that is the point of this challenge, it will not be permitted.

When does the event take place?

The event will start on Saturday, May 27 and run until Saturday, June 4. However, if you can't finish in time and post after that, this blog will try its best to still reblog your work whenever you feel ready to post.

How do we submit our work?

You can do this one of two ways:

Post your work on your blog as usual and tag @tgm-all4one. Also, tag the post with #tgm all4one. It will then be reblogged here throughout the week.

Submit a post to this blog using the "Submit your papers" button in the blog header. As long as it is tagged correctly, the blog will then post it throughout the week.

There is also an AO3 collection if you prefer to share over there. Please check the FAQ page for the link.

Please check out the FAQ page if you have any questions and please feel free to reach out either through an ask or DM if you have any questions! There is also a condensed version of this post here for quick reference.

I am excited to see what everyone comes up with and happy Top Gun: Maverick anniversary!

#tgm all4one #it's not the prompt. it's the creator. challenge #top gun maverick anniversary #top gun #top gun maverick #top gun: maverick #pete maverick mitchell #bradley rooster bradshaw #jake hangman seresin #robert bob floyd #natasha phoenix trace #javy coyote machado #reuben payback fitch #mickey fanboy garcia #tom iceman kazansky #beau cyclone simpson #bernie hondo coleman #nick goose bradshaw #carole bradshaw #ron slider kerner

[penny00dreadful]

So... some of you may have noticed my fics have come to a screeching halt the last couple of months which is not like me and I am here to explain myself.

Babygirl, I have been preparing.

The end of this month is my 1 year anniversary of posting in this fandom, of posting any of my work online after not doing it for like fifteen fucking years and it has brought me so much incandescent joy, I decided I had to do something for it.

(I've also hit like... several milestones which is fucking insane like you all know I'm just some cranky bog witch, right??)

I have been working on my WIPs for over the last two months. All... holy mother of god... like nine of them???

Some of these have been completed, some I am still writing and some are mostly done.

So starting from my anniversary date, 23rd October, every second or third day, I'll be posting a chapter of something.

I have so much material built up this shit could go on until 2024

@hbyrde36 called it my own personal Penny00Dreadful BigBang... and yeah kinda! 😅

I wanted to do this to show just how much I love this community. Your kind words, your support, your unhinged ramblings, your obsessive love, your talent (for free??) it's all amazing it's so amazing and I wanted to explode forth with my love for it so I figured why the fuck not do this stupid idea??😅

All of these will be posted both to tumblr and AO3 so subscribe over there to keep updated or follow me here!

OH! And let me know if you wanna be tagged! If you wanna be tagged for a specific fic or for everything I'll add you, whatever you want.

You've made me so happy and so warm for the last year. The way I know if I'm having a bad day I just need to hop onto this side of tumblr and everything will be peaches and gravy again.

I love you guys so much. 😘🖤

Updated Schedule - (18th Feb 2024)

Fic list with blurbs below the cut, this will (roughly) be the order they're posted in:

Return of The King - COMPLETE

Steddie Vampire AU with a twist! Vampire Steve comes back after falling to the bats. There is two more chapters left and those chapters have been completed.

Comeuppance - COMPLETE

Dustin just wants Steve to be happy. So he tries to parent trap him with Nancy. Clearly they should be together. But Steve's heart doesn't even seem to be in it at all! How is he so bad at this? And Eddie is being less than helpful

Rookie Mistake - COMPLETE

My Steddie Established Relationship Spies AU oneshot that will have a multi-chapter prequel fic coming very soon after!

Eddie is "retired" and Steve has been injured on the job, so he's supposed to be taking it easy. How hard could a walk to the gas station be?

Before He Cheats - COMPLETE

Songfic! Carrie Underwood - Before He Cheats

I literally have no excuse for this one. The rotted brainworms were behind the steering wheel with this one.

One evening, Eddie gets a call from some guy named Steve dropping the news on him that his boyfriend has been cheating on him. With this Steve person and Steve had no idea up until that day.

And Eddie rarely takes that shit lying down.

Steddievember Smut - COMPLETE

No Nut November is here! One can play however he wants. The other just has to wait for December to roll around. I have no other words to describe what this will be, it does what it says on the tin. I blame the STWG discord server. Currently we're looking at four little ficlets for this.

Cat and Mouse - COMPLETE

The Steddie Spies AU Prequel! How they got together and the extreme ups and downs their enemies/rivals to lovers journey goes through. I had so much fun with this one.

And They Were Roommates! - COMPLETE

omg they were roommates.

Steve and Eddie don't hate each other exactly. They just... tolerate each other. But one night Eddie doesn't come home for hours. Long after he's supposed to and it's not like Steve is worried or anything... he's just... concerned for a fellow human being... that's all.

Through The Valley

Post-Apocalyptic AU. Eddie, Dustin and Nancy have a nice little community of survivors outside of Hawkins that they take care of, surviving day to day. Everyone's a little broken, missing the rest of their Party just hoping that one day they'll find each other again.

Devotion

Dungeons and Dragons AU. Steve is the golden boy of the small town of Hawkins. Harrington in name and now a Paladin with his very own oath to hunt down the Bard, the witch Eddie Munson and bring him back to justice under High Priest Henry Creel.

#steddie #stranger things #eddie munson #steve x eddie #steve harrington #eddie x steve #penny00dreadful #return of the king #comeuppance #through the valley #dungeons and dragons au #roommates #spies au #before he cheats fic #steddievember #rookie mistake fic #anniversary #1 year posting anniversary challenge #do that challenge #am I insane for this? #probably #I have 88k words written #no i am not fucking joking #pennys anniversary event

[project-sekai-facts]

Project SEKAI 3rd anniversary: Brand New World - recap post (MK-II)

(main promotional art / title screen)

I thought it would be useful to make a post recapping everything we know about the 3rd anniversary update, since we’re getting closer and closer to the anniversary now and there’s gonna be a lot of changes to keep up with. I’ll continue to update this as more stuff is released with both character/story information and general game updates and other news (goes without saying but spoiler warning for this post).

Note that all of this applies to the JP server only.

Official site link

Section 1 - Characters & Story

This is probably the bit people are more interested in

New stock artworks for each unit have been released on the 3rd anniversary website! In addition, character bios using the new arts have been released on Twitter! The Virtual Singer bios have not changed, but the ones for the human characters have, and I've added translations of these in the character section just a bit below here. You can find these new bios linked below:

Virtual Singer

Leo/need (Ichika) (Saki) (Honami) (Shiho)

MORE MORE JUMP! (Minori) (Haruka) (Airi) (Shizuku)

Vivid BAD SQUAD (Kohane) (An) (Akito) (Toya)

WonderlandsxShowtime (Tsukasa) (Emu) (Nene) (Rui)

25-ji, Nightcord de. (Kanade) (Mafuyu) (Ena) (Mizuki)

Videos about the "path every unit has taken and what comes next" are being released on YouTube! These are essentially just PVs for the third anniversary and feature past event cards + quotes alongside the new stock arts for each character. Note these videos are in Japanese and do not have subtitles for any other language.

Leo/need

MORE MORE JUMP!

Vivid BAD SQUAD

WonderlandsxShowtime

25-ji, Nightcord de.

Leo/need

In Get Over It., Leo/need receives an offer from Yoshiki Shindou to sign on to the record label he works for, Solis Records. Leo/need accepted the offer and signed a contract with Solis, making them professionals. However, they have yet to officially debut as a professional band.

Ichika

She has a cool appearance, but in reality she is a kind girl who cares about her friends. She formed Leo/need with her childhood friends Saki, Honami and Shiho, and they became professional musicians like they longed to be. She is the guitarist and vocalist for the band and also writes lyrics for their original songs. She has recently taken up the challenge of producing music using the Hatsune Miku software.

School year: 1st -> 2nd Class: 1-C -> 2-A Job: Staff at a fast food joint Height: 161 -> 162cm Other notes: She is no longer class rep, and has joined the broadcasting committee because she wanted to play music she liked on the radio and improve her MC skills

Saki

A cheerful mood-maker who always has a smile on her face, she serves as Leo/need's keyboardist. Having been sick and unable to attend school for a long time, she values spending time with others, enjoying her youth and being close to the hearts of those who are suffering - things that are all reflected in her songwriting.

School year: 1st -> 2nd Class: 1-C -> 2-B Job: Waitress at carino/carina cafe Height: 159 -> 160cm

Honami

The drummer of Leo/need, an honour student who excels at academics and athletic, and who has a kind and gentle nature. She used to worry about making decisions because she didn't want to hurt people, but through her band activities, she has learnt to have the courage to take charge and stand up for herself. Now, she supports Leo/need with her newfound strength.

School year: 1st -> 2nd Class: 1-B -> 2-A Job: Housekeeper for Kanade Height: 166cm Other notes: She's continuing to be a member of the beautification committee

Shiho

Leo/need's bassist. Due to her stoic nature, especially when music is involved, she is often misunderstood by those around her to be an asocial loner. However, she is very fond of everyone in Leo/need, who have worked with her to fulfil her dream of becoming a professional musician.

School year: 1st -> 2nd Class: 1-A -> 2-B Job: Livehouse staff Height: 159cm Other notes: due to Saki growing, she is now the shortest member of Leo/need. She also joined the animal caretaker committee because she liked volunteering there occasionally in 1st year

MORE MORE JUMP!

In Re-tie Friendship, MORE MORE JUMP! considers making the move to their school’s credit-based course, after their idol and school schedules start to clash. In the end they decide to change course, with the decision becoming official in STEP by STEP!.

Minori

A pure, hard-working girl. She is the only member of MORE MORE JUMP! with no prior experience as an idol, but was able to prove herself to fans through many activities, and was even able to perform a solo concert with her group just like she'd always dreamed. Now, she's continuing to work hard with her group to become known nationwide and be able to peform live at a dome venue.

School year: 1st -> 2nd (on credit course / not full time) Class: 1-A -> 2-D Job: Waitress at carino/carina cafe -> none (quit to focus on idol work) Height: 158 -> 159cm Other notes: She's going to continue as a member of the animal caretaker committee

Haruka

Former top idol and member of the nationally famous group, ASRUN. She is currently a member of MORE MORE JUMP!, and after the group's first solo live, is even more motivated to continue pursuing her idol career. She recently decided to transfer back to her school's credit system, alongside Minori, so that she can dedicate more time to her work once again.

School year: 1st -> 2nd (on credit course / not full time) Class: 1-C -> 2-D Job: None Height: 163cm

Airi

Former member of the idol group QT. With her strong passion and pride for being an idol, she is a powerful source of motivation for her groupmates. She is also skilled at planning and schedule management, and completes the tasks that are essential for MORE MORE JUMP!, since they don't belong to an agency.

School year: 2nd -> 3rd (on credit course / not full time) Class: 2-D -> 3-E Job: None Height: 156cm

Shizuku

Former center of the idol group Cheerful*Days, which is still popular now. She had bit of a rift with the members of her former group after leaving because things didn't work out between them, but was able to reconcile with them a bit after they appeared on a TV show with MORE MORE JUMP!, and is now moving forward in a positive way.

School year: 2nd -> 3rd (on credit course / not full time) Class: 2-D -> 3-E Job: None Height: 168cm Other notes: She is no longer on the beautification committee and has joined the healthcare committee because she wanted to try something different

Vivid BAD SQUAD

The squad was told the truth behind RAD WEEKEND, that being that the event was held as a swan song for Nagi, who passed away a few weeks afterwards due to terminal cancer. Taiga then challenged VBS, EVER, Arata and Kotaro to a singing battle, easily defeating them all. EVER decides to take a hiatus from street music, while Arata leaves town. Vivid BAD SQUAD decide that they need to work even harder if they want to surpass RAD WEEKEND, and Ken temporarily closes WEEKEND GARAGE so he can become their mentor.

Kohane

Although she used to be shy and timid, she became more confident in her singing through friendly competition and encouragement from her teammates, and through the training of Taiga, one of the members of the group who held the legendary RAD WEEKEND event. Although she was once defeated by her mentor and became frustrated because of it, she was able to stand up to Taiga and declare that she still wanted to surpass RAD WEEKEND.

School year: 1st -> 2nd Class: 1-A -> 2-A Job: None Height: 156cm Other notes: She joined the beautification committee due to the workload being less than the animal committee

An

The cheerful, sincere and open-minded poster girl of WEEKEND GARAGE. While working to organise an event that surpasses the legendary RAD WEEKEND held by her father and his teammates, she was shocked to learn the secret about what happened to Nagi, the person she looked up to most. However, after learning about Nagi's true feelings from her father, she was able to pick herself up and once again vow to surpass the legend.

School year: 1st -> 2nd Class: 1-A -> 2-A Job: Waitress at WEEKEND GARAGE -> none (WEG is closed while Ken mentors VBS) Height: 160cm Other notes: She left the disciplinary committee, and is now on the broadcasting committee

Akito

A hard-working person who practices diligently to make his dream of surpassing the legendary RAD WEEKEND event come true. The weight of the secret behind RAD WEEKEND almost made him give up, but he was reminded of the passion he had for his dream, which inspired him to get back up and push forwards.

School year: 1st -> 2nd Class: 1-C -> 2-A Job: Sales assistant at a clothing store -> none (quit to focus on VBS) Height: 174 -> 176cm Other notes: He's taller than KAITO now

Toya

A young prodigy born into a family of famous classical musicians. Whilst aiming to surpass the legendary RAD WEEKEND event, Toya has been trying his hand at composing music for his group. Despite being overwhelmed by the true level of the legendary event, with the experience he has acquired so far, he hopes to overcome the barriers with his teammates and see what lies ahead.

School year: 1st -> 2nd Class: 1-B -> 2-B Job: None Height: 178 -> 179cm Other notes: He's still a member of the library committee

Bonus note: Kohane and Toya still do not call their teammates outside their respective partners by their first names.

Second note: Akito's bio refers to his fes story unlike everyone else's that allude to past event stories. Read his fes story.

WonderlandsxShowtime

In Our Happy Ending, Rui proposes that WonderlandsxShowtime begin operating as a freelance unit instead of as Phoenix Wonderland cast. Emu initially declines, but her brothers encourage her to go with the others, since she’s still young and should take the opportunity to get out there while she can. After one more show at PXL, WxS’ contract is terminated and they officially become freelancers.

Tsukasa

The chairman of WonderlandsxShowtime, who aspires to be the biggest star in the world. After a variety of experiences as a cast member, he developed a desire to see the wider world and learn more about his craft. Eventually he decided to leave the Wonder Stage with his troupemates and take the next step.

School year: 2nd -> 3rd Class: 2-A -> 3-C Job: Phoenix Wonderland cast -> freelancer with WonderlandsxShowtime Height: 172 -> 173cm Other notes: He is no longer class rep. He instead became a disciplinary committee member because he wanted to get away from the Oddball 1 image in his last year. However if he does anything against the rules with Rui he's kicked off.

Emu

A girl with an innocent personality and boundless positivity. Her dream is to uphold her grandfather's legacy and protect Phoenix Wonderland, and she was prepared to part ways with the rest of WonderlandsxShowtime members who were leaving to pursue their dreams because of this. However, her siblings and friends encouraged her to step outside the park so she can gain experience before pursuing her dream.

School year: 1st -> 2nd Class: 1-B -> 2-B Job: Phoenix Wonderland cast -> freelancer with WonderlandsxShowtime Height: 152cm Other notes: She's running for class rep

Nene

A young girl who aspires to become a world-class musical actress. Her confidence in singing was shattered during a rehearsal for one of her recent performances, but she took the experience as an opportunity to reaffirm her passion. She is determined to learn and experience as much as she can in the wider world with her troupemates.

School year: 1st -> 2nd Class: 1-B -> 2-A Job: Phoenix Wonderland cast -> freelancer with WonderlandsxShowtime Height: 156cm Other notes: She got put on the library committee because she lost when drawing lots with some classmates over the role

Rui

A genius director who goes at his own pace. He used to work alone, but found a place to belong in WonderlandsxShowtime, who accepted him and his shows. He recently sought a way for him and his troupemates to be able to follow their dreams without going their separate ways. In the end, everything led to the best possible 'grand finale' where all of them can continue to perform together whilst pursuing their individual dreams.

School year: 2nd -> 3rd Class: 2-B -> 3-C Job: Phoenix Wonderland cast -> freelancer with WonderlandsxShowtime Height: 180 -> 182cm Other notes: He is still a member of the gardening committee

25-ji, Nightcord de.

As her mother continues to try and cut her off from 25-ji, Nightcord de., Mafuyu’s mental health continues to decline and her grades start to slip. Her mother finds out that she didn’t do as well on her finals as usual, and attempts to confiscate her phone, breaking it in the process and completely cutting Mafuyu off from N25. Mafuyu finally comes clean about everything with her mother, however her mother is completely apathetic and tries to manipulate her into thinking that none of it is her fault. Mafuyu ends up running away from home as a result.

Kanade

25-ji, Nightcord de.'s composer. She was happy to see that her songs were having more and more of an effect on Mafuyu, but was one day approached by Mafuyu's mother telling her to stay away from her daughter. However, after the way Mafuyu's mother talked and acted made her feel uncomfortable, Kanade refused her demands and chose to stay by Mafuyu's side.

School year: N/A (attends online school; equivalent to 3rd year) Job: None Height: 154cm

Mafuyu

25-ji, Nightcord de.'s lyricist. She lost sight of her true self due to her mother constantly pushing her to be a "good girl", but she came to find a place to belong in N25. However, her mother tried to take that away from her, pushing Mafuyu to her limit and causing her to run away from home and seek refuge in Kanade.

School year: 2nd -> 3rd Class: 2-B -> 3-B Job: None Height: 162cm Other notes: currently living with Kanade. She's still class rep as she was requested to be one by her teacher and classmates

Ena

25-ji, Nightcord de.'s illustrator. She isn't naturally talented at art, but she has developed the strength to keep drawing even after she's harshly criticised. Ena is a very straightforward person, and was irritated by Mafuyu being reluctant to communicate her feelings with her mother. However Ena can sense a definite change in Mafuyu since they first met, and will continue to watch over her closely as a friend.

School year: 2nd -> 3rd (still attending night school) Class: 2-D -> 3-D Job: None Height: 158cm

Mizuki

25-ji, Nightcord de.'s video editor. They were worried about Mafuyu's deteriorating relationship with her mother, but felt like they couldn't help due to being unable to face up to their own secrets. However, they realised from their own experiences that some things can be gained from running away from painful situations, and tells Mafuyu that it's okay for her to run away if things get too much to handle.

School year: 1st -> 2nd Class: 1-A -> 2-B Job: Sales assistant at a boutique Height: 163cm -> 165cm

Updated relationship diagrams for each unit can be found here

Section 2 - Song campaign

Anniversary Songs

The third anniversary song has been announced! The title is NEO and it was produced by JIN! Below is JIN's comment on the song (via @/pjsekai_eng on Twitter). Marasy also confirmed that he did the piano parts in this song!

HachiojiP was commissioned to produce this year's extra hard song. No further information has been revealed at the moment.

Song Campaign

The song campaign hint sheet has been revealed! Although... there's no hints this year, just blank tiles. The songs will be revealed during the next and final wandasho channel.

Note: blank tiles include special characters

ANSWERS

Tengaku by Yuuyu-P (covered by Ichika/Shiho and Rin)

Manimani by r-906

Melancholic by Junky (covered by MMJ and Rin)

Buta ni Natte yeah yeah by Neru (Len 3DMV)

Koi wa Sensou by Ryo (covered by Vivids and Miku)

Devil Janai mon by DECO*27 x PinocchioP

Sukina Koto Dake de ii Desu (covered by Emu/Rui and Miku)

Tsugai Kogarashi by hinayukki@sigotositeP

Kamippoi na by PinocchioP (covered by N25 and Miku)

Dear by 19 -iku-

Outside of the song campaign, Wagamama Hime by Fujiwo (covered by Emu/Nene and Miku), and Akuyaku ni Kiss Scene wo by 40mP (covered by MMJ and KAITO + 3DMV) will be added.

New Commissions

Every unit will get a new commissioned song that isn't tied to an event, including the Virtual Singer unit. These will be added one per month for the next 6 months. The first up will be Virtual Singer, with their new song I'm Mine by halyosy. A preview can be found here. It will also have a 3DMV.

Section 3 - Game updates

So far we know that the daily login will be changed so that every day you will now receive 15 wish pieces and 50 gems, and that the number of virtual coinsx300 that you can exchange from the wish piece exchange will be increased from 10 to 15 times.

Some packs will also be removed from the shop. The sewing bundle, music card bundle, stamp bundle, and coin bundle will be discontinued due to changes in contents. The 2nd anniversary variety bundle will be permanently discontinued.

(source)

Wandasho chanel news

the following was announced during the 3rd anniversary wandasho channel!

The new unit outfits found at the top of this post will be implemented as free 3D costumes

The original outfits for all SEKAI-variant Virtual Singers will be added as 3D costumes (only starter vsingers will be getting 3D costumes for the new outfits). You can get these costumes by reading the respective Vsinger's debut event (ie: reading Secret Distance will unlock N25!MEIKO's costume)

All characters will have new casual outfit Live2Ds, and some characters will have new school uniforms as well

The new stock arts at the top of this post will be added as new 2* cards

A new tap SFX and note skins will be added. These are optional and can be changed in settings.

Titles will be added for playing with 2nd year and 3rd year members

More than 180 new area conversations will be added! An option to switch to area conversations before and after the age-up will also be implemented

New loading screen 1-komas will be added! These will replace the old ones, which will be moved onto the official website

Character profiles will be revamped!

New elements will be added to custom profile editing

You will now be able to play a live show to the end even after hitting 0 life. You will not get good rewards for failing the song though.

New commissioned songs will be added for each unit!! These will be added one-per-month. Virtual Singer is also getting a new song! More details will be announced later (and can be found in the song campaign section of this post)

A card's power will be renamed to "performance"

Unit ranks will be removed due to serving no purpose anymore

EX Missions are finally being added! These were announced a long time ago but ended up getting postponed. These are additional character rank missions for after you max out a character's CHRank.

Some normal character rank missions will have their cap increased to account for content released since the last cap increase, including number of cards, costumes, alt vocals, side stories, etc

Character rank titles will be updated to account for new max level

Player rank cap will be increased and have a new title added to account for that

A title will be added for 4 years login so players can start working towards it

Several Virtual Live effects, such as the confetti and balloons, will cost less Virtual Coins due to the game constantly replacing everything that gives your Virtual Coins with Wish Pieces

Rewards for reading event stories will be changed from 2 music cards + 50 gems per chapter to 100 gems + 50 wish pieces + 2 music cards per chapter (!!). This will only apply to events released after 3rd anniversary and no compensation will be given for the previous 107 events because the devs aren't that nice

Players that rank between 4 and 10 on an event will no longer get a top 10 title, but a title with their specific placement on it

Top 1500 and 2500 title will be added

T50K - T300K reward crystals increased to 300

T11 - T200K will get additional skill up scores

changes to master rank event bonus has been made for 4* and BD cards. refer to the bottom row in the below image

3D graphics update!

There's been a massive update to the game's 3D models! They now have improved shading and animations! A PV demonstrating can be found here!

The songs that won the 3DMV improvement campaign (Umiyuri Kaiteitan, IF, Cinema, TONDEMO-WONDERZ, and IDSMILE) will have their 3DMVs changed as part of this update.

These will be released on Youtube tomorrow, links in the above bullet point

6th generation (2018) and below iPads will not be able to run the game after this update

Alongside 3D models and the 5 winning MVs, the gacha animation has also been remade

UI updates!

The game will be getting a massive UI overhaul, some images can be found below

A side story menu will be added alongside the event and main story menus.

New difficulty: Append!

A new difficulty will be added, called Append. It requires playing with 3 or more fingers, similar to the Proseka Ultimate songs! The difficulty range will be Lvl23-38!

The first 12 songs to receive Append charts will be Tell Your World, NEO, Hibana -Reloaded-, Stella, MORE! JUMP! MORE!, Vampire, Cinema, Pheles, TONDEMO-WONDERZ, Telecaster B-boy, I nandesu, and Gehenna!

Append will have a new note type, called Trace. It is similar to a slide note from Bandori.

The Intense Voice of Hatsune Miku will also have a lvl 35 Append chart added for a limited time, starting on September 30th. This will be the full version of the song for added challenge.

New event type: World Link!

Described as "stories where you will witness new possibilities in the SEKAI due to change in characters' feelings". By the 4th anniversary, every unit will get one World Link format unit event.

The event will be formatted in parts, known as chapters. Each chapter will be focused on a different character and have its own event ranking and story, and will run for only a few days. At the end of the story, changes might happen in the SEKAI...

Event ranking will be split into two sections: chapter and overall. Chapter score is accumulated during each chapter, and overall tallies your points throughout the entire event (so it is possible to tier one chapter and still get low overall rank because you ignored the other 3). Chapter ranking will have new special titles for ranks 1-100, but everything below T200 will keep the same titles as have always been used.

Event exchange will be split in a similar way, with a chapter exchange and general exchange. Chapter exchange can only be used with the pt badges earned during the specific chapter, but any leftovers can be converted and used in the general exchange.

Event bonus will work a little differently in these events, with the introduction of support units. If you've played like any other idol game you will know what these are, but for those who don't, then basically it allows you to add extra cards to a team that although can't be used and will not affect score, they can raise your event bonus for your main team. In World Link events, the support team will have 12 slots. Refer to the translated images from @/pjsekai_eng on twitter above.

The first World Link event will be for Niigo, and will be held between the 8th and 20th of November! After that will be VBS in January, WxS in March, MMJ! in May, L/n in July, and Virtual Singer (!!) in August.

Section 4 - Lives

Project SEKAI's 3rd live has been announced, titled Evolve!! The live will be held in two locations: Tokyo on January 26th-28th, and Osaka on February 17th & 18th 2024!

A promotional video can be found here.

To commemorate the announcement of the live, a livestream will be held on the 13th of October at 11am UTC, featuring Yukki, Mayushii, Akina, Daichan and Minoringo. The stream can be found here. During the stream, highlights of the live's "evolution" will be shown.

The official account for all information about the live is, as always, @/pjsekai_live on Twitter

During the stream it was announced that the setlist will vary between the day and night performances, with certain members getting more songs during day performances, and certain members getting more songs during night performances. These are organised as two duos per unit (excluding Leo/need), with one at the day performance and one at the night performance. The duos and their possible songs are as follows:

Day performance:

MMJ: Haruka & Shizuku (Nostalogic, Chikyuu Saigo no Kokuhaku o, Shoujorei)

VBS: Vivids (Rettou Joutou, Just Be Friends, drop pop candy, Odo, PaIII.SENSATION, Teikoku Shoujo, Pheles, Koi wa Sensou)

WxS: Tsukasa & Rui (Dappou Rock, Buriki no Dance, KING, Fixer, Nonsense Bungaku)

N25: Kanade & Mafuyu (Jishou Mushoku, Cutlery, Meru, Kokoronashi)

Night performance:

MMJ: Minori & Airi (Ren'ai Saiban, Marshmary, Setsuna Trip)

VBS: BAD DOGS (Fragile, Doctor=Funk Beat, Yobanashi Deceive, Ifuudoudou, Yuurei Tokyo, Garando, Ame to Petra, Aun no Beats, Taemanaku Aiiro)

WxS: Emu & Nene (Dance Robot Dance, Positive☆Dance Time, Rimokon, Alien Alien, Netoge Haijin Sprechor, Wagamama Hime)

N25: Ena & Mizuki (Charles, Venom, Gehenna)

A connect live to celebrate the third anniversary has been announced. This was actually announced a month ago but I forgot about it and we didn't get art until now. It is titled Memorial Stage and will be held on the 8th of October!

A login story for the live will be available from October 6th.

Section 5 - Event and gacha

The next event will be centered around the unit reps, with all of them being limited gacha cards, except Kohane who will be the exchange 3*. KAITO and MEIKO will be the fes cards. The event is called Hello Good Day! and is an Ichika banner.

And as usual, limited paid costume gacha. Here are previews of the costumes from this year's edition.

Section 6 - Project SEKAI Academy

Project SEKAI Academy is a program for young Vocaloid-Ps who will carry the next generation. 10 applicants under the age of 24 can win a place and be mentored by OSTER Project and Hiiragi Magnetite. 3 more unannounced Voca-Ps will also take part in the program. Each producer will make one song during the program, and one lucky student will have their song added to the game! More info can be found on the official website.

Section 7 - Animation

That's right. We got an anime! ...Well kinda.

Starting from the 30th, digest animations of the 5 main stories will be sequentially released on Youtube. The trailer for Leo/need's animation, animated by P.A. WORKS, is above.

The animations are all around 5 minutes long.

Links below

STELLA (Leo/need)

HOPE (MORE MORE JUMP!)

RESOLVE (Vivid BAD SQAUD)

HAPPINESS (WonderlandsxShowtime)

SELF (25-ji, Nightcord de.)

Section 8 - Miscellaneous news

Project SEKAI will be doing a collab event with the KaraokeKan chain of karaoke clubs starting in late October. There will be themed drinks, as well as prizes that can be won by singing certain songs! The promotional art was drawn by Rozuki.

As of today (17th September), posters promoting the anniversary have begun to appear on public transport in Japan! Tomorrow posters will begin to appear in major cities. These posters contain the class registers for the next in-universe school year! The new classes are written in the character section.

A Blu-ray and CD of this year's SEKAI Symphony will be released on November 29th! A preview video can be found on Twitter.

Project SEKAI will be collabing with SANRIO!! A teaser of some of the promotional illustrations can be found here. More details will be announced in October.

From Midnight JST on the 29th (15:00 UTC on the 28th), illustrations will be released on Twitter showing the characters' last days before moving up a grade. Four will be released throughout the day, at midnight, noon, 6pm and 10pm (all JST).

A livestream celebrating the anniversary will be held on the 29th September at 23:30 JST / 14:30 UTC. It will feature Yukki, Honchan, Akina and Hiichan on the panel. The stream can be found here.

Finally after 2 years of waiting, Volume 2 of the SEKAI cover albums has been announced. Track lists and release dates below. Note that Hello,World and ray have been excluded from the Leo/need album, possibly due to being part of an artist collab. Their full versions have been available on YouTube for about two years anyway so not overly bad. Aun no Beats has been excluded from the VBS album for unknown reasons (probably copyright).

songs in italics do not have a full version MV on youtube already

Leo/need (March 6th)

Lost One no Goukoku

Ghost Rule

Shinpakusuu#0822

Bokura Mada Underground

Asagao no Chiru Koro ni

Lost and Found

Calc.

Amanojaku

Yomosugara Kimi Omou

Hello,Worker

Attract Light

Kaisei

MORE MORE JUMP! (February 7th)

Happy Halloween

Karakuri Pierrot

Shoujorei

Kokoroyohou

Darling Dance

Vampire

Torinoko City

Lonely Universe

Kimagure Mercy

Booo!

Shinkai Shoujo

Setsuna Trip

Vivid BAD SQUAD (February 21st)

Alter Ego

Garando

Odo

Ame to Petra

PaIII.SENSATION

YY

DAYBREAK FRONTLINE

Teikoku Shoujo

Pheles

Egoist

Taemanaku Aiiro

Shanti

WonderlandsxShowtime (January 24th)

Nonsense Bungaku

Yī Èr Fanclub

Rimokon

Kami no Manimani

Goodbye Sengen

Alien Alien

Odore Orchestra

Ego Rock

Love ka?

Netoge Haijin Sprechor

1925

Okochama Sensou

25-ji, Nightcord de. (January 10th)

Villain

Usseewa

Aishite Aishite Aishite

Mousou Kanshou Daishou Renmei

Meru

Gehenna

Phony

Deichuu ni Saku

Non-Breath Oblige

Sore ga Anata no Shiawase to Shite mo

Irony

Inochi Bakkari

#MK-II bc tumblr broke the first one #project sekai #project sekai spoilers #this is REALLY long btw #finally. after 12 hours i can sleep

[jmdbjk]

Tumblr anniversary

It's been TWO years since I chose to take up residence here on this hellsite/app.

Last year, when I posted about my Tumblr anniversary, Jungkook had just dropped his thirst trap birthday greeting to Jimin. And Yet to Come Busan had not happened yet. No one was enlisted yet. We had no idea that we were about to have our hearts ripped out by Jin's enlistment announcement.

My, what innocent babes we were.

So much has happened since last October other than the afore mentioned Yet to Come Busan concert and Jin's enlistment announcement.

We watched the members emotional sendoff to Jin in December. We watched them do it again for Hobi in April. We didn't see but we know Yoongi has begun his service. We don't need to see it. We are pretty certain within the next two months we will be sending another 2 or 3 or maybe even the rest of them off to do theirs as well.

We got The Astronaut, Dreamers, Indigo, a Christmas song from Tae, Vibe, Face, D-Day (and a tour and I saw Yoongi!!), Angel Pt. 1 & 2, The Planet, another version of Jack-in-the-Box, Take Two, Seven, Layover, 3D and we anxiously anticipate Golden. What am I missing? More collabs that Namjoon did with others. We got so much music I can't remember it all.

We've seen the clothing come off of every member. Some more than others. But still. Chapter Two is not about taking their shirts off, as Tae said...yeah, whatever Tae... it is about transitioning to a more mature image including taking control of their professional and personal images, their bodies, their autonomy, their maturity and sexuality. And boy howdy...

We got a very complex and far-reaching BTS 10th Anniversary Festa celebration that took place across the world.

We got Kook Cooks, Flying Yoga, Wootteo, Suchwita, Namjoon on Big Brains and Many of them Sitting at the Same Table Talking (or whatever the name of that show was), Dior Jimin, Tiffany Jimin, Calvin Klein Jungkook, Valentino and NBA Yoongi, Louis Vuitton Hobi, Bottega Veneta Namjoon, Cartier and Celine Taehyung, dance challenges.

We inadvertently got Jungkook's TikTok through his own error and now we are pretty sure the other members INCLUDING JIMIN are lurking on all the soc med platforms.

We got so much Jungkook being himself. And we watched him go from being fine with his couch potato cushion existence to being Mr. World Traveler who can't stay in one place for more than a few days before he's off again to who knows where and adding to Jimin's list of things to fret over.

We got a nice quantity of sweet quality interaction of Jimin and Tae just yesterday. This healed me.

We have heard over and over how each member is anxiously excited to get back and hurry up and show us they still have it.

There has not been any lack of things to talk about. There has not been any lack of controversy. We've seen things we probably weren't meant to see and we've seen things that are dubious as to their authenticity and things that were obviously made for us to see.

Like one of those of flying bird flock murmurations, the fandom is shifting and changing, spreading out and coalescing and doing all this repeatedly as we navigate this period of time before they get back together in 2025.

I hope we don't run off the rails this next year and that we all can find some common ground so we can stand together at the threshold of 2025 in anticipation of their comeback.

And sooooo many more of you have chosen to follow my weird ramblings, rantings and odd posts. Thank you for taking time to give my blog any consideration.

#jikook continue to jikook regardless #bts chapter 2 #happy birthday bro #jikook in the sheets #i was getting a pedicure and Vibe played and I almost chair danced #happyanniversary

[johnica-weeks]

Johnica Week 2024

When is the event? 📆

This year's Johnica Week will start on Thursday 18th January and end on Sunday 21st January! For the first time the event will START on their wedding anniversary and continue throughout the weekend 🥰 But as always, don't worry if you're late! You can keep sending your contributions after the last day, these are simply indicative days to gather all together 💕

Where? 🔎

Here on Tumblr, on AO3 and also on Instagram for visual artists!

💚 Use the tag #JohnicaWeek2024 in your entries here and on Instagram!

📚 > Here is the AO3 COLLECTION where to post your fics! <

💚 Tag @eileen-crys and/or @johnica-weeks in your works so I can read, see and share them!

📚 At the end of the event I’ll make a Tumblr masterlist with all the works!

2020 Masterlist | 2021 Masterlist | 2022 Masterlist | 2023 Masterlist

The Theme 🎁

The 49th Wedding Anniversary comes soon before the huge milestone of the 50 years together, and it's usually represented by various symbols that I added to the prompts: Zircon, Orchids, the color Purple, and luxurious gifts. The main theme of this year's event is GIFTS, the act of giving the partner something material or abstract as an act of selflessness, that can have various meanings and various reactions.

Like all the prompts, it’s up to you to follow the theme or not, consider it just as a general theme that you could build your entries around. I chose some prompts that might fit this theme, that are about gifts as physical objects or as ideas for situations or alternative worldbuildings.

How? 🖼

You're encouraged to join with your preferred creative media or challenge yourself with something new! Fanfictions, drawings, comics, poetry, collages and photo edits, moodboards, anything you like! More in the RULES below.

Like all Ship Weeks, this is a fandom event to share love and creativity related to a particular couple, so be sure to engage with the entries and support all the artists and writers that chose to join! Reblog, leave likes/kudos and comment on the artworks to keep the fandom alive! 💜💖💕💜💖💕

Day 1 • 18 January (Anniversary!)

Flowers: Orchids are symbols of love, beauty, refinement, fertility, strength and resilience, and mature charm.

Surprise gift!

Handmade by the other

Young, poor and happy together

"I've got a loving wife and a couple of kids at home, that'll do me!"

Day 2 • 19 January

The color: Purple can evoke spirituality, mystery, royalty, imagination, compassion, fantasy, wisdom, creativity and sensitivity.

A kinky gift 😏

Concert tickets

Radio interview

“When you love something, you protect it with your entire life. Right now, my guts tell me to do the same.”

Day 3 • 20 January

Gemstone: Zircon zircon is a talisman of travelers. They count on it to lead to a shelter and show the right way. Plus, it is able to protect from injuries. Women used the gem to ease childbirth, drive away evil spirits, enhance health, get wisdom, and attract good luck.

Rejecting a gift

Torn between options

Dreaming and daydreaming

"You remembered something I’d mentioned a million years ago!"

Day 4 • 21 January

Celebration: Luxury the 49th wedding anniversary is the step right before the big 50, also known as the Golden wedding. All the symbols represent the wealth of experience a couple has after being married for nearly five decades. Two people who are willing to work together and compromise and do all the things that make a marriage successful deserve to celebrate with a bit of Luxury.

Matching pyjamas

Spa experience / Pampering one another

Knowing each other like an open book

"Oh my, this must have been expensive!" "Nothing is expensive enough for you, my love."

What can you do? ✒

You can join with fanfics, edits and moodboards, drawings of all kinds and if you want to sing or play an instrument please feel free to!

The requirements are:

John and Veronica Deacon as the main pairing;

Your love and creativity! 🥰

You can write/draw:

Fics with and without accurate settings and timelines;

Alternative Universes (AU) of any kind and genre, mixed or not with the prompts (ex. Fem!John AU + coffee shop, A/B/O AU + Superpowers);

“What if"s;

Genderswap/genderbending of any kind;

Other Queen members, friends, pairings, family, poly ships (that have to involve both John and Veronica!), OCs, etc…

Fluff, angst, crack, hurt/comfort, action, mystery, sexy times… anything you fancy!

🔥 NSFW is allowed with PROPER TAGS! IMPORTANT note: please interact with NSFW only if you’re +18! 🔞

… and more! If you’re unsure feel free to ask!

We’re here to celebrate John and Veronica Deacon, not to create drama or fights nor to disrespect their privacy. So please be considered about your entries and comments and always try to be respectful to John, to Veronica, to their family and friends, to the people who ship them or ship other couples and to your audience.

HOW to post? 🤔

You can post your entries here on Tumblr, on AO3 and on Instagram, using the hashtag #JohnicaWeek2024 and tagging me.

If you prefer, you can post anonymously on AO3, HERE is an easy guide on how to do it!

If you’re on Tumblr and want to post a fic anonymously please send me a DM and I’ll post it on @johnica-weeks on your behalf, crediting it as Anonymous author! I will also post fics from Anon authors posted on AO3 here on tumblr on Anon's behalf.

🔥 TAG your work APPROPRIATELY! This includes all potential triggers and smut. On Tumblr you can include the appropriate warnings at the top of the fic followed by a "keep reading” cut (you can add it in desktop version AND on mobile by writing :readmore: in a new line!) Also be sure to tag the rating of your fic, the genre and the themes of your story, enough to help the readers!

✨ If you’re still unsure, HERE’s a useful guide on how to tag your works!

As a reader... 📖

If you’re a fan of John, of Johnica or simply like to read fanfictions, positive interactions are always much welcomed! Support the authors by leaving likes, a comment (even a little one!) and sharing their work. On AO3 you don’t need an account to leave Kudos and Comments! (Unless the author has willingly prevented guests to comment). To leave a comment on AO3 you simply have to choose a temporary mail and set your email to get a notification for an eventual reply.

If a work is not tagged appropriately, you can reach out to me via DM and I’ll warn the author. If anything makes you uncomfortable, simply close the work! Do not engage by leaving nasty comments or messaging the author!

🔥 IMPORTANT!!! 🔥

During the event, if any of you/your entries gets hateful comments or messages towards you, your entries, the Johnica ship, the event or other creators, please DELETE the hateful comment/message right away with no interactions and let me know! This is no place for haters, just for creativity and love. If you see a hateful comment on other works do not engage, instead leave a positive comment to the same work and support the author! 💜

Realistic or not, remember that fanfictions are, by definition, FICTIONAL and not meant to be a documentary! There are lots of things we don’t know about John and Veronica’s private lives and don’t want to go in too deeply, gossip or speculate about them, so feel free to fly with your fantasy and let your creativity flow! 😊💖 Most of all… have fun, respect each other and support each other’s works!

Dividers and graphics by @firefly-graphics and @johnica-weeks. As always for any info and question feel free to send an ask or a DM!

#johnica #queen #johnica week #johnica week 2024 #johnicaweek2024 #john deacon x veronica tetzlaff #john deacon fanfic #john deacon #queen fanfic #queen fanfiction #john deacon fanfiction #veronica tetzlaff #queen fandom #queen fandom event

[kiscon]

K/S Gazette (Jan and Feb!)

First, a reminder: Early Bird Registration for KiScon is still open through Valentine's Day!

If you have not yet registered for KiScon and want that sweet sweet Early Bird Registration rate of $150, make sure you sign up within this window!

The price of in-person attending registration will go up on February 15th to $165. Registration will remain available at that price through the 31st of July. On August 1st the price will go up again to $180. All registration for the convention, both online and in person, takes place through Conline! Register here: https://kiscon.conline.club/ We have also produced a helpful Conline How-To pdf: https://kiscon.org/resources/Conline-How-To-2024.pdf

More information regarding registration, membership tiers, as well as scholarships, can be found in the previous issue of our newsletter, archived here. 2. Submissions for the 2024 KiScon Zine are open! Submissions for the 2024 KiScon Zine are open now through August 1st!

Our editor, @1lostone, is looking forward to working with you.

We are looking for new and never before seen art and writing (both fic and meta!) focusing on the relationship between Kirk and Spock.

For a full rundown of the submission guidelines and access to the submission form, please see the zine page on our website: https://kiscon.org/zine.html

The hard deadline for zine submissions is August 1st, 2024. 3. K/S Spring Fever is in full swing!

February finds you feeling frigid? Not to fret! K/S Spring Fever, our delightful springtime Kirk and Spock prompt fill fest will have you thoroughly warmed up in no time! The prompting phase of the fest has generated 120 glorious prompts, which now beckon to be filled.

You can view said prompts and find out more information about the event on the 2024 Collection Page on AO3. 4. K/S Bingo is also in full swing, and will be for the rest of the year!

If you are active in our KiScord Server you may already be aware, but 1lostone has put together a splendid, low-pressure K/S fannish creation event in the form of a bingo challenge!

The way it works is like this: 1. You fill out this Google form. 2. 1lostone, powerful Wrangler of the Bingo, will then generate for you a custom bingo card, and send it to you either via Direct Message on Discord or via e-mail. 3. You have until the end of the year to obtain the state known as bingo (horizontal, vertical, diagonal, blackout, Texas T – any way you like) by creating fanworks to fill the prompts upon thy bingo card. Don't forget to add your work to the AO3 collection: KiScon Bingo Challenge. 5. Curious what else is going on in online K/S fandom?

The lovely Thia has put together a handy dandy calendar of K/S and K/S adjacent fandom events, anniversaries, and deadlines for the year 2024! It lists the events in chronological order and has links to websites where you can find out more information on many of them listed at the bottom of the page. Neat!

You can view the calendar on Thia's website here.  6. Not enough K/S in your social media feed?

KiScon is now on both Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/kisconnews/) and TikTok (https://www.tiktok.com/@kisconnews/).

Our lovely social media wranglers @cate-adams and @purpleenma are currently conducting and posting a fascinating fannish interview series, as well as KiScon and K/S fandom related news and updates in delightful bite-sized social media format. If you are active on either of these platforms, please consider giving us a follow!

And that's the news! Thank you all so much for taking the time to read this.

We've said this before but we'll say it again: we love to hear from y'all! If you have a question or comment about anything discussed in the newsletter or maybe a piece of K/S news we've missed, such as a new zine coming out or an online fanwork creation fest or anything else you think might be worthy of note, please let us know! You can get in touch by replying directly to this e-mail. :-) Yours in K/S,

T’Lara & StarshipLillian

#kiscon #KiScon2024 #KiScon 2024 #k/s #kirk/spock #spacehusbands #spirk #james t kirk #spock #thyla #my thyla my captain #t'hy'la #star trek tos #star trek aos #star trek snw

[aquagirl1978]

A Series of Firsts - Content Creator Challenge

This idea has been living rent-free in my head for too long, and as the holiday season and end of the year approaches, I felt it was time to throw this into the void - a content creator challenge focusing only on the lesser popular suitors.

This a suitor-specific event - please read rules below.

Rules:

This challenge begins on December 1 and ends on December 31. Sometime in January, I will create a master list of everything that was submitted for the event.

Entries may be SFW or NSFW (must be 18+ to submit NSFW content) and be either fluff/angst/crack/smut or anything in between - it is at the discretion of the creator which direction they go in, but please tag your works accordingly with any applicable triggers.

This challenge is open to all types of fan work, including fanart and fanfic.

This challenge is open to all Ikemen Series games - Ikemen Sengoku, Ikemen Revolution, Ikemen Vampire, Ikemen Genjiden, Ikemen Prince and Ikemen Villains.

This challenge is limited to certain suitors - see below for a complete list of suitors. When creating this list, I based it on a general vibe and who had the least amount of content on Tumblr.

Below is a list of prompts for use in this event. Feel free to combine them, go out of order, write for one of them or all of them - create as you wish.

When posting your content for this event, please tag me (@aquagirl1978) as well as include the tag "#series of firsts ccc" for ease of finding your works.

You are free to use the banner posted at the top of this post when submitting your content or you can create any banner of your choosing, if you wish to have one.

Any questions, please send me an ask or DM me.

Elligible Suitors:

Ikemen Sengoku: Yoshimoto, Ranmaru, Sasuke, Kennyo, Mitsunari, Keiji, Kicho, Hideyoshi

Ikemen Revolution: all

Ikemen Vampire: Sebastian, Shakespeare, Jean, Vincent, Dazai, Faust, Charles, Drake, Galileo

Ikemen Genjiden: all

Ikemen Prince: Jin, Sariel, Luke, Leon, Nokto, Rio, Yves, Kagari, Azel, Matthias

Ikemen Villains: all

Prompts:

Below is a typed list of prompts as well as some ideas and suggestions for the prompts.

First Look

First Kiss

First Date

First Time

First Fight

First Celebration

First Child

First Look - the first time you saw one another, the first time you realized you had feelings for the other. This can also include the first time you met one another and first impressions.

First Kiss - can take place on a First Date or happen accidentally. It can be planned or an awkward event that leads to more.

First Date - can include fake dating (that maybe leads to more), planned date, surprise date, or dates that lead to more.

First Time - the first time you were intimate with one another in the bedroom (can include touching, oral, intercourse, etc). Can also include a first time doing something together non-sexually.

First Fight - can include the fight itself, the lead up to it, and/or the eventual kiss and make up portion.

First Celebration - first time celebrating together a birthday, anniversary, holiday.

First Child - finding out you are expecting, the arrival of the child, getting used to new life as parents.

#series of firsts ccc #ikemen series #ikemen sengoku #ikesen #ikemen revolution #ikerev #ikemen vampire #ikevamp #ikemen prince #ikepri #ikemen genjiden #ikegen #ikemen villains #ikevil