#I FINALLY HAVE MY LAPTOP BACK WOO

[thefrontmanscockwarmer]

Cigarette Smoke

Sang-Woo x reader

Masterlist <- comment on this post to be added to the Taglist

Note: I KNOW, I’m definitely a In Ho girlie through to my core, but I had a story idea and it really just fit him so much betterrrrrr.

Tw: smoking, drinking

You sat on the steps of your father’s apartment. You dreaded his arrival almost, knowing he was bringing back a buddy to stay in your apartment for a few days. Something about him losing his job and not wanting to tell his mother that he had to come home. Something bullshit like that.

Almost on cue, your father came walking up the street with his buddy. Your dad’s happy grin plastered on his face.

“Oh oh Sang-Woo!” He tapped his friend’s chest excitedly. “Meet my daughter! (Y/n)” he said proudly, brandishing you like a trophy.

“Hello, sir” you bowed your head. “Nice to meet you, my father’s spoken so much about you” you say faking a sincere tone of happiness.

“Please, call me Sang-Woo, no need for formalities” he replied.

“Dinners on the table. I got take out” you told the men as they headed inside, you trailed behind.

“So, (y/n), your father tells me you graduated from Seoul National” Sang-Woo says as he sips on a beer.

“Yes, apparently, I followed in your footsteps. I also graduated top of my class” you remark kindly.

“What did you study?” He asks, eying you carefully, his eyes lingering longer than they should. You catch his glance.

“Astrophysics” you take a drink of your beer. “I’m going for my PhD so I can work at KASA” you tell him.

“When does the program start?”

“Highly competitive, they only open spots once a year in January, and I just graduated” it was the beginning of May. You had a few months before it even started.

“Ah I see, so Gi Hun only has you for a few months” you mean I you threatened to correct. You could tell by the way he looked at you with his lingering eyes and how is eyes darted between your lips and eyes each time you spoke.

“Yeah, I was going to stay close to the university, but I decided to come home, anything I need to do, I can do from my laptop” you said. “But, who knows” you added, shrugging. You finished your plate.

“Where are you going?” Your dad asked. “We were gonna take a few shots and watch baseball, I know it’s your favorite”

“I was going to sit out and smoke for a minute” you say. “Habits. Sorry. Yeah, I’ll hang around”

“No Gi Hun” Sang Woo speaks. “I’m sure she doesn’t want to hang around us old guys.” He shares a laugh with your dad.

“No it’s really alright. I’m just going to smoke a cigarette and come back in. You guys are welcome to join. Even bring the bottle and a couple glasses out.”

“You know what (y/n), that’s a great idea!” Gi Hun says. “Let’s smoke on the back patio and drink, we can turn the tv so we can see the game”

After a minute or so of moving stuff around you guys were all settled in plastic chairs outside, watching the game through the open glass door.

“I can’t believe he missed that hit” you sigh. “I mean it was so fucking perfect”

“Take a drink” Sang Woo says. “I bet a shot that he’d miss the ball” you laugh and take a sip. He watched as you licked the excess liquor off your lips. He bite his lip to keep himself from smiling. No Sang-Woo. Stop thinking like that. She’s your best friends daughter. He told himself. But he couldn’t help it, your sex appeal was just so… fucking appealing.

“I bet he hits it on the first pitch” you say.

“I’ll take that bet” Sang Woo says. You father voiced his agreement. “Bet he misses it”

“Take your fucking drink old man” you say loudly. You stand and imitate his hit, a triple that brought in 2 runners. He watched your hips as they rotated with such ease. God, how he’d love to have his hands on you.

“I’ll bet you an entire pack of cigarettes and a bottle of whatever alcohol you choose that the Eagles chokes up in the final inning and the Lions win” Sang-Woo places a hearty bet.

“Oh you’re on.” You say. Your dad smiled and put a hand on your knee.

“Definitely my daughter, this one is” he tells Sang Woo.

“She takes shitty bets like you, too” Sang Woo jokes.

“Sang Woo has noooo idea what he talking about” You say, the drunkenness hitting you slightly. “The Eagles are not a losing team… and against the Lions please, they wouldn’t choke up in the final inning”

Around came the final inning, the teams were tied 3 to 3.

“I’ll add a second pack of cigarettes that the Eagles only scores 1” Sang Woo says.

“I’ll add a pack of gum that says the Lions only scores 1” you counter back.

“Deal” and there it went, the Lions was up to bat. A hit that scores a point, and got the third out.

“Damn it” you heard him mutter. You sat on the edge of your seat. First at bat was a choke, a clutch hit and on base to first. The second at bat was a base running out, a runner on third. The next batter, could mean a 2nd out or another on base.

“Oh suck it!!” You roared, second on base. All you needed was one batter to whack that ball out of the park.

“50,000 won says he misses” Sang Woo taps Gi Hun.

“100,000 says he hits a triple” Gi Hun counters his eyes staring at the screen.

“200,000 that he gets and out of the park” you chime in. You all pool your money on the table. You had all doubled up on your bets. You all sat quietly awaiting. 1 strike. You counted in your mind. 2 strikes. Sang Woo prayed there would be a third.

“And the batter hits a walk off. Oh my god, one of the greatest at bats South Korea has ever seen.” The announcer on tv roars.

“Fuckkkk” Sang Woo drawled. “Come on, pipsqueak. To the store we go” he sighed reluctantly as you picked up your money.

“Nah, let’s go tomorrow. There’s another game and we’ll need stuff to drink” you responded. He nodded in understanding. “Hey dad, where’s he sleeping?” You ask.

“I was gonna have him take the guest room since you’re back.” Your dad answers. You helped Dad into bed before setting up Sang Woo.

“Well, here’s fresh linens and a towel” you say. “Bathrooms the 2nd door on the left” You tell him before walking off to your room.

He made his bed. Putting on fresh pajamas and walked to the bathroom with his toothbrush. He walked past your room, stopping for a brief moment. You had your back to him, pulling up your shirt to reveal your spine tattoo. He shook his head and walked on, turning into the bathroom. He brushed his teeth and left.

Time skip: 2 am.

Sang Woo couldn’t sleep. He tossed and turned but his aching cock wouldn’t let him relax. He decided he’d go out and smoke, hoping it’d calm him down.

As he lit his cigarette, he heard the front door open, your small figure appearing out of the shadows.

“Oh. Sang Woo” you said surprised. “What’re you doing up so late?”

“Couldn’t sleep. Decided I’d smoke to relax and try again. Yourself?” He asked as he fixed his glasses.

“I was going to do the same but I smoked my last cigarette while we were watching baseball. I’m on my way to get more”

“Oh, well, here.” He dug in his pocket pulling out a pack. You took one gratefully, holding your cigarette to the lighter he flicked open.

“Thanks” you took a deep inhale, “I’m still gonna go for some more”

“Ah we can do that tomorrow” he waved a hand. “We can share mine” you sat on the stairs and talked about your careers and college.

“So, your dad never mentioned anything about a boyfriend. You don’t have one? Or you just choose not to talk about it?”

“Ehhh, I’ve had a bad relationship in the best and just chose not to get into another one.” You said. “And you? No wife or kids?”

“No, none. A hook up here or there but I’m apparently hard to deal with” he laughs.

“Yeah, I agree. Real annoying” you say sarcastically. “I mean you seem perfectly fine. Make shitty bets but you know, other than that…”

“I do not make shitty bets” he said injured, causing a giggle to arise out of you. “If I’m being honest, that game you were watching, wasn’t live, it was from earlier today. I already knew the score. I just wanted a moment alone with you” he said honestly. You smile,

“Really?” You tilt your head. “I figured you’d be too… I dunno cold for that”

“What makes you think that?” His eyes searching yours.

“You’re just so calculated and deliberate. Messing with a 20 year old, much less, your best friends daughter, seemed too elementary for you.” He looked at you through his glasses, his eyes intense.

“Well is this deliberate enough for you?” He asked.

Taglist

@nakiio5775 @christinamadsen @sebbymybaby21 @xcinnamonmalfoyx @player279achlys @watasinekoru

[writingoddess1125]

Pot calling the Kettle Black

Mihawk x Reader + Alucare OOC

Just some domestic Fluff stuff and light violence.

Saw someone requested this! But when I went to answer the answer got deleted cause my laptop overheated and shut off ;-; I'm so sorry! (If you were the person please DM me I do apologize)

Anyway Enjoy!!

"For goodness sake" You sigh as you watch the comb snap from your sons hair. Tossing the ruined item to the side to later be thrown away.

You sat there trying to brush through Alucare's thick hair. It seemed the salty air had decided to reek havoc on his dark locs and render them a crusty tangled mess.

"This is humilating-" He grumbled sitting on the floor of the cabin you and Mihawk shared, Wincing everytime you ran the now 4th comb through his hair and encountered a knot.

"Sorry honey but you're too tall for me when you sit in the chair" You admit, needing the upper angle in order to even attempt to manage his hair.

You rinced his hair in more fresh water but it seemed no matter how much you used it was not helping in softening the hardened locs.

Yanking more on his hair which earn another pained grunt in discomfort from the boy- Both of you not noticing the door opening as Mihawk watched calmly from the doorway lf the cabin.

"Struggling?" He finally spoke, revealing himself to the both of you as you pulled the comb from Alucare's hair.

"Yes, His hair is so dry was the sea air that it's a wavy mess" You say gesturing to his locks with a defeated sigh. Alucare glancing back at his father who seemed amused by the sight, Mihawk walking into the room fully and taking the comb from you as well as reaching into the bag he personally carried and grabbing a jar.

"I'll help, Come" He said calmly and gestured to the chair in the room. Alucare turned his nose to this but sighed in defeat as he stood up and sat in the chair. Mihawk going behind him and taking the hair product he used began to comb it through his hair- Softening it enough to take out the knots.

You looked on in surprise at the two- It was a very cute father son moment in your eyes as you watched Mihawk with care detailed his sons hair.

"The salt from the sea will dry out your hair and stick to you. Add more conditioner" He grumbled, Alucare nodding at this as Mihawk with gentle hands detailed the boys hair.

"Why bother keeping your hair so long to begin with?-" Mihawk asked, raising a brow noting that when continuing it was just past the center of his back. Far too long for his taste.

"Cause when it was shorter I got mistaken for you and almost scared a Marine half to death" He said calmly, Mihawk freezing in his actions before he cracked a small smirk and continued his task at hand.

"I see" He said calmly continuing the task at hand. However was forced to stop just halfway through and pulled Alucares hair back in a low ponytail for the time being.

"Out of product.. We will be stopping in a village soon for your mother to stretch her legs- we will gather more hair product for you" he said calmly as Alucare stood from the chair and gave a short thanks.

Standing in the little general store Mihawk turned his head to see Alucare speaking with a girl- A pretty girl. How her cheeks were red and she was clearly swoon- Alucare also flirting back with a charmed smile on his face, he knew that look well.

It wasn't long till the three of you (four on the way) made it to a tiny village to get some supplies for the journey. Deciding a small store near the docks would have the hair supplies for the teen.

The young girl played with a lock of her dark brown hair, her ebony sparkling as Alucare clearly wooed her and she gave a shy nod. Earning a smile from his son and he nodded walking back towards you two- Noting that Mihawk had clearly noticed.

"Mother, they are having a summer festival in a few days, Would you like to attend?" Alucare asked, seeing how your face lit up at the idea. Chattering excitedly at wishing to do this as Mihawk stared at his spawn- Clever.

"What do you saw Mihawk? Wanna stay for the festival?" You ask softly, he looked in your eyes and knew he wouldn't refuse you. So he gave a soft nod to you. Alucare smirked at this as he clearly got what he had wanted- Grabbing the hair stuff he needed quickly he smirked. The Warlord hummed, knowing damn well what was to come soon.

In less then 5 hours his son was off running around with this girl- Mihawk saw how this girl and Alucare ran around the island together clearly he had wooed her a bit too well. Knowing that his son was plotting to win her heart and win something else before departing- The adventurous feeling of the sea clearly infecting him with wonder and interest. He had done the same, it came with being out on sea.

The day of the festival Mihawk was excited for all the wrong reason- Sure he was happy to get to spend the festive day with you but really he wanted to see the blow up that was about to happen-

A stolen kiss and a blushing of a innocent girl had Alucare confidence up and bolstered, even if he knew it may be cruel to do. On the second night Alucare snuck onto the ship, not expecting Mihawk to still be awake waiting for him as he cleaned his blade.

"You lied to her I take it?-" Mihawk asked, Already knowing the answer to the question. Alucare nodding silently-

"Her heart is going to be broken when she finds our you're leaving" He said calmly and met his sons gaze.

"That's why I won't tell her. Goodnight" He said shortly and headed to his Cabin on the ship. Mihawk shaking his head at this- Not under his watch.

Was this his live soap opera? Hell yes it was.

"Ready to head out back to sea Alucare? We need to leave by morning. Who is your friend here?" Mihawk said quite louder then his normal tone, purposely making sure the girl heard every word he said.

Once at the festival Alucare separated from you both rather quickly, most likely to enjoy himself elsewhere with the girl. Leaving the two of you alone to enjoy one another. The dancing, the food and even the drink had been fantastic. Seeing you dance and dress up for the lovely festivities had been worth every Berry he spent, the pretty festival clothes complimented you well and he couldn't help but keep his hands on you.

Truthfully having spent the day with you he had forgotten the whole ordeal with Alucare. Till he son his son running up a scenic hill for the firework show.

Staying for the fireworks with you he silently plotted what he would do. Knowing they would probably still be on that scenic hill once over- You were also pretty tuckered out and he didn't want to stress you or the baby. Getting you back to the ship to rest after the fireworks Mihawk set in his plan and went back out to the festive grounds to find his son and burst his little bubble.

"Ah there you are my Son" Mihawk said calmly as he walked towards the kissing teen couple- the two pulling away as Alucare eyes were as wide as saucers at being caught.

"Wait you're leaving?- You're family didn't move here?" She asked sharply, Alucare sending a murderous glare at his father. Not expecting the old man to not only catch him but also absolutely call him out on his bullshit.

"Seems so" He said nonchalantly, clearly trying to play it cool for being caught so bluntly. "It seems some things have changed so I will be leaving"

"You lied to me!" She hissed angrily, clenching her fist.

"I did-" He said calmly which made her angrier.

Tears welled up in her eyes as she fumed, Alucare stepping back as he tried to clearly step out of the emotional situation. However neither Mihawk nor Alucare expected what happened next- In a second she pulled back and pushing cheddar him square against the jaw with a bone bending strength.

Alucare stumbled back so hard Mihawk had to catch him and both their eyes were wide at such a hard punch from the little lady. Her eyes narrowed at both of them in anger and Mihawk had a wave of deja vu.

"I will not forget this Asshole!" She yelled, huffing as she stormed away angrily down the scenic hillside back to the village.

Mihawk standing Alucare up fully as both of them seemed a bit dazed. The two Dracule men walking back to the ship where you were waiting for them.

As Alucare boarded the ship he glanced to the side seeing his father with a amused gleam in his eyes as he waited for him to board.

"Was it fun heartbreaker?" He teased, earning a glare from the teenager as he grumbled and went on the ship. Ignoring the ache from his cheek which was sure to be blue and purple by the days end.

"Oh shut it-" Alucare grumbled as Mihawk gave a noise which was as close to a chuckle he got. Before the family retired to bed.

Once out to sea you had prepared your small family a meal and all seated in the ships small breakfast you scolded you son and gave him a ice pack for his swollen cheek.

"That was very unkind Alucare, I raised you better then that" You warn and he sighs at this, Accepting the verbal lashing he was getting from you.

"By the way- What was that poor girl's full name? You are going to send a apology to her" You tell him, still disappointed in your son for stealing that girls first kiss and lying to her.

Alucare paused his eating for a moment, thinking back "Beckman.. Lyra Beckman I believe-"

There was a mild choking noise from the older man, Mihawk sighed heavily at this as he rubbed his temple... Of fucking course it was...

[darl-ingfics]

can you do 15. "I'm not leaving you alone like this” with sickie jongho and caretaker wooyoung? i love seeing how woo and san make sure to take good care of him irl:)))

15. "I'm not leaving you alone like this”

“What are you doing?”

Jongho froze. He didn’t look away from his computer as he heard Wooyoung close the door and pad over to him none too gently. 

“Finishing the lyrics for our new song,” the younger man attempted answered as Wooyoung squinted at his screen. He barely got the words out without coughing, burying his face in his sweatshirt sleeve. Stupid throat. 

“You sound awful,” Wooyoung said, warm fingers tracing circles in Jongho’s shoulder blades as the fit subsided. It was all Jongho could do not to melt right there. Or cry. Either would’ve been ridiculously embarrassing. He kept his face hidden within his sleeve to maintain some dignity. “I could hear you coughing from the living room. Did you take anything?”

“No. It knocks me out, and the final draft is due to Hongjoong by tomorrow.” He saw Wooyoung’s reflection in his computer flinch at his voice. Jongho knew he sounded horrible. But that didn’t mean he could stop working. 

“When?”

“Noon.”

Wooyoung moved to his side, one hand still draped around Jongho’s shoulders as he scrutinized the document on the screen. “Are they written?”

Jongho shrugged. “Technically…I just finished a first draft…”

The hand on his shoulders squeezed hard before disappearing. The smallest of whines left Jongho’s lips, and he hated himself for it. He hadn’t realized he’d been craving human touch so much. He’d been too focused on isolating himself so his roommate wouldn’t catch this stupid cold. 

Wooyoung, thankfully, didn’t make any comment on the whining, nor did he act like he’d heard it. Jongho owed him for that. “Then here’s what’s going to happen. You’re gonna email this document to me, then you’re gonna take some Nyquil and sleep until you naturally wake up. I’ll edit this for you, you can check it tomorrow, and then we’ll email it to Joong.” 

“Hyung, no…” Jongho said, attempting to be threatening as Wooyoung walked towards the door.

“This is not a discussion.” And the door closed softly behind him. Jongho sighed. Then he emailed his document to Wooyoung… who waltzed back through the door with Nyquil and a warm compress in hand. 

“I don’t deserve you,” Jongho muttered, sliding from his desk to his bed. He accepted the pills Wooyoung held out to him, throwing the back with no complaint. 

“I love you, baby bear” Wooyoung chirped back, gently lifting Jongho’s glasses from his face. With his eyes closed, the younger man heard his hyung carefully fold his glasses and place them on the side table, and only startled a little when he felt the softest kiss on his forehead before the warm compress was placed over his eyes. Jongho then heard soft footsteps move towards the desk, then approach the bed again. Then the bed dipped to the side. Jongho pulled the washcloth off his eyes, blinking up at Wooyoung as he slipped into bed next to him, Jongho’s laptop on the bedside table. “What’re you doing?”

“I’m not leaving you alone like this,” Wooyoung insisted, cuddling up to Jongho’s side. 

“You’re gonna get sick.”

“Nonsense. I have a great immune system.”

“That’s literally not true.”

Wooyoung rolled his eyes. “Just let me love you, okay?”

Jongho sighed, letting the compress fall back over his eyes. “Fine. I suppose I owe you for editing my lyrics.” Wooyoung nuzzled even closer, perfectly content. “I love you, Woo.”

“Love you always, Jjong.”

[spoonfulofmilo]

PART 2 OF THE LOGAN SISTER FIC PLEASE

okay, I know this is short, and yes part 3 is coming and yes it is angsty but I need to get it done

lmk if you want to be added to the taglist, anyone tagged is just people who asked for a second part :)

my masterlist can be accessed here

Please keep requesting - y'all have awesome ideas we agree on a lot of stuff :) - my guidelines are here, and if you want some prompts, they are here.

also feel free to come in and start chatting to me in my asks, would love to get to know y'all better

and if you want to be added to my taglist lmk :)

part 1 is here

part 3 is here

george russell x sargeant!reader

---

“SO YOU’RE TELLING ME OUR ENTIRE RELATIONSHIP WAS A LIE GEORGE.”

“No, no, it wasn’t. Y/N, you have to understand…-”

“UNDERSTAND WHAT? THAT YOU TREATED MY BROTHER LIKE A HUMAN BEING JUST SO I WOULD FUCK YOU? OUR ENTIRE RELATIONSHIP WAS BASED ON YOUR KINDNESS WHICH WAS A LIE! WHY, WHY WOULD YOU FUCK MY BROTHER OVER LIKE THAT JUST TO WIN A GIRL?” she took a deep breath ‘I’m done.’

“What? What do you mean, you’re done.”

She looked won, took another deep breath and looked George in the eyes. ‘I meant, I’m done george. I’m done with this relationship. I’m finished. I can’t forgive you after learning that our relationship was based on you treating my brother like a decent human being, and you planning on winning me over ike that. Well congratulations it worked. And now you’re back to treating my brother like absolute shit, because you finally got the girl. Congratulations. If you want to ‘win me back’, then maybe start with treating my brother like a human being again. But you’ll have to do more than that, Russell.’

And she walked out. George put his head in his hands. He’d signed so many NDAs, you would’ve thought he wouldn’t have left his laptop open and unlocked, particularly with Logan coming over. He really should remember to close his old files. Particularly when your girlfriend, no ex-girlfriend, had looked through your old powerpoints and found an old presentation he’d made to alex about how he was planning on wooing y/n. With the first slide being ‘treat logan nicely.’ and yeah maybe after he’d started dating y/n, his priority to include everyone had fallen behind.

And yeah, Logan was nice. He had learnt that after many morning jogs and coffees and dinners and hanging out after races. He still remembers how scared he had been a year ago, when he had first officially met Y/N.

“Well, then why is he telling me that there have been 2 people, Oscar and Alex, who have actually welcomed him to F1. Everyone else has snubbed him and he doesn’t understand why you don’t like him. He’s lonely. So fucking sort your shit out.”

And he had. Or at least he had tried. And Logan had really warmed up to him and started participating in the driver evenings, but George always visited his house, partly for the runs, partly because his trainer was less strict and he could make a better breakfast at Logan’s, and maybe partially for the hope that Logan’s sister would rock up.

And then she had. And logan had still been asleep. And she obviously still was a professional athlete so she had been more than willing to do a run with him. And then have breakfast when Logan had finally stumbled out of his bedroom. And then get her phone number

And then yeah maybe he had deserted Logan, assuming he now had enough interaction with the rest of the grid to be okay.

Until Logan had called Y/N last night, asking her to come over because it turned out the grid had gone to dinner without him, and he was feeling a little hurt. And she had promised to once George got home, and then she had absolutely laid into him. And now she was gone, presumably to Logan’s and George didn’t know what to do.

---

taglist: @folklorsweet @the-untamed-soul @thatgirlmj @cstads-blog

[shortstrawberry]

I know, I know. It was Bela's b'day yesterday and I didn't post anything. However, I'm finally free now!

So here's a small sneak peak from my upcoming long oneshot. Bela has her heart back and she is trying to woo the dumbass oblivious MC.

Things have been quite... same ever since the whole debacle with Headmistress and the whole "get Bela's heart back" passed. Not that you were expecting anything earth shattering different to happen. Bela Dimitrescu is still the same draconian workaholic Student Council President who somehow manages to be a straight A grade student. You are still her Vice President, buried under the tons and tons of paperwork that gets passed along your way.

However, since past four months, from the day Bela received her heart back and fainted whispering "You have pretty eyes", certain events have happened that you cannot explain.

Exhibit A: Student Council President fussing after your sick self

"Acchhoooo!"

You loudly sneeze against the tissue paper, trying in vain to contain the droplets inside it. You are normally a shameless cretin who wouldn't hide your sneezing with tissue when alone, sick and dying in your room. But that's the thing. You are very much not alone.

A gorgeous blonde head popped out of your small kitchenette, looking at you with a reprimanding glare.

You shyly hide yourself underneath the blanket, knowing what your president is about to ask you.

"Did you use the nasal spray I brought you?"

You did not answer, still remaining hidden underneath your weighted blanket. You heard a soft beautiful sigh accompanied by approaching footsteps, and you just couldn't help but wonder how can a girl make sighing sound pretty.

The bedsheets were ripped off from you, and you found your answer to your question as you met the intense gaze of one Bela Dimitrescu.

Of course, if anyone can make breathing beautiful, it is this gorgeous blonde. You swear the song "Gorgeous" by Taylor Swift was written for her.

"cor meum, how will you become better if you don't take care of yourself?"

You gave your council president a petulant look, your mouth pouting against your will. You know you are being childish right now against someone who is only trying to take care of you. The said someone has taken out time from their packed schedule to cook some stew for you. But you are sick with fever and cold and you have a feeling the council president will give you a pass this one time.

"That spray stings my nose! I don't wanna use it!"

Bela's eyes immediately softened at your pouty voice, her eyebrows drawing close in focused attention. She tilted her head just slightly to the right, her pale pink lips rising in a amused and affectionate (?) smile.

"cor meum, you haven't taken your inhaler, have you? It will clear up your nose, and you will be able to breathe freely."

Of course you know all of that, but you choose to ignore it. Bela is being uncharacteristically lenient right now, even if she has been soft these days ever since she got her heart back. But today's Bela is still the softest you have ever witnessed.

For starters, she dragged you home from Council work and declared you are on leave until you get better. Then she made you take medicines and sleep while she worked besides you on her laptop. When you woke up, you had lunch waiting for you.

And now it is dinner time and Bela is still here. Not that you want her to go away. Your sleepy sick mind even wanted her to stay forever. Something your usual self won't even dream of.

Taking advantage of the boldness or rather foolishness your fever is giving you, you go ahead and ask what has forever been nagging you. Since the day certain someone got her heart back and started to look at you with strange, different emotion.

"You keep calling me that. What does it mean? What language is it even? Latin?"

The beautiful blonde looked at you carefully, before answering you back in a even more amused voice.

"Yes, and it means 'stupid heart'. Because you have a silly, moronic heart that makes you do careless things like walking back to your home when its raining a storm."

You pout, defending yourself immediately. Even if you remember that incident fondly.

"I had only one umbrella and you were staying back to work! What if you had to go back under rain? So I left the umbrella for you!"

Bela in answer looked away, a hint of pink creeping up her cheeks. She hurriedly draped the blanket on top of you, before settling down besides you and flicking your forehead.

It was a soft flick, clearly a affectionate gesture. Something Bela has been doing a lot lately. You stay up too late working? Sending you away to sleep and flick against forehead. You forget to eat breakfast? A croissant and flick against your forehead. You forget to text her that you have reached home? She will come to your home and flick your forehead.

Strangely enough, you have come to crave these flicks to your forehead. It shows that the once heartless girl...now cares for you.

Well, she had cared for you even when without a heart, as a similiar scene played from your memories. The scowling Student Council President demanding you have her homemade soup.

Now the only difference is that Bela is looking at you with the purest look of concern and offering to apply nasal spray on you herself.

"Here, give me the spray. I will do it myself because someone has become a helpless child."

You only grin cheekily, but let Bela do what she wants. You have troubled the poor blonde enough. And you have a feeling the dinner Bela is making will start burning soon if you keep her any longer.

With two whiffs of spray you were out like a light, sleep coming to you in minutes, You mumble a soft yes when Bela tucks you in, telling you that she would wake you up in time of dinner.

Unbeknownst to your peaceful sleeping self, the eldest Dimitrescu sister stayed besides you for few long minutes, gazing at you with the softest expression.

A soft, feathery kiss was laid on your forehead. Right where she flicks you all the time.

"It means my heart. You are my cor meum."

Cor meum means "my heart" in Latin according to Google Translate.

[cyberpunkhwx]

When they find your p*rn dash

❥Pairing: ateez maknae line x gn(fem?) Reader

❥Genre: suggestive

❥Warning: mention of porn, mention of future sexual actions, suggestive, comedy?(nah just me trying to be funny)

❥Word count: 1k

❥Requested? No

San:

A hand covering Shibers eyes and he stared at your pc screen. Jaw almost reaching the ground.

Well, that's how you found him.

"Sannie? What are you doing here??"

Your voice made him flinch as he closed the tabs and shut the pc.

"Nothing love" he said giving you his bread smile and running out of your shared room, suspiciously giggling to himself.

"weird" thought as you let it slid. You're used to having a giggly human being in your apartment anyways.

2 weeks later

"Sannie feels so g-good omg!!" You whined squirming away from his wondering hands all over your skin.

"I got a surprise for you" He said letting a breathy chuckle out.

He moved from on top of your body to the bed desk on the side.

Your body heat start to miss the warms of him thick fingers and you start to shiver.

But the awful feeling was soon forgotten when you heard the low noise of a vibration nearby.

"Sannie? What's that?" You asked him; staring at his handsome bare face for a sort of hint. But as you slowly lowered your gaze, you saw the pink long item shaking around itself. Almost as identical

as ....? NO WAY

"Oh?" He said the smirk never leaving his face.

"So I bought the wrong size? Guess I was to busy getting the right shade of pink that I forgot what size you're used to"

"I know you'd rather have the real deal here" He paused grabbing your ankles and dragging you closer on the silk mattress of the bed.

"But bet you wanna try out your gift first right princess? You probably touch yourself all night to it"

Shit was about to get real girl.

Mingi:

After a long day all you wanted to do was to lay down and do nothing. But a curtain fancam of your boyfriend say otherwise.

Mingi been at the studio with Hongjoon the whole day. As if Hongjoong is his gf and not you.

You huffed. Unfair. You wanted to call him to come back but then another idea reached your brain.

You grabbed your laptop and layed down comfortably on your shared bed.

"Who needs a boyfriend when my twitter girlie share their bf railing them for lonely other girlies" 💅🏻

After setting the laptop in a good angle letting your hands travel everywhere.

"Mingi~" you whined. If he ain't taking care of you, you'll do it yourself

.....

"Jagiii I'm home" He yelled when he didn't find you greeting him when he finally came back. Not like you were still mad, you just decided to take a shower, leaving your laptop on your bed.

He heard the water running in the bathroom so he assumed you're in there. So he throw his shows off and threw himself on the couch, checking his socials.

He could hear some noises from your shared bedroom but he just let it slide. But the noise kept on getting louder.

"Y/n? Darling? Are you upstairs already? Did you not see me?" He said making his way toward the door, but no one was there. "Y/n?"

The closer he got to the noise the more he realised that it doesn't sound like you at all.

"Oh maybe she was watching Netflix 👀" He lifted your laptop to pause the video. He almost dropped the laptop he saw a girl getting railed to the 7th cloud.

"Damn, that's some nice inspo she got" He said as if it's a daily thing. Sharing the link to his messenger so he can *hmph* study it later.

Woo:

"Jagi do you also watch jjangjjang roleplays ? "

He asked from behind you, scaring the hell out of you.

"Hey wai-what- what do you mean? How do YOU know?" You said feeling like your braincells had nothing to say to him.

"Oh everyone knows them! The sanie dude is really hot ain't he? He's My rolemodel" He said proudly taking a closer look to the phone in your hand. Holding it close not letting you take it away. Too stunned to react in any way.

"Oh is it short videos? Tsk,  its 2023 don't be so poor 🙄 I already bought the subscription to their OnlyFans for a year" He said going through your saved videos.

"What-?"

" Here let me logg into my ID. The recent video was a pet play one and they were gonna try a new toy! We should watch it together!!! I'll bring the snacks"   

He said running downstairs to bring whatever he finds in the refrigerator. Leaving you all frozen and shocked on you side of the bed

Jongho

"Babe have you seen my phone?" You yelled from across the hall, walking around looking confused.

"How am I supposed to know love?" He yelled back at you not taking his head away from the his game set.

"Babeeee, come and help me at least" you said walking towards him. Trying to get him to pay attention and reached over his shoulder to grab the controller out of his hands. Jongho barely looked up, muttering something about "just one more level" as he continued to play.

You rolled your eyes before you got an idea. You grabbed the CD that was lying next to the game console. You knew that this was the game Jongho had been dying to play for weeks, so she figured that if she took it away, he would have no choice but to pay attention to her.

SMART ASS 😗

Well you must've forgotten that Jongho was stronger than a whole ass grizzly bear. As soon as he realized what you were  trying to do, he grabbed you by the waist and manhandled her back onto the couch.

"Let me goooooo" You protested, trying to wiggle out of Jongho's grasp.

"Nice try, nope"

"Could you pleeeeease help me find my phone?" You asked, pouting slightly.

He finally gave up, not wanting to annoy you already. He got up his chair, after pausing his game of course!

He finally found the buzzing phone under a pillow beside the bed.

"Why would she drop her phone down here?" He bent down to pick it up, declining the call leading you phone the twitter side that made poor Jongho face a women in a  maid cos-play riding a pink ass dragon dildo.

"What the he- ooooh" He squinted his eyes when literally the whole screen got blocked by white liquid-

"Oh Jongie, did you find my phone thank yo-

"You barely fucking take half of me and then you put your sausage finger in your pussy to THIS?"

He said throwing you phone back on the pillow, dragging you arm and pushing you on the bed.

"You're gonna be freaking shaking after I'm done with you"

A/n: I'm not opologising for Wooyoung, you should've expected it yourself😊

Masterlist

[hxjikonn]

Hello again~! May i request Lilia and Malleus react with reader who tried to create an Ai resemble of themself cuz human life are too short and they don't want them to feel sad when they are gone.

Avid angst enjoyer here thanking you for this wonderfully hurtful idea, also I’m sorry this took so long lmao😭🫶🏻 hope you enjoy it!

——————————————————————————

‘Till forever falls apart

☆Staring☆: Malleus Draconia and Lilia Vanrouge x GN! Reader

Synopsis: How would they react finding out you’ve been working on creating an AI version of yourself so that they’ll have you with them even when you’re gone

Warnings: Mentions of Death, A lot of crying.

Malleus Draconia

“Ah…” you gasped, waking up in a cold sweat, you didn’t have any nightmares however you knew what you were feeling was worse…fear…pure fear. You clutched on to your shirt, feeling your heart beat, hearing it thump in your ears. Grim woke up to the sound of your breathing “Hey…are you okay?” He sat up rubbing his eye with his paw, “I’m fine Grim…it’s just…it’s happening again…” you said patting his head.

The cat frowned upon your response, but you only returned his expression with a smile “Dont worry about me…you can go back to sleep, I’ll come back to bed in a second…” you scratched behind his ear attempting to woo him to sleep, “Where you going anyway?” He asked, already half asleep. “Just somewhere…don’t worry about it” you gave him more head pats until finally he fell back into a slumber.

As you leave the room, you headed to the lounge area, there you opened your laptop at started coding, a little skill you learned from Idia, you sighed and stopped typing for awhile. “Why am I doing this…” you asked yourself burrying yourself into your palms, tears start to well up in your eyes, the truth of it all was that the reason of your fear was simple. It was death.

And no not death itself, but what and who you’ll leave behind when you die. You’re afraid of leaving him. You knew that a lifespan of a fae such as Malleus lasted a lot longer than yours, and as much as you wanted to stay by his side forever, you couldn’t. So you had a talk with Idia a few weeks back about creating an AI version of yourself.

He was against it at first, but he knew what it felt like to lose someone, and he didn’t wish that upon anyone, so he taught you how…and here you are. You thought it’d be easy to do this, it’s just precaution you said, but ever since you started, you feared the day you’d disappear would be closer.

You hugged your knees and cried, you couldn’t anything other than that, it’s not like you had magic like the others, or half fae like sebek. There wasn’t any other way. “Why are you crying my love?” a soft whisper from behind you was heard, before you could even look back, he had picked you up and placed you on his lap, enveloping you in his warmth.

“Malleus?? What are you doing here?” You looked up at him, your cheeks still had tears running down them. “I felt that you were upset…so I came…” he said, “now it’s your turn to answer…” he adds. You looked back down onto your hands “I just watched a sad movie…” you lied. “It must’ve been a very sad movie considering you were shaking before I held you…” he didn’t buy your excuse.

You only nodded at his response, feeling him beside you only made the fear worse, your mind racing with thoughts like how you wont ever get to be held by him like this again once you die…you’ll never hear his voice…you wont be able to hug him again… suddenly your thoughts were interrupted with 3 words, 3 simple words that broke you. “I’m also afraid.” He said.

You couldn’t respond you didn’t know what to say so you let him continue as you hold yourself together. “Time is a very cruel creature. It yields no magic, it doesn’t even commit violence but it wipes away many many lives…” the tone of his voice had a slight shake in them. Desperately trying to not talk about this topic, you faked a yawn “Mal…I’m a bit tired…I think I’ll go rest” you said as you stood up, shutting your laptop and walking away.

You didn’t want to talk about this, this is what you’ve been keeping from him, you don’t want to hurt him, it’s the exact reason why you chose to create your AI version. “I’m afraid of losing you too…” he spoke. It was as if you were shattered, you heard the loud thumping of your heart in your ears again as well as the cold traces your tears leave on your cheeks.

“I’m scared…each passing day I think about the clock of your lifespan running out, it scares me. I don’t want to think about the day when you leave me…” he confessed, you didn’t even hear him walk towards you but you suddenly felt his arms on your waist. You felt his tears staining your shirt. It hurts. You trembled in his embrace, shaky breaths escape your lips.

“They deemed me one of the one of the 5 most powerful wizards in the world but even I’m scared of time taking you away…” He whispers weakly, “however I don’t want anyone other than you, not even a copy…” he adds, you turn to face him in shock. “How did you…” “I love you too much to not know what you’re thinking about my love” he interrupts. “I’m sorry…” you apologized, breaking into a fit of sobs.

He held you close also erupting into cries, “I don’t want to leave you…I don’t want you to feel alone again, I want you to see that I’m here even though I’m gone….” You explained hugging him. “But it’s not you…” he answered. “You can program it to be you as much as you want but I’d rather accept the fact that I’ve loved you until your last moments than to play pretend with a copy of what you used to be…” he finishes, kissing your forehead, then your nose and finally your lips.

“I love you…and even though I know it’ll come one day, I’ll spend every second loving you, caring for you, and being with you until then.” He held you as if you were porcelain, as if you could break at the slightest touch, as if you’d disappear if he lets you go. You hiccuped and sniffled holding on to him as well, you never wanted to let go.

Suddenly the fear that had been clouding your mind left. The storm had passed, everything felt okay again. You grew tired after a long while of tears and sorrow, Malleus took the initiative to take you to bed. But he didn’t return to diasomnia that night. He didn’t want to be far from you, not now, not ever.

Lilia Vanrouge

You we’re excited to see him, your lover, you had a very special gift to show him today. You finally finished it, after long hours, nights, days, weeks, months of preparation it’s finally done. An innocent gift, you had no ill intentions in making this. All you wanted was to make him happy, even if you’re not there with him one day.

“Come on! Just a little bit further” you held on to his shoulders, pushing him towards the room as he was blindfolded “My dear you’ve been pushing me for the past 5 minutes now, when can I see your little surprise?” Lilia said, unknowing of what it is. You two finally reached the room where the “gift” was and you were do excited for him to see, though you had to admit it hurt nonetheless…you were doing this for him

“Okay…you can take your blindfold off now” you said as you stood infront of your lover, he reluctantly took his blindfold off and met eyes with you, “What? Is the surprise to be alone with you in a room? If it is I’m absolutely loving it” he said cupping your face lovingly. You laughed and took his hands off your face gently, “No…well I mean yes, but right now you’ll see two of me…” you said, hinting at what lays ahead

He gazes at you, both confusion and amusement lingers in his eyes, he crosses his arms smiling waiting for you to reveal whatever it is you had planned, the moment you did though…his smile died along with his amusement….he looks at it with nothing but bafflement and sadness “What is this?”were the only words that left him…

“It’s me!” You beamed at him showing him the holographic replica you made of yourself, “I made me, for you” you awkwardly stated, now saying it out loud it sounded bad, “B-but! I made it because-“ Lilia cuts you off before you could even redeem yourself

“No Y/n.” he says sternly. “Lilia I just-“ he cuts you off once again “No Y/n. Whatever this is…I don’t like it…I don’t appreciate it.” He says motioning to the holographic version of yourself, his expression pained, upset, confused and angry. “I’m not gonna be here forever Lilia…nor can I live as long as you” you defended yourself

“And you think this is gonna make me feel at ease?!Having a version of you, that I cant touch, that I can speak to but has computerized answers, some kind of moving picture that isn’t living…this thing is not you.” He snaps back angrily, he gazes at the hologram filled with spite. Making you tear up a bit, you had figured this would be one of the reactions you’d get, though you hadn’t prepared for it as much as you thought…

“I’m scared Lilia, I’m afraid of leaving…I don’t want you to feel like you’ve lost me one day when my human body gives up on me…I cant stay even though I want to so this the best I could do” you choked back tears…looking at the floor filled with hurt and fear, fear for the day that waits, the day that you pass away…leaving him forever.

You thought you finally made Lilia hate you, maybe it was for the best you thought, maybe it’s better he hates you than loves you, that way when you’re gone, it wont hurt him as much. You heard footsteps on the wooden floor, in your mind, you told yourself Lilia was leaving now…so you stayed put, shut eyes and head hanging low.

But unexpectedly, you felt a warm, loving, and strong embrace, it felt like the last push you needed to let out the tears you’ve been holding back, and you did. “I’d rather miss you everyday for as long as I live, than having to ease the pain of not having you with this contraption…” He says in a hushed tone while comfortingly rubbing your back

“I’d rather spend the rest of my days thinking about the memories we’ve made when you were here, than to make new fake memories with a hologram…” he adds, you continued to sob and hold him weakly, feeling as if every word he spoke was a dagger through your chest, but something you also needed to hear.

“I’ve been knew about this the moment I decided to love you, I knew you weren’t going to be with me forever, I knew you were going to leave first, but I wasn’t scared, because I promised myself I’d spend every waking day with you, making our time together memorable…so that when you leave I’d know…that I made you happy while you were here…and that you’ve spent your mortal years contently…” Lilia spoke, his voice quivering but also spoke to you with the gentlest tone.

He backs away slightly to give you a short but passionate kiss, then he pulls away putting his forehead on yours, tears both staining your cheeks as they trailed down from your eyes “I love you, only you, no one else, nothing else, just you. The Y/n I can hug, and kiss, and laugh with…you.” Lilia smiles sadly, wiping your cheek with her thumbs.

You nod, still feeling the tears continuously flowing, Your lover pulled you back into his tight but loving embrace, it felt safe…like all your worries being washed away, you knew now that everything was going to be okay, all you needed was him, as long as he was with you, nothing else mattered.

——————————————————————————

A/N: Heyyyy so here’s a little something that’s been on my drafts for the longest time now 😭🤚🏻 I’m a bit rusty as I haven’t wrote anything in a long time so this may come off as rushed or repetitive, But nonetheless hope you guys like it ♡♡♡ (also sorry for coming back with another angst post lolllll) love ya bye! 🫶🏻

[minisugakoobies]

"Noona, do you have any lotion I can borrow" - Best friend's brother San

“Huh? Sure, in my…” 

The word “vanity” never makes it past your lips as you glance up. San’s standing in your doorway, leaning against the frame with his head cocked, wearing nothing but a pair of jeans that hang low on his hips. 

At this point, you’ve seen San shirtless countless times, since he’s been living with you long enough to get comfortable being so, but now his torso is covered in dark whorls and streaks that look like they’ve been painted on, and a giant tattoo of a wolf. 

“Um…” you say. “That’s new.”

San grins. “It’s for work,” he explains, meaning the bar where he’s still picking up shifts as a bouncer. “For the Halloween party tonight,” he further clarifies. “A bunch of us are going as video game warriors.” 

“Ah. And you’re just wearing - jeans?” 

San disappears for a moment and returns wearing a long, tattered denim robe, with fraying edges and realistic chains wrapped around the sleeves. He mugs for a moment, striking a powerful pose, and you roll your eyes but can’t stop the heat that creeps up your neck at the sight. Or the giggle, which only makes him grin harder.

“So anyway - lotion?” 

He makes himself at home in your room, sitting on your bed as usual while you rummage through the bottles of lotion in your collection, finally finding one that’s unscented. He thanks you with a small nod and removes his robe.

The laptop open at your desk gives you an excuse to avert your eyes as he begins to rub the lotion on his chest. 

“Are you working tonight?” 

You nod, settling into your chair again. “Got a deadline.” 

“You should take a break and come down to the bar for a little bit. Don’t worry about the cover, I know a guy,” he jokes.

“Eh, I don’t know.” It’s been a few years since you last went out for Halloween. San’s sister is at work tonight, so it’d just be you and a bar full of costumed strangers running amuck. And San would be stuck at the door, so it’s not like you could even hang out with him, if he’d want such a thing.

“Noona.” You hear the pout and glance over to see San’s lips puffing out. “Come on. You deserve to have a little fun every now and then. You’re always working so hard.” 

It’s honestly unreal how easily he can manipulate you with that sad look. It’s a weakness of yours. He’s a weakness of yours, though you’d never admit it to anyone. But you dig your heels in.

“I really need to finish this article.” 

“‘Joong and Woo will be there.” Even though it’s a statement, his eyes gaze into yours inquisitively. 

It’s the first time you’ve heard those names since the party. The two of you have never talked about the fact that you kissed both of his friends that night. It was like an unspoken rule, that you shouldn’t mention it. 

Or maybe you’re just afraid to start down that path, because you’re not sure which way you want it to go. 

But now he’s thrown them out there, and somehow it almost feels like a trap.

“Well, I hope you guys have fun,” you toss back, returning to your document and typing a few words to make it look like you’re truly focusing on your work. 

San sighs. “Fine. But if you change your mind…” 

You hum as he trails off, rising from your bed. But before you can say goodnight, his arms slip under yours, surprising you with a back hug. Dazed, you peel your fingers away from your keyboard to grasp his arms gently. He’s so warm. So strong. 

“I hope you change your mind,” he murmurs, nose briefly touching your cheek. You wonder if he can feel the way your heart jumps in your chest at the sensation. “Night, Noona.” 

“N-night, San.” 

You hear the door close after a few minutes, as you stare blankly at the laptop screen, mind a million miles away from anything resembling your work.

Thirty seconds later you’re standing in front of your closet, wondering what last-minute costume you can pull together.

****************

I'm just gonna call this a writing exercise, a little warm-up for all the work I'm hopefully gonna do today. But oh my god, Luce, I'm so in love with this man and the slow burn that's happening here. It's gonna be the slowest of burns - the sun itself will flame out before this does. 💕

Tagging @kiestrokes @yeontan-my-love because San 😆

[ethicaltreatmentofcowplants]

Asylum Challenge: Day 11

Note: While I had done well at remembering to back up my save files, I was less vigilant about my screencaps (context: I tend to move them into different folders per save so that the screencaps folder doesn't get too cluttered) aaaand those were not up-to-date. So unless I can get my old laptop to work properly again, I've lost them. Buuut as I said before, I'm not too fussed.

This is therefore a time jump. Also the first day I played of this save with Wicked Whims installed, so while no adult content will be shown here, the dynamics within the household have become a little more... interesting.

We begin with Lilac very close to finishing her first aspiration, but it's also five am, so she's still snoozing away.

Level Four - Painter Extraordinaire

❌ Reach Painting Level 10 (9/10) ❌ Complete 5 Masterpieces (4/5)

Which isn't to say that it's quiet exactly. Downstairs, two of our token occults are making a solid start to their day.

Lilac's Two Star fame quirk is that she has acquired a stan. Who today was Wolfgang Wilder. When Vlad came downstairs for an early morning snack, Rory wasted no time in exacting retribution for her woof-woof in arms.

Results were.... predictable. And now Vlad is both angry from the taste of disgusting wolf blood (while I feel that's his bias coming through, I'm also going to take his word for it 😬) and humiliated because he lost to this fleabag.

L. is the third to wake up (well, second since Vlad never slept in the first place) with a rather pressing - or 'pissing'? - need. Go piss, L.! No one is stopping you! Peeing is self-care!

Speaking of L., with Whims installed she so far has been the Sim bringing all the attractiveness alerts to the yard. Both Raj and Vlad think that she's absolutely breathtaking. Well, at least until her MEAN trait kicks in and she starts insulting Raj, that is.

Which would likely make her all the more beguiling in the eyes of Vlad, but away from @cantseemtohide's influence, Raj in this save is not a murderous fiend, but a rather likeable Everyman, and so he quickly departs.

Another Sim collecting those attractiveness alert pings is our main girl Lilac. In Vlad's head, she's an absolute goddess. In hers, however, he's visually from some place much much much further down than Mount Olympus.

He attempts to gain some sympathy points by complaining about Rory (a vamp's gotta eat, after all).

She's unmoved.

(Also I just realised that Rory was nearby making the punching bag fear for its life the whole time, so in hindsight this was actually rather ballsy of Vlad...)

Once Vlad goes downstairs however (possibly to try his non-existent luck on some other poor unfortunate soul), Lilac achieves her fifth and final masterpiece. Woo Hoo! Which is the only kind of 'woo hoo' happening up here. Sorry, Vlad.

And then after a dinner break, she finally maxed out painting.

It was only a 'normal' quality work, but a completed aspiration is still a completed aspiration.

Oh, go on then. You've earned it.

Reward Trait: Expressionistic

Expressionistic Sims have mastered the medium of emotion, and as such, they can paint emotional paintings no matter their own mood.

I'll likely be combining Day 12 and 13, as Day 12 got a little... active, and not a lot happened that would be safe to post here lolololol.

[star-going-supernova]

I’m not really sure how to word this? Here’s a prompt for you I guess? Gregory would 100% take a photo in front of his missing poster smiling with a peace sign. Also I think he’s just the type of gremlin to take one of them for himself much to everyone’s exasperation.

Tumblr generated prompt number 4, here we go! Gregory and Cassie are both in their late teens here, in their first year of college. This is pretty slice-of-life-y with no clear connection to any AU other than a generally happy one.

title is a play on the saying “not all who wander are lost”

Not All Who Have Missing Posters are Lost

Gregory pulled out his phone and opened the camera app. Leaning against the telephone pole, he threw up a peace sign and grinned. Satisfied with the picture, he sent it to the group chat. 

Gregory

image_attachment.87265032 lol good times :) 

He stowed his phone in his pocket, mentally counting down until it started blowing up with messages. Then he carefully tore the missing poster bearing his face—albeit his much younger face—off the pole and tucked it into his laptop bag. 

He walked the rest of the way to the bus stop, letting his phone vibrate every few seconds, and only once he’d sat down did he pull it back out, snickering as he read through the small backlog. 

Cassie

XD you’re still finding those?? 

Vanessa 

oh my gosh pull it down pull it down we do NOT need a repeat of two years ago

Roxy 

who was even looking for you, lol

Freddy

Roxy! Do not be rude! 

Cassie

you look so young. so innocent.

Roxy

yeah but we know better ah dang it, i can feel fazbear’s disapproval from across the plex 

Bonnie

You were such a cute kid! Look at those cheeks!

Vanessa

seriously, though, what part of town is that? if there’s one, there might be more

Chica

Oooh! Congrats on adding another to your collection :)

Monty 

lol nice

Freddy

Are you on your way home, superstar? 

Roxy 

wee woo, dad alert! you know the rules, no sappiness in the group chat, fazbear

Freddy

What was sappy about that?

Cassie

if nicknames count, Roxy, you’ll have to start calling me by my name now 

Roxy 

… fiiiine, i take it back 

Gregory 

XD yes, Ness, I tore it down, and it was on Reed St, but it looked like some other posters had been taken off recently, exposing this one, so i don’t think it’s a widespread issue yes, Dad, I’m on my way back. just got on the bus, should be there in 10 mins 

He stayed on his phone for the rest of the ride, confirming their plans for dinner later. Cassie had finished her final exams the day before, so she’d already been by the pizzaplex to say hi to everyone. 

The bus dropped him off just down the street from the pizzaplex, and though early December was chilly, he enjoyed the bite in the air. There’d be snow soon, he was sure, and he was looking forward to some lazy days with a mug of hot chocolate and a warm blanket. 

Gregory’s first semester of college had been awesome, but he was happy to be home, and even happier to find Freddy waiting inside the side entrance that Gregory favored. He stepped forward into his adoptive dad’s arms, marveling yet again that he was taller than Freddy’s shoulders these days. 

“Welcome home, Gregory,” Freddy said softly. 

“I missed you,” Gregory told him, holding on tight. He sighed contentedly, the remaining stress from exams draining away. 

“Your winter break lasts a month and a half, correct?” 

“Mhm. And I plan on staying here for all of it.” 

“Good. The others have been looking forward to your return.” 

Gregory pulled back and unzipped his coat. “Just the others?” he teased. 

Freddy cleared his throat, which was as good a sign as any of his sheepishness (he’d probably been beside himself with excitement), and followed after Gregory as they descended into the basement, where Gregory had commandeered several rooms for his own use years ago. Vanessa had offered him a room in her house, but he’d politely declined, though he’d slept over there many times over the years. He was just too attached to the pizzaplex and its inhabitants, and also his independence. 

After popping into his bedroom to drop off his bags and coat, he quickly went into his workroom. It held his desk and bookshelves and the different personal projects he’d tinkered with over the years, and it also held his wall of missing posters. 

Freddy chuckled from the doorway as Gregory used sticky-tack to affix it into an empty space. It was almost like wallpaper, over two dozen posters with slight variations plastered edge to edge. Some were black and white, some were in color, and there was a variety of childhood pictures used among them. His favorite was one that misspelled his name as Gegory. That one was carefully framed. His second favorite, also framed, was a homemade wanted poster that Cassie given him for his fourteenth birthday. 

Gregory stepped back and surveyed his wall with his hands on his hips. “Perfect,” he said, pleased. 

“If you are satisfied,” Freddy said, “then we should go meet the others. Bonnie and Chica are relentlessly spamming me with frowny faces because I am ‘hogging you.’” 

“Tell them it’s your dad rights,” Gregory said, even as he bounded from the room, eager to reunite with the rest of his family. “Is Vanessa around? Is she still the junior location manager, or did they promote her again?” 

“She has been fending off a promotion for two weeks now. They reached a stalemate yesterday when she threatened to quit.” 

“They always fall for that,” Gregory snickered. “As if this is the time she’s gonna pack her bags, psh.” 

“They have been getting faster about calling her bluff,” Freddy mused wryly. 

They got in an elevator, and as they went up, they listened to the awful elevator music that hadn’t changed since Gregory was ten years old and running around the pizzaplex for the first time. 

“I am glad you are back,” Freddy said after a few moments. “I know you need to go and experience the world, and I would never want to hold you back from that. But I hope you know you will always have a home here, with us.” 

Gregory shuffled sideways to be tucked into Freddy’s side. “Aw, Dad. No matter how far I go or how long I’m gone, I promise—I’ll always come back. No one’s gonna need missing posters for me again.”

[sanccharine]

10 | spiralling...

hogwarts au

pairing: hufflepuff!tzuyu x slytherin!reader genre: fluff, slice of life word count: 2.1k

warnings: swearing, mentions of injuries

summary: whether on the field or during class, you never shied away from trouble. and in your sixth year, trouble seemed to follow you like a shadow, though you couldn’t complain. especially when that series of misfortunes led you to the transfiguration prodigy, chou tzuyu. includes: ateez’s san and wooyoung, red velvet's yeri, txt's yeonjun, viviz's sinb

status: ongoing a/n: i feel like i make slytherin!reader unnecessarily angsty, like babygorl (non-gendered) life isn’t that serious, go stream crazy form and relax ! also thanks to @eternallyghosting for the moral support (and stopping me from throwing my laptop at the wall)

masterlist | chapter 9 | chapter 11

You’ve been avoiding Chou Tzuyu. 

Much like how she’s been avoiding you. 

Well… you didn’t know how accurate the second statement was. Of course, you would have to address her at some point to come to that conclusion. 

After Tzuyu had run away from you, the first thing you did was head to practice. But the ground where you agreed upon was devoid of people. Gulping, you made your way to class, ignoring both your crushing guilt and your restless arm. 

While you were grateful Tzuyu, or Kang Yeosang for that matter, were nowhere to be found. You still had to face your friends. 

Wooyoung and San were seated at the very back, very uncharacteristic of the latter, but you guessed the situation asked for it. Both Yeonjun and Yeri were there with them, engrossed in what was probably a retelling of the morning. The second pair was very clearly showing their backs to the professor. Fortunately for them, the teacher seemed not to care one bit because, for one, Wooyoung wasn’t even taking this subject. 

As you sneaked your way in, the professor rolled his eyes at you before turning back to drone on about the class. Avoiding questioning eyes, you made it to the back of the class just as Wooyoung noticed you. Taking a spot at the empty table to his left, you held your breath as four pairs of eyes turned to you. 

In an instant, Wooyoung pressed himself to your side and took your left arm. “You didn’t say anything did you?” He pushed up your sleeve up to the elbow. “Did Madam Yun give you the healing potion—ugly green in colour?” He turned your arm around. “Did she give you anything else? It doesn’t seem to have worked, hmm.”

Even if you wanted to, you didn’t have the strength to yank your hand from Wooyoung's care. But you didn’t. 

Knowing him, he expected answers so you obliged with a groan. “No, I didn’t say anything. Yes, I had the potion. No, she didn’t give anything else. This is just a side effect, it will be gone by the end of the day probably.” 

You avoided his eyes when Wooyoung tilted his head in question, unconvinced. 

San opened his mouth, no doubt about to ask how you were doing, after all, he was the last to see you at the clinic. But Yeri beat him to it. 

“Eunbi is pissed, you know,” Yeri confessed, having been at the practice you missed. 

“Does she know?” you asked, as you tried to gently pry your hand from Wooyoung’s grip. 

“No, but it won’t be long before she finds out,” Yeri said. She seemed detached, but you noticed. Underneath her table, she crossed and uncrossed her legs, shifting almost as much as the gears in her head. 

“She won’t be happy,” Yeonjun said as San nodded. 

“Woo and Sangie did their best, but I don’t think it’ll do much—”

You interrupted San, finally yanking your hand from Wooyoung. “That’s right!” you almost yelled but caught yourself just at the right moment. “What were you and Yeosang thinking? Lying to Lee? What if she wasn’t in the mood to play along with you?” 

“We were thinking that you, of all people, didn’t deserve to get expelled for punching that asshole." Wooyoung rolled his eyes and moved to your hand again, straightening out your sleeve. 

“I doubt Yeosang thought that—”

“He’s not as cold as he looks, you know,” Wooyoung cut you off as he moved to button your shirt, undeterred by the blood stains. “Just a stickler for rules, otherwise, he’s basically harmless.” 

“It’s true,” Yeonjun piped in. “He’s actually very cute.” 

Both you and Yeri threw Yeonjun a questioning glare, not really understanding how that statement was relevant to this conversation but went with it anyway. 

“Regardless, if it weren’t for him, you wouldn’t be sitting here,” that much you could agree on. Wooyoung had moved to your tie and fixed it up as well. “Besides, with both of Lee’s star pupils having your back, there was no way she would’ve expelled you.” 

That was the type of faulty thinking you never entertained in all your years at Hogwarts. 

“Tzuyu definitely wouldn’t have let it happen,” Wooyoung barely got out the words, almost as if it was an internal thought that had made it to his lips without his decision. 

If that was true, then why did she turn tail the second she was alone with you?

You couldn’t help but frown at the thought. 

Wooyoung finally pulled away from you when Yeri spoke up again. “So how do we handle Eunbi?” 

Happy that it doesn’t directly involve him, Wooyoung relaxed in his seat and bared his dimples at the rest of you. 

Handle Eunbi? There was no such thing. What she says goes, and most of the time, you trusted her decision without question. 

“Well, if she knows, it's her decision to bench me—”

“There's no way she’s benching you!” San said, appalled but cringed when he realised how loud his voice had come out. 

“There’s no point stressing about that,” Yeonjun added, nonchalantly. “She simply can’t afford to bench you—”

“And since Lee is on your side, it's all up to Eunbi,” Yeri concluded. “She won’t bench you.” 

But that was never your worry. 

Frowning, you hid your trembling arm underneath the table as you turned your attention to the class. However, not before catching Yeri’s grimace.

When you exited the class later, you attempted to apologise to the professor on behalf of your friends. Unsurprisingly, you received an irate get out! from him. 

The rest of the day passed you in a blur, you just followed your friends around. And when it came to the classes you shared with Tzuyu, you decided to skip them for the day. Instead, you grabbed your broom from your dorm and headed straight for Jeongyeon’s tunnel. The time through the one that connects under and out the other side of the Ravenclaw tower. If you stayed close to the water, even stray students who skipped class like you should miss you. 

Within just seconds in the air, you knew something was wrong. Before you could nosedive into the lake, you brought yourself back down. While you didn’t crash face-first into the dirt, you did stumble off your broom. Not a promising sign when you have a game in less than a week. 

Ignoring the way your left arm was shaking, you gripped your broom in your right and walked back to where you were. Once again, you mounted your broom and lifted off. This time around, you were stable, floating in the air but in place—classic first-year challenge. Although, it was normal to feel some sense of movement when seated on a broom—you were flying after all—it wasn’t supposed to be as obvious as it was. 

Almost like a bee, you buzzed in place, twitching forwards and backwards from time to time much like your arm does. And when you tighten your grip on the broom, you just tip forward, ready to be thrown off the broom again. This shouldn’t be a problem, as a Beater you didn’t need both hands on the broom. So when you lifted your left arm away, not only did the broom straighten but also stopped acting up. 

Flight came easy to you. But you couldn’t rejoice just yet. 

Making circles above the lake was no difficult task, it was as if you were never injured in the first place. 

The problem lay where you lost complete control of your left arm from the elbow down. 

It was just thrashing around to your side, completely useless. And in the moments where you did gain some semblance of control, your muscle pulled, shooting jabbing pain up your arm and forcing you to stop flying before you could take a dip in freezing cold water. There was absolutely no way you'd be able to hold a bat, let alone aim or deflect a Bludger. 

And when you switched arms, hoping to use your right as the batting hand, you might as well be possessed with how you jumped across the air on your broom. 

As the sun began its descent down the sky, you decided it was time to return to your common room. You could fix this problem, you had to, you had a week to so… well, less than.

That night, you skipped dinner as well. 

Unfortunately for you, Eunbi decided to do the same. 

As you rose from the couch, your excuse was already on your lips. “Listen, you have to understand—”

Eunbi gestured for you to stay seated, as she made her way right to your side. “Give me your arm.” 

Following orders, you pulled up your sleeve and raised it. 

“It looks fine,” then she pressed on your palm, and your hand shot out of her grasp. “Never mind.” 

This is the first night all over again. 

The creases formed by Eunbi’s frown seemed deeper under the dim lights, ageing her much older than she was. 

You wanted to ask her questions. How did she find out about your arm so quickly? Did she hear about your fight? How much of it did she hear was accurate? Who had told her? Did she know about Lee’s interference? Or about Wooyoung and Yeosang’s? Well, really Tzuyu's. What did she think about Hyukwoo? What did she think about you? Your actions? What happens now?

Every question running through your mind was another second Eunbi stayed silent.

“Did you skip your classes today?” 

Now that was the last question you thought she’d ask. And who snitched on you?

“Yes,” you said with a blank expression. 

“Did you practice?” she asked, for a second, her eyes flitting to the lake. 

“Yes,” you nodded. “But just flying” 

“How did your arm affect you then?” she asked, catching your eyes again.

“It wasn’t… It wasn't great.” 

“Okay,” Eunbi nodded to herself. “We’ll have to use the same method from second year.” 

“But it’s not just weak, I have no control—”

“Well, it’s our best shot. And Madam Yun says it should go away—”

“You spoke to Madam Yun about this? When did you get the time—?”

“That doesn’t matter,” Eunbi shrugged as she folded her arms, physically defending herself even when her words were dismissive. “I want you to practice whenever you can and always with someone. Preferably with Yeri, of course."

Eunbi paused to consider something.

"Did you try to fly handless?"

Now, why didn't you think of that?

"No, I didn't."

It wouldn't be hard for you, not really. But in a game, especially with your role, accuracy was vital. Automatically, as one hand swings the bat, the other will find its place on the broom. You simply couldn't afford to steer handless.

Eunbi seemed to come to the same conclusion.

"That's not a problem," she nodded. "Whether you want to fly or bat with that hand is your choice but whatever you choose, focus on consistency, not strength.” 

 Although she didn’t explicitly say the words, it was clear she believed your hand wouldn’t be cooperating in time for the game. Perhaps, she was right. 

“Don’t get all mopey about it,” Eunbi said, gently smacking your right shoulder. “If anything goes south, we can figure it out on the spot.”

When you just stared at your hand, Eunbi grabbed your chin and forced you to look at her. 

“Just practice and keep me updated daily, alright?” Eunbi ordered. “We’re not losing the game, trust me.” 

You nodded, believing her. 

“Now that’s over with,” Eunbi sighed, and folded her arms again. “I heard you soiled my Transfiguration textbook.”

Shit.

You don’t even know where it was. 

Last you remembered, you’d thrown it to the ground before you charged at Hyukwoo. Or was it at Madam Yun’s after you'd been dropped there by San? 

Eunbi scoffed with a roll of her eyes. “I’ll get you another textbook but don't expect a free pass this time. We'll annotate it together and I'm testing how well you've studied so far. "

Yeah, that was deserved.

"We can figure that out sometime after the game, and try not to destroy it this time.” 

With another pat on your shoulder, Eunbi headed for the dorms. 

“I’m sorry,” you turned around in your seat and called out. "Really!" 

“Whatever,” Eunbi threw a hand in the air, clearly too tired to care about this. 

“Hold on, are you going to sleep? Now? Did you have dinner?” 

“I had a bread roll—”

“Are you serious right now—?”

“Tell me what to do when you’re not being all sad and shit. You go eat dinner,” Eunbi said in a flippant manner as she took the stairs. 

“Eunbi!” 

“Goodnight, Y/N,” and with that she disappeared.

any feedback is much appreciated.

a/n: literally nothing happens in this chapter im sorry. also if you all are sick of reading the same fucking day for like the last four chapters, you don't understand HOW SICK i am of writing this stupid day. like slytherin!reader stop fucking crying waah waah waah i dont want to hear it !!

taglist: @someone-who-likes-broccoli @tatliegilim

send an ask to be added !

[ladylilithprime]

Day 29: Blue

(Set in the Phoenix and Dragon 'verse, with established SaMichael and burgeoning CaSaMichael.)

SAM HAD NEVER seen Castiel's wings before the Apocalypse. To be fair, he had also never seen Michael's wings before then, either, but he had also had multiple occasions to see Michael's wings in the Cage as well as seeing them after their reunion and reconnection as mates. He had seen the scarlet and gold of healthy feathers turn dull, the blackened and damaged pinions from the hellfire that infused the Cage, the brittle brass and old blood of feathers caught up in Lucifer's ice, and the softer, sunset orange plumes that grew in when the dead and damaged feathers were gently plucked away.

Sam's own feathers weren't actually damaged, much to his private dismay. The seed grace from Michael, their bond and the extra that had been needed to patch his soul together in the Cage, had been hidden away when Death pulled him out, first by Death's wall, and then by Sam's own powerful will. The black tips and striping of the primaries were an entirely natural part of the feathers' coloration, an accent to the burgundy and crimson much the way Michael's feathers were edged in gold. It was also, Michael had assured him, the complete opposite of Lucifer's wings which, at their healthiest and most brilliant, had been a glittering crystalline white that slowly darkened into a deep pink, much like a flamingo. The striping, Michael said, was similar to Earth birds of prey, particularly owls, which suited Sam's nature as hunter and scholar with ties as strong to Earth as to Heaven.

Michael also confided that he found the clear markings of a predator in Sam's wings to be something of a turn-on, which made Sam feel a bit better about them.

Dean had taken the news that his brother had wings better than Sam had feared he would. He had definitely taken it better than he had the initial revelation that the reason Sam had been so skittish and standoffish around the newly-restored but depowered Michael had been because he was suddenly having to confront eons of suppressed memories of his and Michael's courtship amid their captivity with a petulant and vengeful Lucifer. Apparently being told that Michael had "quickly come to regret his initial harshness" was still a far cry from "became thoroughly enamored and spent several centuries attempting to woo Sam as a mate which was eventually accepted a good four centuries before Death came" and Dean felt unfairly blindsided. Compared to learning that his little brother who was already famous for having questionable taste in nonhuman lovers ("Thanks, Dean, really want to be reminded of my bad decisions during my self-destructive period.") was apparently shacking up with the Archangel who'd wanted to kill him ("I never wanted to kill Sam, I had simply resigned myself to his death being inevitable collateral to my having to kill Lucifer!") then finding out that the whole Archangel mate thing came with a shiny set of wings was about par for the course of weirdness in their lives.

"You're not gonna just fuck off to Heaven and the Angels and forget about hunting, right?"

"No, of course not!"

"Then just don't make me clean up shed feathers anywhere in the kitchen or communal spaces or the Impala and we're good."

"Um, about that...."

It had taken some hemming and hawing before Sam finally just reached behind his back and tugged a feather free, shoving the black-tipped crimson and burgundy feather at Dean with a disgruntled look and a direction not to ask uncomfortable questions, just... stash it in the glovebox of the Impala or something. Dean's incredulous and slightly suspicious question of if this was like Castiel sneaking a couple of black feathers into their duffle bags back during the Apocalypse had been met with surprise from Sam - he hadn't realized the feather was from Castiel, though knowing that made him glad that he'd stashed it in his laptop bag when he'd found it - and dismay from Michael because, "What do you mean 'black'?"

Michael, it turned out, hadn't properly seen Castiel's wings since before sending him and his garrison to harrow Hell for Dean's soul. He wouldn't say what color Castiel's wings had been other than "not black" and while Dean had pouted he'd chosen not to press, especially when Castiel had arrived and both Sam and Michael had clammed up in shock. Even repaired through the touch of Michael's restored Grace, whatever color Castiel's wings had been, they were most certainly black now. The bone structure was intact, but Sam could still see all the places where they had been broken or mangled in the way the feathers were bent, broken, ripped out and scarred... They had promptly folded close against his back when Castiel noticed both Sam and Michael standing there with their wings unbound and staring at him.

"The situation has been resolved, then?" he had asked politely. "Good. Michael, please understand that while I respect you as an Archangel and my commander, if you bring harm to Sam Winchester the likes of which you were visiting upon him when I first sought to free him from the Cage, I still have access to holy oil. Sam... I know that you are at least somewhat aware of what Michael suffered when he lost the last being that was nearly as close to him as you have become, so please be gentle with my brother and have patience with his inevitable missteps."

"Cas? Did... did you just give both our brothers the shovel talk?" Dean had demanded indignantly.

"I don't know what you mean," Castiel had deadpanned while a very touched and impressed Sam and Michael fought against giggles. "I said nothing at all about shovels."

THEY LEFT THE subject alone for weeks, as much out of respect for Castiel's personal boundaries as for the sheer amount of work they had to do. Ousting Lucifer from Heaven and taking control. Starting up the process required to create new Angels. Discovering that Gabriel was still alive and mounting a rescue against Asmodeus juiced up on stolen Archangel Grace. Helping Gabriel to recover from his ordeal, and then helping him hunt down Loki and his children in vengeance for selling him to the demon Prince as completely overblown "payback" for the Apocalypse. Tracking and capturing Lucifer.

The conversation had quickly turned to their next steps now that they had Michael back up to snuff and Sam's Grace reawakened, and the subject of Castiel's damaged wings had been left to lie for the time.

The eve before they were due to open the portal to the Apocalypse world where Lucifer had taken Mary and where Jack was currently trapped, Sam and Michael took a moment away from the dungeons where Lucifer was bound with warding glyphs that only Dean could bypass and went hunting for Castiel. They found him up on the roof of the Bunker, struggling to reach the back of one wing to get at a clump of tangled feathers.

"Castiel?" Michael called softly in a tone Sam usually only heard when they were alone. It helped firm his resolve when Castiel went still and seemed to hunch in on himself.

"Cas," he murmured, stepping up beside his mate and stretching out a hand. "If you don't want us, we'll understand, but... we're here and offering. Let us help?"

"I..." Castiel paused, his wings trembling. "You are a pair bond, one of the strongest I have ever seen. I do not wish to disrupt that for my own selfish desires...."

"And if your desires align with ours?" Michael asked, stretching out one of his hands in mirror to Sam. "You would not be able to come between us unless we put you there."

"And we do want you there, Cas," Sam added, meeting Castiel's eyes when the seraph turned hesitantly towards them. "We are willing to accept 'no' for an answer if you truly don't want this, but if your objection has anything to do with not feeling worthy, we're going to argue. I should warn you, Michael's had a lot of practice with arguing down my feelings of unworthiness, and you know how stubborn I can be."

"Winchester stubbornness is quite legendary, yes," Castiel said dryly, lips twitching when Sam and Michael both chuckled. The smile dropped as he lowered his eyes, carefully unfurling his wings and spreading them wide, angling the bent and broken tips of his primaries towards Sam and Michael and exposing the undersides to them in deference and supplication. "I will likely require further convincing and assurance that my presence with you both is truly welcome, but I am willing to allow your efforts to convince me... and I do need help with my wings rather badly."

"We would be honored to assist," Michael replied for them both, spreading his own wings in mimic of Castiel, and Sam hastened to copy him.

Barely a glance and gesture was needed before they converged on Castiel, Michael going to the rightmost wing while Sam took the left. Castiel ended up directly between them with one wing each from Sam and Michael folded together in front of him to let him lean forward and rest in their wings' embrace while they tended to his damaged feathers. Sam flexed his own Grace carefully with wiping away lingering traces of sulfur and soot as he stroked his fingers through the feathers, coaxing the dead and broken ones still clinging to release and come free. Michael passed him a small jar of salve to carefully spread over the scarring, easing the tightness there where the wing had bunched itself up and prevented new growth.

"You've some new feathers coming in already," Michael murmured after a while, shifting to point at the base of Castiel's wings when Sam craned his neck to see.

His breath caught.

No wonder Michael was so dismayed to hear these wings described as black, he thought, staring in wonder and the tiny, new-grown, bright sapphire blue feathers peaking through the darkness. He couldn't wait to see how amazing Castiel's wings were going to look when fully groomed and healed.

[boobeam-trap]

Finally starting a Blosserk long fic that I have been planning for years now. I finally have time and inspiration and a laptop, so woo!

I'm also hoping this can help me shake off some cobwebs for my original story, but I'm legitimately very excited about this one.

Just a fair warning, this is a bit of a slow burn. The plan is for 41 chapters across 8 stories and 3 one-shots. The pairing really starts coming together around Story 6, but there are some definite hints as early as Story 2's conclusion.

Story #1 in the "Another Shade of Red" Universe | Thirteen years have passed since the Powerpuff Girls defeated the Powerpunk Girls and shattered the connection between their worlds. Blossom has gone off to college, burying herself in schoolwork and superhero duties to try to keep herself from drowning in boredom. Berserk has spent every moment of every day obsessing over and hating that perfect, better version of herself who ruined her life.

Neither is aware of the cosmic forces maneuvering to bring them crashing back into each other.

[timextoxhajima]

Sonder: Part IV

Parts: I II III IV V

member: enhypen heeseung! x oc! woo ki yeom [3rd person pov]

genre: coming of age, slice of life, angst, romance

w/c: 5.8k

warnings: topics on religion, distressed relationships, mental health (I want to leave an a/n here that I grew up with my maternal family being Buddhists so what I've written is based off what I researched online and the way her family practised Buddhism. I'm personally a free-tinker and this narrative is not in any way meant to offend nor support any particular religion.)

synopsis: after being kicked out of her home, Woo Ki Yeom is forced to live life on her own. struggling to find herself in the midst of her chaotic life, she meets lee heeseung, who, like her, can't give any more fucks to life than she does.

"n. the realization that each random passerby is living a life as vivid and complex as your own."

It had taken Heeseung awhile to fall asleep, despite knowing that she was long passed out. If he tried hard enough, he'd be able to hear the first morning birds chirping from a distance.

Ki Yeom was wrapped in her blanket, passed out on the mattress on the floor. Her place was kept simple and somewhat tidy, with an abundance of instant food and a rather adequate range of cutlery and utensils. The furniture is minimal - they look like resale items from garage sales or thrift stores. There's a small desk in the corner where her laptop is, and right next to it is a single-columned shelf with some files and books. He wonders if they have her drawings, but he's too tired to get up and be nosy.

Besides, he's heard enough of her story to feel bad for her, to feel like he was an asshole for thinking the world was a boring place. Suddenly, he feels like a hypocrite.

He had the perfect home, much like the best friend she had described, and yet, he chose to pack up and leave, in search of 'life's purpose'.

Heeseung sighs, breath trembling. He leans his head back on the kitchen cabinets, and prays that his tail bone and neck wouldn't hurt too much in a couple of hours.

By the time Ki Yeom's eyes had finally managed to open (albeit how swollen and uncomfortable they were), she had already managed to make out the blob that's passed out along the length of her kitchen and cabinets.

He slept facing upwards, one arm under his neck and the other over his eyes, hair tousled and his shirt was slightly pulled up to expose his belly button.

She rolls over in her mattress, arm extending to the rattan box she had by it as a tableside top.

11.38am. 3 missed calls. 327 unread messages.

She pulls the notifications bar down.

2 missed calls from Jun Yeol.

1 missed call from Soo Min.

Jun Yeol: Hello?

Jun Yeol: Don't you have an appointment coming in at 12.30pm?

"Fuck."

Ki Yeom sits up, tired eyes struggling to remain open. She swings her legs over the edge and stands, stretching her neck and arms as she walks over to the bathroom quietly.

And for the first time in four years, there's a need to close the bathroom door.

The afternoon sun was ruthless when she stepped out, scorching her skin in all the spots she was exposed, but it felt different.

Ki Yeom wonders if the talk the night before had really made the difference. Why did it make such a huge one?

She pushes herself into the parlour, rushing past Soo Min and Jun Yeol (so they wouldn't be able to spot her swollen eyes that easily) and straight towards her client who was already seated at her booth.

Heeseung jolts awake when a car honks, then he realises the sun wasn't in its usual spot in the mornings when he normally wakes up. He sucks in a deep breath, then yawns, hands fondling his sides for his phone. Gone.

He quickly sits up, wondering for a moment if the girl might've possibly stolen it. But as he sits up, he spots his phone being charged at the plug on her desk.

He sighs, instantly feeling terrible about doubting her. Awkwardly squatting next to her desk, he unlocks his phone without pulling out the charger, looking through the messages that his friends had spammed in their groupchats and the Instagram notifications that he couldn't really care less about.

Maybe I should just delete it, He thinks to himself. Then he unplugs his phone, then grips the edge of the table to pull himself up.

That's when he spots the post-it note pasted to the surface.

Feel free to stay the day. I trust you won't steal anything. I have an appointment and then I have to meet the friend I was telling you about last night for coffee in the evening. Wish me luck.

Heeseung peels it off the desk and reads it again. He gently folds it, deciding he would keep it as some sort of contract for their friendship. As he drops it in his pocket, he realises that he was instantly finding joy in being an annoying friend.

It's a slow afternoon as he goes back to his apartment, freshening himself up before leaving to run errands. But just as he steps out of the lift-

"Hi, I'm looking for a Woo Ki Yeom?"

Heeseung looks up from his phone despite having already walked past him. He doesn't turn, but in his peripheral vision, he can make out an older man, probably in his late 40s, talking to the guard at the counter.

Exiting the building, he turns back and looks in through the glass, watching the man gesture to the security guard. In his wrinkled hand was a little note, which Heeseung assumes is the address, and as he swaps the note from one hand to another, he wipes his free palm on his Bermudas.

Heeseung looks away, heart stopping and breath held.

They have the same tired eyes.

"Alright," Ki Yeom takes a deep breath, sitting upright from the crouched over position she was in. She gently pats the wrap and pulls off her gloves, reaching over for a newly packaged ointment bottle and placing it into a plastic bag. "This is the moisturizer ointment. Wash your tattoo two to three times a day gently with water then dry it, then use the ointment. Don't go sunbathing or tanning until your tat's healed."

"How long before it's healed?"

The girl sits up in the chair and swings her leg over the edge, awkwardly lifting up her arm where the abstractly-drawn starfish was red and swollen.

"Uh..." Ki Yeom laughs a little (on the inside. She doesn't want to hurt the girl's feelings. The star fish has the diameter of a coin). "I'd say a month? Should be fine... Do you go to the beach or go swimming in an outdoor pool or running or...?"

"Oh, no. I just... you know. Wondering how long I have to wait..."

Ki Yeom squints at her before turning around in her roller chair, reaching out to pack her equipment and inks. "Wait? Before... showing it off?" She pauses, studying her client. "Someone doesn't want you to get a tat, huh?"

The girl purses her lips together in an awkward, embarrassed smile. "When it's healed, it's easier for me to say that I've already gotten it done and there's nothing to be done about it."

Ki Yeom smirks cheekily, tossing her used gloves into the bin by her station. "My boss once told me that tattoos belong to the person that's getting it. Your body, your choice. If that's of any comfort."

The client nods again, unsure how to respond. Ki Yeom ignores the horrid ending to the conversation and walks her up to the cashier, where along the way, she spots Ji Yeon loitering outside the parlour like a stalker.

Maybe I shouldn't have told her I was free today.

After her client leaves, Ki Yeom pretends not to see Ji Yeon, meagerly walking back to her station as if dragging out the time and procrastinating the coffee date. Though, she kind of needed it, after all that crying and lack of sleep last night. In fact, Ki Yeom is surprised she had managed to stay awake the entire time she was working.

"She's like an ex-boyfriend," Soo Min calls out from her station, eyes quickly glancing to her and then back to her own client.

"Y'think?" Ki Yeom widens her eyes, well aware that she wasn't in anybody's field of vision to see it, as she crouches to pack her bag.

"Will you be okay?"

Ki Yeom picks up her bag up and swings it over her shoulder as she stands. "I guess I'll find out later."

Soo Min looks up from her client for just a second, and nods.

There's a reluctance in Ki Yeom's chest as she turns around. Ji Yeon was still outside, now back facing the parlour, and turned to face the road. She was looking up at the buildings, eyes still full of wander.

I will always be second to Ji Yeon. As someone experiencing life; as a person. She will always be kinder, and sweeter, and gentle with her words. Polite to the elderly and patient with the children. The type of person that cats and dogs wouldn't hesitate to run up to on the streets, as if they already knew her.

The waitress at the coffee shop was clearly more than surprised to see the unfriendly tattoo artist coming in with another person. And as the cherry on top, said person was the polar opposite of Ki Yeom.

"Hello," Ji Yeon greets the waitress, who beams upon the acknowledgement.

Great, now I look even more like an asshole.

"Hi! Can I get you started on any drinks or appetisers?" The waitress is high-strung, as if excited to finally have someone to talk to. The dinner crowd hadn't come in yet, and Ki Yeom is slightly curious at why she seemed so enthusiastic.

"Give us a couple of moments to look through the menu. What do you recommend?"

"We're known for our coffees! But our pork belly rice bowl and fusion items are popular as well."

"Great, I'll keep that in mind."

And with that, the waitress smiles widely, greeting Ji Yeon again before she walks back to the counter.

"Can we get this over with?"

Ji Yeon looks up from her digital menu and at Ki Yeom, eyes tired and shoulders sunken.

"You look like you didn't sleep a wink last night," She points out as-a-matter-of-factly, looking back down at her phone screen.

"I slept late, and slept badly, just so you know. But we don't have to prolong this. What do you want to talk about?"

"Are you hungry? Shall we get their coffee specials and just a pork belly bowl for sharing?"

Ki Yeom stares at her, wanting to frown but unable to when she looks up from her phone again, eyes bright and spirits lifted.

Then this nagging, digging feeling in her stomach comes again after four long years. The feeling of watching someone be absolutely perfect, knowing you wouldn't be anywhere near and being unable to fathom why.

She was in perfect control of her feelings, her facial expressions, her body language, her tone and her words. Ki Yeom knows that the problem is within herself, but she knows she doesn't have the patience to fix it.

"Can you stop being like this?"

Ji Yeon presses the submit button on the digital order form as Ki Yeom hurtles the words at her. She looks up at her, then locks her phone and places it facing down on the table.

"Like what?" She gently shakes her head and politely places her hands on her thighs.

Ki Yeom tightens her jaw, leaning back in her seat and placing her wrists on the edge of the table, fingers curled in, like she was stretching, while facing Ji Yeon who was sat opposite her. She studies Ji Yeon - That blank, innocent look on her face that tells her Ji Yeon truly has no idea what she's talking about.

It steps on her toes all over again.

"Like a perfect... specimen of a human being. What's wrong with you? Are you so afraid to hurt someone? Are you scared that being angry is going to piss someone off? Are you afraid to make enemies?"

Now, there's a gentle frown slowly forming between Ji Yeon's brows. "I don't understand. What does the way I respond to things have anything to do with this conversation we're supposed to have?"

"Because you're just so perfect! Do you owe the world something? Why do you care so much about how people look at you?"

"What are you talking about?"

Ki Yeom pants slightly, realising that she was speaking abit louder than normal. Her hands were now gripping the edges of the table. She sighs and rubs her eyes.

"No, don't shut down on me now," Ji Yeon reaches out and pulls her hands off her face.

"Don't touch me!" Ki Yeom retracts her wrists sharply.

Ji Yeon is obviously hurt at the rejection, but she leans back and crosses her arms across her chest. "Go ahead. Say something else. After all, this is how much you've spoken in four years."

"Oh, now you're getting mad? All those years of being Miss-Goody-Two-Shoes finally catching up to you, huh? I was the grumpy one and you were always the pretty, smart, nice one and you loved it!"

Ki Yeom pauses, watching as the brutal truth and harsh emotions begin leaking from a cracked bottle that she had tried so hard to wrap up and throw away. It's slow - the beads collecting at the little cracks. So small, that you might mistake the bottle for condensed beads of water.

"And you know what? You loved it all the way until my family fell apart. Even then, being the nice person was your utmost priority! Paying for my meals when I said I could. Buying things for me just because I mentioned it once! And then when it all happened, you ran around asking where I was, announcing that you were just worried. All that effort trying to find me and making sure that I was okay. Well, guess what? With or without you, I was not okay. I needed a friend. A friend who would get angry with me and be broke together and lose all direction in life. Not a fucking guardian trying to replace my fucking parents. Not a role model that's excelling at everything she does. Not a person that never disappoints."

Something in the kitchen dings. It's a good thing nobody else was in the cafe right now, for a pin drop would sound like a metal thermoflask dropping on the floor.

Ki Yeom had completely expected Ji Yeon to pack her things and leave. Maybe throw a cup of water at her. Or at least tear up and cry out of hurt and grief.

But she is Ji Yeon, and to Ki Yeom, she will always be perfect in the way she feels things; sees things; perceives them. Right now, Ji Yeon is just but a person who is victim to the trials and tribulations of life, the victim to individual thought and perception.

"You're right," Ji Yeon responds quietly. The reply stuns Ki Yeom, surprise seeping again into anger. Ki Yeom cocks her head, a disbelieved smirk ripping apart her lips and preparing to retort again, but Ji Yeon interrupts her. "If you think I'm perfect, then I guess to some extent, I am. I don't wish to look imperfect. That's just how I am. I grew up believing that perfection is just a concept, subject to individual perspective."

"Shut the fuck up. You're telling me you had this ideology at what, the ages of six to ten?"

"From the ages six to ten, perfection was not a concept I understood."

Ki Yeom stops.

"From the ages six to ten, I was just learning. God forbid anybody who thought that a kid who just wanted to learn was imperfect. You are angry at my lack of response to the things that happen out of my control. I see it as a waste of time if I respond angrily. What good does it do?"

The anger seems to seep back in again. The irony is, Ki Yeom understood her. Word for word, from her perspective. But the more she spoke, the more perfect she seemed, as if she couldn't be more perfect. What kind of politically correct, woke response was that?

"I know what you're thinking. You're thinking why I'm still acting like I'm perfect. If it's of any comfort, I don't think I am, but you seem to think that I am. And yet, the fact that me being perfect is imperfect to you is a point in itself. Perfection gets on your nerves and imperfection gets on others'. There's no winning."

Ki Yeom sucks in a deep breath, toes curling in her shoes as she buries her face in her hands. She can taste the sour ball in the back of her throat as her nose starts to sniffle with her breaths. There's a muffled second, only able to hear the music playing in the back, then there's an overwhelming grief of loss as the gravity of the truth slowly sets in.

"I'm not here to talk about whether I was perfect and how it bothered you. I wanted to know... how you've been. Clearly, the things I did as you went through that rough patch in your life was not the best sequence of actions from your point of view but it was from mine. I hope you know that even though what I did wasn't of help, but it was still what I thought was best."

There's a pause as the waitress comes by with the coffees. The ceramic clanks onto the table.

In theory, Ki Yeom knows she's right. Ji Yeon is always right. Everything she did, she did with her best interest at heart. She was broke, so Ji Yeon offered to pay. She was kicked out, so Ji Yeon wanted to look for her.

Maybe that's the part Ki Yeom couldn't swallow. Even when she was the victim, she was still the bad guy, not the fallen hero who had a redemption arc.

"I wish we weren't ever best friends," Ki Yeom's voice is hoarse and exhausted. "Because then we wouldn't need to go through this."

"The good friendships are tested to their limits. That's how a bond is formed."

"No. Our bond was gone a long time ago and we are both just here to reconcile with it, and bury it."

There's a special type of grief that comes when you're actively aware when an era or a period of fond memories come to an end - like a holiday.

Or a friendship.

Said grief feels slow, almost insignificant. Like you don't notice it because it's been gone for so long.

There isn't much to say about how it feels. Except that it creeps up on you, no matter how many times you are able to rationalise the feelings to yourself. You could tell yourself the story a hundred times in the mirror and still be unable to swallow that the friendship had turned sour, no matter the exact reason.

And that sucks.

Ki Yeom was too exhausted to feel the sadness and the grief of it all on the way home. She couldn't even cry.

So when she spots Heeseung sitting by the bench outside the apartment building and eating an ice cream, the setting, evening sun casting a mandarin shade on him. She wonders for a moment if he was here for her.

She pauses at the traffic junction, tilting her head as she waited for him to take notice of her waiting for the lights to change. Then he looks up and around, and spots her across the road. Ki Yeom wants to smile, but it doesn't come out.

Then her heart stops, when Heeseung seemed worried. She doesn't know why she had expected him to smile and stand and wave to her, but he doesn't.

The traffic light turns, the incessant beeping somehow making its way past her headphones and into her eardrums, that quite literally explode in them when she gets them off.

"Hey," Heeseung greets first, licking the corner of his lips. "Look, there's something that I think you should know before you go into the building."

Ki Yeom frowns at him, as if he were the one who just broke her heart into a million pieces. He sucks in a deep breath and purses his lips, puffing up the space between his gum and the inside of his mouth, then exhales through a small 'o'.

"I think your father's here."

And just like that. The day literally could not get any worse.

"What?"

Heeseung parts his lips in a bid to say something, but nothing comes out.

"Why don't we go elsewhere? Until late, and maybe he won't be here anymore."

"How long has he been here?"

"I woke up in your place around lunchtime. 12 plus, one? Went home, washed up and came out for errands around two and he was already here. Asking the guard if you lived here."

How many fucking times must she go through this tormenting process in a day?

"You said you had that coffee date today with your friend. I'm assuming it didn't go well. Let's not stay here."

"You just told me he's been here for five hours. Even if he goes away while we're away, he's gonna come back another day."

"I know that but you're not in the state to have another conversation like that."

"Don't talk to me like you know everything about me."

"Then be my guest and go in there. Have that conversation with your father about the last four years he was absent from your life. Tell him that you're doing well but you got an offer to move overseas and that you just fell out with your best friend."

If her thoughts were a mindless man running on a treadmill, he'd halt so abruptly, he'd fly off.

Heeseung raises a brow when she goes quiet.

The street behind them had significantly picked up in traffic all of a sudden. He assumes it's the evening traffic.

"What, did I just summarise your life? Ever since you moved out?"

Ki Yeom frowns and looks away, eyes welling with tears.

"You are so caught up... in- in thinking about the same few things, that you couldn't see anything outside of it. And now that they have finally come knocking on your doorstep, you hate it. But haven't you been giving it the most attention? Given how much you despise it? Four years! And this is all that you think you life amounts to? Topping sales, an offer overseas, a falling out with your best friend?"

She turns and shoves him back on the shoulder, the tears finally billowing over her lower lids. "You think it's so easy to let go? You think I don't wake up wishing that things were different? Maybe if I were a better person and I weren't such a bitch, I'd be a better friend and a better daughter."

Heeseung parts his lips in disbelief, hands ruffling through his hair as he combs through his locks with his fingers. "You don't get it. These are all but mistakes in life, personalities and perspectives that don't align. You've had four years to learn from them, accept them and forget about them before you move on. But you have been your own prisoner."

"Ki Yeom?"

Heeseung gently shuts his eyes when he can hear the fragile voice coming from behind him. His arms drop to his side as he opens his eyes again, watching through her eyes as her inner world crumble even more. He already made her cry, now someone else is here to finish the job.

"Who is this?" The footsteps are anxious as he comes from behind Heeseung, who turns around and meekly greets the elder. "Is he bothering you? Who is he?"

Ki Yeom is speechless, but she can't ignore how different he looks.

She counts the wrinkles on his forehead and around his eyes. His hands are naturally trembling abit more as he points to Heeseung, and he seemed to have a little limp when he walks.

"Ki Yeom, is he bothering yo-"

"Don't."

There's a look of hurt that's somewhat expectant on his face when he knows her response is to him, and not to answer the question.

"Who gave you my address?"

Her father looks down at his feet, slightly ashamed.

"I begged your grandfather for it. I'm sorry. He told me he can't give it to me but I just... kept asking. When he gave it to me, he told me that I could only come look for you in secret, and not reach out. But- but how could I? I mean... it's been-"

"Don't."

Ki Yeom has both palms lifted in the air and facing him in a bid to tell him to shut up. Eyes closed, she blinks the tears that are hindering her vision.

"I'm..." Heeseung's voice croaks. "Going to go-"

"No," Ki Yeom glares at him. "You." She points at him. "Don't move an inch. And you." She turns back to her father. "You have three minutes to say what you have to say because I have nothing to say to you. And regardless of whatever it is you're about to say, I have nothing to say back. I just hope that making this trip and getting it off your chest is enough for you because that's all you're going to get."

Heeseung's brows are slightly furrowed as he side-eyes her father, trying to read his expression from his peripheral vision. The elder man is taken aback, in a 'hurt' type of way that he knows there's nothing he can do to redeem himself.

"I just wanted to know if you're doing well, and if you're safe. If your workplace has been kind to you and whether you need any additional financial help, because I brought some for you," He ransacks his waist pouch for a smaller one, holds it out. Ki Yeom doesn't move an inch, eyes fixated on his. "I wanted to apologise. For the way things happened. I know I can't turn back time and undo what happened but I want to apologise on behalf of your mother and I want to say that she only did what she thought was right-"

"No, she did what she thought was right for herself! If she had any idea what was right for our family, don't you think she would've taken grandpa's help?! But no, being faithful to your religion was enough, wasn't it? That was what would put food on our table, fill our wallets up with money and light up our rooms, right? Right?"

They had been standing there long enough for people to start noticing them, and for the sun to set enough for the street lamps to flicker on.

"And don't you dare think for a moment that this isn't your fault. I don't blame you for losing your job, but I blame you for not being a better father. Not being around to make sure mom didn't do what she did. I know you were out trying to make ends meet but in the midst of all that, you had completely forgotten that I existed. I as in your daughter who just needed a parent."

If Heeseung were watching a soap opera, he'd be on the edge of his seat, eyes widened and fingers holding some chips, but no. This was happening in real time right before his eyes, and he hasn't got a clue what to do (since he knows better than to say something).

He can see the tears drying up her eyes all over again, as if her swollen eyes from the night before had properly recovered. And her father, the indescribable look in his eyes as he tears up as well. Head hung low and fingers anxiously picking at the corners of the cash stack.

The inevitable uncomfortable silence between them sets in, amidst all the noise that was happening around them.

Ki Yeom knows that an apology will not suffice. Nothing ever will. The damage had been done and even if she did take the cash, it will not make a difference.

"Are you done?"

Her father looks up from the floor.

"If you are, please leave."

"Ki Yeom..."

"Now."

A motorbike races past.

"And I never want to see you again."

Heeseung glances at Ki Yeom, and back at her father. His shoulders are sunken. He knows he's defeated. But still, he lifts his hands and tries to offer her the money.

Ki Yeom reaches up to her face to wipe the tears, clearing her throat as she steps back.

"You'll need it when you retire."

Then, she gently grabs Heeseung by the wrist and pulls him along, past her father and away from the apartment building. Heeseung lets her drag him down the pavement, earning strange glances from corporate passerbys who were making their way home from work and whatnot.

But until he was sure they were definitely out of sight of her father, Heeseung holds his weight down, hand reaching out to her forearm.

"Ki Yeom," He says, loud enough for her to hear. But she doesn't respond, ignoring his touch and his call, and continues dragging him with more force.

"Ki Yeom, please."

He finally puts in enough strength to halt her, and so she jerks to an abrupt stop when it's his turn to grab her arm. Her eyes are swelled up again, mucus running down her philtrum and between her lips when she turns around to face him. He can tell she's trying her best not to take a deep breath, for it would trigger one of those hard-to-breathe sniffles and she would collapse into a sobbing mess.

Heeseung doesn't know why, or much rather, how, he has grown to see her. Perhaps, for the first time in a long time, she's the first person that he's known abit more than surface level. Maybe it was because she knew nothing about him, other than the things he has chosen to share, and that made it easier to trust her.

Who said a stranger you meet at a laundromat would stay a stranger?

He awkwardly, but slowly, closes the gap between them, gently releasing her arm. He's careful, trying to read her body language as she stays almost completely still. Then, he can feel the bones in her shoulders under his arms, and she remains so still for a few seconds, he was still unsure.

But like hugging a vase that was haphazardly pieced together with glue without enough time, care and concern, Ki Yeom shatters. He closes his eyes, trying not to cry himself, as her entire frame softens, shoulders shivering with each sob and sniffle.

She doesn't hug him back, but she presses her face into his shoulder so hard that he can feel her tears soaking through his shirt and onto his skin.

"I- I wish it didn't happen- like this."

"I know."

"I- I know he meant- meant well. But- I- just-"

"I know."

The conversation was short-lived.

Sometimes, there aren't enough words to explain a feeling; a feeling of resolution, even if it feels like it's the worst decision you could make.

Perhaps, trying to find the words defeats its purpose.

After Ki Yeom had finished crying, mostly because she regained enough social awareness to realise how embarrassing it was to be hugging in the middle of the street, the duo had found themselves sitting by the pavement, feet on the street as bicycles and cars drove by.

The ice cream was melting quickly, so Ki Yeom fought the urge to close her eyes and finish it. Heeseung tosses the last of the cone into his mouth, swiping his hands against each other to get rid of the remaining crumbs.

He sighs, leaning back with his palms on the concrete by his hips, eyes looking up at the cloudy sky that was partially blocking the moon. There was that dewy scent of rain wafting through the sky, so he looks around somemore, hoping to catch a glimpse of lightning somewhere.

Ki Yeom quite literally shoves the rest of the lemon coating into her mouth, knowing that if she ate any slower, it would start running down the stick and over her hands. She wraps the stick in the wrapper the ice cream came in, and folds it nicely.

She looks ahead, then around, trying to find what Heeseung was looking at previously. Pulling in her knees to her chest, she wraps her arms around her thighs, fingers picking at the dry skin on her elbows.

"You know, what you said to me just now before he showed up... It made sense."

Heeseung takes awhile to turn his head back to her, processing her words before he tilts his head in her direction. His eyes remain looking forward, at the street and the lamp post on the other side.

"I've had so many conversations with myself. Running around in circles and trying to persuade myself that it was time to move on and that I didn't care. But I knew deep down that I needed closure, even if it meant a messy one that I didn't want. I knew I was angry with Ji Yeon and I knew it wasn't her fault. I knew my father did what he thought was best at the time it happened. But I just couldn't forgive them for the things they did."

Heeseung finally turns to her. He pulls his legs into a cross and picks at the threads in his ripped jeans.

"Just because you can understand why they did those things doesn't mean you have to forgive them. I think if that were the case, mankind wouldn't be so complex. We'd all just be aiming to be understanding, and by that condition, we'd be a peaceful society. But we're not, and... I mean, things happen."

Ki Yeom starts to smell the rain as her clogged nose clears up completely.

"When I went through my own difficult times, I'd tell myself that I'm just an anime character that had to go through these stupid arcs to get the character development. Else, I'd just be the lame side character that everybody forgets about."

A little smile cracks through her lips as she looks down into her lap, staring blankly at the cotton stitching on her pants.

"It's not common that a character has to go through two arcs in so little time, but it happens. Usually they're the badass ones that everybody roots for, even if they're morally questionable."

Then the drizzle starts, gentle and kind, like little snowflakes falling from the sky. Like they were trying to wash away her sadness and grief.

"I think I'll stay here for awhile."

Heeseung turns to look at her, face turned up to look at the sky. The droplets land on her skin, and for a moment, it seemed like the sky was doing the rest of the crying for her.

"Are you planning on staying until you're soaked?"

She hums in response. "Maybe."

He turns to look at the sky too, closing his eyes as he let the water run down his face and neck.

"By the way, do you do your laundry on Wednesdays? Because I just remembered it's a Wednesday."

[catch-me-hello]

YG Treasure Box, Episode 7:  This show finally gets good.

Welcome back, everyone.  Let’s open up that treasure box and see what new methods of humiliation lie in wait for our trainees!

We return to our boxing ring stage.  Last time, we saw Yoshi defeat Mahiro.  The show didn’t even let Mahiro stick around to see the rest of the battles.  We watched as Mahiro was put into a waiting car and driven right to the airport.  I’m assuming when he arrived at the gate, he found his clothes in a big pile with his boarding pass stapled to one of his sneakers.

Back to the battles.  We’re going to pause and let Treasure 6 perform “Going Crazy,” the signal song.

That was fun.  Now back to the carnage.  We get one bit of confusion cleared up right away.  All the teams will be performing, and those doing the elimination battles will have one trainee sent home.  Only the three teams that Winner picked in the last episode won’t be eliminated.  Those winning teams will join Treasure 6, while those replaced will go back to being regular trainees.

Got it?  Good.  Let’s do this.

The announcer tells us we have special guest judges today.  One hundred fans are watching the show from their phones and laptops and will be voting.  I’m a little disappointed they’re not actually there as an audience.  This show was filmed before COVID hit.

Whatever the reason, these Treasure Makers will vote remotely, CEO Yang will cast his vote, and we’ll be doing the gold and silver card thing again.

We’re going to hold off on the rest of the elimination battles right now and do the challenger battles.  First up is the challenging team of Byong Gon and Seung Hun.  They’re battling the Treasure 6 team of Yeon Gue and Yoon Bin.  None of these trainees will end up in Treasure.  This will be a zero-stakes battle for Treasure fans.

We have a flashback to rehearsals, but I’ve already stated I’m not recapping these unless something important happens.  Nothing important happens.  Back to the battle.  The song is “Woo Ah” by Crush, and our Treasure 6 team is going first.  Showtime!

They’re really good.  Yeon Gue has a sweet, high voice and can hit a lovely falsetto.  Yoon Bin is a swaggering, confident rapper with a voice that steams up my computer screen with sex appeal.  I can easily see what they’re in the Top 6.  They’re going to be hard to beat.

Now for our challengers, Byoung Gon and Xeung Hun.  The song is “I’m Not Sorry” by Dean.

I love this song.  I immediately put it on my K-pop playlist.  And Byoung Gon and Seung Hun bring the power and attitude to these lyrics from the POV of a celebrity enjoying the perks of fame while leaving his woman at home alone and not having any guilty pangs about it.  The fact that the lyrics are so bluntly unapologetic is a whole hook by itself.  It takes a strong personality to pull off a song like this, and both our challengers show it onstage.

The vote could go either way.  I’d vote for Byoung Gon and Seung Hun simply because I like the song better, but I’ll have no complaints if Yeon Gue and Yoon Bin take it.  Both teams deserve the win.

The Treasure 6 team picks the gold card.  It belongs to the online voters, and they picked the challengers, Byoung Gon and Seung Hun.  After everything we’ve seen Seung Hun go through in previous episodes, I’m happy to see him get this.

CEO Yang speaks up.  He singles out Yeon Gue for praise, and after everything this kid went through in the previous episode alone, I’m REALLY happy to see him get this.  The CEO’s vote would have gone to the Treasure 6 team.  Again, I get it.  This was an exciting, evenly-matched battle.

Next up:  Challengers Doyoung and Do Hwan.  They’re going big by challenging Yedam and Keita.  We get a flashback.  I skip the flashback.  Although I will include a flashback screenshot of the building where the battles are taking place because I love the entrance design.  I hope someone won an award for that.

Also, Doyoung takes a pretty nasty fall during rehearsals, but thankfully he recovers quickly.  Back to the present.  The Challenging Team will go first, performing “Freedom” by iKON.

I love the arrogance and mischief they bring to this performance.  It’s great energy.  Let’s see if the Treasure 6 Team, Yedam and Keita, can top that.  They’re performing “Really” by BlackPink.

They’re good.  They give a flawless performance, but it just doesn’t match the energy of the challengers.  Yedam and Keita perform with the laid-back vibe of a team that believes they’ve already won, and with Yedam’s unspoken status of Favorite Son, they’re probably right.  It’s disheartening.  I predict they’ll win, even though I don’t think they should.

Let’s see if I’m right.  Yedam and Keita pick the silver card, which turns out to be CEO Yang’s card.  He wants to see the online voters’ choice first.  They chose Yedam and Keita.  Now for the CEO’s choice.  Do I even need to say it?  He chooses Yedam and Keita.  He says he really didn’t like the challengers’ performance, but I’m taking everything he says with a grain of salt because I know his bias.  This just makes me a little sad.

Doyoung’s spirit is unbroken.  He says he plans to face Yedam in a future battle and beat him.  I fist-pump in response.  Atta boy, Doyoung. 

And interestingly, several other trainees, including Hyun Suk, tell us in confessionals they believe the challengers deserved to win instead.  Then Yoshi says something VERY interesting in his confessional:  “Despite knowing they’d lose, they did their best without regret.”  Is he saying what I think he’s saying, or is he just saying that Yedam is too talented to beat?  I know what I choose to believe.

Okay.  Time for the final challenge battle.  The Treasure 6 Team is Junkyu and Mashiho, both future Treasure members.  The challengers are their future bandmates Jeongwoo and Haruto.  This is the Main Event.  I have my popcorn and root beer.  Let’s do this!

I was going to skip the flashback, but I’m glad I didn’t.  Mashiho attempts a backflip that goes wrong in the stage rehearsal, and he lands on his knees.  He insists he’s okay, but Junkyu is worried, and so am I.  You don’t need acrobatics for an amazing performance.  The show’s producers try to convince Mashiho not to do the flip, but he just asks for better shoes to help him with a steadier landing.  This is the No Mercy slingshot move all over again.

Mashiho gets his sneakers and tries again.  This time, he doesn’t even get airborne and almost lands flat on his back.  This is clearly scaring Junkyu.

Right away, a dance coach steps in and puts the kibosh on the whole backflip idea.  Mashiho starts to cry, and I realize how much pressure these two are under.  Jeungwoo and Haruto are good enough to steal their spots in the Top 6.  Mashiho and Junkyu are scared.  They thought they had an acrobatic stage trick that would give them the “wow” factor to put them over the top, but now they can’t use it.  They have to use ordinary dance steps instead, and they’re worried it won’t be enough. 

This is getting really intense.  Mashiho insists he was able to do the backflip in practice.  Yes, he was, but from the footage I saw, it was kind of clumsy and not as spectacular as they seem to think it was.  Thankfully, that’s exactly what a producer tells him. 

“Can we win without the backflip?” Mashiho asks between sobs.  God, this poor kid. 

This isn’t just a dance contest.  His dream and entire future are on the line.  No wonder he’s blinded to the potential injury.  I can hear the despair in his voice, and my heart is breaking. 

Now we cut back to the present.  It’s time for the Treasure 6 Team’s performance.  The song is “Fun” by Pitbull.  I’m holding my breath.

I’m glad they don’t do the backflip.  They don’t need it.  The energy of the song has me dancing in my seat.  It’s a wild and fun performance.  And no one wound up in the hospital.

Time for Haruto and Jeongwoo to respond.  They want their Treasure 6 spots back.  Their song is “Oh Yeah” by GD and TOP.  Let’s go.

I love this.  They are having so much fun up there, and I love the contrast of Haruto’s low voice and Jeongwoo’s high one.  I love the humor they bring to the choreo.  I like this performance better of the two, but just like with the first battle, I’ll understand if it goes either way.

Time for the vote.  Mashiho and Junkyu choose the gold card.  They’re hoping for the CEO’s vote, because they feel the audience vote will go to the challengers.  The gold card turns out to be the audience vote.  I’m VERY curious to see how this goes.

The audience votes for Haruto and Jeongwoo.  I love all four guys, but I’m happy about this outcome.  I just hope Mashiho doesn’t blame himself, thinking they lost because they didn’t do the backflip.  Haruto and Jeongwoo just had the better performance.  And while CEO Yang has his criticisms of Haruto and Jeongwoo’s vocals, he also voted for them.  I feel vindicated. 

Haruto and Jeongwoo reclaim their seats with Treasure 6.  Meanwhile, backstage, we see Junkyu comforting Mashiho.  I knew it.  Mashiho is blaming himself.  He keeps talking about the backflip, not realizing it wouldn’t have made a difference.

Back onstage, the announcer reminds us we still have the rest of the elimination battles to do.  We only have a few minutes left in this episode, but we have enough time for at least one of these battles.

The team that takes the stage is Taiwanese trainee Jyun Hao and our own Treasure guy, the Shining Solo chef, Jihoon.  After this show, Jyun Hao will go on to debut with another group, so I feel guilt-free in being happy that Jihoon will win.

The song is “Ko Ko Bop” by EXO.  Let’s do this.

Jyun Hao is good, but Jihoon is clearly better.  Jihoon’s dance break is so wild and frenzied, I can’t get a clear screenshot.  His voice is also more steady and strong.  Plus, he looks more intense up there.  Like he wants it more.

There are no gold or silver cards for the elimination battles.  CEO Yang makes the decisions after consulting with YG producers and coaches.  The decision is close, by one vote.  Of course, the survivor is Jihoon.

Just like Yoshi, Jihoon can only grieve right now about his friend being eliminated.  The episode ends with the two hugging goodbye in front of the elevator.

I really liked this episode.  We’re finally getting back to the elements I love about survival shows:  great performances, insight into the pressure of being a trainee, and artistic competition.  No gimmicks or emotional torture of the trainees.  I wish the whole series could be like this, but I’ll take what I can get from it.

Coming up, we’ll see the rest of the elimination battles.  It should be exciting.  See you next episode!

[livewireprojects]

This took a little too long & I've also been having multiple days were I've felt too exhausted to get onto my laptop to post this. Sorry about that.

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I was commissioned by my friend @tay-likes-toons to make this for their rewrite/reimagening(LINK) of their fanfic(LINK) Your Favorite Martian the movie which was a fic made with the help of an RP we did to likely get some inspiration for some stuff.

The fic was meant to take place after the final episode of Your Favorite Martian the series were Puff risked house arrest(well he had to stay close if not fully in the tour bus) to have a date night with Tig. In YFM the movie Puff was able to get with Tig after getting out of jail but an incident led to their divorce & Puff living a miserable life in a run down house. At some point Puff meets a fan of the band at a bar he regularly goes to, in an attempt to show off/woo her he convinces her to travel with him to get the band back together. There does seem to be a problem though, the band split up when he went to jail so he has to go searching for them as they have moved on & got their own lives. Another issue is a mysterious person that seems to have plans for them.

The rewrite has been changed some, instead of being after the house arrest episode Puff gets arrested for drunk driving & causing some serious issues. The band broke up & left having had serious issues/life changing of their own at the time of Puff's arrest. Years later Puff is a drunk that misses the good days & his marriage is on the rocks thanks to becoming strained due to Puff becoming disillusioned. Everything seems to turn around when he meets Dimentia, a fan of his that he by chance met at a bar. She leads to Puff deciding to get the band back together to impress her(along with wanting his old life back) leading to the two going on an adventure to find the other band members who have moved on & try to convince them to come back. As they travel around & see what Deejay, Axel & Benatar are up to someone seems to have dark plans for the band.

Vincent asked me to draw everyone in the art style of gen 2/reboot YFM, it was tough but I finally got everything setup. A lot has changed since I last drew everyone, Dimentia while mostly the same as ever has had a big design change.(Link1 & Link2 to old refs)

I'm making this a little too long so I'll put some stuff under a keep reading & put the bios in posts meant to be splitting everyone up into groups. There's some extras under keep reading so hope you like it.

Links to cropped vers:

Puff & Dimentia | Deejay & his family | Benatar, Axel & their kids

This started out as wanting to make a second pic of Benatar & Axel without the apron & Axel off the clock, in the end this ended up just an extras section for some stuff I wanted to draw & alt outfits.

Left to right

Dimentia: This is an update of her original design for the original version of YFM the movie. This is a mix of a Kisekae version of her meant to be a ref & the design I sketched at some point.

Benatar: Exactly what it says, just a better look at him without the apron on

Axel: Axel off the clock with his hair untied & his favorite hat on. His daughter put a sticker on & he likes it cause it makes him think of Nicki.(She also put the drum sticker on his clipboard)

Pixie: This is the very first version of Pixel, Pixie was an OC Vincent made to pair with Deejay. It's also at this moment of typing that I realize I forgot her tights that have holes in them & I can't do anything about that.(Well I could with some editing) Link to reference pic of Pixie, link to sketches I made of past designs for Pixel.

"Original" Pixel: This is a design that was going to be Pixel's design for the original YFM the Movie, he's meant to be pastel goth. There were other designs that I drew them in in the past but the designs are too detailed in certain parts to try & the design refs were lost to time, in fact I remember checking something & the description mentions I had a fit over dealing with all the details. I guess you could say this is the most recent version of the design I guess.

Club outfit Pixel: This is an alt outfit for the current version of Pixel, for the club they work at with Deejay

YFM Watcher: He's not really suppose to be here I just wanted to try drawing him in gen 2's art style.