#i think i would be happier in a polyamory??

[honeyhotteoks]

this night together - chapter fourteen (j.yh + s.mg)

chapter fourteen: what we mean to each other

chapter summary: making amends is hard, moving on is hard, but you have a home now in a way you've never had before. together, you move forward through it all.

warnings/notes: this chapter still deals with the aftermath of the attack, so all previous warnings apply, but i think you'll see we're coming out of it now and into much happier times. this is the start of an absolute fluff fest, and we'll be back to smut in the next chapter. specific warnings for: discussions of physical attack, anxiety, ptsd, consent conversations, past s*xual assault (mentioned in passing), issues with police and the legal system because lbr the cops aren't doing anything good for assault victims, and reader has a triggering moment with her neck but she works through it just fine

pairings: alpha!yunho x alpha!mingi x omega!reader

genre: smut, a/b/o/omegaverse, angst, fluff, romance, polyamory

word count: 14.3k

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It’s been days. Days of staying safe behind the walls of their apartment, days of dodging calls from your friends, days of cocooned self preservation. They haven’t left you for a single minute. You spent the weekend trading off who’s lap you were cuddled on and bickering over episodes of Single’s Inferno and you’ve never needed anything more. 

Slowly though, things start to shift. 

You’re showered, for one. And Yunho and Mingi both have settled back into their routines as best they can without leaving the apartment. Video games, mindless scrolling, paging through books and cooking balanced meals instead of another day of takeout. 

On Monday, Seonghwa confirms your worst suspicions by texting you a photo of the formal letter he received via Minseok’s attorney. You expect Yunho and Mingi’s are in the mail. Every time your phone chimes you expect it to be the police or some other official legal summons. Your mind has started to turn over every detail of the event with calculated detail, and your internet history stretches long with research. 

By Tuesday, you’ve caved and finally started answering Wooyoung’s texts with more than just single word responses or emoji confirmations that you’re still alive. The moment you do, he takes the opening and runs with it just like you knew he would. 

As you wait for the hot water for your tea to boil in the kettle, you re-read his most recent text again. 

Do you want to get out of the house for a bit? We can try that new spot by the bookstore?

Your stomach feels tight at the idea of going out and you do your best to tap out a reply that you think sounds casual and relaxed - Maybe next time, let’s just catch up and relax here? 

You watch the message send and deliver and in nearly real-time it flicks over to read. Dots appear as he types. 

Sure - his message reads - I’ll be there in an hour

An hour. You shouldn’t be so nervous to see your best friend, but the idea of opening up your little sanctuary to anyone right now feels a little fraught. The kettle whistles, and you hear feet shuffling against the vinyl flooring as Yunho crosses over into the kitchen and you lock your phone and Wooyoung’s messages away so you can focus. 

“Hey,” You murmur, giving him a smile as you pull the kettle off the heat. 

“Hey,” Yunho smiles back, leaning against the opposite counter, “everything okay?” 

“Mhm,” You tell him, just a little white lie. 

“Is Woo still coming by?” He questions.  

“Yeah,” You nod, setting the kettle on a pad so it doesn’t damage the countertop, “he said around an hour,” 

Yunho nods and then slides a bit closer to you, his hand stroking up and down your back once until he settles it on your hip. “Hey,” he says again, “can we talk?”

A nervous pang strikes in your gut, but he doesn’t look upset, so you take a guess at what he wants, “Is it okay that he’s coming?” 

“Wooyoung?” His brows draw together, “Of course, that’s not what I meant,” 

“Oh,” You turn towards him more fully, leaning against the counter with him, “okay, what’s up?” 

“I want to apologize,” He says, swallowing tightly. 

“Apologize,” You blink. 

He nods. 

“Okay,” You can see how whatever he’s about to say is bothering him, the stress under the surface, but you have no idea what he’s sorry for. 

“Listen,” He reaches and takes your hand, pulling you a little closer to him, “I know you know I’m sorry, but I haven’t said it clearly and you deserve that,” 

“Oh,” You relax further into his space until you can feel your bodies brushing together, the warmth radiating off his skin. 

“The way I reacted at the studio after your last heat was wrong,” He says in a rush of air as he laces your hands together, “and I haven’t gotten the chance to really say that,” 

“It’s okay,” You shake your head, soothing him a little, “you don’t have to,” 

“No,” He insists with a squeeze of your fingers, “I do. That day, I was worried and jealous and confused, but I let my anger get the better of me and that’s not something I normally do.”

You squeeze his fingers back, letting him know you’re listening. 

His eyes flick up from your joined hands to your eyes as he continues, “It’s not something I should have ever put on you or something you should ever see,” 

“People get angry,” You start to say. 

He’s firm when he shakes his head, “People get angry, but I don’t get angry at you. Ever.” 

“Yunho,” 

“I yelled at you,” He squeezes your hands, “I cursed at you,” 

“I did the same thing right back,” You remind him. 

“It’s not the same,” He presses, brushing right past your words, “and I’m apologizing because I’m telling you, y/n, it will never happen again.” 

“You think we’ll never have a fight?” You smile, “That’s optimistic,” 

“This isn’t a joke,” He sighs, “please,” 

“I’m sorry,” You tuck closer to him, unlacing your hands so you can snake your arms around his middle, “and I appreciate you apologizing for that fight, but I was upset you were being possessive and emotional after all the cold shoulder, you yelling wasn’t really high on my list of concerns,” 

He’s quiet for a moment, but then he nods, “I’ll get to that in a second, but will you hear me on this one thing?” 

“I’m listening,” 

“I hate to bring it up again,” He grimaces a little, “but I’ve just spent four days watching you jump at every noise around the apartment and wake up every night fucking terrified,” 

Your eyes shoot down. 

“And before I apologize for all the other ways I’ve been an ass to you,” His warm hands settle on your skin, thumb brushing along your jaw, “of which I know there are many,” 

You smile at that. 

“Yelling at you like that,” He sighs, “talking to you like that has been bothering me for months. I need to apologize for it because I need you to know that you’ll never, ever hear it again. Mingi said his peace, but it’s important to me that you know you’re safe with me in every way. If we’re going to do this, I need you to know you can tell me anything, including telling me off when I make mistakes, and I won’t get angry like that again.” 

“I already know that,” You look up, meeting his firm gaze and reaching for his cheek, “and I hope you understand that I know the difference between how you were angry then and what he did and how he spoke to me.” 

“I just had to say it,” He nods, “I would hate it if anything I ever did made you afraid to be honest with me, or made you feel like you’ve been feeling the past few days, I’d never,” 

“Baby,” You cup his cheeks in both hands, holding his eyes so he hears you fully, “I forgive you, and I am not afraid or uncomfortable with you or with Mingi. Not at all.” 

“Good,” He exhales hard, his eyes a little shiny and you press forward to wrap your arms around him and hug him close, his arms closing around your back. 

“If you’re being idiots,” You kiss his chest through the thin fabric of his t-shirt, “I’ll tell you you’re being idiots,” 

He laughs low, the vibration running through your chest, “Good.” 

“And if I’m being an idiot,” You add, “I’m not going to freak out if you get pissed at me or yell at me,” 

“I appreciate that,” He squeezes your shoulders, “but I don’t want to be the guy that yells, that’s not really an alpha stereotype I’ve ever wanted to fit.” 

“Okay,” You nod against him. 

He clears his throat a little roughly and you’re about to pull away but he holds you steady for a moment, “There’s one more thing,” 

Your hand strokes a line down his back, as you hum softly, “Hmm?” 

“I have more to say and to apologize for,” You can feel his heart beating a little faster under your cheek and you stroke his back again, “but I’m still figuring out how to do that, and it might not be fair of me to ask, but I wanted to see if you can be patient with me for that.” 

“Yunho,” You murmur, “what’s going on?” 

“I, uh,” His fingers flex tightly against your skin, “I started seeing someone,”

“Someone?”

“Professionally,” He adds, “Mingi used to and I know it helped. I didn’t think I needed to, but I think we can both agree I am not the best at managing my own emotions here,” 

“Oh,” 

“So,” He breathes, “after our fight, when I finally cooled off and realized what we did I asked him for a referral. I’ve been meeting with her once a week and it’s been helpful, but I’m not ready to apologize to you for the rest of it until I understand why I treated you like that,” 

Emotion fills your chest like a balloon and you nod into him, “Yunho,” 

He clears his throat again, “Sorry,” he says, “this is a little uncomfortable for me to talk about, but I’m working on it,” 

You wriggle out of his arms to find his face again and press up on your tiptoes to catch his mouth, kissing him with as much surety as you can before you lean back, “That means everything to me,” you tell him, “everything. You have all the time in the world from me, okay?” 

“Yeah,” He smiles, “good, okay,” 

“Is it helping?” 

“Definitely,” He nods, “it’s almost like the professionals know what they’re talking about,” 

You smile up at him. 

“I know I mentioned it before,” He adds quickly, “and I won’t press it, but if you do feel like it would be helpful for you too, you can come to me and I can ask my therapist for some numbers for you to call. I’ll even help set up an appointment if you need that,” 

Your chest goes tight at the thought, “I’ll let you know,” 

“Okay,” He smooths a hand up and down your back, “no pressure,” 

“For sure,” You manage. 

His lip quirks up and he presses a long kiss to your forehead as he gives you one more squeeze, “I said I won’t press, don’t panic,” 

“Sorry,” You breathe. 

He makes a noise dismissing that and then steps back, “So,” his eyes are bright again, everything equalizing back to normal with his smile, “you were making tea, can I help?” 

Your shoulders relax, tension bleeding out of you in an instant, “No,” you turn back to the warm kettle, “but can I make you a cup?” 

“Sure,” He pulls two teacups down from the cupboard, “so Woo will be here in an hour?” 

“Mhm,” You tap your phone to light up the screen to check for any other texts.

“Got it,” He nods, “would you feel alright with Mingi and I stepping out for a while?” 

“Out?” 

“I need to run by the studio and check in on things,” He explains, “and we need to get some food in here. I figured we could do that while Wooyoung keeps you company,” 

“Yeah,” Your heart picks up a little at the thought, but you press that feeling down and drop a teabag in each of your cups, “I’ll be just fine,” 

“Good,” He drops another kiss to your hair, keeping his fingers lingering on your skin while you pour hot water into your cups. 

“Do you,” You almost stop the question, but you find the words bubbling out of your mouth before you can second guess, “do you need to leave right away?” 

Yunho smiles wide, taking the kettle from your hands as he shakes his head, “No,”

Your heart eases a little. 

“Let’s have these together,” He nods to the tea and picks up both cups, “we’ll go when Woo gets here,” 

You follow him out into the living room, and he sets the cups down on the table before settling himself into the corner cushions and reaching up for you. It’s easy to take his hand and to melt into the familiar position on his lap, and you let him draw you in close and cuddle you, his arms wrapped securely around you as he nuzzles your cheek with his nose. 

You sigh, resting your hands on his chest and turning your face a little to catch his mouth in a kiss. 

He hums pleasantly against your mouth, “Is it strange to say that I’ll miss you while we’re out?” 

You smile, shaking your head, “No,” 

“Will you miss us?” He pecks your lips again. 

“More than I want to admit,” 

“You know,” Yunho smooths his hands over your body to rest in their familiar homes, one on your thigh and the other curled around your waist, “I hate what happened, and I wish I could take all the bad memories away, but I’m also so glad you’re here with us,” 

“I know what you mean,” You nod. 

“The months we spent apart were terrible,” He confesses, kissing you softly. 

“We’ll have to make up for lost time,” You agree quietly. 

“A proper date,” He smiles, “or a vacation somewhere warm?” 

“Mm,” You hum, thinking of being stretched out on a beach somewhere with your boys on either side of you, “perfect,”

“I’ll think on that,” He runs a hand down your hair and relaxes back into the couch, “you deserve something nice,” 

Twisting on his lap you reach for both of your teacups before settling back into the same, comfortable position, “I think it would just be nice to come over here without having something traumatic happen beforehand,” 

He frowns a little. 

“I’m kidding,” You nudge him softly, “kind of,” 

“I know,” He nods, “still,” 

“Yeah,” You quietly agree, taking the first sip of your tea. 

Yunho takes a sip too, and then hums a short, quick laugh, “This smells like you,” 

“Like me?” 

“The tea,” He takes another sip and nods, “you smell just the same, but sweeter,” 

“Do you like it?” You find yourself asking. 

Yunho’s head cocks slightly to the side, a line between his brows, and then he says, “Have I not made it clear how much I love your scent?” 

Your cheeks heat and he smiles at the way your skin reddens. 

“Sweetheart,” He shifts, pulling you in while still being careful of the tea, pressing warm, lingering kisses over your jaw to the hollow of your ear, “if I could drink you instead, I would.” 

You swallow, heat curling in your belly. 

“Soothing tea,” He murmurs, “sweet honey,” he adds with a kiss, “and the willow is sharp and fresh. You wake me up and calm me down all at the same time,” 

Your pulse quickens, and slowly your head drops to the side, extending the column of your neck to his lips. 

He takes it slow, remembering the way you jerked back in bed a few nights before, and he’s careful not to press too firmly or give you any inclination that he’s going to touch you with anything but his lips. 

“You smell like home,” He murmurs, his hand coming up to cup your head in his wide palm, kissing just a little lower still. 

Your muscles are stiffening up at the feeling of his mouth getting lower towards your exposed gland and your fingers tighten on his shirt where you hold yourself steady. 

“I’ve got you,” He whispers, “stay with me,” 

You nod, just a little, enough to tell him not to stop, “W-what else?” 

He smiles against your throat, “Well,” he kisses again, to punctuate his words, “when you’re happy, really happy or excited, there’s lemon too,” 

Your breath feels staggered, thready, and you focus on the feeling of him and the warmth of the teacups against your thigh. 

“When you want us,” He takes a deep inhale, sighing hot against your skin, “it’s all honey, thick and syrupy. After your heat I smelled that honey here for weeks,” 

You feel a whine building a little in your throat, and you bite down on your lip to keep it buried. Your body feels like it’s fighting itself with every touch of his mouth, hot arousal knots up at his scent mingling with yours and at his words, but the isolated touch alone has you fighting little flashes of a place that isn’t here and isn’t him. 

“I’ve got you,” He repeats, “I love you,” 

The reply settles on the tip of your tongue, but then he presses one last closed-lipped kiss directly over your gland and withdrawals entirely. You blink hard, a shudder running up your spine. 

“Alright?” He checks, smoothing his hand down your hair again. 

You nod, letting your fingers unknot from his shirt while you collect yourself. 

“Hopefully that answers your question,” He clears his throat softly. 

You start to nod, but the sound of the bathroom door opening cuts through the moment and you start, tea spilling over the lip of your cup onto your fingers. 

“It’s Mingi, baby,” He assures you. 

“I know,” You have to tear your eyes off the hallway though. 

His mouth is set in a concerned little line, and you know he’s probably thinking about your conversation in the kitchen again, but he lets it lie and doesn’t push it, just like he promised. 

Mingi appears a moment later, a towel slung around his hips and his shoulders and hair wet from the shower. He smiles widely when he sees you both, “What’s going on in here?” 

Yunho raises up his cup, “Tea,” he smiles, “nothing much,” 

“Mm,” Mingi nods and stretches, “nice,” 

“Will you be ready soon?” Yunho asks, “Wooyoung will be here in a bit,” 

“Yeah, sure,” He confirms and then glances at you, “you’re good with us going out?” 

“I’m good,” You confirm. 

“I’ll stay if it would make you feel better,” Mingi adds, “I can hide in the bedroom and listen to music or something if you want privacy,” 

You love them both so much in this moment you feel like your chest might crack right open on its own, and you shake your head at him with a smile, “No, I have to get comfortable at some point, it might as well be while Woo is here with me,” 

He nods, “Well, we won’t be too far, just call us and we’ll turn around.” 

“Thank you,” You reach up to take his hand and he twines his fingers with yours immediately. 

Yunho shifts, pressing his lips against your shoulder, “Are you and Woo going out anywhere?” 

He’s clearly trying to be subtle, but you hear the anxious note in his voice and it occurs to you that they might be just as nervous leaving you as you are staying here without them. 

You shake your head, “No, just staying here,” 

“That’s good,” Mingi adds a little too quickly, “if you do go out, would you let us know?” 

“I will,” You promise them, “but you don’t have to worry,” 

“It’s in our nature to worry over you,” Yunho sighs, “but I think we’re both trying not to be overbearing about this whole thing,” 

“Trying,” Mingi shrugs, “but also the idea of not knowing where you are feels like it might give me hives,” 

You laugh at the image, easing back into Yunho’s chest. 

“To be clear,” Yunho shoots Mingi a look, “that’s in a nice ‘we care about you’ way, not in a ‘controlling boyfriend’ kind of way,” 

“Relax,” You tell them both, “I get why you want to know, it’s the same reason I want to know where you are.” 

“Studio first,” Mingi offers without you asking and your chest warms, “then groceries, and then I want to swing by that cafe that has that caramel cheesecake you like, then home,” 

“Don’t say we don’t have to,” Yunho adds, “we want to,” 

You smile as he takes the words right out of your mouth. 

“Plus, I want some,” Mingi says with ease. 

You’re not used to this type of relationship yet, having alphas of your own who actually want to be with you and take care of you, who worry for you and feel for you in all the deep nervous ways you feel for them. You hush the nagging voice in your mind that tries to tell you not to show them how much you need them, the voice that doesn’t want you to jump too fast, you already know what you get by listening to that voice. 

Instead you ask them what you want to ask, “How long do you think you’ll be gone?” 

“Two hours,” Yunho offers, “maybe three at the most,” 

“Okay,” You exhale, weight dropping away from your shoulders, “that’s perfect,” 

“We’ll let you know,” Mingi adds, “and if you need anything special while we’re out, we can stop,”

You shake your head, “I’m fine,” You assure them, “a little anxious, but you know, it’s good for me.” 

Mingi smiles warmly, brushing his hand over your cheek and tilting your face up with his thumb and forefinger on your chin, “We’re a phone call away,” 

“I know,” You nod. 

Yunho sighs as Mingi’s hand drops away, and he kisses your shoulder again, “It’s funny,” he says, “I really don’t want to leave you,” 

“We did just spend three months not seeing each other and in a state of constant relationship limbo,” You point out and give him a squeeze, “we really went from nothing to a whole lot of something fast,” 

“Not too fast?” Mingi checks, trying to sound casual. 

“No,” You say, “and even if it is, I don’t care,” 

“We’ve always felt right together,” Yunho adds, “we’re just letting ourselves enjoy it now,” 

He’s never said something so true. 

Mingi gets dressed and collapses onto the couch next to both, pushing closer into your space with Yunho until you’re both practically on his lap, but it works. You stay knit close together until there’s a knock on the door and then it’s fast kisses goodbye and big hugs from your best friend, and before you can really process it you’re without them for the first time in days. 

Your stomach is fluttering, a nervous quiver deep in your gut that you really don’t want Wooyoung to over-analyze. A moment later you find yourself back on the couch in the warm spot Yunho left, wrapping yourself in the blanket you had all shared the night before. You can smell them on it, earthy, warm, and sweet. 

Wooyoung watches as you start to relax, and he takes a seat right next to you to keep close, a closed smile on his lips. 

You can’t believe you miss them already. 

They must miss you too though, because Mingi only makes it a scant ten minutes before he texts you, his message lighting up your phone - Forgot to say I love you - I love you.

“What?” Wooyoung nudges you under the blanket. 

You pass your phone to him and he reads the message, his eyebrows shooting up high, “I leave you alone for a few days and you’re all saying ‘I love you’s?” 

You grab the phone back and tuck it away, “That’s the thing about life changing trauma,” you laugh, “it really accelerates the big feelings,” 

Wooyoung nods, keeping things light, but finds your hand on the back of the couch so he can hold it. 

“Also we’re not all saying it,” You confess, “they’re saying it,” 

“What do you mean?” 

“I mean they’ve told me,” You explain, “the day after the studio we had this big talk,” 

“Don’t tell me they put all that shit on you like that,” He wraps his hand around yours, “y/n,” 

“Not like that,” You shake your head, “it’s actually hysterical, they thought that Seonghwa and I have been dating,” 

His eyes go wide, “What?” 

“It’s truly the longest story of miscommunication,” You tell him, “at this point I think someone should write a book about me and make it a romantic comedy,” 

“Erotica,” Wooyoung smirks. 

“Shut up,” You swat at him. 

“There have been too many good orgasms for a romcom,” He shrugs. 

You roll your eyes, “Anyways, it turns out the whole not talking period while you were all away was just me pining but feeling like I fucked it up, and them pining but thinking I had moved on with Hwa,” 

“Damn,” 

“But when they realized that they were wrong about that,” You continue, “we just got it all out there,” 

“And they love you,” He smiles a little, “and they actually said it,” 

“Yeah,” You soften into the cushions. 

“I hate to ask the obvious,” He squeezes your hand, “but if you’re so happy about that, why haven’t you told them? You do love them?” 

“So much,” The words fly out like you’re defending something, and you run a hand through your hair as you get your real thoughts steady, “I do, Woo, so much. We’re scent matches,” 

“I know,” He nods warmly. 

“You do?” 

“Anyone with eyes can see that,” Wooyoung smiles, “well, apart from you three.” 

“Thanks,” 

He nudges your thigh with his foot under the blanket, “Honestly, though, after what happened I could see it on them. You couldn’t keep your hands off each other, and they kept flanking you, watching you like you might disappear,” 

A memory of the studio plays like a clip in your mind, the way they held you between them, the three of you against everything. You nod, “They’ve been doing that for days,” 

“Which…” Wooyoung trails off, trying to guess where your head is, “you’re happy about?” 

“I am,” You nod emphatically, “and I love them, I just… I can’t get the fucking words out of my mouth,” 

He sobers a little, sliding closer to you on the couch so he can draw your legs over his lap and give you exactly the kind of comfort you need, “I’m listening, babe, talk to me,” 

“I don’t know why,” You hold his hand tighter, “but every time they say it, and I think I’m going to say it back, I’m right back in that room with Minseok’s teeth on my neck and I can’t,” your chest feels tight, “I can’t get it out,” 

His eyes soften, empathetic in the way that only he can be, “Does being in love with them scare you?” 

“No!” You pull your hand back from his. 

“Babe,” He takes your hand back and holds tight, “I’m not saying they scare you, I’m saying does being in love, being vulnerable like that scare you?” 

Your shoulders drop, “A little, but,”

“But?” 

“I thought about it for three months,” You argue, “I had it rehearsed, I knew exactly what I wanted to say and the big reveal was supposed to be the ‘I love you’ part not the ‘I’m sorry’ part,” 

“Your plans on that kind of fell apart when that asshole tried to claim you,” Wooyoung pushes back a little. 

“Yeah, no shit,” A flurry of anger bubbles in your belly. 

He nods, “And now you’re off kilter,” 

“You could say that,” 

“You rarely do anything without thinking it through,” He offers, this thumb drawing a comforting line over your palm, “and your plan got fucked, and you’re emotionally vulnerable, and traumatized, and stressed. You feel like you’re out here without a life vest,” 

His words stun you silent. 

“And this thing you worked up in your mind for three months is now totally derailed,” He continues, “am I on the money?” 

You nod. 

“Can I ask you something?” He says. 

You nod again. 

Wooyoung asks this question softly, his voice quiet and gentle, “Do you want to bond with them?” 

Your heart thumps in your chest. 

“It’s just you and me,” Wooyoung soothes you, “and whether or not you bond with them is your choice, okay? But, babe, is that something you think you’ll want?” 

Suddenly you remember the feeling of your heat with them. The way you begged for them, the way it felt so right and so sure that you belonged to each other. You remember how your mind spun imaginary futures that all ended the same way. 

Silently, you nod. 

“Loving them isn’t bonding,” He murmurs, “you can just love them for now at your own pace.” 

Tears prick at the back of your eyes, “What if I can never do it? They can barely touch my neck without me falling apart, what if I can never take a real claim?” 

“Oh, babe,” He pulls you towards him, crushing you to his chest, “I wish you called me earlier, you shouldn’t be thinking like this,” 

“It was so terrible,” You confess into his shoulder, “I can’t even tell you, I don’t even know how to explain,” 

“You don’t have to,” He hushes you, a hand stroking up and down your back, “and I don’t know if this is going to help or hurt, but I know right now you feel like there’s no way you’d ever be able to take a claim without it being scary and awful, but someday you might be able to without even thinking of him.”

A few hot tears escape your eyes. 

“And I know I give Yunho and Mingi shit,” He adds, “but you know that both of them would rather die than do something to hurt you or scare you,” 

“And if I can never bond?” You manage. 

“Then I’d say thank god your scent matches are two men who would never, ever push you into a bond you weren’t ready for,” He says, squeezing you tight, “and I think if you asked them, they’d tell you that they’d rather be with you unbonded and happy than bonded and in pain.” 

“You’re right,” You wipe away the wetness on your cheeks, “I know you’re right,” 

“They’re not going to try to push you into a bond just because you love each other,” He lets you lean back but he slides his hand back into yours, “especially not now,” 

“I know that,” You sigh, “rationally, I was just,” 

“I’m telling you, I get it,” He eases you, “sometimes you go through something and you think a part of you is wrecked forever, that you’ll never be able to do something again or feel normal again, but you will. I promise,” 

You know the truth of him so suddenly you can’t stop the words, “Woo,” you feel your heart beating faster, “did something happen?” 

“A long, long time ago,” He says softly, “and today’s not the day for that story, but I’m telling you it does get better and it does soften in your memory and someday your alphas are going to touch your neck and you won’t even think about it, it just won’t be there anymore.” 

Grief and relief mingle in your gut at his words, and you want to ask him more, to be there for him like he’s been there for you but you can see it in his face, today isn’t the day for that story. 

You squeeze his hand, “I love you, Woo,” 

“I love you too,” He assures you. 

Silence sits between you for a moment while you turn over his words, and though you can’t imagine the day he’s describing, you still believe him. You have to. You don’t know what happened to him or when, but you’ve never met someone as bright and open and happy as him, and you have to hold onto that truth. 

You look down at your combined hands, “Yunho offered to make an appointment with a therapist for me,” 

“Say yes,” Wooyoung replies without a thought, “I waited years and I wish I hadn’t,” 

“Yeah?” 

“Does he have a contact?” Wooyoung asks, drawing your eyes back up, “I have some options for you if not,” 

“He said he can ask his therapist for a referral,” 

“His therapist?” Wooyoung grins, “I knew I liked him,” 

“You’ve been friends for years,” You nudge him. 

“Liked him for you,” He corrects, “that’s different,” 

“Yeah, yeah,” 

“My best friend deserves an alpha who is fully therapized and capable of complex emotions,” Wooyoung says with confidence, “nothing less.” 

“Don’t mention that I told you,” You add quickly, “he told me that in confidence, it just slipped out,” 

“I wouldn’t,” Wooyoung shakes his head, “that’s private. But between you and me, I’m glad to hear it.” 

“Me too,” You sigh. 

“And as far as you going?” Wooyoung circles back to the real question at hand, “Say yes, the sooner the better. If Yunho’s offering to help set it up, let him. Making that call is hard, and if he can make it easier, just say yes.” 

“Okay,” You sigh, your shoulders dropping. 

“And tell them how you’re feeling about bonding,” He adds, “trust me.” 

“Maybe,” You say, “I know you’re right. We’re just moving so fast,” 

“So slow down,” He offers. 

“I don’t know if I want to,” You admit, warmth and nervous energy filling your chest, “it feels right like this, I just don’t know if I can handle a claim,” 

“Tell them,” He reiterates, “don’t let them stumble into that one, they might hurt you without even knowing it if they bring it up sooner than you’re ready for.” 

“Right,” You nod, “you’re right,” 

He huffs a laugh, “Usually am,”

You flick his arm, rolling your eyes, so grateful at him for helping you work through something this hard while still keeping you smiling. You should have called him earlier, he’s right about that too. 

You let silence stretch around you both for a moment, and then something occurs to you. 

“Do you know anything about the charges Minseok is filing?” You run a hand through your hair, “Not to bring up yet another pleasant subject,” 

Wooyoung snorts a little air through his nose and shrugs, “I probably know what you know, have you talked to Hwa?” 

You shake your head. 

“At all?” He seems surprised. 

“I have,” You correct, “but it was quick and we were all on the call. I haven’t been to my place to see if there’s any mail, but I’d guess Yunho and Mingi will get a summons soon.” 

Wooyoung nods, “That’s what the police said,” 

Your eyebrows raise, “You talked to the police?” 

“Seonghwa did,” He clarifies, “and he gave San and I the run down.” 

“Why is no one telling me what’s going on?” You exhale heavily. 

“Because last we heard you were having nightmares,” Wooyoung rests a hand on your folded legs, “and we don’t have a lot of information to give, and I don’t think any of us want to cause you more stress than you need.” 

“Do Yunho and Mingi know?” You press. 

“Not exactly,” Wooyoung says, “though, I guess Seonghwa might be telling them now if they stopped by the studio,” 

You wait for him to continue, but you’re a little relieved at least that your boys aren’t keeping anything from you directly. 

“Seonghwa spoke to the police who explained the charges. Minseok is alleging that the guys misunderstood what they saw and ignored his attempts to explain, and that they used unnecessary force intervening on your behalf.” He says it plainly. 

“Misunderstood?” You repeat the word. 

“I know,” Wooyoung nods, “we all know, but that’s what he’s saying. The police advised Seonghwa to get an attorney and let him know that further charges were being filed. I think we can safely assume that’s Yunho and Mingi, maybe San if he’s really going after it.” 

“Maybe me too,” You add. 

“Maybe,” He nods, “but that would be tough to prove I think,” 

“Hmm,” Your eyes feel a little unfocused. 

“Hey,” Wooyoung gets your attention with a squeeze, “we don’t know anything yet, and we thought this might happen. It doesn’t change the truth and it doesn’t mean any of them regret what they did to make sure you were safe, okay?” 

“Yeah,” 

“Tell me you understand,” He presses, “because I’m not letting you put this one on yourself,” 

“I do, I understand,” You nod, “it just sucks,”

“That’s fair,” He gives you a soft smile, “but it’s going to take a lot more than this to fuck us over,” 

“Yeah,” You murmur, “you’re probably right.” 

Wooyoung says something else but you hardly hear it, in the back of your mind all you can think of is that first night at the hospital. The detectives who interviewed you were kind, but bordered on dismissive, and you know Minseok and his family have deeper pockets than you do. You have to figure this out, you have to.

  “Babe?” Wooyoung nudges you. 

“Yeah,” You snap up, coming back to the present moment and letting those anxieties fade into the background until you can really think them through, “sorry,” 

“It’s okay,” He soothes you. 

Your phone buzzes on your lap again and you pull it up to see the message. It’s Mingi again - Budae Jjigae for dinner, ask Wooyoung if he wants to stay? We’ll have plenty

It’s like he felt your anxiety from miles away and you can feel the tense knot of your shoulders unlocking. You send back a quick heart emoji and then look back up to your friend, “You want to stay for dinner?” 

He smiles, “Who’s cooking?” 

“Mingi,” You tell him, “he’s been on a comfort food kick for me,” 

Wooyoung smiles, “I’ll stay,” 

“Great,” You tap out a reply to Mingi letting him know and take a big sigh. 

“They make you happy,” Wooyoung says, “it’s nice to see,” 

“It’s nice to feel,” You tell him, “after all this time, and after everything,” 

“You deserve it,” He murmurs. 

You smile, a little tease at the corner of your mouth when you nudge him, “So do you, and speaking of,” 

His face lights up fast, “I wasn’t trying to bring my too-good mood over here if things weren’t going well,” he sighs, “but now that I know you’re all in love,” 

“So you and Yeosang?” You turn the conversation to something so much happier, and feel lighter the second you do. 

“It’s so good,” He gushes, head falling back against the cushions, “he’s kind of quiet, kind of hard to get to know at first, but y/n, he’s so funny,” 

“Yeah?” You smile. 

“And smart,” He adds, “and considerate, he’s always getting me coffees or refilling my water, just like, those little things,” 

“Wow, look at you,” You squeeze his hand, “serial dater of alphas, turned into a blushy mess over a funny, smart, considerate beta,” 

“He’s packing like an alpha, I’ll say that,” Wooyoung grins wolfishly. 

You smack his chest, “Woo! Literally that is too much information,” 

“Please,” He rolls his eyes, “I share a locker room with your boyfriends, I know what you’re working with,” 

You feel your face flush red. 

“Cute,” He teases. 

“So,” You divert, “does Yeosang feel as strongly?” 

His smile drops a little, “I mean,” he says, “I think so? But he’s not really an oversharer,” 

“Have you told anyone else?” You try to be casual about that question, but if you’re being honest you’re dying to know where things will land with San and Seonghwa. 

Wooyoung shakes his head though, “Not yet, but I think when everything calms down I might have him pick me up at the studio or something? I want you to meet him and I want everyone to know, I just,” 

“I get it,” You assure him, “you go at your own pace.” 

“Yeah,” He sighs. 

“Just don’t follow my lead,” You smile, “if you like him, don’t run away in a panic,” 

“Noted,” He laughs. 

He looks so happy, bright from the inside in a way that matches his sunny scent, and you think he’s not far from sharing ‘I love you’s of his own at this rate. 

You squeeze his hand again and catch his attention back, “You really look so happy,” you tell him. 

“I am,” He sighs, “he’s exactly what I needed,” 

You smile, and then push his legs to the side, “Move over, I know you have pictures, you’re holding out,” 

He laughs sharply, head falling back but letting you manhandle him a little so you can snuggle into his side. Wooyoung tugs the blanket around you both and pulls out his phone, “Fine,” 

“Like it’s a burden to show your best friend pictures of your hot new boyfriend,” You smack his chest, “come on,” 

Wooyoung drops his arm around your shoulders until you’re slotted together on the corner of the couch, but he still hasn’t lit up his phone. You’re about to nudge him again, but then you feel him press a soft kiss to your hair. 

“You know,” He says softly, “when Sannie called me and told me what happened, I just felt so sick,” 

You find his other hand under the covers and lace your fingers together, “I’m okay,” 

He nods, sighing into your skin, “I just want you to know,” he says, his voice a little tight, “you mean so much to me, and I’ll be grateful to them forever for stopping him,” 

You blink back a few tears and nod, “I am okay, though,” 

He nods again and clears his throat, “I know,” 

“I think you’re avoiding my questions about Yeosang,” You squeeze his hand tightly, an acknowledgement of his emotions and his words, while steering the conversation back to happier topics. 

“You’re right,” He laughs, “you caught me.” 

“Come on,” You nudge him again, pushing down the little swell of emotion that his words brought up. 

“He’s not really a selfie guy,” Wooyoung slides his finger across his phone screen until he finds Instagram and then navigates to his new man’s page, “but, I don’t know, I think you’ll like his vibe.” 

Your face cracks into a wide smile when you see the profile, clearly that of an artist, a photographer. The first post on his page is of Wooyoung, though you’d have to know Wooyoung well to know it. He’s walking away from camera through a dark Itaewon street, the lines of his body accented by the neon club signs. 

“Oh, Woo,” You relax against him and open that photo to see it larger, “he really likes you,” 

He snatches the phone away, a little pink in his cheeks as he rushes to downplay the truth of what you can see plain as day, and you fight to get back the phone, your cheeks starting to hurt from how much you’ve been laughing. 

You and Wooyoung stay like this for ages, warmly locked together as you swap stories and funny things on both your phones. By the time your phone chimes with another text from Mingi, at least two hours have gone by.

Almost home! His message reads. 

Your chest feels warm, your heart whole at the words. 

“They’ll be back in a minute,” You tell Wooyoung as you set your phone aside. 

“Perfect,” He grins, “so exactly how much teasing can I get away with before you get mad?” 

You fall apart again into laughter, happy tears stinging at your eyes. You don’t hear the front door open at first, but when you finally look up you see them standing frozen in the doorway with such softness in their expressions. You feel the words bubble up at the sight of them, but again they stay resting at the tip of your tongue.

Wooyoung rolls his eyes and pushes off the couch, “Alright, alright stop making heart eyes at each other and tell me what’s in the box,” 

Your eyes flick down to the large white box in Mingi’s hand, the perfect cheesecake nestled inside waiting just for you. Wooyoung takes a few grocery bags out of their hands and heads off to the kitchen, and just like that your night falls together naturally. 

You don’t think about Minseok again until later that night. For a beautiful, blissful four hours you just laughed and ate and relaxed with your best friend and your boyfriends, and he doesn’t enter your brain at all. 

It isn’t until you’re lying in bed alone with your thoughts, Yunho and Mingi deep asleep on either side of you, that you realize what you have to do. 

In the morning you wake from a dreamless sleep, and you start to put your plan in motion. You slip out of bed and leave them to their rest, light only just stretching its way through the Seoul skies outside. Seeing Wooyoung made you feel lighter in a way that you can’t explain, and within minutes you’re scrawling out a note, stealing Mingi’s key, and lacing up your sneakers. 

Out for a walk, be back in a little while, don’t worry too much x

You leave it on their kitchen counter and you hope it’s enough to keep them from looking for you. You need a little space from your own scared reflection in the mirror, and a new perspective on the plan you’ve been turning over since your head hit the pillows last night. 

The note isn’t a lie, strictly speaking, you are out for a walk, but you also know if you told them exactly where you were on a walk to, they'd worry. They wouldn’t just worry, they would have insisted on coming with you, but this is something you have to do alone. 

You take the long way to the hospital down the river path, letting the cool day calm your mind and keep you centered. You go over in your mind all the things you want to say to him when you see him, assuming you actually make it into his room. You wonder how hard it will be to convince him. You wonder if you’ll even be able to get a single word out of your mouth. 

You have to try. 

Yunho’s words from yesterday morning in the kitchen sink into you. The tenderness in his eyes when he mentioned how jumpy you’ve been around the apartment. You hadn’t even realized it, but now you feel it in your shoulders and your stomach with the sound of every opening door, every squeak of a shoe on vinyl flooring. Everytime you look up into a mirror you expect to see a face over your shoulder, to feel hands on your hips.  

Minseok had taken so many little things from you in the span of three minutes. 

You need to take something back. 

Every step leading into the hospital is heart pounding and nerve wracking, stress inducing on a level you’ve never experienced, but standing in front of reception you suddenly feel an overwhelming calm. Your mind is clear, operating on something wholly unconscious and you don’t know where you’ve mustered this feeling from, but you let it take you. 

You give over Minseok’s full name and provide the kindest smile you can to the woman behind the desk,“I’m his sister,” you tell her. The lie rolls right off your tongue, so clean and easy you surprise yourself. 

“Oh,” The nurse nods, “well visiting hours don’t start until eleven,” 

“I have work,” You counter, softening your face, “I’m sorry, but do you think you could make an exception? I’ll be very quick, I just want to see him for a few minutes before I have to run,” 

She considers it, and you know you have her the minute she checks the nurse’s station to see who else is there with her before she breaks a rule, “Alright, but just be quick, five minutes,” 

“Thank you so much,” You smile, “really, you’re so kind,” 

She waves you off, glancing around her again, “He’s in 305, the third door down on your left when I open the doors,” 

“Thank you,” 

She presses a button on the wall and the lock springs free, opening the heavy security door to your side. With one last smile and deeply grateful bow, you slip through the door and make it through into the hospital hallway where you are most definitely not supposed to be. 

Third door on the left. 

You have to be quick, not so you don’t get caught, but so you don’t chicken out. If you stand in this hallway and let yourself really think about what you’re doing, you’ll turn right around and go home. Steeling yourself, you rush forwards and find the door to 305 and with a deep breath you slip inside. 

Private rooms are expensive, that thought occurs to you as you shut the door tightly behind you. That fact, plus the reality that he’s already talking about pressing his own charges, tells you Seonghwa was right, he has some kind of family money. You hope that when you turn around and actually face the room you won’t have to contend with his mother or father or god forbid some girlfriend you know nothing about. You need him to be alone. 

Blissfully, the room is quiet, the only sounds are medical and simple. With your palms flat against the door you take a deep breath, and if Minseok is awake he says nothing, makes no sound, while you gather the nerve to do this. 

Finally, you turn. 

He is awake, studying you with a careful expression, but then your eyes flick over him. He’s more than injured, he’s completely incapacitated. You catalog it all quickly - his leg suspended in an elevating sling, ankle wrapped up tight, wrist sprained and in a brace, his face is bruised and battered and you realize in seconds that his broken jaw is wired shut. He has an oxygen cannula tucked into his bandaged nose, and you remember that his ribs are broken too. 

You wonder which of your boys delivered each piece of punishment. 

Your mouth feels dry, and your pulse is quickening, the sight of him so close is enough to induce panic but he can’t really do anything to you in this state so you have to just be brave. You push yourself off the wall and walk to the end of his hospital bed, “Hey,” 

He gestures to his jaw and shrugs to communicate that he can’t really talk. 

“I know,” You nod, “I heard.” 

It’s strange to be here with him like this when last week you were working side by side. It’s bizarre to suddenly feel this bubble of uncomfortable space and distance, and to feel the fear underneath it all. 

He gestures towards you with his bandaged hand and you know he’s asking why you’re here. 

“I heard about the counter charges,” You came here with a purpose and you have to stick to it, “and I came here to ask you to drop them.” 

He shakes his head and looks down at himself and then back up to you. 

“After what you did?” Anger curls up in your belly, “I think they took it pretty easy on you.” 

He huffs, a puff of air from his closed lips. 

“Listen,” You try, “you and I both know what you tried to do, and whatever your excuse is, it doesn’t matter. If they hadn’t gotten you off me… I guess what I’m saying is do the right thing now. You said you were sorry, just drop these charges and we can all move on.” 

His eyes harden and he shakes his head. 

You thought he was apologetic after, coming to his senses and realizing in the haze of his rut he almost broke someone’s mind, but now you’re starting to think he was just pleading for his own beating to stop. 

“You won’t consider it?” You ask, stomach clenching tightly. 

He shakes his head again and points to his injuries. Jaw, ribs, leg. 

You want to hit him yourself, so suddenly that your fingers curl tight into fists, “You tried to fucking claim me because I wouldn’t go out on a date with you, and you think you’re the victim here?” 

He seems irritated by your question, and he reaches for something on the tray table to his side. He pulls up a small whiteboard and marker, clearly given to him by hospital staff to communicate, and he wipes away the words that were there to write out his message to you. 

I’m the one in a hospital bed.

“You bastard,” The words just slip out, “why do you think? They put you here for a fucking reason, Minseok,” 

He wipes the message away and writes something else. 

Keep your alphas on a leash.

You’ve never understood the phrase ‘seeing red’ before, but now it’s meaning is crystal clear, “You should keep yourself on a leash.” 

He huffs. 

“Using tone to submit an omega is illegal, Minseok,” You round the corner of the bed, “the prison time for something like that is long. It’s not even just assault, I think that’s something like three or four years? But using tone… claiming against an omega’s will? That’s irreparable damage. I wonder how many charges they’d stack on top in court? Psychological trauma? Sexual assault?” 

His eyes darken and he wipes the board again, his marker squeaking roughly against it as he angrily writes out the next message. 

I never touched you like that.

“You would have,” You shake your head, “as soon as I was your nice obedient omega and couldn’t say no.” 

He stares daggers, but says nothing. 

“They might be able to prove intent,” You tell him, “throw a few more years on top for good measure. How old do you think you’ll be when they let you out? Do you think a dance studio would hire a forty year old man?” 

His face pales, he looks sick suddenly. 

“You’ll drop the charges,” You tell him, “and when you do, I’ll drop mine.” 

His eyes widen. 

“You’ll never set foot in the studio again, and you’ll go find another job somewhere else.” 

His eyes skim over you, trying to gauge your honesty. 

“Do you understand me?” You don’t know what’s possessing you, what’s holding you up so you can get these words out, but you’ve never felt more sure. 

He says nothing. 

You lean in closer, close enough that if he was uninjured he could easily have you back in control, but with his jaw wired shut and his lack of mobility, he can’t do a thing. Nerves flutter up your body as you lean in, and you’re sure he can smell Yunho and Mingi on you, but the guarantee that he can’t touch you is filling you with a sick sense of power, of sure joy. 

“You tried and you failed,” You tell him, and he huffs, “and that’s on you.”

His cheek twitches and you’re sure he’d be clenching his jaw if he could do it without exceptional pain. 

“You’ll do this for me, you owe me,” You hold his gaze despite the flutter of fear it brings you, “and if you don’t, I don’t care what it takes. I’ll see you in court and if that doesn’t work, I’ll make sure that you never, ever get hired again. Every studio in Korea will know what you did, and every omega in Seoul will know what you really are, and if you ever get close to me again after today I’ll break your jaw myself.” 

His eyes flick down. 

“Do you understand me?” You repeat, enunciating clearly. 

He nods once. 

“Good,” You push back from him and get some distance, “get the charges against all of them dropped by tomorrow and I’ll call and withdraw mine. Don’t ever come back to the studio, if you left stuff there consider it gone.” 

He holds your gaze, and then he writes out a question - How do I know you’ll keep your word? 

“You don’t,” You shrug, “but I promise you I wouldn’t be here in this room with you at all if I wasn’t willing to drop them.” 

He turns your words over. 

“Minseok,” You sigh, “they mean more to me than watching you go to jail, please, just do the right thing.” 

He wipes his hand again across the whiteboard and then he shifts, looking back up to you to nod in agreement. 

“You’ll do it?” 

He nods again and then picks the marker back up to write something. 

“Don’t,” You stop him, “there’s nothing you can say I want to hear. Just do this and we’ll be done.” 

He looks away and without meeting your eyes again, he nods.

“Don’t make me come back,” You press him, but he doesn’t respond and that will have to be enough. You’ve done what you came to do. 

You’re out of his room in a flash, back through the security doors and quick past the front desk. You don’t spare a single glance at the nurse who broke the rules for you, you just need to get out of here before you let the reality of what you’ve done hit you sideways. You don’t let a single thing consume you until you’re out of the hospital and on the street again, and you sink down onto the first available bench. 

Your heart is pounding, hands trembling. You need to get this under control before you go home because the last thing you want is to cause Yunho and Mingi anymore stress or heartache. You give yourself some time to come back into your body, to forget the hard set of Minseok’s eyes and the way his fingers twitched when you got too close, the way you fought the curling panic in your gut to get the words out. 

When you do feel whole again, you order a taxi back. You’ve been gone a while, probably a little longer than they expected, and you hope they’re not worried.

Using Mingi’s borrowed key, you slip into the apartment and let their scents wash over you, soothing you instantly. You shut the door quietly behind you and toe off your shoes before calling out, “Is anyone home?” 

You hear movement immediately, Mingi from the kitchen and Yunho from his bedroom and it fills you with warmth. 

“Hey,” Mingi gets to the living room first, “how was your walk?” 

“Really good,” You tell him, and that’s the truth. The walk itself was nice until you cut it short with your little errand. 

“You look good,” He smiles, and Yunho appears from his side of the apartment as Mingi continues, “fresher,” 

“Yeah,” You sigh, “it’s a beautiful morning out,” 

“Hey,” Yunho says, smiling at the sight of you. 

“I’m sorry I didn’t wake you,” You say, “I just wanted to clear my head a bit, so I hope you don’t mind that I borrowed your key,” 

Mingi shakes his head as you hang his keyring up by the door. 

“We’ll have to get one made for you,” Yunho says, “if you want,” 

You let the implication of that lie and you nod, but excitement sparks in your belly.

“Is there any coffee?” You ask, moving into the apartment and heading towards the kitchen. You need to tell them where you’ve been, but you just need a breath before you can. 

“Mhm,” Mingi says, “I just made a cup,” 

“Oh,” You shake your head, “I don’t want to take yours, I’ll make my own.” 

“No, no,” He slides behind you and presses a kiss to your hair as he does, “take it, I’ll make another. Yunho, do you want one?” 

“I’m good,” He replies, coming to stand next to you at the small kitchen island. 

Mingi looks like he’s thinking about something as he finishes off your cup of coffee and throws an electric kettle back on to make another pourover, but Yunho draws your attention away. 

“Jagi,” He starts, “I don’t mean to… well, can we talk to you about something?” 

“Sure,” You angle towards him, his words making you a little nervous, “is everything okay?” 

“Absolutely,” He assures you, brushing his hand down the length of your arm, “but Mingi and I were talking while you were gone, about how to handle everything with these charges,” 

“Oh,” His timing is impeccable. 

“We just want to include you,” He says, squeezing your hand, “and make sure we’re handling things the way we should, but it might be smart to try and hire a lawyer before this goes any further,” 

You’re not sure how you’re supposed to say this. 

“We talked to Seonghwa and he agrees,” Yunho continues, “this will be the easiest way to protect all of us,”

“Yunho,” You start, “hang on,”

“If this is upsetting we can talk about it later,” Yunho adds, “but Seonghwa has some connections through his parents, he wants to make some calls.” 

Your stomach twists at the idea of Seonghwa needing to lean on a favor from his parents, and every choice you made that morning becomes perfectly validated with just that thought. You would never, ever let him do that, not after everything he’s done for you.  

“It’s not upsetting,” You assure Yunho, trying to interject, “I just don’t think that will be necessary,” 

“Getting a lawyer?” He clarifies. 

“Yeah,” You swallow hard and glance at Mingi, “I don’t think we’ll need to.” 

“I mean, having representation would be best,” Yunho says, “I know it’s stressful, but we need to be careful,” 

“Right,” You sigh, needing him to give you a breath to explain, “that’s if there’s a suit,” 

“Well sure, but,” Yunho starts but the penny drops for Mingi. 

“Tell me you didn’t,” Mingi turns to you fully and the words die on Yunho’s lips as he plays catch up. 

You stay quiet, holding his gaze, but when you let out a soft breath he sets his coffee back down. 

“y/n,” Mingi says, voice serious and leaving Yunho visibly more and more confused, “tell me you didn’t do what I think you did.” 

“I took care of it,” You settle on the most neutral words you can. 

“No,” He shakes his head, “you can’t just say that, you have to give us more than that.” 

“I was planning on it,” You push past Yunho to approach Mingi, resting your hands on his upper arms as you get closer into his space, “I swear, you just guessed it too fast,” 

“You smell like the hospital,” He explains, his nose crinkled up. 

“Whoa, whoa,” Yunho finally catches up, “why were you at the hospital?”

You just have to say it, “I talked to Minseok,” 

“Absolutely not,” Yunho pushes around the island and closer to you, “are you insane?” 

“He’s completely incapacitated,” You tell them both, “he couldn’t have touched me even if he wanted to,” 

“Yes, but you didn’t know that!” Yunho presses, his voice running high in surprise, but you can see he’s doing his best to keep level and cool. 

“Look at me,” You settle him, “do I look hurt? Upset?”

“No,” He admits with a puff of dejected air. 

“Am I myself?” You take both their hands in yours. 

“Yes,” Mingi admits. 

“Okay,” You sigh, “now stop freaking out and listen to me, because I promise you I’m perfectly fine,” 

Mingi nods once, and Yunho stays silent, which is enough for you to do what you need to do. 

“I went there to talk him out of the charges he’s filing,” You explain, “and I guess… I just wanted to understand what he did, so I wanted to talk to him.” 

“And?” Yunho prompts. 

“He’s an asshole,” You start. 

“Did he touch you?” Mingi asks, his voice a little tight and thready, “Say anything to you?” 

“No,” You promise, tugging him closer until his hands are properly on you, “come here,” 

“You can tell us if he did,” Yunho’s fingertips stroke a gentle pattern over the back of your neck, “we’re not angry, we just want to help,” 

“Speak for yourself, I still want to kill him,” Mingi says sharply. 

“Hey,” Yunho nudges him, “chill,” 

“Both of you relax,” You interject and they fall silent, “he didn’t do anything, he couldn’t even talk, his jaw is fully wired shut,” 

Yunho huffs a laugh, “Good,” 

You smile, “Honestly, he looked pretty pathetic,” 

“He is pretty pathetic,” Mingi points out. 

“Right,” You sigh, “well, aside from some choice words written out on a whiteboard, he didn’t have much to say or do. I explained that if he didn’t drop his charges things would be much worse for him in the long run… and he saw reason.” 

“He agreed to that?” Mingi’s eyes go wide. 

“Mhm,” 

“Why?” Yunho’s brows draw together, “Not out of the goodness of his heart, I assume,” 

“No,” You shake your head, “but when I tell you, I need you both to promise me you won’t be angry.” 

“That’s unfair,” Yunho says. 

“Just say it,” Mingi nods, “we won’t know until we know.” 

You chew the inside of your lip as you search for the right way to say this, and you know they’ll be upset no matter what, but they deserve honesty. You nod, “I agreed to drop my charges if he drops his,” 

They’re silent, deathly silent. 

“y/n,” Yunho swallows tightly as he gets his voice even, “why would you do that?” 

“He didn’t want to listen to me at first,” You explain, “and I thought it through on the walk. That’s the only piece of leverage we have right now,” 

“But he did something wrong, he should be held accountable,” Mingi exclaims, taking a full step away from you and running a hand through his hair. 

“You heard the questions the police asked me,” You interject, “how close was I to my next heat? Did I know Minseok was in pre-rut? Why did I stay in the room if he was making me uncomfortable? What was I wearing?” 

“But it wasn’t your fault,” Yunho insists, “he used tone, that’s fucking illegal,” 

“I said he used tone,” You counter quietly, “but he’ll say he didn’t and he’ll say I got confused or misunderstood. He’ll use our relationship against you both, and my relationship with Seonghwa to paint… a very particular kind of picture about me. We all know what he did but I’m telling you, legally? We’re on the losing side,” 

“But,” Mingi shakes his head, “that’s…” 

“I know,” You nod, “believe me, I know.” 

“You should have taken us with you,” Yunho says quietly, “we could have talked to him for you,” 

You shake your head, “No,” you need them to understand, “you got to hit him… you got to do something, I didn’t get to do anything but be fucking scared,”

His expression softens, “Oh,” 

“You protected me when I needed you,” You feel tears welling up now at the thought of it, “it’s my turn to protect you,” 

They’re so quiet, watching you carefully. 

“Nothing is taking you away from me again,” You say it, plain and clear, “nothing is taking away you or my friends, I won’t let that happen,” 

Mingi’s arms fold around you fast as he tucks you into his chest and you feel Yunho step close too, laying a warm palm on your back as he leans into you both. 

“Whatever you want, we’ll do it,” Mingi murmurs, “okay?” 

You nod, closing your eyes as you snuggle into the warmth of him. 

“And we’ll handle it together,” Yunho says, “but don’t make this decision for us, make it for you. We,” Yunho’s voice trails, but then he clears his throat and says what he wants to say anyways, “we love you. No matter what happens,” 

“I know,” You sigh, snaking an arm out of Mingi’s hold to find Yunho’s hand and tuck him a little closer too, “but I’m sure,” 

“I hate to state the obvious here,” Mingi pulls back from you so he can look at you both, “but if he’s not charged with anything, then he’s a free man.” 

That thought does make your stomach flip, but you knew that when you walked into the hospital room, “I know,” 

“It’s your choice,” Mingi reiterates, “but I still don’t know if I’m comfortable taking that kind of risk with you.” 

“I don’t even want to think about that,” Yunho says, his hands finding your shoulders as he tucks closer behind you. 

The image of Minseok’s face when you asked about his dance career flickers through your mind and you smile, “I think he got the picture,” 

“y/n,” Mingi’s voice is hesitant. 

“I told him in no uncertain terms,” You can’t get the smile off your face now, “that if he came anywhere near me again I’d break his jaw myself.” 

“You didn’t,” Yunho looks down to see your face. 

“I did,” You nod, “and before you freak out again, please remember that I’m here and totally fine in front of you,” 

Mingi gives you a truly withering look but lets you speak. 

“Honestly,” You breathe, “you should have seen him, he was lying there and could barely move, and when he didn’t want to drop the charges at first, I kind of got in his face,” 

Yunho’s hands tighten on your shoulders and Mingi scrubs a hand over his face, “Don’t tell me that,” 

“But I did,” You press your palms flat against Mingi’s chest, “I told him that if he didn’t drop his charges he would never get rid of me, I told him I’d make his life hell, and he couldn’t even move. He couldn’t touch me,” 

Mingi’s quiet, his eyes flicking up to Yunho behind you. Yunho sighs, dropping his forehead to rest against your hair and then his arms relax, wrapping around you from behind. 

“I really hate this story,” Yunho says, “but I’m also really proud of you,” 

“Me too,” Mingi’s hand closes over both of yours to give you a squeeze. 

“I just wish you had told us,” Yunho admits. 

“If I had told you I was going there you would have never let me go alone,” You point out. 

“Exactly,” Yunho’s arms tighten. 

You turn your head to press your lips to his arm where it wraps around your shoulder, and you nuzzle a little into his warm skin, “You know why I had to go though, right? You get it?” 

He nods against your head. 

Mingi smooths his hand up and down your forearm, “We do,” 

“I just hate the thought of him seeing you again,” Yunho admits, lifting his head and readjusting you in his arms, “or being close to you at all,” 

“I know,” You lean back into his embrace, “but this is the thing, he got to see me be fine after what he did,” 

“And you got to see him,” Mingi puts two and two together with ease and nods, “and he looked pathetic?” 

“More than that,” You smile, “he looked… afraid.” 

“Good,” Mingi says firmly. 

You remember the way he looked in that hospital bed, his eyes darting around the room. He shrank back when you got close, no doubt the scent of Yunho and Mingi lingering on your skin, and you smile up at them at the thought, “He was terrified my alphas were with me,”

Yunho’s lips quirk and he leans around you to meet your eyes, “He wasn’t afraid of us, sweetheart, he was afraid of you.” 

“No,” You laugh that off, but they don’t join in and Mingi makes a funny expression at your words. 

Yunho slides away, shoulder to shoulder with Mingi now as he looks down at you, “Yes, y/n,” he shakes his head, “he was vulnerable and alone and stuck in a hospital bed, and you’re…” 

“A powerful fucking omega,” Mingi supplies. 

Yunho nods, “And he knows that you could ruin the rest of his life.” 

You don’t know what to say. 

“y/n,” Mingi sighs, tugging you in until your bodies are close together, “if you ever do something that reckless again, I’ll lose my mind,”

You move to lift your head and push back, to keep trying to get him to understand why this was so important for you to do alone and why you made the choices you made, but he stops you short. 

“But,” He adds, kissing the top of your head, “it was also very brave, and I love you for it.” 

“Yeah?” You nudge him. 

“Yeah,” He admits. 

“I do wish I could have seen it,” Yunho grins, “that asshole scared of you,” 

Mingi’s hands slide to your hips, tightening their grip and he swallows hard, “Our fierce little omega,” 

A ripple of something needy and unexpected passes through your belly, “Is that what I am?” 

Yunho steps closer, finding a home for his hands on your body too, “You called us your alphas,” he says softly, “isn’t that what we are?” 

Mingi’s thumbs brush a warm steady pattern into your hips and you feel yourself melting into their hands, “Yes,” 

“That makes you our omega, sweetheart,” Yunho eyes flick from yours to your lips. 

The way they say omega to you doesn’t sound cold. It doesn’t sound cruel or commanding, no undertone of ownership despite the content of their words. When they say it all you hear is love. 

“Say that again,” You murmur softly. 

Mingi smiles, lifting his eyes to watch you.  

Yunho dips closer, his lips dangerously close, “Our omega?” 

You nod a little, heat flushing your cheeks. 

“Our omega,” He repeats, pressing his lips to yours. He waits to make sure you want it, he waits to feel you twist in their arms and reach up for him, and then he lets his body follow his thoughts, lips opening and his tongue dipping into your mouth. 

Mingi’s hand shifts, spreading wide over your lower belly, his fingertips at the waistband of your pants. You’re not ready for that, and you hope he doesn’t notice the way you twitched in his hands when he first adjusted his grip, but either way he makes no move to take anything further. Neither of them do. Despite Yunho’s lips on yours, and the breath between you both, his hands stay put on your back and your cheek while Mingi just holds you, patient and soft at your side. 

When your lips break from Yunho, settling back down your heels after pushing up on tiptoe, Mingi uses his grip on you to spin you to face him, his mouth finding yours with ease. 

You hum pleasantly against his mouth, your hands gripping his broad shoulders for balance. 

“Ours,” Mingi murmurs between kisses, and then his hands spread to your backside, maneuvering you up into his arms in one quick motion, “you’re ours,” 

You wrap your legs around his middle and sink into the kiss, “I’m yours,” 

“Fuck, I missed you,” He mumbles between kisses, nuzzling your cheek with his nose. 

You nod against him, stealing one more kiss before you lean back, still perched comfortably with your legs around his waist. You smooth a hand over Mingi’s cheek and then reach for your other lover to bring him close, drawing him in by the hand until he’s nestled against both of your sides. Yunho’s hand reaches around to cup under your thigh and you settle your own hand on the back of Yunho’s neck, fingers stroking the shaggy bottom of his dark hair.

“This is nice,” Mingi smiles a little, eyes flicking between you and Yunho. 

Yunho nods, his free hand settling on Mingi’s back. 

“I can’t believe I convinced myself that we weren’t scent sympathetic,” You sigh a small, unfunny laugh, “this just feels so right,” 

“Knowing it and knowing it are two different things,” Mingi says, emphasizing the word. 

“I guess so,” 

“And it’s not like all scent matches work out,” Yunho adds, “we still have to work at it,” 

You nod, relaxing into their hold, “I want that,” 

“We do too,” Mingi squeezes your thigh a little with his wide hand. 

It’s funny how different it all feels now than months ago during your first panicked heat here, how settled you are with everything. You glance between them and ask the obvious, “When we go back to work, what are we this time?” 

“Pack,” Mingi says easily and your head snaps to his, eyebrows high. 

“Mingi,” You blink at him, surprised at his easy reference to such a permanent state of being. Scent matches and compatibility is one thing, but pack is something so much more. All of it flickers in your mind - claims, bonds, tying you together permanently. 

“Someday,” Yunho interjects smoothly, giving you a soft, reassuring kiss to the head, “far in the future, if you’ll have us.” 

“Someday,” The word slips out of you like an agreement, and despite all the fears shared with Wooyoung earlier, you do want them like that. You want to someday be able to give each other that.  

“Then we’re pack,” Mingi lights up at your words, “officially, unofficially, I don’t care. You’re with us, we’re with you.” 

Your body fills with warmth, but you can feel your heart rate picking up. 

Yunho smiles, “What did they used to call that back in the day?” 

“Courting,” You fill in the blank for him, and the word feels strangely old fashioned considering the fact that you’ve already spent a heat with them. When packs were more common, groups of alphas would court compatible omegas until it was sure they were a good match in more ways than just scent. The implication then was something more akin to a modern engagement and you can’t believe after everything you’ve been through with these two men, this is the conversation you’re having suddenly so casually in their kitchen. 

“Well,” Yunho laughs, “we don’t have to call it that,” 

“We’re,” You trail off, trying to find the words, “dating?” 

“Partners?” Yunho offers a slightly less casual word. 

“Together,” Mingi cuts in, “that’s what we are. We’re your alphas, we belong to you, and you,” he draws you closer in his arms to press a soft kiss on your lips, “are our omega.” 

“And at work?” You trail off. 

“We’ll be ourselves,” Yunho suggests, “people probably already know after last week anyways,” 

Mingi nods, dipping forward and pressing a kiss to your lips, “No more pretending we don’t mean something to each other,” 

“No more pretending,” You shift in his arms, wrapping your arms properly around his shoulders so that you’re hugging each other tightly. 

Mingi hums appreciatively, his breath warm against your hair and then he chuckles a little as he readjusts you in his arms, “Is it too fast if I start calling you yeobo, though? I feel like it suits you,” 

You pull back from the hug, “We’re not married, Mingi,” you remind him, “and I didn’t hear a proposal,” 

“You want to get proposed to, baby?” He teases and you shove his chest. 

“Knock it off,” Yunho smacks the back of Mingi’s head, “our relationship doesn’t have to break the sound barrier,” 

“I’m kidding,” Mingi squeezes you, shifting to take a few steps and deposit you on the kitchen counter before stepping back with a quick peck on your lips. 

“Hmm,” Yunho rolls his eyes and slumps back against the counter next to you, one wide hand smoothing over your thigh, “we just got you back, I’d like to avoid scaring you off,” 

“I’m not scared,” You shake your head, and as you say it, you realize it’s true. Six months ago you would have balked at Mingi’s veiled promise of his intentions, you would have told them all their hormones were mixed up and confused. You would have told yourself the same. It feels strange to feel completely at peace with the idea of a real someday with them. 

Yunho’s eyebrow quirks up in a question at your words and Mingi grins, a little self satisfied. 

“Actually,” You exhale heavily and straighten up, “I talked to Wooyoung yesterday and he helped me figure some things out,” 

“Things?” Mingi asks. 

“Um,” Your pounds in your chest, “yeah,” 

Yunho gives you an encouraging squeeze to keep going. 

You meet his eyes and take the leap, “Can you make that call? For me to talk with someone?” 

He softens and nods, “I’ll do it first thing,” 

“Okay,” You say, taking another deep breath, “then there’s one more thing to tell you,” 

Mingi doesn’t say anything, but he steps back closer to you, resting his hand on your opposite thigh. 

“It’s my turn to ask you to be patient,” You give them both an anxious, close lipped smile. 

“We’re listening,” Mingi soothes you. 

“Okay,” You take both their hands in yours, “here goes. The idea of bonding with you both is kind of sending me into a tailspin right now, and I’m terrified that it’s something I’m never going to get over. Wooyoung told me to talk to someone to work through that and I want to. I thought about it all day, and the truth is that I want to be with you both for as long as you’ll have me. You feel like you’re mine, now more than ever, and I’m scared, but I’m also scared of not trying,” 

“And if I can be yours like this for now,” You continue, “without bonds like you said, pack even if it’s unofficial, then maybe I can work through this and make it official someday. I’m just scared your definition of ‘far in the future’ and my definition are different though, and I,” 

“Fuck bonds,” Mingi interrupts, moving to cup both your cheeks and draw your eyes to his, “that shit doesn’t matter to me at all. We’re together by choice, not by claim. If you want my bite someday, I’ll give it to you, but you won’t ever hear me ask, alright? Never.” 

“Me too,” Yunho’s hand brushes down your hair, coming to rest on the back of your neck, “as far as I’m concerned it’s secondary, I don’t care what anyone thinks. I’d sooner leave you than push you into a bond you aren’t ready for,” 

You jolt forwards, throwing an arm around each of their shoulders and nearly slipping off the counter when you do, but they hold you steady as you pull them in. 

“We just want you,” Mingi’s rough, low voice murmurs, “just this.” 

You feel their warmth, the steady thrum of each of their heartbeats, their scents curling around you like a safe, easy memory. The words find themselves right on the tip of your tongue again, only this time, this time they come. 

“I love you,” You take in a sharp, emotional breath as you get yourself together, overwhelmed by their words, “I love you both so much,” 

Yunho dips back to find your mouth, locking his lips on yours and sighing a breath of true relief against your mouth, “I love you too, sweetheart,”

Mingi redirects your gaze with his fingers on your jaw the moment Yunho starts to lean back and he kisses you hard, leaving you gripping his shirt for balance, “I love you,”

“God,” You smile, every part of your body alight with joy, “I think we might be crazy, but I don’t care,” 

“Good,” Yunho glances between you both, “because I think I’m having a crazy idea,” 

“What idea?” 

“Move in,” He blurts out, and he can’t stop smiling, “fuck giving you a key, fuck calling you our girlfriend. Move in properly, be ours. If we’re together, let’s be together, we’ve lost enough time,” 

“Who’s moving fast now?” Mingi says, but he’s smiling too. 

Everything in your body feels right, feels safe. You’ve been calling this home for days, and you’ve been calling them yours in your head for so much longer. 

You’re nodding before your mouth can catch up with your brain, “Okay, okay, yes, let’s do it,” 

Yunho pulls you up into his arms and holds you close, peppering kisses across your temple, “We’ll figure everything else out later, but at least we’ll be together,” 

“Thank God,” You melt into his embrace, meeting Mingi’s eyes over Yunho’s shoulder, “because I really didn’t want to leave,” 

“No leaving this time,” Mingi smiles softly as Yunho nods his head against yours. 

“Mm-mm,” You shake your head, agreeing with his words. 

“We’ll get everything from your place as soon as we can, make it official,” Mingi adds. 

You nod, and then a thought occurs to you, “Is there even enough room for me here?” 

Yunho unwraps himself from around you and nods, “We’ll need a bigger bed,”

“For a start,” Mingi nods, “and you need a nest,” 

“Yeah?” Your very own nest, a real one. 

“Oh, babe,” Mingi finds your hand, tugging you in, “you’re about to get fucking spoiled, anything you want, we’ll figure it out.” 

“You don’t have to, I just want to be here,” You tell them. 

“Doesn’t matter,” Yunho says, “we’ve waited for you for so long,” 

“Too long,” Mingi wraps his arms around you both, “way too long,” 

It doesn’t matter anymore what pushed you into their arms, what kind of day you’ve had, everything you’ve had to get through. Not a thing in the world matters but this choice, the safe home of their arms, three of you against the world like it was always meant to be. 

#this night together fic #honeyhotteoks fics #honeyhotteoks updates #ateez fic #ateez ff #ateez series #yunho x reader #mingi x reader #yungi x reader #yunho fic #yunho ff #mingi fic #mingi ff #yungi fic #yungi ff #yungi series

[couldpolyamorysavethem]

KAREN AIJOU from REVUE STARLIGHT

Justification:

"i think it would make her and mahiru happier if she was able to be in a relationship with her And hikari" - Anonymous

#could polyamory have saved them #polls #revue starlight #shoujo kageki revue starlight #karen aijou #polyamory #polyamorous #nonmonogamy #anonymous submission #Mod note: I've been meaning to watch this! The reviews looked promising

[your-astro-mami]

The Astrology Of: Multiple Marriages

The biggest indicators of having multiple marriages.

Uranus in the 7th House

Uranus is the planet of chaos, change, the unexpected. So in the house of contracts, legal ties and marriage it can be indicative that you may find it hard to commit to one person. It can indicate having multiple long-term partners or a relationship with a different dynamic (open relationship, long-distance, polyamory, etc.)

2. Uranus in the 5th House

While the 5th house isn't connected to marriage, it is connected to romantic relationships. It can point to a person who has an unstable love life and commitment with others may require a lot of work. They may find it hard to stay devoted to one person, they can get bored in the relationship, unless that person provides them with the needed excitement.

3. A Uranus-Juno conjunction/square/opposition

Juno is the asteroid of marriage. When there is a hard aspect between Juno and Uranus, there is a chance that a person is likely to have multiple marriages, experience chaos in a marriage, have a marriage with a different dynamic from the norm. This can also be a sign of having a partner who is very different from them. It can make them detached in the marriage.

4. Jupiter in the 7th House

Jupiter is the planet of abundance and it can point to the area of life where you have "a lot" of something. In the 7th house it can point to having multiple partners, marriages. While it can also show having a happy and fulfilling marriage, it can show difficulties with monogamy due to the desire to experience a lot.

5. A Jupiter-Juno conjunction/opposite/square

This can be interpreted in multiple ways. One is having a generous partner, the second would be a happy and abundant marriage, the third would be having many marriages. I think in some cases Jupiter-Juno people can be happier in their second or third marriage due to the experience they gain with the first one.

6. Uranus or Jupiter in the 10th House

The 10th house is marriage as a form of institution or as a life goal, so having Uranus or Jupiter there can point to having 2+ marriages. Imo Uranus in 7th or 10th both show people who find it difficult to stay bonded to contract/legal tie.

7. Ruler of the 7th House conjunct Uranus

I am giving a direct example. You have Virgo on the 7th house cusp. Virgo is ruled by Mercury. In your chart, Mercury is conjunct Uranus. Therefore the ruler of the 7th house is conjunct Uranus. This can indicate having multiple long-term partner, going through multiple legal ties, different dynamics from the norm in your relationships, etc.

8. Ruler of 5th House conjunct Uranus

This is very similar to the previous one, but it's got less to do with marriage and more to do with romantic relationships overall.

9. Mutable sign on the 7th House cusp

Mutable signs: Gemini, Virgo, Sagittarius, Pisces. While this isn't the biggest indicator, it can show that a person is more willing to give up if things aren't working out. Compared to fixed signs, mutable signs don't have a problem of letting go the things that no longer work for them. Gemini and Sagittarius specifically are highly independent and commitment can be difficult for them.

10. Mutable Venus sign

Gemini, Sagittarius, Virgo and Pisces Venus. While this also isn't a big indicator, they seek freedom in their romantic relationships and aren't afraid of letting people go. Unless they have a Fixed moon or Mars. They can have a happy and fulfilling relationship but once things get hard, they are less likely to put effort into the relationship.

11. Sun-Uranus or Venus-Uranus aspects

This is a sign of a highly independent nature for which marriage can be very difficult unless their partner truly respects their freedom and doesn't have a problem with their occasional detachment. Venus-Uranus can require a lot of excitement in love and committed relationships can be boring for them unless their partner provides them with constant stimulation.

12. Mars in the 7th House

This indicates a person who can be domineering in their relationships (or attract domineering people). So there is potential for conflict and marital difficulties especially if their partner has a strong character as well. Divorce is more likely, so there is a higher potential for multiple marriages or long-term relationships.

13. Sun-Jupiter aspects

The Sun-Jupiter aspects generally show a massive ego and difficulty being selfless and considerate of their partner in a relationship. They can be egotistical and will always put themselves first. So if their partner doesn't have a problem with that and is willing to worship the ground they walk on, things can work out perfectly.

If I think of anything else I will add it later.

#astrology #zodiac signs #aries #taurus #gemini #marriage #synastry #natal chart #cancer #leo #virgo #libra #scorpio #sagittarius #capricorn #aquarius #pisces

[delusionalthinkingatbest]

Popular and Unpopular Opinions for 911 Season 7 Finale - 🚒SPOILERS AHEAD!!

(Firstly, all opinions are mine no hate to any characters, blah blah blah let's get into it)

1. I think Bobby should have died.

WHOA WHOA DONT KILL ME. I believe in character death when there is a purpose and a reason. And I think the reason would be for character development in mostly Athena and Buck. Athena because I feel like she's still a rough and sometimes unfair cop just as she was in season 1. I love her character as a strong black woman in power but that's what she's been for 6 seasons in a row, even when she became assaulted, or her family got hate crimed she went back to being the same person a season later.

And Buck because I feel like he's learned a lot from Bobby. But still, nobody trusts him to be in charge. He was passed over for interim captain twice regardless of his amazing growth. And as much as Bobby's death would hurt him it would grant him a chance to really stand up.

2. I'm glad Chris left to be with his grandparents because Eddie was given a few too many chances.

In a post I made earlier I talked about how when someone is traumatized horribly knowing where they've been and what has happened help to explain their actions, but it does not defend all of them. Eddie is the perfect example because he has tried his hardest but, in the end, his mental health is not suitable for taking care of a child right now.

The fact that he's had multiple panic attacks, got involved in a fighting ring, cheated on his girlfriend, and let her stay in his house when she came dressed as Shannon and he poured his heart out to her, and his son saw? I can only imagine how much that would f*ck me up and I'm not even Christopher.

I'm not saying Eddie doesn't deserve a chance and his parent's certainty aren't perfect, but they are stable and have a village (family) around them in Texas. At this point Eddie would benefit to recommitting himself to therapy before getting his son back full time. Because it would not only benefit him but his son as well.

3.Not enough build on Buck and Tommys Relationship

Let's be real Buck and Tommy had like 7 scenes in total in this season😭💀This is more knocking at the writers then the characters because I really wanted to see Buck enjoy his sexuality. Enjoy his new boyfriend and unfortunately, we didn't really get to see it. I don't know if that was a deliberate choice but even if we got more Tommy, I would be happier. Especially since Tommy became such good friends with Eddie it's almost like they dropped that friendship.

Maybe it's just me.

4. Han and Maddie's Wedding.

I don't have much to say on this actually. I thought it was a great episode I just hated how rushed it was. I wish we had a whole episode just dedicated to their wedding like how we got in 911 lonestar for the Tarlos wedding.

They both deserve it they've been through so much.😭

+5. I fear for Buddie.

Eddie is just not in the place for a romantic relationship right now. Even if he does discover himself through therapy, it would be too soon. Not to mention I don't want to sacrifice Tommy for Buddie it doesn't sit right with me. Especially since I love all three characters.

I just wish I knew if they were going to do Buddie and how they would even do it.

Alternate suggestion: Polyamory?🤔😏

Okay I'm done,

Thank you for coming to my Ted Talk 💖

#fandom #lgbt #episode analysis #show analysis #character analysis #911 season 7 #911 abc #911 fox #911 show #911 spoilers #evan buckley #911 tv #911 on abc #eddie diaz #tommy kinard #maddie buckley #chimney han #chimney x maddie #buddie #christopher diaz #evan buck buckely #bucktommy #buck/tommy #buck/eddie #athena grant #bobby nash

[munchablemusic]

No because poly Stede is so important to me?? Because we see canonically that he’s unhappily married, for reasons that are stated to be because of the monotony and not marrying for love, but I truly think that Stede would be so much happier with a little dash of polyamory. Ed would so agree, and we have so many positive poly relationships on the show that it wouldn’t be out of the blue. And you might be asking wow this sounds like a steddyhands thesis and you would be so right, but also i feel like Stede wouldn’t want monotony in any relationship. That’s part of why he became a pirate! To escape the boringness of his life and marriage! To explore parts of himself! And that might include polyamory!!

#ofmd #steddyhands

[am-i-the-asshole-official]

WIBTA if I let my partner message my ex on my behalf?

The players:

Me, 27nb

Partner, 29nb, called S

Other partner, ?nb, called M

Ex, 28(?)m, called C

Before we dated (2014-2015, I was a college freshman), C had been in an abusive relationship. This did not improve when we dated, bc I was toxic as fuck. Cheating, emotional abuse, manipulation, stretching and outright breaking boundaries,that kind of shit. I have since grown as a person and am not like how I was, and I'm not asking for judgment on that front.

My partner S and I were friends in college as well, and they're one of the people I cheated with, so they know at least a bit of how toxic I/my relationship with C was. Not all of the details, bc they weren't party to a lot of it and I didn't really tell them. They know enough to know that I consider myself to have been abusive.

At one point while C and I were dating, he received a message from his previous ex, apologizing for how she treated/ abused him. I forget the exact details, but something along those lines. He was fairly triggered by her reaching out, and by the fact that she seemed to be better as a person? Again, this was almost a decade ago, I forget exactly how shit went down. Point is, he didn't appreciate her reaching out, even to apologize.

Cut to today. S and I have fallen out of contact and reconnected several times over the years, and recently S, their partner M, and I started dating. (After college I realized I'd be happier doing polyamory rather than monogamy, and I haven't cheated since that relationship. As a note, it is still possible to cheat in a polyam relationship, and I'm not using polyam "in order to cheat," what I do involves a lot of honesty and communication.)

The other day S and I were talking, and I don't remember how it came up but the topic turned to our time in college, and how I'm glad I'm not the person I used to be. They tried to reassure me that I wasn't that bad, to which I rebutted that C probably thinks of me the same way S thinks of their abusive ex. I was toxic and abusive, and now I'm not (or at least I try not to be), and I'm not trying to like, talk myself down or fish for reassurance or whatever when I say that I was.

S told me that their relationship with M had been similarly negative between when they dated in high school, broke up, then reconnected and got back together after college (idk the exact timeline here). While I don't doubt that they had a negative view of each other, I don't have enough details to know if it was as bad as mine and C's was. S told me that when they met M again, they were able to talk and get closure for what had happened between them in the past.

I don't want closure with C, at least not the kind that involves reaching out with an apology and potentially hurting him again. And I don't think reaching out will give C any closure, either. Who knows, maybe by now he's mostly forgotten me and completely moved on and healed? I hope so.

Long story short, I'm still thinking about our conversation, and I'm pretty sure I would be the asshole if I had S reach out to C on my behalf, to see if he'd even want to hear from me. In a rare instance, I'm hoping for a YTA response to this question.

What are these acronyms?

#aita #am i the asshole

[tokiro07]

Undead Unluck ch.183 thoughts

[Rip Has Two Hands]

(Contents: polyamorous gushing, thematic analysis, Latla analysis)

WHOO!!! THANK YOU, TOZUKA!!!

Being in a polyamorous relationship, it means so much to me and my family to see a scene like this. My wife runs a blog dedicated to polyamory in manga (@polyamanga), and so often potential triads or quads or whatever else will dissolve right at the end because of any number of excuses, like one character realizing that they see the love interest as like their mom, or something, or a harem protagonist insisting that polyamory is morally wrong even though he's too spineless to actually make a choice. It's endlessly frustrating, and even a lot of series that are centered around polyamory still miss the mark in certain ways. Kanojo mo Kanojo, for example, has every single character decrying the act of two-timing consistently despite the fact that that's the lifestyle that they agreed to live! Even the main dude calls himself a scumbag constantly, like he's a monster for actually being honest with his girlfriend and continuing to do something she, again, agreed to!

I don't know what Tozuka plans to do with this relationship, whether it's going to get a lot of focus or if it's going to mostly be a background detail or what, but just getting to see a character actively decide to enter a polyamorous relationship and be met with love and acceptance for that decision is extremely refreshing and exciting. I do hope we get to see them actually acting like a triad and that it doesn't devolve into jealous bickering, but from what we've seen of this group, the bickering that does happen is likely going to be mostly playful. More than anything, though, I hope that we get some more detailed characterization for Leila, as one of the major complaints I've seen is that she's just been generically smiley and supportive, not unlike Ichico in Nico's flashback

But what's wrong with that? Two different characters acted in a similar way in a similar situation, asking for their partner to be happy in the event of their impending death? That's not lazy writing, that's theming! Undead Unluck is about finding happiness through sorrow! Would Fuuko's parents have wanted her to kill herself after she found out that she was responsible for their death? No, they would have wanted her to be happy! Did Isshin's dad want her to lose faith in herself after her armor failed to protect him from a UMA? No, he wanted her to know that she had saved the rest of the village!

While plenty of characters enforce despair on themselves, no one in Undead Unluck deliberately enforces despair on anyone else except for God and the UMA, who represent that very despair. "I have to atone for what I did/this is my cross to bear/I deserve this." Those are all self-imposed rules! And if there's one thing Undead Unluck has taught us, it's that rules are meant to be broken!!! If a rule doesn't benefit or protect those it restricts, then it's just a tool that someone else is using to control them!

And that's exactly what we're told here, too. Society tells us that we have to pick one partner, even if it means someone's happiness has to be lost, but why? What purpose does it serve to compromise on what would make us happy? Sure, if one partner would be unhappy with that outcome, then it may not be worth pursuing, but Latla's objection isn't that she'd be unhappy, it's that other people will judge them for their choice

"Why do you always worry about me?! Why won't you just leave me be?" Latla has already decided that she doesn't get her happy ending because she wants Leila to get hers. She thinks that their happiness is mutually exclusive, so she resigned herself to finding happiness in Leila's happiness. But that's a fallacy. They aren't mutually exclusive, they can have their cake and eat it too, and they'll be happier for it because neither of them needs to think that they've deprived the other of their happiness. Do you think Rip and Leila would be satisfied knowing that Latla was hurting? That she was crying behind a tree while they kissed? That she was slowly backing away and would eventually be gone from their lives if they didn't literally drag her back?

Latla chastised Rip in both this and the previous loop for going out on his own and leaving her behind, but in her own way, Latla was doing the exact same thing. Rip was literally distant, but Latla was emotionally distant, refusing to allow herself to indulge in the happiness that would otherwise be lost to her sister. If she and Rip hadn't held each other at arm's length in the previous loop, how differently would their lives have gone? How happy could they have been? Better question, was happiness even possible for them at the time without Leila? Were they being disrespectful of Leila's wishes, or was the hole too great for them to fill on their own?

Nico couldn't fill the Ichico-shaped hole in his heart with Mico, even though that's what Ichico wanted, for fear that doing so would erase what little was left of her in his heart. Perhaps it was hopeless from the beginning that Rip and Latla would be able to move on without Leila, much like Rip and Leila wouldn't be able to smile knowing that Latla was crying

Undead Unluck is about joy and freedom, and its cast finds joy in living freely. Fuuko fell into despair because she couldn't touch anyone, but found joy when she met someone she could touch freely. Juiz was trapped in a never-ending cycle of loss, but found joy when she met someone who she trusted could break the cycle. Rip and Latla fell apart when they lost Leila, but now can laugh and smile without reservation or guilt because they can be with her forevermore without anyone telling them they can't. And who are we to tell them they can't be happy after everything they've been through?

#undead unluck #fouryearsandananime #4y1a reviews

[canmom]

i was a very online teenager. i struggled with in-person interpersonal relationships and spent a lot of time on a much less sanded down internet than the one we have today. and my peers at school were on that same internet.

so of course i saw porn of various kinds, from goofy flash videos to the standard catalogue of shock images (goatse, meatspin etc.). like most kids my age, we took it mostly as a big joke. it was exciting mostly only because it was forbidden, like swearing. so people would talk about something like 2girls1cup, and whether you'd seen it, in much the same way you'd talk about having seen gory shock horror films like Saw. none of this was particularly upsetting or shocking. (i found gore way more discomforting, in general.)

even so, the whole environment was rife with repression. and frankly, 'imply someone is gay' ('batty boy' is one especially goofy slur i remember) being a default category of joke did way more damage than knowing some people are into scat or playing a flash game where you can see a drawing of some boobs. implicitly sexual insults would be common, often playing on someone's naivete. i got very used to 'do you have ginger pubes'. tricking someone into saying something 'sexual' without understanding, and then laughing at them, was another one - i suppose it functioned a way of showing your proximity to the mysterious adult world of knowing about sex.

so after a few years of that, i went through a whole period of just... trying to distance myself from having anything to do with sex. we didn't have 'asexuality' language back then, but i probably would have jumped on it if it had been available. 'sex is gross' was the only frame i had to distance myself from how my classmates talked about sexuality, because i didn't have a handle on what was really up, just that i didn't like it. projecting 'i am above it all and find it disgusting' was a form of armour that calcified around me and ultimately did tons of damage to my ability to understand my own feelings. as i got older, this got mixed up in the moralistic rhetoric of online 'social justice'.

when i got to university and finally started to knock down that wall, i had to speedrun figuring out "how to do relationship". (i dived into polyamory head first, and of course that all went as badly as first relationships usually do.) it's been messy.

i reckon if i'd been willing to approach subcultures as a teenager that had given more room to experiment with like, desire and expression and so on... like if i hadn't let the background contempt get under my skin, for the emos and furries and whatever other 'having too much of the wrong kind of fun' social group we were all supposed to hate... i would probably have been a lot happier! if i'd had any out gay people around me before age 17!

the idea of trying to make sure people never see anything ever related to sex until they're 18, outside of whatever the government deigns to allow to be said in sex ed class, is so hopelessly arse-backwards. it's not going to work - a generation that grew up on the internet is going to be way better at getting to what they want to see than the censors are at blocking it, so the main function of the censorship is to reinforce the idea that they're looking at something shameful and secret. it's not going to protect kids - if anything i suspect it's going to make them more vulnerable to exploitation and mistreatment, either by adults who can offer 'access to the forbidden secrets of sexuality', or by their peers by producing this dumbass hierarchy. and tbh i think knowing about all the weird fetishes there are in the world is actually a really beneficial thing, in the same category of 'seeing your grandma's tits at the spa'.

unless, i guess, what you really want to do is teach everyone how to bypass censorship and distrust authority figures? i think there might be better ways to do that, though!

#preaching to the choir here i think #nevertheless my goat has been gotten

[soft-bellied-tannies]

Chubtober Day 3

Today’s Chubtober prompt comes from @softievante’s ten day list! Day 3 is mutual gaining so enjoy this not so little draft of a Sopemin idea that I love.

—-

Chubby feedee Yoongi asked his dom feeder Jimin to do a switch-style role-play session where Yoongi feeds Jimin instead. While he was hesitant, Jimin also agreed that it would be fun to try so he allowed Yoongi to plan the entire night.

Yoongi ended up getting all of Jimin’s favorite foods and they were both impressed by the amount Jimin was able to eat, considering his typical small appetite.

Jimin had never been overly strict with his diet, but he was intentional with his food choices. He rarely ate more than regular meals and wasn’t one to indulge in snacks or sweets unless he was a little stressed or Yoongi offered to share with him.

Jimin would also admit how nice it was to let Yoongi feed and praise him for an entire evening which was a surprise since Jimin was quite vocal about how much he liked being in control.

After the “scene” was finished, Yoongi was doing aftercare, and Jimin said, “You know, I get it, this feels really good”.

Yoongi asked if Jimin would want to do it again sometime, to which Jimin said maybe, taking time to think about it.

That response was enough for Yoongi, who figured that Jimin would have safeworded out the scene before they could finish - he was happy to have gotten such a positive response at all.

A month later, Jimin could not hold out any longer and asked for a repeat of that night. He was nervous to approach the topic with Yoongi, thinking it was wrong to shift the dynamic away from how well it worked now.

Much to Jimin’s surprise, Yoongi was completely on board - telling Jimin he had a great time with their roleplay attempt too. He also expressed how sometimes it’s nice to share a big meal with Jimin rather than eat it all by himself.

It slowly became a pattern that Yoongi would feed Jimin maybe once a month when he finally spoke up about it.

Then, once a month became a few times a month until Jimin decided that they should both eat together on Saturday nights, their chosen night to always plan a big meal for Yoongi.

Jimin started taking bites from what he fed Yoongi, needing to order more than their already large typical orders.

Jimin started to gain here and there, slow progress considering his intake was still much smaller than Yoongi’s but much more than his previous eating habits.

As his gain becomes a little more noticeable, Yoongi starts referring to Jimin as his chubby feeder or his soft boyfriend which has Jimin flustered and shy but happier than he ever expected at the same time.

Once they realize that they may be missing out on both reaching their limit, one always sacrificing to take the other farther, they discuss adding a third.

It was an easier discussion as they had already discussed polyamory in the past and their close friend, Hoseok, had always been the one on their radar to ask.

Hoseok was aware of their relationship dynamics and had even taught Jimin a few things about being a dom since Hoseok was previously a member of a well-known BDSM club.

Hoseok immediately agrees to at least enter the relationship as a stand-in dom on the nights that Jimin wants to fully participate along with Yoongi.

They tried a full session together without Jimin having to maintain feeder responsibilities and Hoseok in full control. It was obvious after one night that Hoseok was the perfect third, all three enjoying themselves more than ever.

After that night and asking Hoseok to fully join their relationship, Jimin fully becomes a switch and finds himself eating more which then leads to filling out more.

He never wanted to give up those nights when he took control because Jimin loved his dynamic with Yoongi, but he would admit that getting to give up all responsibility and let Hoseok feed him was just as fun.

Hoseok became the perfect encourager to both of them - Yoongi wanted a rough dom who pushed his limits, while Jimin needed gentle praise and soft encouragement.

Yoongi and Jimin also took turns encouraging each other while Hoseok maintained both roles perfectly.

Jimin had more limits and needed recovery periods, while Yoongi was all in most of the time, but neither ever wanted to disappoint Hoseok. He could be intimate yet demanding, but he also gave them perfect aftercare and knew all of their limits.

Jimin continued gaining but never got close to Yoongi’s impressive gain that had started nearly two years before he even brought up the idea of Jimin eating instead.

The more progressive gain and switching roles allowed Jimin to be more intentional with his gain while Yoongi ate what they put in front of him, unbothered by how much or where he continued gaining weight.

Eventually, Yoongi tried the same thing with Hobi, asking for a switch scene, which Hobi turned down, saying it was not for him and that he was strictly a feeder.

Yoongi smirked and gestured to Jimin, who was eating out the tub of cheese balls in his lap with a shirt that hugged his little potbelly and said, “Yeah, Minnie said the same thing in the beginning, babe. We’ll see about that.”

Hoseok kept thinking about Yoongi’s words and would look back on pictures of boyfriends in college, realizing how much bigger both of them are now.

It was always so shocking to him to see how much smaller both used to be, especially Jimin who looked absolutely tiny in his early college years.

Hoseok finally asked Jimin about it, wanting to know what changed his entire personal dynamic with gaining, and was shocked by Jimin’s simple answer.

“Yoonie wanted to try it, so I said yes, and it felt great, so I wanted to try again. Now we’re here.”

Hoseok then asked Jimin if he was happy about the choice to give in or even happy about the relationship as a whole, always wondering if Jimin ever felt coerced. Jimin was almost confused by Hoseok’s questions before giving his response.

“Hobi, of course, I’m happy. I love you both, and I get to have all the parts I enjoy now. I love the experience of being a dom and I get to have that with Yoongi. I have realized that I also love giving over my control sometimes and I get to have that with you. Also, I love food and I mean, I think it’s obvious I love being praised, so…it’s honestly perfect.”

After hearing Jimin answer it so easily, Hobi finally decides to give it a try. Yoongi and Jimin made him promise to be honest after the experience, even taking time to think it over if he needed to. They tried it out and Hoseok did take the time they gave him to think it over and found that it just wasn’t for him.

He didn’t enjoy it nearly as much as Jimin to start gaining regularly or become a switch, and he honestly couldn’t comprehend Yoongi’s ability to just completely give up all control, but Hoseok did relax his eating habits after and stopped fixating as much on his intentional diet, recognizing that Jimin was completely right in his point to actually start enjoying his food.

Those choices would lead to small weight gain, but nothing close to his actively gaining partners.

A trickle-down of clothes would happen over time throughout this journey of mutual gain. Yoongi would have always given Jimin clothes that he grew out of that were too big on Jimin.

Once he starts gaining too, Jimin would have old clothes to give to Hoseok. It would eventually reach a point where Jimin would give Hoseok shirts that were getting a little too small on him that once belonged to Yoongi.

Jimin and Hoseok would have much different transitions in their food acceptance. Jimin would obviously have insecurities, but he also was the one more into it.

He understood and experienced the enjoyment of it outweighing the shame - cherishing the fact that he had the support and love of his partners to pursue something he was once adamantly against.

Hoseok’s gain would be small in the big picture, but still more than he ever expected himself to gain - relationship weight or otherwise. He would have hardcore denial, saying he was bloated until Yoongi called him out on it.

Jimin and Yoongi would be adamant that it was natural and attractive, that they loved everything about him, and that the concept of their dynamic was an obvious factor in gaining weight unintentionally.

Once the acceptance came for Hoseok, he would be much more vocal about his own gain. He would express his jealousy of Jimin’s ass, having the complete opposite body type to his other boyfriend, and discuss his appreciation for Yoongi’s pride and confidence in his own body and desires.

Yoongi never would have imagined that a single ask for a silly role reversal between him and Jimin would lead to the best possible relationship he could have dreamt up.

The happiness that had come from their one decision brought them a new dynamic, a beloved partner, and a lot of weight between all three of them.

#soft bellied tannies #bts feedism #chubby bts #bts weight gain #chubby jimin #chubby yoongi #feeder jimin #feeder hoseok #sbt chubtober

[charlietheepicwriter7]

A Comedy of Error

A/N: I'm pretty sure this is the first time I've written Adrien without salting him like a steak :/ This was stuck in my head, so I picked it out.

“I think I’m in love with Marinette.”

In the shadowy alcove Adrien had dragged him and Alya into, Nino could only stare at his best bro. Adrien was clearly distressed by his revelation, his eyebrows furrowed and his trademarked Agreste smile nowhere in sight, and Nino immediately understood why he wasn’t happy about this. Marinette was dating Luka, looked happy with Luka… happier than she looked pinning after Adrien. 

He checked on Alya, who’d yet to react. And from the look on her face, she’d be spaced out for a while, staring at Adrien with a dumb-founded expression. He could practically see all the gears in her head stuttering to a halt. Knowing his girlfriend would need a minute to reboot, he asked Adrien, “How’d you figure it out?”

He rubbed the back of his neck. “I saw Mari and Luka out on a date, while I was modeling with Lila–” It wasn’t so much that Adrien made a face at Lila’s name; it was more like his face went completely blank trying to hide what he thought of her, so Nino was going to have to ask about that in the future— “So I snuck away to say hi to them, but then as I was approaching, he kissed her!” Adrien threw his hands up in the air. “And I was so jealous! I haven’t been this jealous since–” He cut himself off. “A while. It’s been a while.”

Alya was still going through the five stages of grief and then some, so Nino took point. “Well, I’m glad you figured it out, dude, but I’m not sure what I can do,” he confessed. “I can’t really encourage you in winning her heart.”

Adrien nodded, sad but understanding. Unfortunately, his words were exactly what it took to knock Alya back into the real world. “What!?” she hissed, bloodlust in her eyes. “Why not!?”

Nino gave her a look. “You can’t just break up a happy couple, Alya. That’s a really cruel thing to do.”

She looked away, guilt flashing across her face. “Well, how do you know they’re happy?” she asked, doubling down. “Besides, Adrien and Marinette are destined to be together!”

Nino didn’t know how to respond to that. 

Fortunately, Adrien did, and he placed a comforting hand on Alya’s shoulder. “Thanks for saying that, Alya, but we both know it isn’t true. Marinette doesn’t think of me romantically.”

Alya visibly fought off the urge to strangle Adrien. “What.”

Either ignorant or ignoring the threat in her voice, Adrien continued, “She’s in love with Luka; there’s no way she’d ever fall for me! Luka’s so cool and handsome and he’s older than me. He’s in a band! I can’t compete with that, my father would never let me in a band! Who could even blame her for choosing Luka over me?”

Maybe Adrien has a crush on Luka too? Nino almost wanted to suggest polyamory as a solution, but held his tongue. Gabriel the Company might be inclusive towards the LGBTQ+ community, but that didn’t mean Gabriel the Shitty Father was. He wasn’t willing to potentially put his bro in danger like that. 

Alya covered her mouth and screamed into her hands for a solid minute. When she was finished, she jabbed a finger into his face. “You’re dealing with this.”

“What?”

“He’s your best friend, that means you deal with the… problem area.” She gestured at Adrien.

“You just gestured at all of me.” Adrien pouted. 

#adrientte #love square #nino lahiffe #alya cesaire #adrien agreste #adrien is a himbo #background lukanette #mlb #miraculous ladybug #there's like no salt here it's great

[immobiliter]

ship bias for drummer & martha !

ship bias meme / @galaxye

camina drummer !

okay so no. 1 has to be camina & her polyambelterfam - this is her one canon romantic "pairing" and it's just handled so wonderfully by the writers and gives camina so much interesting development from s5 onwards. i'm not sure if i'd say i'm the biggest fan of the way her and oksana's relationship turned out, at least in terms of her specific dynamics with the other main crew members of the dewalt, but i do like what that dynamic achieves for camina's characterisation in addressing that she has so much anger and trauma to overcome in order to accept love from others. it's just so nice to see polyamorous relationships depicted on screen too.

i also have to give a mention to camina & naomi lmao. it should have been canon. they did polyamory with camina and her crew, so it would have been easy to accomplish with naomi & holden too. i'm not sure i necessarily ship camina with holden, i think in an ot3 situation it would have to be a dynamic with naomi at the centre ( as she deserves ), a little like how the writers pitched it during the latter half of s3, but i think they are both incredibly important parts of naomi's life and she deserves to have them both tbh.

then speaking exclusively about the telltale game, i absolutely ship camina & maya. they did everything right when it came to maya ( and one day i'll replay the game so that i can actually save her because rip, that hurt my soul ), camina canonically falls for/chooses to orbit around visionaries and idealists and i think it makes a lot of sense for her to have an early romantic relationship with someone like maya to help inform the sort of preferences she has during the show timeline.

those are my only canon pairings for camina, i think she is way too sharp and savvy for any of the men she spends her time around ( i just can't picture it with dawes, fred or ashford ). but i will always ship her with happiness + people who can look past her scary, tough exterior and appreciate the heart of gold that she has hiding underneath.

martha jones !

so can i preface this by talking about what i absolutely do not, under any circumstances, ship ? martha and ten lmaoooo. no thank you no way. don't get me wrong, i looove ten, he is my favourite doctor and i have so much nostalgia attached to david's run as the doctor, but i have Opinions about him where martha is concerned and frankly would like her to stay away. i do think their dynamic is interesting for very specific reasons, but the further i can pull martha away from her unrequited love plot, the better imo. i'd be even happier if i can just pretend it never existed in the first place. i think this also rules out shipping martha with any other iteration of the doctor too, i'm just Not Interested in really going there, y'know? i prefer doctor who when it's not all about the romantic tension.

martha & mickey is an interesting one. it's the way that martha's story canonically ends and i'm extremely ambivalent about it, probably because we are given absolutely Nothing and no reason to really care about the fact that they are together aside from a quick scene during david's last episode. do i think they could be a good fit ? yes, definitely, do i like that they shafted tom milligan ? nope, not at all lmao. so it's not something i would auto-ship but i absolutely could ship it with the right person, they both have similar experiences of being shafted and dismissed repeatedly by others and both had to prove themselves, so i think on paper it could work really well and i would one day love to explore it.

martha & jack. again, i wouldn't auto-ship it, but i have shipped it in the past and i do love the idea of them together under specific circumstances. do i necessarily think it could work out long term ? i'm on the fence, i'm not sure jack could give martha what she ultimately Needs ( stability, love, a safe home to come back to ) long term. however i love how protective jack is of her throughout both dw and tw and it's obvious that he really really cares about her and her family. and martha is flirtatious, this is a canon fact. so i find it difficult to believe something wouldn't happen between the two of them at some point, however fleeting it was. i think they could learn a lot from each other.

also a quick shoutout to martha & jason ( @synchronzed ) because i always have to credit rat for writing spectacular ships with me and this is one i'm really excited about. martha deserves a silly boy who simps for her, that is all.

and lastly, martha & happiness is up there too. the girl deserves someone who think she is a goddess among mortals because she is and i will not accept anything less for a queen like her. she takes care of everyone around her and it's only right that she has someone who will take care of her in return. i also hc her as bi, so this needn't be restricted to just boys too. i think her dynamic with miranda raison's character in dw ( the showgirl from the 30s ) is super interesting when looked at through that sort of lens.

#galaxye #* / be yourself. everyone else is taken ( ooc. ) #ahhh my sci fi ladies !! thank you so much for this !!

[misc-obeyme]

Hello hello, this is the polyamory anon again 😅 though this time it’s not about polyamory— this one’s a pretty self indulgent idea, so feel free to ignore if you’d like ^^

I was thinking about an angst idea— personally, I’m someone that gets jealous pretty easily (as much as Levi, perhaps) and is considerably insecure. I also have no self confidence and little pride— let’s say my MC is like that too— someone with those qualities but that acts (usually) extroverted and cheerful and energetic around others. However, Solomon’s also insecure and jealous, right? So I was thinking about my MC, though she loves him, pushing him to love someone else— another MC, perhaps?— saying that she wouldn’t be the best for him. That she wouldn’t be able to give him the proper love that he needs; she’s even more so insecure and prone to jealousy than he is— she’s not the right one for him. My MC would just want Sol to be happy :’) regardless of her heart breaking along the way

And then I realized I had little idea on what Solomon’s reaction would be. Would he fall in love with someone else (e.g., if there were for some reason multiple MCs in this scenario, another MC)?

(Oh geez this got really long. Sorry about that ^^”)

Hello again, anon! I feel the need to say that I don't mind people sending me self indulgent ideas... because honestly, everything I write is self indulgent lol. So please don't worry, you can send me whatever ideas you like, self indulgent or otherwise! Also don't worry about length, I don't mind long asks, either! :)

Anyway, this is angsty and I had to think about it for a bit before I could formulate my thoughts!

And here's what I think. (Note this is all just my opinion based on how I see Solomon's character!)

Solomon is a smart man. He would see through your MC in two seconds flat. Even if your MC is normally very extroverted and cheerful and she maintains that personality even while she tries to push him away, I think he'd know what she was doing.

In the game, a lot of times Solomon does this thing where after MC chooses their dialogue option, he says something along the lines of "yeah I figured you would say that."

Because Solomon knows MC. Your MC is his adorable apprentice. He's been beside her for a lot of the story, teaching her magic and being the only human with her in the Devildom. He would know if she was trying to get him to fall in love with someone else.

How he reacts to this would depend on his own feelings at the time. For instance, if he was already in love with your MC, he would probably confront her about it directly. He would ask her why she's trying to push him toward someone else. And if she told him the truth - that she thinks he'll be happier with someone else - he will tell her that she's wrong. He will tell her that he loves her and that being with her is what would make him happiest.

Solomon is not the kind of guy to just give up on you because you've got some insecurities about your ability to love him properly. He would rather work through it with you than walk away.

It might go differently if he wasn't already in love with your MC. But honestly, I can't imagine that he wouldn't know that your MC is in love with him. And chances are he's already in love with her. So I have a hard time imagining a scenario in which your MC is in love with Solomon, but he's not already in love with her.

Where it gets tricky and potentially sad is when we consider the other person in this scenario. Let's say for a minute that your MC is MC1 and there's another MC, who is MC2. If both of them have a similar history with Solomon - his friends, his apprentices, etc - then he might end up having feelings for both of them.

If MC2 is not already in love with Solomon, but MC1 tries to push him toward them anyway, he would confront MC1 about it. Likely in this scenario, Solomon would reassure MC1 that he wants to be with her since she already loves him and he loves her, too.

If MC2 is also in love with Solomon and he has feelings for them, I think this is a scenario in which Solomon might give up on MC1. Especially if MC1 just continues to push him away, even after he confronts her about it. He wouldn't be happy about it. I think it'd hurt him very deeply to do this. It would hurt him not just because he would lose MC1, but because he would know that even if MC1 says she wants him to be with MC2, MC1 still loves him. He would know that it would be breaking MC1's heart. And I think that would break his heart, too.

I think the only other time he would give up is if MC1 just never gave in. If she continually refused him, over and over again, he might eventually have to walk away. However, I could also see him just being persistent for the rest of MC1's life, never giving up until death takes her.

So in the end, you either get a situation in which Solomon is too stubborn to let you push him away or you get a scenario in which Solomon does the only thing he thinks he can do, even if it crushes both of you. MC2 is the only person who potentially comes out unscathed, but even then they would know that Solomon was hurting, too. :(

Hopefully some of that makes sense. It's a bit rambling, but I think Solomon's reaction would vary depending on the circumstances. Though in each instance, he would confront your MC about why she was doing that. He would want to understand her reason. And most likely, he's already in love with her. He would probably tell her that he gets to decide who the right one for him is. And he would tell her that he has already chosen her.

#obey me #obey me nightbringer #obey me solomon #solomon obey me #om solomon #anon asks #misc answers

[polyamorouspunk]

i miss being polyamorous so bad it aches. i have a wonderful partner whom i love more than life itself, but. idk. it’s like ever since i fell in love with them, and i fell so hard and so fast, i haven’t been able to feel that way again. all other attraction has sort of dulled in comparison, and i feel like im waiting for another head-over-heels moment to consider another partner, but it hasn’t come and im worried it’ll never come. i love being so in love with my girl, but now i feel like my standards are too high. not to mention they’re super uncomfortable with the idea of me having other romantic partners and if i expressed the idea that i wanted to find other people to them they’d probably be distraught. i love them with everything in me, like genuinely, and i’m so happy and fulfilled. but i also miss being part of a triad. i so prefer polyamory that whenever i think about it now it physically hurts because i miss it so bad, but i feel stuck. i don’t want to ruin my relationship with my partner this way, and besides, i’m happier in triads where everyone’s dating everyone else so there’s less jealousy and issues (at least in my experience) but current partner is strictly monogamous. ughhhh help i feel so stuck and confused

I totally understand how you feel. I was choosing monogamy not because my ex wanted me to but because I just felt so bad about like. Wanting to date someone else. But also I haven’t felt the same about anyone since. I’m lucky enough I finally have someone again who has feelings for me, and wondering what might come up if I find someone in addition to my wonderful partner, and I’m just trying not to worry about it since I hardly have enough time for my current partner as is.

I really think that if you love someone you’re willing to give up some things for them. What those things are might vary though! I was willing to give up being polyamorous for a partner at one time. It probably helped that there wasn’t really anyone else I was seriously interested in. And when they dumped me I was able to move back into feeling like I could be in a polyamorous relationship if I wanted- but I didn’t, and when the person I was saying said they wanted to be in a polyamorous relationship I decided to stop seeing them so they could do that.

If it’s bothering you that much, though, it’s always worth a conversation. Your partner might not suddenly be like “actually I’ve changed my mind and I think I would be fine with you seeing other people”- and that’s okay! That’s their right! But maybe they can emphasize with you feeling torn, and it will help take some of that weight off.

#punk gets mail #the punk gives advice #polyamory

[polyamzeal]

Musings on Unicorn Hunters

After answering an ask from a Unicorn Hunter the other day, I was very reflective on how to help Unicorn Hunters not face so much hate. So I went to other social medias and spoke about the ask, the advice I gave, and a request to better understand Unicorn Hunters. I wanted to know their thought process and opinions on various things. Here is what a I learned.

That was a terrible idea!

Not because of the replies that Unicorn Hunters gave, the few that did actually gave me good insights. No my problem was underestimating the pure hate and vitriol that the general polyamory community has for Unicorn Hunters in general. It seems that even implying that they are still people who deserve basic human dignity and respect was deplorable. It was only acceptable to strictly treat them as monsters and predators who only want to hurt others and revel in their selfishness. Me trying to offer an olive branch to such demons to better understand their side of the story seemed to mark me as some kind of traitor.

This was all really ridiculous. Unicorn Hunters are people too, each with their own unique combination of feelings, thoughts, and experiences. Yet as soon as someone is identified as a Unicorn Hunter a good portion of the community will ignore everything else they say and jump on them with a pre-scripted response they send to everyone. Completely ignoring what makes these people different from other Unicorn Hunters or how they saturation differs from the stereotype. 

I get that they all follow a similar pattern that almost always leads to people getting hurt. But I don’t really think any of them are ever trying to hurt people on purpose! It is born from ignorance. I have always felt it was better to tell people to know what they are getting themselves into if they agree to be a unicorn than just yelling at people to not unicorn hunter. We have all been told that the way we love is not acceptable and did any of us listen? There have been cases where a monogamous relationships opens up to a closed triad and everyone lived happily ever after. It is very rare but it does happen. How is it to fair just scream at Unicorn Hunters that what they want almost always hurts people so they must stop trying to do it right now? If that is what they really want I would rather educate them on how to be more ethical. How to dispel preconceived notions they have. And to consider other options that might make everyone happier.

What I actually did learn

There were a few interesting ideas that did come out of the conversation. The biggest was about friendship. When I became polyamous it made me completely rethink how I viewed friendships and romantic relationships. I leaned into more of a relationship-anarchist approach. But I realized not everybody has this same awakening. Combine that with the fact that most long-term monogamous couples tend to lose drift away from friends and sometimes even family to become a true nuclear family unit. It made me question if there isn’t a decent portion of Unicorn Hunters that think they want the companionship of a “third” but actually they just need a bigger friend group. If Unicorn Hunters have no real close friends then I highly suggest to just try making more friends firsts before trying to another romantic/sexual relationship into the mix. I am sure this sounds like silly advice but I honestly think it might help a lot.

There was one more comment I liked a lot. I often tell people to prepare for every situration and think out you would react but someone gave great examples.

Go ahead and ask unicorn hunters if they are prepared to have no solo dates, no solo sex, no long term plans, no holidays, no friends groups that identify them as together, no informed family, move into separate homes until the unicorn they seek feels that each partner connects with them at the same speed/extent... Heads explode...

These are important to ask.

What do all of you think? Am I being to nice to Unicorn Hunters? Am I too optimistic in thinking I can rehabilitate them? Should I just attack and demonize them like the rest of polyamory community since we are all such a bastion of support and understanding of alternate lifestyles? Against my better judgement, I open myself to these criticisms. Because I truly feel like we can all just do better than this!

#polyamory #polyam #non-monogamy #Unicorn Hunters #Reflection

[fang-and-feather]

by  @xxsycamore and @queengiuliettafirstlady

Day 2 - Angels and Demons AU and Day 5 - Forbidden Love AU

Time with You

Ikemen Vampire - Shakespeare x Vincent

This wasn't on my initial plans for this event. It was supposed to be a project for next month, but I was surprisingly inspired and finished this way early - most like got my burst of inspiration interrupted but realized it still fit this event's prompts and thought it complete enough to fit with most of my fics for this event, a small scene of a much bigger project I may or may not write in full in the future.

First time actually writing a M/M fic without, even if background, polyamory (although my first plan was a triad fic with MC that I still plan on writing next month). It had to be an AU as far removed from canon as I could (and yet not enough) but I managed to do it.

This is one of the pairings suggested to me months ago that I never took for a test-drive fic, but this specific instance was inspired by @yanderepuck.

Despite the dramatic prompts this scene is just a short bit of fluff.

Also first time writing Will. Getting him and especially his dialog in character is still a work in progress (especially with how sleepy I was while editing it)...

AO3 Link / IkeVamp Masterlist / General Masterlist

Will looked over at Vincent, who’d fallen asleep snuggled up to him, and combed his fingers through the angel’s golden locks.

Maintaining a physical manifestation like they did required regular rest, which he was sure Vincent hadn’t been getting while he worked on one more of his art projects.

Will was much the same sometimes, when deeply focused on his craft, so he understood.

He enjoyed the simple act of having Vincent by his side like this. Every moment they had together was precious. When had he fallen so helplessly in love?

“To think someone like thee could capture mine heart in such a way. How mine darkened soul craves the warmth of thy light, and I wish to trap thee hither with me, far from these misguided angels.”

Placing a soft kiss on Vincent’s forehead, Will shifted enough to pick him up and carry him to bed. Vincent was slightly taller, but his body was light. But when Will tried to set him down, Vincent woke up.

“Will?” Vincent tried to blink away sleep as he sat up, Will sitting by his aide. He looked around, confused, before realizing where he was. “Oh. I’m sorry, Will. I was the one who visited you, yet I was napping.”

“Rest as thee needeth, Vincent. I don’t mind. I enjoy thy company either way. I wilt head to town and procure some ingredients so we can at least dine together and thee can sleep in the meantime.”

“No.” Vincent shook his head and rubbed his eyes. “I want to go shopping with you. I like when we can go out together. It’s just… sometimes I forget I need rest in this form, so…” Vincent smiled, sheepishly “do you mind if I sleep here with you tonight? I know I’ll rest well then.”

Will pulled Vincent closer and gently brought their foreheads together, then reached to caress his cheek.

“T’would beest mine pleasure to has’t thy company for the remainder of this day, Vincent. Nothing maketh me happier than the time we spendeth together. I would keepeth thee hither still, if only thee would allow me.”

Vincent laughed softly at it. He always did. But Will only spoke the truth.

“Will.” It was Vincent’s turn to touch him. Will always found these touches warm and soothing in ways he never imagined being touched could feel. “You don’t have to fear losing me.”

Will knew. Yet, it still bothered him greatly to know Vincent lived among the lost cases that were the other angels housed by the archangel known among humans as Saint-Germain.

Will had been one of them once. One of the stray angels Saint-Germain hoped to save. But he chose to follow his passions, even if it meant falling from grace.

“I knoweth so.” Or he would make sure so, against all odds. He pulled away and stood up, offering a hand to Vincent. “Shalt we headeth for a pleasant stroll together, then?”

Smiling, Vincent took his hand, lacing their fingers together.

“Of course.”

They would have to let go when they arrived at the city but, until then, they had the carriage ride to enjoy each other’s warmth. And even if they had to pretend to be just friends among humans, it was worth it just to have the other close enough for as long as they could.

IkeVamp Masterlist / General Masterlist

#different universe same love ccc #ikemen vampire #angels au #forbidden love au #ikevamp shakespeare #ikevamp vincent #shakespeare x vincent #ikevamp #fang's writing #fanfiction #ikevamp fanfic

[ilargeicontradictmiself]

Make me the millionth person to say that its not like i don't enjoy the love corner drama but i cant help but think Peeta, Katniss and Gale would've been so much happier if they had the chance to discover polyamory

Katniss says Gale is mine and i am his then wishes peeta was holding her when she woke up and the poor girl has to scold herself and say she's not supposed to wish that anymore cause she chose Gale. Peeta would be down im sure, Gale would go through a longer discovery journey but would be all the more serious about it after

#the hunger games