#I’ve had mixed results with it so far lmao

[aeriona]

Various inkling studies + one miserable little Atax in the corner

[intermundia]

Other than the ROTS novel would u mind recommending any books that follow George Lucas’s themes and world building? Cause I’ve heard a lot about how some of the authors kinda end up misrepresenting the Jedi and their beliefs either due to misunderstandings or for the sake of the plot and I’m just starting off reading Star Wars novels so I’d like to stick as close to the og canon as possible before I branch out.

unfortunately the issues with the jedi are a pervasive problem, so i was having trouble coming up with a good answer beyond i guess the other prequels novelizations which are decent to start with bc they're based on the scripts lmao

SO i went up the mountain to consult the sage, and @gffa gave some great advice:

"The High Republic books are actually really pretty good about sticking close to Lucas' worldbuilding and Light of the Jedi is a GREAT place to start, Soule's writing in that book was really good.

Padawan by Kiersten White is the only book that has ever come close to dethroning the Revenge of the Sith novelization by Stover. Good worldbuilding AND Obi-Wan characterization!

If you don't mind a kids' Choose Your Own Adventure book, Choose Your Destiny: An Obi-Wan & Anakin Adventure was actually really great, it had good thematic moments, it had Anakin being an adorable disaster, and Mace Windu: Theater Nerd!

Force Collector only had the briefest of established characters, but the worldbuilding was pretty perfect for me. During the time of the sequels, a Force-sensitive young man is basically set on a quest to discover the truth about the Force and the Jedi and I like the way the Force abilities worked here A LOT.

Brotherhood is a mixed bag. It comes with some serious side-eye of the way it writes Anakin (if he's an unreliable narrator, it's a good book, if you take him seriously, fucking YIKES the way the book treats Mace), it's not actually about Obi-Wan & Anakin that much, but the Obi-Wan half of the book knocks it out of the park."

so give those a shot!! i haven't read the high republic stuff yet (obikin brainrot too strong) but i've heard very good things!! i enjoyed padawan far more than i expected to, so big plug for that.

honestly one of the worst parts about being a star wars fan is dealing with the fact that lots of the novels are unfortunately not that great at delivering the same kind of depth and magic as lucas's films, let alone his values or his worldbuilding.

imho their target audience of the novels is often older and more jaded, their authors are less familiar with or interested in jedi altruism, and the plots aren't significant enough to matter (that's the trouble with writing within a fixed larger continuity).

the result are books that are enjoyable but bland, or ones that are trying to be edgier and almost smarter-than-the-source-material, and thus veer further away from the spirit of lucas's saga. this is NOT to dissuade you from reading them!!!

obviously i enjoy them a lot, but you do kinda have to set your expectations beforehand and understand what you're getting into and what you'll get out of it haha. you're wise to start closer to canon and then branch out, so you'll be able to parse what transformations are happening.

good luck and report back! 🫡

[coffeesleep-ooc]

Kachina’s name is funny

Its 2 am and i cant stop thinking about this and i need to get it out bc every single time i look at her name i think of this and can’t even enjoy the storyline aaaaaa lmao

So! We’ve seen that genshin has a history of making up the most bizarre names ever, like idek what happened after inazuma or if sumeru’s names are this funny (idk much about the region it’s inspired in so forgive me for being uneducated), BUT, i do know this: there’s a poor npc in fontaine literally called Book, just Book, wtf genshin, there’s a lot of npcs and pplcalled weird things, and with Natlan that’s wven more obvious that while genshin team does great stuff for plotlines and inspiration for each region, they just say WHATEVER WHEEEEE for names. Bc, who calls themselves/their children Boba? Like wtf?! I’m not even mad about it just why??

I play the game in spanish btw, and Boba is like calling yourself silly or stupid, a friend told me that the English equivalent was also something along those lines so we know this is on purpose? Again wtf lmao

Then there’s the npc called Umi, isn’t that ocean in japanese? And said npc is from the ocean tribe dont get me wrong, if we want to make an accurate “inspiration” from America (America is a continent, ill throttle the person that says its a country thanks) it makes sense to have lots of names that come from different places bc we do have a mix of cultures that resulted in today’s life, but it doesn’t make any sense in Natlan’s whole description, bc these ppl are described as ppl that don’t go out of their country at all? They do receive visitors and i imagine one or two would probably want to stay but it’s still strange, noted, Umi is not the only strange name i’ve seen but i dont keep a notebook with all of genshin’s lore/plot/naming/etc holes bc i would have to make it a full time job. So far a couple things make no sense to me, BUT ALSO! Natlan is culturally rich and filled with stuff i approve, i mean, i like it so far, the legends, myths and way of interaction between characters is rivh and meaningful, i especially loved a quest about a shadow needles bc it felt like revisiting old myths from my memory!

the main quest relating to Kachina is also very interesting and despite it being complete fiction, the way the underworld is constructed is also reminiscent of myths and legends - ik its not called underworld, sorry, its 2am i forgot the name - that place felt to me like one of the scary tales ppl traditionally tell each other but with a very Teyvat element mixed in, and that’s good in my book

there’s also the apparent mix of maya, inca and aztecas in culture and storytelling? And its also true that America has more stories about wars and warriors known to ourselves and the rest of the world? I’d probably have much more to say about this if i had slept, but there are no towns named Fighting soul in my country for no reason, which i find funny and sad af bc wars are shitty excuses to steal and do awful awful things, but whatever. There’s also the way they captured the behavior of ppl in the coasts, kudos to them for that, obviously things irl are not always that good or pretty and some parts of America do have a lot of poverty bc corruption is also shit, but it is true that ppl (i’ve met) in the coast is much mote laidback than in the city, more prone to random music and parties and dancing, big big parties too, the surf part i have never seen in my country so no comments there

some stuff (like the food) is a bit so so for me (im still wondering where shrimp tacos were invented wtf, there’s also too much corn which i find hilarious), and im not even gonna talk about the saurian stuff bc his post is already long enough without talking about Kachina

anyways! in general i really liked it.

now, why is Kachina a weird name for me?

Bc my mother tongue is Spanish

the thing is, idk how many countries with spanish as their main language would have this two problems (or three…maybe)

nunber 3 and less important is the K, it’s overused in Natlan and i find it funny bc many ppl here use the c instead, the k it’s actually more rare in names unless your name is Katheryn or unusual (i once heard the name Ikza and I believe its cool, just not common)…just a thought but: Quinich sounds too much like Quiche so that’s why ill allow Kinich but the qu is way more vommon

number 2 the Ka is just fine, but the China. I just…China is a countey and I can’t help but think of it! Especially bc in spanish it aounds the exact same

number 1 and my biggest concern wity her name, and this is way more personal but I JUST CANT UNSEE IT! In my country we sometimes refer to young ppl as chino or china which is also the way to call ppl from China (probably not coincide but I haven’t researched why this happened to the slang in the first place) so maybe when someone is not listening to you or when they are being tricky or hot headed its bot rare flr someone else to say “¡Este chino/a!” Like saying “this little troublemaker!” Or smth like “¡esta china no hace caso!” Which means “this girl won’t listen/obey!” You could even say “la china de allá” which would mean you are pointing to a girl that is most definitely not chinese but it’s in your field of vision

its not used to denigrate anyonebut it is commonly used as slang by both adults and kids, sometimes even elderly will use it but in more informal situations…

this is why, it feels so damn weird to keep reading and hearing Kachina, sometimes i think im reading ‘pa aca china” kinda “come here kid” and other times im reading the equivalent of ka-girl

I obviously don’t blame the developers or genshin team for not knowing this (i do blame them for Poisson-Fish, Livre-Book, Boba-Silly, etc etc) but i just cant unsee it, even in serious situations its so weirdly funny and awkward

im re-baptizing her Kachi in my mind

someone save me from this misery 😂😂😂😂

[nilusanimationworld]

So....the KFP4 plot huh? WHEW! I really needed DAYS to process all this & uh...I think I’m finally ready to talk about it?

Also before I start saying anything please note that I may share few more EXTRA details. Where did I get the details? Welllll? I may have cheated & decided to spoil myself a bit to get more stuff out. Although I promise I’m not gonna share any images & go deep to spoil movie. To be honest I myself only managed to get like only 5% extra details. Also reason I had to spoil myself to dig this deep by talking with the person who got this stuff personally from CinemaCon is that I’ve seen a lot posts saying most of you all have GIVEN UP on the franchise after the plot news was out. Granted some of the plot is not making sense. I myself had to read like 100x to process all in. But giving up on the franchise? I still can’t do that. KFP has a special place in my heart. I’m not saying I’m here to rescue by giving you guys hope. Instead I’d highly suggest you all to keep the expectations low....LIKE REAL LOW! The higher we’re setting the bar the more disappointing results we’re gonna get. Some things so far I found does give us a little hope of light & some are well....meh?  

ALSO PLEASE NOTE IF YOU DONT WANT TO GET SPOILED I’D HIGHLY SUGGEST YOU TO STAY AWAY FROM REDDIT & TWITTER FOR A WHILE! ESPECIALLY DO NOT USE THE KUNG FU PANDA 4 HASHTAG ON TWITTER 

|| SPOILERS UNDER CUT || 

So first let’s just start with the villain herself. The Chameleon. Turns Kate Mckinnon is voicing the villain & her design so far is actually not bad? So far it actually looks good. Only way I could describe her looks is that she’s giving me a bit Shen mixed with bit of Viper vibes. Elegance is the only word I can describe her. Since its only a storyboard image sadly. Its not even a concept art image. 

As for her abilities/powers! Ooooh I hate Dreamworks here for baiting us saying this Chameleon can ‘summon’ the old villains. I know they’re doing this for keeping this a surprise or something idk but whatever the CinemaCon fans saw are completely different from the whole summoning idea. Apparently turns out she IS THE ONE HERSELF who can turn into TAI LUNG, SHEN & KAI. SHE’S A SHAPESHIFTER! Which is no surprise since she is a Chameleon & they’re known for changing colors. So I really don’t see the point why Dreamworks made movie news blogs & reports saying & using the word “SUMMON” which is completely different from “Shapeshifting”? Another thing this is gonna disappoint a lot of Tia Lung, Shen & Kai fans because i’ve seen a lot over excited fans who are waiting for a rematch Especially a Po vs Tai Lung. I’m so sorry guys but these guys are not coming back. They originals are dead DEAD!

She’s also gonna shift into one of Po’s biggest challenger yet too. I’m not mentioning this one this is worth saving it for the movie or the trailer. I hope they save this surprise of the MOVIE ONLY

So far for me the villain actually does sound & look promising. Whoever came up with Chameleon shapeshifting idea is actually pretty darn smart. My only concern is that she doesn’t become one of jokester type villains since its Kate Mckinnon who’s voicing. So yeah...that’s the villain info

Now for the fox character Chen?Zhen?Zhan?Chan? LMAO y’all have no idea how many different spellings I had to come across to get this character info! The funny part is people are even changing the fox’s gender in some articles which is really weird because its Awkwafina who is gonna voice her. So far we only know that she’s gonna be shown as a thief first? And later as Po’s student? Her design? No idea. For now. 

Judging by Awkwafina’s past animated characters like Sisu & Ms Tarantula I’m assuming the character might be some playful, sneaky, childish, cunning type of a fox character since the fox is gonna be introduced first as thief? idk this is just my thoughts? Bonus if she turns out to be some annoying teenager or young adult who would try to get on Po’s nerves during their adventure.Kinda to give Po taste of his own medicine & realize how difficult it is for Shifu & Tigress who has to deal with Po’s shenanigans. 

Also I won’t be surprised if the Fox too has some very similar backstory like Po or Tigress. I’m really getting a feeling the story is gonna be about misunderstood fox who most likely could be either an orphan or abandon by family/villagers or something

Okay so now comes the plot. We all know that Po is gonna get promoted to higher master position & he has to find new Dragon Warrior...yaddy-yaddy-yadda!  Apparently their gonna show Po finding Chen/Zhen/Zhan/Chan (SOMEONE PLEASE CONFIRM WHAT’S HER REAL SPELLING!) in the museum where Po is....patrolling? (i’ll be honest this info is a little confusing because I really don’t see why Po of all people is patrolling at the museum especially since now he’s in a bigger position....like why?) So after he finds her & catches her & stuff & she tells about Chameleon & later go on this adventure (Oop! Dragon Knight plot?) to city where the Chameleon resides & here comes the typical Mike Mitchell writing. Take a wild guess what the city is gonna filled with? We had got Wolves for the Gongmen City right? Now what could be MORE DANGEROUS THAN WOLVES? Hmmmmm? Well.....

LADIES & GENTLEMEN! WE’RE GONNA GET CUTE EVIL BUNNIES! WHEW....LET. THAT. SINK. IN 

This really reminds me of one episode in LoA where Po had to deal with his past bully which was also a BUNNY! Funny part of that episode was that even Tigress had hard time believing Po couldn’t fight his bully bunny enemy & constantly reminded Po how tiny the bunny is which pissed & offended Mantis off. Anyways back to the main topic.

Now I’m not gonna sugar coat this one. The plot STILL very much does sound very off & very animated series level of writing. Also the person has confirmed this movie is gonna have more of comedy BUT (here’s the hopeful part or at least I’m hoping) the thing is all this info is just like 10 or 20% of the plot. There could be chances that we could still get some emotional stuff since Dreamworks is known for hiding & saving the emotional stuff strictly only for the movie. Remember Puss In Boots? The trailer gives us more of action & the idea of the plot meanwhile the scenes like Puss feeling guilty about not attending his own wedding, the anxiety scene, Goldie’s wish scene & Perrito’s back story all this was saved for the movie. So yeah I am still keeping 5% hope we do get some heavy stuff especially if this movie really does turn out to be the FINAL CHAPTER. Who knows that those storyboards were only the main stuff just to give idea & furious five too MIGHT be there during the adventure but their all split up or something? Idk man I’m just saying.

Where is Shifu? Furious Five? Po’s dads? The Other Pandas? OKAY....uh...so far uh....sadly I’ve no freaking idea where the hell are Po’s dads or the pandas? I’m just gonna assume all the pandas have settled down in Valley of Peace & living regular lives. Po’s dads I’m assuming running the restaurant? There’s sadly no info on this one. Although I really wished his dads would’ve played important role in this one since its gonna be lot difficult for Po to take in his new position & to pass his Dragon Warrior title. 

As for Shifu & the Five. We are gonna get them but we’re told they’re NOT gonna be part of the adventure or what so far the storyboards was shown at Cinema Con din’t have much of them. I am still like 3% hopeful for this one since the guy mentioned these were only the boards which were shown there could be chances the changes can be made. But if the movie really is only focusing on Po, the fox & the Chameleon than I’m assuming we might get very few cut scenes of Furious Five & Shifu. Back & forth scenes like they did in KFP3. Either that or the Furious Five are having some other separate mission & hence that’s why Po decides to go solo with the fox. 

THIS IS WHY!!! THIS IS WHY WE NEED A WHOLE SEPARATE FURIOUS FIVE SPIN OFF MOVIE

Now for the big question; Why isn’t Po giving his Dragon Warrior title to any from the Furious Five? Especially to Tigress?! OH BOY! When I came across the articles saying Po is gonna have to find new Dragon Warrior replacement my mind too immediately went on Tigress! HECK! EVEN MY MOM SAID THIS! Also I had the whole KFP1 movie flashed in front of my eyes Especially the scene of Tai Lung screaming at Shifu telling him about how he filled Tai Lung's head with Dragon Warrior dreams & trained him hard till his bones cracked & Shifu & The Furious Five being sour & bitter towards Po in beginning...I understand now...I FREAKING UNDERSTAND THE PAIN THEY WERE GOING THROUGH TO PROCESS THE FACT THAT THEY ALL TRAINED THE HELL OUT OF THEMSELVES FOR THIS DAMN TITLE EVEN GOING TO EXTEND THE GET THEIR BONES CRACKED & END UP GETTING NOTHING & instead some random noodle folk panda fell from the sky with no whatsoever kung fu skills gets the title...YUP I UNDERSTAND THE RAGE NOW. AND THIS SHIT IS HAPPENING ALL OVER AGAIN I SWEAR TO GOD THIS DRAGON WARRIOR TITLE IS SUCH A FREAKING CURSE!! GODDAMN OOGWAY!!

BUT...BUT...Here's the thing what we also see is that Five...ESPECIALLY TIGRESS never had that desperate goal for Dragon Warrior title in the first place. We all know at this point well aware that Tigress only wanted to get the Dragon Warrior title is because she wanted to make Shifu proud but after seeing Shifu finally being more compassionate and the older playful self again thanks to Po. Tigress doesn't hold that grudge or jealousy anymore towards Po. Which same goes for the five since they were already warming up towards Po before Shifu & Tigress.  

I know most of us & myself deep down all wanted Tigress to get the title since she has gone through hell the most right from her Bao Gu days but Tigress has made it very much clear that she's moved on from the whole wanting Dragon Warrior title and she's become her own warrior

Now in Tai Lung's case. Even though Tai Lung says he did all that training to make Shifu proud but it was clear that Tai Lung was already blinded & thirsty for the Dragon Warrior power the most (Thanks to Shifu). Heck! Shifu himself admits this that his pride blinded him so badly he turned Tai Lung into a monster.

So yeah I know right now we're all disappointed that Po isn't giving his title to any of the furious five but to some random fox (who is a thief...wow..nice choice Po) but let's not forget that's how even Po's story started & we'll just have to wait & watch to see Po taking Shifu's role as master & trains this fox character. 

Also I’ll make a separate post on how Chen?Zhen?Zhan?Chan? (I SERIOUSLY STILL HAVE NO IDEA WHAT HER REAL SPELLING IS) on how she could earn the Dragon Warrior title. That’s not gonna be a spoiler post that is just gonna be an analyzing post or how I can see it happening

And lastly can we trust Mike Mitchell?...OOOOOH BOY! Judging by his past projects I would say it’s a little concerning but lets not forget even Joel Crawford had made some not so very successful projects in the past as well & years later Puss In Boots 2 became one of his best & successful projects yet. I’m not so concern of Mike my main concern is what exactly happen to Jennifer Yuh Nelson for not being part of this so sudden? I remember in interview she had mentioned if she really decided to make all 6 chapters like Jeffrey Katzenberg suggested she really wanted to make a complete beautiful necklace franchise for Po’s journey! Heck to be honest the third movie itself WAS ENOUGH AS A PERFECT END TO THE CHAPTER! It really did give us a perfect trilogy I honestly don’t know why or what made them to give us fourth. This whole retiring thing & passing on torch has been a very common plot trend in most animated/anime/comic medias lately. Anyways. Too late now. Lets see how this chapter turns out.

So....uh..yeah I guess that's it? I tried my best to keep this post with some positive stuff just to you know...lighten up? The thing is we can't say much anything right now because the movie is still in beginning/mid (storyboarding) stage. Its still too early. Changes still can happen hence we cant say much yet. Jack himself mentions that its too early for the trailer. So yeah its very common at times last moments some ideas could have changes.

Only word of advice to the pandom I'm gonna give is be a little more patient. I myself needed DAYS to process & break it down. If we have waited this long we just going to have to wait a little longer. My guess on getting the first teaser we could most likely get it in... August or September (this year)? I'm calculating according to how we got Puss In Boots trailer. The trailer was released in June & the movie was released in December.

We just gonna have to play the waiting game a little long & PRAY!! LOTS & LOTS OF PRAYERS (& INNER PEACE) THIS MOVIE DOESN'T RUIN THE FRANCHISE!! That is all for now. Feel free to share your thoughts or can private DM me!

[stunfiskz]

ship bingo roulx x king

ohhh haha you have opened. a very large can of worms with this one. under the cut because this is long and probably me thinking too hard

kingkaard is a bit odd to me both from a fandom meta perspective and a how i personally think of it perspective…. firstly, it’s definitely a ship that i enjoy more so in watching them be miserable than as a happy couple. i think that the nature of both of them- king’s bitterness and cruelty spurred by being abandoned and rouxls’s spineless suck up nature- makes for an absolute trash fire of a relationship. a fascinating one, but like. it’s awful. i think that the way rouxls expresses his dislike for king is fascinating, too, because no matter what he says, he never DOES anything. i don’t think they like each other very much, but they’re kind of the only ones left. it’s very interesting. i also honestly don’t think it’s that far of a stretch to interpret them as having had something going on either (to be clear don’t think its canon or toby fox’s intention when i’m saying this lmao), considering rouxls’s search for a new “evil rulere” in queen is portraying like him attempting to woo her lmao.

but also, i mentioned this before when discussing results from the ship survey (which unfortunately has been scrapped, by the way), but the sort of history i guess of this ship in the deltarune fandom is super interesting to me. i’m pretty sure it’s still the most popular ship for both of them on ao3 despite people not really caring for it that much anymore, and i’m pretty sure that’s mostly because with only chapter 1 out, it was pretty much the only ship option for both of them (well, i think jevil/rouxls was a thing for a bit? but you know, there’s not really any canon notion that they knew each other, and i think seavil outsold.). but that also leads me into the main problem… dear god, finding fan content for this is a trash fire. it’s either way too fluffy and soft for my taste for this ship, and feels really out of character (as well as ignoring things like king’s abuse of lancer), or. really fucked up in a way that i do not enjoy engaging with. so that’s part of why i don’t post about them all that much, lmao. 

also, i would be remiss not to mention that this ship can just be really fucking funny. i almost worry that i got too dramatic with my initial description because goddammit i will ALWAYS be a sucker for characters being haters about each other. they’re that one damn “eating trail mix” “no one even knows you…” “what does that have to do with me eating trail mix…” tweet in my head. just stupid shit like that. it’s very funny.

damn. knew i had a lot of thoughts about them but did not realize i had this many. lmao

also just remembered and i NEED someone to know this. i had my mom, who i’ve played undertale and deltarune with, fill out the ship survey, and she’s apparently a big kingkaard fan so. make of that what you will, i guess.

[questions-from-d87]

oc-tober day 7 - hatred

♤ tobi overhears.

♤ 814 words

♤ prompt for @oc-tober2023

♤ this one is loosely inspired by things that have happened to me, it was an experience to write lmao

Tobi arrived home from school at three. He sat in the back next to Phoebe while Melody talked about her day with their mom. Phoebe looked sad. 

Seventh grade was taxing - he knew Melody would be horrified if he said that to her, what with her grown-up high school classes, but at that point in their life, it was 100% true. They went into the pantry and grabbed themself a granola bar from the box their mom had gotten at the grocery store and took a seat on the couch. It was a colder day, and Mom had finally turned the heat on.

They turned on the TV and switched it to some cooking channel. They honestly didn’t usually watch much of whatever they turned on - they just liked the background noise. It helped him to think.

Phoebe was in the kitchen microwaving herself a bag of popcorn. Melody had brought her backpack upstairs, presumably to work on homework.

“How was school, kid?” The way Phoebe talked made them sound so much older than they were. They were only a teenager, not that much older than Tobi in the grand scheme of things, but she was such a mentor to them that she might as well have been three years older in Tobi’s mind.

“Fine,” he answered. “A little boring.”

“I remember when I was in seventh grade. I was always bored out of my mind.” She chuckled softly and took a seat beside them on the couch, holding an open bag of popcorn. “Don’t tell Mom about this, alright, dude?” They gestured to the bag of popcorn - technically, eating on the couch was a no-go. Tobi nodded. They weren’t a snitch, especially not about a rule so small that they were actively breaking themself.

A few minutes later, Phoebe stood up and gave Tobi a little bonk on the head - not hard enough to hurt, but a simple, friendly tap. “I’ve got homework. See ya at dinner, kid.” Tobi waved and she headed up the stairs.

Tobi got up and went to the piano in the other room - they could take a little time to practice before they had to study for their math quiz. The walls of the room were lined with art projects of varying quality from the kids of the family, and their music sat in a messy, disorganized pile atop the piano. One book sat on the stand in front of the keys, the result of yesterday’s practice.

Miss Emily had assigned him a new piece at the last lesson. He opened to page sixteen and looked over the notes briefly. This one was fairly new to them, since they’d only played it a couple of times so far.

They straightened their back and rested their fingertips on the keys -

- when they heard talking.

Not talking. Talking wouldn’t be notable. This was talking just on the cusp of yelling, voice raising but not quite that much.

“You have to be kidding me.”

That was Phoebe for sure - only she and Melody were home besides him, and that voice, in all its boldness and clarity, was unquestionably hers.

“Phoebe, you aren’t listening to me -”

“Oh, I’m not listening to you? Grow up and stop acting like you’re better than me.”

“You’re being ridiculous-”

Tobi covered their ears and pressed them closer to his head until his sisters’ gradually crescendoing voices became an unintelligible mix of muffled sound. They knew they should be used to all the arguing by now, but it still made them sad to hear. He remembered seeing them slowly lose their ability to get along as they got older. One of his very first memories was hearing the two of them proudly proclaim that they would be best friends forever - he watched that vow gradually decay, and it probably hadn’t even hit rock bottom yet.

Suddenly, they didn’t feel much like practicing anymore.

He went back to the kitchen, picked up his backpack, and took it down to the basement couch. Their voices were still audible from downstairs, but they were quieter and easier to cover up with headphones.

He slipped on his headphones and plugged them into the family laptop. Listening in to these arguments was useless, he’d learned - there was no point in taking sides, because neither one would mention it later anyway. They would try not to fight around Tobi - he’d inevitably hear it, but the effort was nice of them.

They pulled up a Depeche Mode album and pressed the play button. The math Quizlet would always be agonizing, especially with his sisters fighting upstairs, but maybe good music would make it a little less insufferable.

The older they grew, the more they realized how much of a mess their household really was. But it was theirs regardless.

He turned up the volume of the music, desperately hoping to drown the yells out.

[kosmokai]

I have had a good day despite me struggling to get my results of my exam but you know Nosipho, I'm blushing.😩❤️

You didn't have to say, "I might make it just for you." Look I absolutely love it when there are things made/written for me and you considering to write the second part has me feral. Don't go through such trouble for me.😭

And it's not like there's a rule that we can't mix American and British spellings. I speak/write/read whatever. And don't worry, you slayed your first smut and I know you're going to slay your future works. I believe in you.😌

-🌙

ahh moonie 😭 it’s not a hassle at all, i was planning on writing something today anyway!! but thank you for being considerate

also, about the american and british stuff, you are right tbh. (i also do whatever in terms of that so thanks for letting me know in not alone 😭) i feel like as long as it makes sense, it’s all good!!

btw this is not connected to anything i’ve been saying so far, BUT I MADE A FEW HYUKA EDITS THAT ARE LOWKEY MY BEST EDITS, and i wanna post them SO BAD but…

my tiktok is dead and this page doesn’t have much of a following yet so it would be kinda random to post it here 😭(and i don’t think anyone here would want to watch that lmao) but yeah i just wanted to say that 😜😜

ANYWAYS THANK YOUU BYEE 🫶🏾

[vaultgirl2077]

Since 3 is your fave, how about info on your lw oc? 👀

My baby Freya!! Hmmm what can i say about her?

She’s got all the canon lone wanderer details - age, birthday, dad etc…

She’s the most PURE good karma character I’ve ever created…kind of baby where she would legit happily give her last scrap of food to someone who had just tried to kill her, even if it meant she wasn’t going to eat for the next week.

She is TINY baby - 5ft exactly and very petite frame. Big butt but the rest of her is very tiny pixie build. Shes so smol that those who first meet her think shes much younger than what she actually is - this is funny when she meets Charon especially

She has a HUGE mane of auburn curls that are down to her waist - Her hair is bigger than her tbh 😂 in the wasteland she keeps it scooped up in a big hat to avoid it getting her in trouble.

She is mixed race! James is white while her momma Catherine was african american. Freya got her HUGE brown eyes from her dad! Catherines were smol and grey.

Despite being absolutely tiny and very good karma - she used to get into fights with Butch and his tunnel snakes a LOT when she was in the Vault…primarily defending Amata. She and Butch used to date but they had the WORST on and off relationship up until they were like 16 when he took shit too far and she dumped him for good. On the same note - she and Amata were the bestest of friends and like sisters growing up.

Freya has INSANE strength for her frame and size. She could handle herself against all the tunnel snakes and her favourite weapon besides the pistol amata gave her is the super sledge! Which yes is about the same size as her 😂😂 her strength only improved when she got the ANT MIGHT perk from the fire ant scientist lmao.

She absolutely idolized James and is also a doctor like him! She was training to become the vault doctor like him and her GOAT results confirmed this too. She loves science and medicine.

Her first companion and adopted dad was Jericho! He thought she was some badass from the vault who killed a load of people so he misjudged her based on a rumour and didnt realise how much of a goodie two shoes she was until they were already on the road and he felt bad for her and was attached then(even if hed rather kill them both than admit that). Her other main companions are Charon and Dogmeat but she does pickup Fawkes and Butch along the way! Theyre the merry band of tunnel snakes and yes Jericho hates this 😂😂

I could go on forever about my baby and this is just her Fallout 3 basic details so I’ll stop there! Here’s some pictures of baby and thank you for asking about her darling!

[butwhyduh]

I just. Love Jason so much. Even the titans adaption who doesn't know who Machiavelli was, but slept in the catwalks above his school auditorium and watched plays and musicals go on under him. I feel like people really forget that he had ever been anything other than the Red Hood or someone who was replaced. Even in the comics, he wanted to do what was he thought was right. Even when his mother betrayed him, he still tried to save her. Not to mention the ending of "The Diplomat's Son" (which, by the way, I'd love to hear your thoughts on. Do you think he pushed Felipe Garzonas or not?)

Curran Walters' performance as Jason Todd is very good, I'll stand by it. I know it's unlikely, but I kinda want his Jason to get the white streak. I know it's not a canon thing, but I really like it. What I wouldn't kill to see what that first year as Robin before he joined up with Dick was like. I feel like we barely get a good feel for his dynamic with Bruce, which I'm super curious about considering what we saw of Dick's relationship with the Bat. That's another thing I hope we'll get out of season 3, since it's Gotham time.

I totally agree with your opinions on Garth and Bruce. I know we didn't get much of Garth in the first place, but that's more of a reason to go all out on making him look more like the comics. I'm not sure if they wanted to have more of a contrast between him and Donna visually or what? As far as Bruce goes, he just seems really old to be playing the variety of Batman we've been seeing in the show. Iain Glen is 60, and his acting isn't bad, but he just doesn't feel like Bruce Wayne. This is mostly just me rambling and also being very interested in your thoughts (as well as your writing ❤️)

- 💌💋

Ramble with me!!! I ramble on comics everyday lmao

So tw for suicide and domestic abuse in this paragraph and the pictures right beneath it. Okay so the whole thing about the Diplomat’s son is that he was basically abusive to a woman and batman and Robin (Jason) find out. They go back to find her hanging and dead from suicide. Jason gets mad and runs off without batman to confront the man who either falls, jumps, or was pushed off a high balcony. But the end result is that he died and Jason didn’t save him, maybe even kills him. I personally think that Jason scared him off. I don’t think he killed him purposefully. I also think it’s cheap that post red hood writers want to act like it’s an important sign that he’s a future killer. It is interesting that he didn’t save the guy with one of his tools or ropes but I don’t think Jason Todd was capable of murder before he died. That’s part of why if was so tragic is that he was a kind hood hearted Robin turned into a murderer. Not that he was doomed and corrupt from the start.

And this picture just shows his passionate he was for protecting women in general.

I do think Curren Walters does a good job playing Jason/Robin too. Give us a little bit more of innocent naive robin so that the impact of his death is greater would certainly be nice. I hope they really go all out on things in Gotham so that next season they can go somewhere else with the Titans.

I’ve always had mixed feelings in the streak in Jason’s hair. On one hand it’s a little anime main character but on the other hand it finally gives me more info to tell which bat is which because in the comics it gets hard with multiple black haired blue eyed white guys wearing black.

I’m worried about Tim drake in titans tbh. I like the actor choice and everything but please don’t make him poor and angry and other racist stereotypes. He’s rich in canon and poc can be rich. It’s literally important to his backstory that he was a neglected rich kid.

I actually liked the character they called Garth even tho he wasn’t Garth from comics. Like as an original character, he was cute and I liked the thing with Donna even tho, from the comics, that’s mad confusing but whatever.

And yeah, I’ll have to get used to the Bruce Wayne. His hallucination dancing was pretty funny.

[nottsangel]

hii I hope this isn’t weird but I saw from your pinned that you’re a shifter. I’m so curious about shifting and want to shift so bad. I just had a few questions if you don’t mind me asking. How do you shift? I know it’s a different experience for everyone but do you have any key tips that work well for you? Also how do you come back from shifting that’s something I’m lowkey worried about is it hard or dangerous? Thanks in advanced and also don’t feel like you have to answer this ask I’m just curious and would love to shift so I can be hugged by Steve harrington lmao

hii love !! omg listen this isn’t weird at all, i’m actually so happy to talk with someone about shifting !!! so first of all, I haven’t shifted yet ☹️ (although i’ve gotten very close so far) so i don’t know if I can answer your questions but i’ll try!! i also don’t know if you know any of these things already but i’ll just tell you everything !! so to shift, you can use different methods (although not necessary but they can be helpful), you can try out different methods to see what works best for you but you can also create your own or use a mix of methods! you can shift while sleeping but also when you’re awake. for me, awake methods work better because then you can feel your surroundings change. i feel like with sleep methods it’s simply waking up somewhere where you can’t actively feel yourself going there (but i haven’t shifted yet! this is just what i think)

from what i’ve heard, you can simply come back with either your safe words or intention, and that it’s really easy and you can not get stuck! also please do not get your information from shifttok 😔 i feel like i’ve been brainwashed with all the wrong information </3 you can use amino or search ‘quantum jumping’ instead of shifting, i think you can get way better results

also, if you know this already you can ignore but to shift its easy to make a script, but again, this is not necessary as well! but it can be very helpful (and also fun to do in my opinion). you can write everything you want to happen or how you want the people or you to be etc. you basically map out exactly to what place you want to go with which people. you can search shifting templates and use one of them or you can create your own!! i hope this helped you and yes, i really want to hug steve as well i feel you 🤧💗

[bitchapalooza]

I got a little carried away with names today. Started with Sweden then went all over the place lmao. I'd like your guys' opinions on the names I've chosen before I ever use them in published works.

Sorry for the long read in advance ^^

Sweden: Berthold— I just like it. Not 100% sold on it though. He still has his canon surname as, as far as I know, there are no issues with it.

Denmark: Mikkel Hanssen— I just like it lol.

Ladonia: Oscar(or Oskar)— Its pretty sweet which is why I'm pretty sure Sweden would have chosen it for him. Not sure which spelling I like better. Shares a surname with Sweden.

Liechenstien: Lotta Vogal— I like em both. Not super sure how correct in origin or popular Lotta is as I keep getting mixed results, often talking about Scandinavian origin and bringing up the name Lottie and how popular that is in America. But it does mention how its used in German speaking countries.

South Italy: Lorenzo— Its from both Italy and Spain so I think it fits Romano well. The meaning not so much but Romano probably picked it because that's how he'd like to see himself one day??

Rome: Gaius Vergilius Crispus— The praenomen Gaius comes from the same root as gaudere, which means to rejoyce, happy which fits Rome to a T. His nomen is Virgilius as a reference to poet Publius Vergilius Maro(Virgil). Crispus as his cognomen because of his curly hair. I wanted Romulus to be his praenomen, however Romulus is not a praenomen whatsoever. It seems to be a nomen. I'm quite fond of Virgilius though to be honest. I actually had to deep dive this one to make sure everything was correct(meaning and order). The praenomen are the given names and those weren't normally used outside of the family(meaning only Romano and Italy would call Rome Gaius). Rather it was either their nomen or cognomen used freely. So I had to keep the importance of each name in mind; I couldn't really find the meaning behind Virgilius except that it is the latinized version of the english Virgil.

Seborga: Alonzo— Finally found a name for Seborga that I think fits better than Romeo! Well I'm still not sure of it for the long run but it does fit better than Romeo at least(in my opinion).

Italies' surname: Russo— Not super sure of this one. Its Sicilan/Southern Italian in origin but quick google searches repeatedly tell me that it has spread to other regions due to internal migration. It's also the second most popular surname in Italy(or that's at least what several sites have told me). I'm not sure if Russo is a good name for all three of the Italy brothers, but I do think its at least a plausible one for Romano. And as Romano is the older brother, perhaps Veneziano just took it some time after unification? Maybe to try and feel closer to the brother he barely grew up with?

Greece's surname: Katsaros— I dunno about this one still. But curly-haired is at least better than being a watermelon. Might change later, might not.

Cyprus: Demetris Georgiou— Not super sure about his name as a whole. Nicos is an alternative given name. Not sure about an alternative surname.

America's middle name: Fitzgerald— Its speculated that the F in his name is a reference to John F. Kennedy(or its Freedom). John F. Kennedy's middle name is Fitzgerald. There you have it. Actually, I honestly didn't know JFK's middle name was Fitzgerald beforehand, I kinda just really liked Fitzgerald as America's middle name already. Then I went into looking up the name's origin and meaning and google just handed this fact to me kinda randomly. Either way, I really do like the ring Alfred Fitzgerald Jones has.

Australia: Kyle King— I just like the name Kyle for him. It sounds nice. No deep reason for choosing Kyle. King, however, I feel like he might have chosen to like say fuck you to England after abandoning him? Like I'm the King now?? I'm in control?? From what I've seen on a few sites, King is a fairly common surname. Also considering Martin or Walker as alternative options.

New Zealand: James Brown— He looks like a James so he is a James. According forebears.io, Brown is the 4th most common surname in New Zealand. I'm not super sold on this surname yet but I do quite like the combination of it with James.

Wy: Charlotte "Charlie"— She gives off a lot of tomboyish vibes to me so I wanted to give her a kinda "boyish" nickname that Australia most likely started. Well it just so happens that Charlotte is a pretty popular name in Australia! She shares Australia's surname.

Hutt River: David— He just looks like a David. Plain and simple. Shares a surname with Australia. Despite being dissolved, I still like his character(and design) so I refuse to acknowledge him being dead lmao.

Molossia: Maximilian "Max" Theodore Jones— I picked a kinda flashy name for him because I tried to think like him while choosing it. He looks up to America. America is often flashy and exaggerated. What better way than to get your mentor's attention than by a name like Maximilian?? And I simply thought Theodore would be a good correlation to the middle name I gave America; they're both references to US presidents(Theodore Roosevelt, John F. Kennedy).

Kugelmugel: Tobias— No super deep reason. Its common in Austria in the year(or close to) when was he founded. I think Austria isn't super creative when naming things or people so he picked something common. Kugel probably does not care.

Osaka: Honda Tetsuya— I think he'd share Japan's surname rather than having his own. As for his given name, I chose something pretty common in Japan as a whole. I'm not sure about this choice, however.

Niko Niko Republic: Takahashi Shigeru— Again, picked common names. I didn't think he'd share Japan's surname, especially after dissolving. I thought maybe he'd like his very own name as he chooses his very own life to live out into old age y'know? Not totally confident in these name choices, however.

Monaco: Jules— I'm debating whether I personally like her having the same surname as France or not. I haven't found any alternative surnames yet as I'm not really dwelling on it. Jules, however, I think fits her pretty well.

Holy Roman Empire: Otto— Reference to Otto I, the Holy Roman Emperor, as well as Otto von Bismarck to kinda correlate the Germany-HRE theory(whether I 100% believe it not).

I'm honestly considering giving Germany a different surname than Beilschmidt since he was never given one by Hima in the first place(even stated there was a reason for that). I'm not sure if I will or not because I'm still looking into surnames for HRE, which I'm having a hard time doing so if I'm honest. Its harder than picking Rome's tria nomina lol.

[ashlynniis-bracketeers]

LAWJACKER {Ben 10/Madness Combat}

...Hello hello hello my dudes. How about a weird-ass crossover for your time? My explanation for this is that I've been on a bit of a Ben 10 kick lately (The Ink Tank keeps on appearing in my damn recommended lmao), and considering my current Madness Combat fixation... You get the picture. I decided to go more in line with the OS style, being that's what I have the best memories with (and I've honestly never been a fan of UA/AF's style). How he got unlocked this dude (save for it already being in the Omnitrix somehow)? No damn clue. Had some help from someone on Discord for the name: Other names I faffed around with were "Lawbreaker" and "Lawless". Either way, wonky to figure out what a 10 y/o would call this bundle of floaty limbs and murderous rage. Oh, he'll jack-up the law alright...

Info time! Prepare for a fuckton of text! Fokkit, have a read more-

Name: Lawjacker

Species: [UNKNOWN DESIGNATION]

Species Original Planet: Earth

DNA Donor: [UNKNOWN]

Omnitrix Location: Chest (10 y/o), Forehead (Ben 10,000)

Physical Qualities:

- Silvery-grey skin, texture of which feels similarly to clay. Skin is less elastic than human skin.

- Strange amount of similar-to-human characteristics, such as the ability to grow a beard.

- Four-fingered hands which seem to float from the body. Lacks proper shoulders as a result. Hands can only be taken so far away from the body without sustaining damage (signified by bleeding where the wrists would be) and forcing him to return to human form.

- Lack of ears and nose (and hair when younger). On face is a strange feature dubbed a "Facial cross" that seems to be over where the center of his face would be, intersecting down where the nose would be. Does have eyes and a mouth, though is capable of hiding either or both without inhibiting senses and the ability to speak, revealing eyes the same shade of green as his human form and his mouth having more pronounced canines.

- Extremely small (possibly nonexistent, further testing needed) legs combined with proportionally large feet. Surprisingly acrobatic and agile.

- Lack of distinction between neck, torso, and where the hips would be. Body shape is akin to that of a tube or column.

- Physically sexless (Though seems to lean masculinely, with a deeper voice and retaining the beard from Ben 10,000's base human form)

- Surprising physical strength despite lack of proper arms, capable of throwing blunt objects with enough force for them to easily pierce flesh.

- Keen physical reflexes and large amounts of endurance. High pain threshold and tolerance.

- More pronounced claws in older age

- Strangely reactive blood. Species normally has bright red blood akin to humans, but it can greatly and permanently change color in response to genetic tampering with the host. "A.T.P." units are a well-known example, having yellow blood from gene-altering for increased durability and physical strength, among other things. In the case of the Omnitrix's sample, tampering for optimal physical and mental status has conditioned Lawjacker to have green blood the color of the Omnitrix-wielder's eyes.

Mental Qualities:

- Sense of humor is noticeably off-color compared to wielder's usual humor.

- Keen reflexes, comparable to a "sixth sense" for sensing danger and watching eyes.

- Nature is immensely violent and aggressive. Coupled with his ability to sense incoming/possible danger, leaves him seemingly perpetually on-edge and often leads to immensely erratic behavior.

- Seemingly innate skill in combat and with weaponry in general. Melees, slug-throwers, energy weapons, bare hands. Oftentimes seen mixing acrobatics with weapon prowess and switching between weapons with ease, along with being prone to throwing his weapons.

- Sensitive to the presence of unnatural psychic phenomena, which this form consistently refers to as "Dissonance". This is most intense when in the presence of outright magic and other bizarre reality-altering phenomena.

- Sensitive to the scent of smoke. Particular form shows immense disdain for it.

- Not emotionally sensitive to the sight of brandished weaponry, immense violence, or gore.

- High pain tolerance.

Strengths:

- Very difficult to get the drop on. Keen senses mixed with being able to sense the presence of others and watching eyes.

- Agile and acrobatic despite bizarre anatomy. Coupled with physical strength, keen senses, and prowess with combat and weapons makes him a difficult combatant head-on.

- Floating hands, though not capable of reaching far, can still be used to bypass obstacles that would be impassable with attaching lengths getting in the way.

- High pain tolerance mixed with violent nature makes his onslaughts difficult to deter.

Weaknesses:

- Not the most diplomatic. Antsiness mixed with general aggressive nature and off-color sense of humor makes him not fit for non-violent negotiation unless being brought in for mere intimidation.

- Though has a high pain tolerance and threshold, is comparatively fragile compared to other aggressive heavy-hitters. Less-elastic skin is prone to being easily torn. Comparatively a glass cannon.

- Aggressive nature and pain tolerance means that they often don't know when to quit and retreat from a life-threatening encounter

- Not as flexible as a normal human, especially in the leg/feet area.

Outfit(s):

10 y/o : Black jumpsuit with a white stripe down the middle attached to a white ring around the Omnitrix on the chest. Black shoes and gloves, black goggles with bright green lenses.

Ben 10,000 : White jumpsuit with a long, black jacket over it. Jacket has a white stripe down the middle and around the bottom edge, along with a white ring mark around the neck/shoulders area. Most of the time wears a black-and-white bandanna around bottom of face, and wears similar green-lensed goggles to his 10 y/o outifit. Omnitrix location on forehead has synthetic growth over top of head connected by white wiring. Wears metal armor over front, held up by straps. Has black fingerless gloves and black shoes with pointed, upturned toes.

Design Notes (Meta Content):

- I used OS designs as reference

- I wanted to retain the primarily-dark color palette of normal MadCom designs. I ended up using designs like OS XLR8 and Diamondhead as reference. The "white stripe on black uniform" look ended up fitting even with Ben 10,000, as his older human design had a black shirt with a white stripe which contrasted young Ben.

- I originally wasn't sure what to but on young Ben's head/face, but eventually decided on goggles like Hank. Other lenses and head wrappings didn't work, and having nothing there felt weirdly naked.

- I referenced off of Jebediah Christoff for the armor on Ben 10,000. I originally attempted more head wrappings to go along with the bandanna akin to Hank, but it felt too cluttered and didn't want to cooperate.

- Ben 10,000 is holding a tablet like 2BDamned.

- 10,000 Lawjacker has claws akin to MAG Agents and how Krinkels has drawn DedmosRebuild Deimos.

- Figuring out the shade of green to use for the lenses/eyes was a massive pain in the ass. The green color did not stay consistent between aliens/characters in OS lmao.

- I gave 10,000 Lawjacker wires on his forehead Omnitrix like how it looks on his wrist in human form, implying that it's growing into him. Thought it fit the grungy-looking feel of regular MadCom.

- I used the sharp toe shoe design from the MadCom fangames illustrated by MindChamber (Madness Regent, Madness Accelerant, Madness Hydraulic) for Ben 10,000 because I thought it looked cool. I originally thought about doing it for 10 y/o Lawjacker, but it ended up looking out-of-place.

- I did the remark about disliking smoke because... you know what tends to happen to smokers in MadCom, right? >8}

- Ben 10,000's chest armor kicked my ass lmao

This took me way too damn long. I hope you like it!

[jaeminscoffee]

The midnight man | l.ty

Pairing- Lee Taeyong x reader

Mentions- Lee Donghyuck, Na Jaemin, Liu YangYang, Nakamoto Yuta, Seo Johnny, Kim Doyoung, Ten Lee, Lee Dong Wook.

Genre- Horror!au, angst, crack, part fluff.

Warning(s)- Evil entity!Taeyong, Manipulation, Major character death (lmao you'll actually punch yourself towards the end), sexual themes suggested, impulsive decision making, talks with religion.

Word count- 11.83k

Synopsis- 'Lust though pleasurable, innocent and vice, thee shall stay loyal to thy partner regardless of wants. To betray thy partner is to deceive thy people and hence the kingdom. Thou shall pay for thy soul shall remain wandering, driven by the desires but, shall not be able to feel the human love thou took for a grain of salt. And all who shall follow thy steps shall face the same wrath.'

@kpopscape

This story is pure work of fiction and therefore doesn't speak about the mentioned members' personality in real life. I, in no manner, am trying to encourage hate speech towards the members so please don't come at me. This story was written using a mix of a bunch of urban legends and few made up by myself and therefore it isn't going to be spoken about the same way as it is in google. I also worked really hard on this piece and it's by far, the longest story I've written so feedbacks would mean a lot!, also it could get a little boring since i took time to focus on the side characters too. Make sure not to repost my works and sign it off as your own because that's a little disheartening and mockful towards the writer. So all credits reversed to @jaeminscoffee 2020©®

If anyone here doesn't know the story behind the midnight game, then read on! Because I've described it throughout the story! Happy reading!

29/10, Thursday, 10:57PM

"We need to do something this halloween man, Y/n come on!" 

Your friends all collectively whined as you constantly kept rejecting their proposal. 

Halloween is bullshit. It's overhyped and in all honesty, childish. You'd rather prefer staying home than go house to house and make a fool out of your existence. Not to mention you were all past the age of trick or treating. And to add on top of that came all the sugar rush you'd all go through at the end of the day. "For the last time, Hyuck we're not dressing up like crewmates and going trick or treating. I've got other things to do for the love of god" you grunt, rubbing the scrunched up skin to soothe the pain at the temples. University has been acting up again and so has life. "If your 'other things to do' is binge watch high school musical then no, you have no other better things to do" Yangyang bites back. 

"It's just, I don't feel like it anymore, alright? It feels too weird going out asking for candies when we're all literally 19 and above. It's time to up the notch." you say, plopping down.

When Haechan called for an emergency meeting in pure 'among us' style back at the guys' dorm, you'd expected it to be about something along the lines of having to console Jaemin or someone for having been stood up on a date. What you didn't expect was to have the boys prepare an entire presentation on who'd dress up as what character from among us and who'd be the impostor, do a little play and then say 'red is sus' and then ask for candies. What made it worse was that you thought they were just pulling a prank on you when in all reality, they were dead serious which made you go, 'oh, oh they aren't pretending to be stupid, they're just in their original form.'

"It won't be that bad, doll. It's a genius plan if you ask me" Jaemim chirped in on the conversation finally after looking back and forth between you, Donghyuck and Yangyang caught up in a meaningless fight. "I don't see how any of this is genius, Jaem. If this plan's anything, it's stupid." You pull out your phone after making your way all the way to the headboard of Jaemin's bed. "How about we try out one of these creepy pasta games?" Yuta finally spoke up. Jaemin's brother, an early graduate, senior and of course a dear friend of yours. Yuta, despite the age difference between your classmates and you, had little to no trouble blending in with the tiny group of yours. Probably the only one who didn't behave like a toddler and the most sane one according to you. Yuta's been an amazing planner since junior year where you first met Jaemin, Yangyang and Donghyuck who then proceeded to introduce you to their senior friend group that consists of Yuta, Johnny, Doyoung; Donghyuck's cousin and Ten. You guys had a friendship the entire campus was envious of. But two year after you getting into the university, the seniors had to graduate. But that didn't stop all your bonds from staying as strong as ever. Not even after Ten got his posting in a town a little far away from the one you guys lived in. The distance didn't change anything between you guys and you were as close as you could ever get. 

"Creepypasta?" Donghyuck inquired, looking straight at the guy who aimlessly scrolled down the screen of his device as Yuta didn't even bother looking up while passing the confused boy a nod. Sitting up cross legged from his previous side sitting posture, Yuta showed his phone screen to Donghyuck, who immediately got surrounded by the other two while you stare at the oldest in the room, slightly intrigued by the idea. "Creepypasta's like these horror-related legends that have been copied and pasted around the Internet by people who're too bored for their own sake." you explain as Haechan took the phone out of Yuta's hand who agreed to your explanation. "I read some sick games that I kinda wanna try out and see for myself," he said, looking at you with expectations and then the rest who seemed too immersed in surfing the website. 

"Yuta, you of all people should know better than to think all these made up crap's real" you say nonchalantly. 

Yuta's a huge skeptic, and so were you. Which is why you got along really well despite the mentioned age gap. The night gatherings back at the boy's dormitory or the girls (in this case, girl, yours) would always end up in narration of on spot made up stories of all genre, mostly horror because apparently according to Jaemin 'Rom-com's overhyped, sci-fi won't be fun when you narrate it out loud, mystery can easily turn boring, comedy, meh i guess, but a good horror story narrated properly, -yes, like you, Haechan- while adding jumpscares here and there could actually result in y'all being too scared to use the bathroom on your own'. And yeah, you'd startle here and there but the stories weren't believable enough for you to actually be scared. On the other hand, Haechan and Jaemin were scaredy cats. Literal toddler's who're so gullible, you could literally tell them there was an alien invasion news flash two minutes ago and they'd be hiding under their bed. And then there's Yangyang, he just doesn't care. He goes along with the plans solely for the fun of it and for the other's' (Haechan and Jaemin) reaction. "That's the point. I don't" he shuffled around to shift closer to you,

 "Which is exactly why i want to try them out" 

Maybe it's the feline that crossed over his body, maybe it was the fact that his spirit just wasn't ready to leave the human realm yet. Maybe it's the mourning of his family or maybe it's him himself knowing full too well his potential was truly wasted due to the fast departure. Whatever it was, his spirit was definitely made restless. 

The world is a cruel place where harsh actions are always sugar coated by honey like words. It's how he knew the doings of his people were wrong that made him disappointed. The practices of the people, his people, were stupid, meaningless and only harmful to the human kind. They fend off the satisfaction of their almighty even if that means that there needs to be sacrification of their loved ones, their nemesis, or them themselves. And it was his ancestors fault for starting all these practices. 

Passed down generations from generations was the curse put on the first of their bloodline by the princess he'd defied to go out and be ruthless by disregarding his duties as a husband, a father, a member of the royal courts and as a human being.

Lee Dong Wook. The root of all evil, the main reason the males of the family line faced the same wrath as him, all cursing at him but one namely enjoying his role. The pagans, dating back to the roman times era had a very, let's say, interesting method of punishing. The said lords they'd worship, the people following the religions had a strong belief that nature is sacred and that the natural cycles of birth, growth and death observed in the world around us carry profoundly spiritual meanings. Gods and goddesses of life, or say, death or anything else that exists beyond life and death, they believed in all. 

The doings of his ancestors started off innocent. Sacrifices to the lords of goodness and tranquility, a peaceful life by the towns and outskirts, forgiveness for wrong doings and of course, happiness. It's how any religious rituals would go about and all were happy until the said betrayer of the group came in with that curse of his. 'The doings of his shall be repented for all the men following shall be the one paying it,' 

At first glance when the man returned back to his royals, there were little to no suspicions of a curse being casted on him. He seemed normal to his family, his people except for the occasional forcing people to do something they despised. And it wasn't just the men of the family instead, it was all. But mostly the men, unless the same sin were to be committed by the females. Obscure behaviors have been asked to follow starting exactly at midnight to the witch's hour be it hurting your loved one, your enemy, doing sinful things, allowing self to get manipulated and mostly, shortening their own life time in the human realm. It was all unexplainable. Why was he asking people to do things like this but most of all, why are they even listening to him? 

It wasn't until they discovered that Dong Wook, for one, was never the one who returned home. On a second note, he, 'Dong Wook' mainly only targeted the men whose doings were similar to his that was fueled by the same sin that had him going. Which only remained undiscovered. The curse was unbeknownst to all still, Dong Wook himself remained undiscovered. Or proposed by the elders of the community, his body remained undiscovered while his spirit roamed restless among the people. 

The pagan romanticists are, in most cases, ignorant of the “paganism” they praise—the redeemed paganism of Christianity depicted in the transfigured water of the True Well of Life. Wrestling with the Greek gods, however, leads us to see the hyper-anthropomorphization of the gods with one intention in mind—justification of sexual lusts and displays of power over the weak.

The oldest written account of the Greek deities is from Hesiod. His Theogony, literally “birth of the gods,” charts out the genealogies of the major and minor deities in two branches. The first set of gods come into existence without sex. The second set of gods come into existence with sex; often very graphic and violent sex and they continue to have violent sex after their birth. 

As Hesiod continues to describe the birth and death of the gods and great monsters of antiquity, the chaining of Prometheus to his eternal torment is described. So too is Hades’ rape of Persephone. Battle is depicted left and right, and “a terrible din arose from their dreadful wrath, and the work of power was revealed”. Lust, sex, and war reign supreme in Hesiod’s telling of the birth of the gods. Moreover, it is from this brutality and carnality that Hesiod gives them praise—only those with enough cunning and ambition are worthy of having the praise of the muses.

That the gods birthed through sexual lust are themselves lustful was not missed by Christians of the pagan community. Though St. Augustine received the Romanized version of the Greek myths, he goes to great lengths and laborious pains—using the pagans’ own prophecies —to highlight the moral depravity of the gods in Confessions and City of God.

His sin, after all the years, was lust and the want to dominate. 

'Lust though pleasurable, innocent and vice, thee shall stay loyal to thy partner regardless of wants. To betray thy partner is to deceive thy people and hence the kingdom. Thou shall pay for thy soul shall remain wandering, driven by the desires but, shall not be able to feel the human love thou took for a grain of salt. And all who shall follow thy steps shall face the same wrath.'

Oh, how lust was a dangerous feeling. 

29/10 continued. 11:28PM

It's how you all circled around in the living room like any other day that was comical to you. Instead of reading out your own made up story, it so happened to be the Creepypastas Yuta screenshotted for what he wanted to try out and see for himself. It wasn't even his idea to read them out. Haechan and Jaemin's 'too curious for their own sake' selves were the ones who wanted to read it out loud. "How about we sit in the order of who's gonna read out what and when?" Yangyang suggested, standing up from his seat. "Yuta read out the topics and we'll pick randomly." 

"No fun! Hold up," Haechan did some pretty exaggerated hand actions before getting up and heading to his room, well, Jaemin's room to do who knows what. "Okay? I'll get the candles!" Yangyang said, him getting out of his seat too, "And I'll go get the bible, jesus christ" and Jaemin was out of his seat too. You look at Jaemin in a funny manner, as though questioning him with your eyes if he's actually going to get a bible or not, "What? I don't want to die young, I'm too hot for that" he said, before following Haechan's steps to his bedroom, "Yikes, you aren't going to die dude" 

"Okayy, I'm back, make way bitches" Haechan dictated to which he earned a few groans and a smack on the ankle from Yuta, "Jaemin! I can't find the candles!" "It's beside the Reese's cups! Second rack inside of the refrigerator!" Jaemin says while walking back up to your tiny circle with an empyre comic in his hand and a cross pendant dangling off of his neck, "That's a bible?" you question. "Shush, do not question the power of avengers and fantastic four." Jaemin replies, holding the comic up close to his chest. You all collectively dismiss it with a concerned look directed towards the male, "Are we not going to question the fact that Jaemin keeps his candles inside the fridge?" 

"So here's what we're going to do, I've got these tiny papers which have numbers from 1 to 5,because we're five people and I've folded the paper into chits, once i toss it, we pick random sheets and the number you get is when your turn to read is, any objections?" Haechan explained, "Even if you have any, keep it to yourself because I don't care" he bites in again while juggling the folded sheets in a closed palm while the other supports his body by it being planted behind him. "Okay I'm back with the candles" Yangyang finally joins in on the circle, completing it, "You took that long to find one candle?" Yuta asks, "No i was eating the reese's cups" he replied, wiping his hand on your jean clad thighs earning him a loud whine of 'Eww that's disgusting man' and a little too far from soft smacks on his shoulder, "You piece of sh-" Jaemin starts, "Okay all, Focus!" Haechan cuts him off, ready to throw the bits onto the space between the five of you in front of the now lit candle (Thank you, Yuta), and so he tossed it a little high up from the ground, letting the paper fall of his palms and onto the floor while being cautious of not throwing it anywhere near the flame. 

"Now let's arrange ourselves according to the numbers, who's number one?" Haechan asks, Yuta raises his hands while pointing at where he's sitting, "I'm not getting up, y'all arrange yourself so that the person going second is to my right and the last person would be to my left", you all look at him nonchalantly, "What?" with a shake of your head, you proceed calling out numbers, "Number two?" Haechan shoves Yangyang back to take his place beside Yuta, "bitch." Yangyang seats himself beside Haechan, followed by Jaemin and lastly, you. 

"First, Yuta!" Jaemin slurs the elders name, receiving a death glare from his cousin. Nevertheless, Yuta cleared up his throat and switched his attention to his phone screen, "The first urban legend is from Japan, ironically." He states as a matter of fact, "It's called Aka Manto."

"Aka manto is an urban legend related to toilets—particularly those in elementary schools.-"

"Is that why you take a relatively long time inside of the bathroom? Are you, you know? Tickling pickles with Aka Mant-ow! Sorry!" Yangyang was wasted as he was tackled onto the floor by Yuta, while the rest of you cracked up, "Now let's get a little serious, come onnn!" Haechan whines. 

"This phenomenon is known all over Japan, with countless variations on the same theme. It usually takes place in a specific stall in a specific bathroom in the school. Usually it is an older or seldom used bathroom, often in a stall with an older style squat toilet.  Often the fourth stall is the cursed one, as the number four is associated with death." "I'm so glad our university has only two stalls," Jaemin chimes in, suddenly grasping the cross pendant. 

"Most stories follow this general pattern: while at school late in the evening, a student suddenly finds him or herself in desperate need of a toilet. The closest restroom available is one that is normally avoided by the students; it is older and less well-kept, separated from the rest of the school, and is rumored to be haunted. But with no time to search for a different restroom, the student enters. He or she does their business, and when they have finished, they reach for the toilet paper only to find that there is none. Then they hear a strange voice" Yuta looks up from the phone screen, "“Do you want red paper? Or blue paper?”" 

"None bitch, give me the classic white,"

With a roll of his eyes, Yuta continues, "If the student answers, Red paper, moments later, they're stabbed and sliced up violently that blood seeps out of them, painting the walls of the stall red and it soaks up into their body, making them appear red", "And if the student responds blue paper, then their blood is going to be sucked up dry, leaving them dead and blue-faced on the floor."

"But! If you try to outsmart Aka Manto, by replying to question with, i don't know, "Yellow paper" then too, dead is inevitable, you will be shoved onto the floor where the spirit is said hold your head down in the dirty toilet water until you drown and well, die" Yuta ends with a shrug of his shoulder, "Seems pretty bullshit to me" and you agree alongside, though, it could be a little creepy if the existing legend did turn out to be true. "Okay next!"

Yuta leans back a little more, pressing onto your side which you took as an invitation to lean on his shoulder. When you did so, all Yuta did was beam at you and wrap his arms around you to keep you close after handing the phone over to Haechan, "If you want me to start reading you have to give it up for me. Give me the grand welcome that i deserve" the lad said in a childish voice which again only earned him a few smacks and half hearted applauds. "So this one is apparently called, the one man hide and seek" though all narrations were being taken on a lighter note, the mood set in the room gave you enough space to picture the stories, added to that came the factor that Donghyuck knows exactly how to narrate what. 

"The "One-Man Hide and Seek", also known as the "One-Man Tag," is a ritual for contacting the dead. The spirits, which are wandering restless on the Earth, are always looking for bodies to possess. In this ritual, you will summon such a spirit, by offering it a doll instead of a human body." He lowers his voice while focusing solely on the screen.

"The warnings say that if you have any psychic abilities, you may feel unwell or be prone to accidents during the ritual." He raises his eyebrows, looking at all four of you in a curious manner. The things you need for this game seems lowkey sketch"

"One stuffed doll. It must have limbs, Rice, enough to stuff the doll full. One needle, and one crimson thread. One pair of nail clippers. One sharp-edged tool, such as a knife, glass shard, or scissors. One cup of salt water. Natural salt would be best. A bathroom, with a bathtub and some form of counter. A hiding place, preferably a room purified by incense and ofuda. There must be a TV in there." Haechan's face contorts with each requirement for the game. Letting out a defeated sigh, he hands the phone over to Yangyang, "Of all the stories i could've narrated, i got chosen for this and for what? Just to contact stupid poltergeists. Just play a ouija board and go" 

Giving Haechan a sympathetic pat on the back, he takes the device. Looking through the screen he cracks up a smile, "Alright, listen up closely. This is an Urban legend classic"

"The Slender Man-" a bunch of 'aahhs' of realization resonate through the room

"-is a supernatural creature that is described as appearing as a normal human being but he is described as being 8 feet tall and he has vectors or extra appendages that are described to be as sharp as swords. The creature is known to stalk humans and cause many disappearances. He is described as a shadow creature that has a missing face. The creature fits into many mythologies in legends from nations such as germany and celts which brings up the possibility that he could be real." Yangyang pauses to add in a little more life to his reading while all of your paid full concentration to him

"A man named victor Surge found this legend and made his own version of it which he called slender man. The slender man is not exactly evil according to mythology but victor Surge’s version shows him as an evil creature that stalks humans to kill. In mythology he was actually trying to save you from a painful death by taking you to the underworld early." he ends, placing the phone down in front of him, screen down. "Kills you to save you from a death and collectively shortens your lifespan? Seems legit to me" Jaemin chimes in while the rest of you chuckle whereas Haechan pouted at the device in front of his friend, "I should've gotten that story" 

"My turn!" 

"So, ahem-" Once the focus is all on him,Jaemin  looks down onto the device containing his part of narration. "- This is an urban legend about a girl named Daruma who was a young Japanese woman that died in the bathroom, which upon entering to take a bath, it stumbled and her forehead ended up against the edge of the tube, destroying it the brain, at the same time that her eye embedded in the tube , leaving it in consequence, one-eyed key and later , dead by bleed out."  "Oh god ouch" You hiss as though your forehead was the one that hit the edge, " Her appearance as described is apparently; black hair that is entangled, her clothes rotting and made shreds. She only has one eye. Her left eye is completely open and injected with blood." "That's gruesome," Yangyang adds, earning a nod from Jaemin who's eyes were still fixated on the screen. "And apparently there's a ritual that you can follow to summon her into your house for twenty four hours straight" At the silence, he continues. "I'll shorten it, so you have to begin it right before your bedtime, shed all your clothing and enter your bathroom, turn off all the lights and fill in your bathtub, climb into it while being seated facing faucet, close your eyes and start washing your hair while chanting "Daruma-san fell down" and keep chanting that until you're done washing your hair, and yeah don't open your eyes."

"If you did it right then you'll get this image of a japanese who'll slip and fall in front of you. Even if you hear a noise behind you, do not open your eyes, no matter what it takes, Ask out loud, 'why did you fall in the bathtub' and let that hang in the air. With your eyes still closed, get up and out of the tub and be careful not to slip and do not drain the tub. Go to your room, don't turn the lights on, shut the bathroom door closed and sleep. Wake up the next day and carry on with your day and you'll apparently feel her presence alongside you all day. She'll constantly try getting close to you, when she does, scream 'Tomare!',"

"That means stop," Yuta adds to which you all hum in understanding.

"To end the game, capture her gaze from over your shoulder and say 'Kitta' which means 'I cut you loose' while swinging your arm in a chopping motion. If you followed the procedures then you'll be rewarded but if not then, run. That's all it says here" He stops, looking a little shaken at how he created an image of it all in his mind. "They didn't say how to get rid of her if you fail following the procedure?" you ask

"No." Jaemin shrugs it off

"Alright boys, my turn"

30th October, Friday, 10:53PM

It's probably how you read out your part of story telling, or it was how he felt the game was a little too unrealistic that had Yuta hooked onto the urban legend. 

Yuta found himself at his dorm doing a little more research on the midnight ritual. A backpack already consisting of all the elements required for the game, 'could it really be played just by one person?'. Whatever it was, he really wanted to do the game. He wanted someone to accompany him, of course. But knowing his friend group, not many would be ready to play it alongside. Doyoung was probably busy preparing his resumes for his job interviews. Johnny's all the way back in Chicago for a little family time. Ten was a little too far from your town so he'd feel bad calling him all the way over just to perform a probably demonic ritual. Donghyuck and Jaemin are out of the question, they'd obviously say no. Yangyang has a company party to attend as the heir. And you had to study for your test on Monday so he didn't really feel like disturbing you though, he did inform you that he was going out to have some fun and that you could join him anytime. Closing his laptop with a sigh, he gets up and walks over to where his bag was sprawled across the floor, picks it up and makes his way out of the studio apartment like dormitory after grabbing his car keys. 

Not like he believed it was real, it's incase if the legend turns out to be even the slightest of reality, he wasn't going to get his dormitory haunted, instead opting to perform it at the house he grew up in, his childhood house. That was left abandoned ever since they moved out months before his younger brother was born after his father had an episode still unknown to him inside the place. It was convenient enough to perform the ritual in and no one lives there anymore, and it was just a few minutes from where his house was anyways. 

Reaching the place and swinging the backpack over his shoulder, he makes his way into the surprisingly still intact house. Not much time to waste, looking around, Yuta slowly made his way up the wooden stairs, the wood creaking with each step he took to prove the existence of this house dated long back. The guest room shut lock from lack of human souls even when they used to live there. The paintings still hung off of a single screw, nostalgia hitting him straight as he recalled the one time he was playing catch with a neighbor's kid and ended up breaking the glass frame. The wallpaper's adhesive seemingly had gotten weaker from how they had started coming out from nooks and crannies of the walls. The place, without doubt, looked a little creepy but nonetheless felt homely. 

Switching on all switches from the main controller that was in the control room right by the end of the hallway, the entire darkness was replaced with light as the bulbs shockingly still seemed to function. The warm white colour of the lights took Yuta all the way back to his growing up years, missing all the fun he'd had there and all the memories he'd created. He, though grew up mostly by himself from how busy his parents were on the weekdays and sometimes the weekends, missed them more now that they live far off in Japan with his mother's family. Especially now that he was in the place they spent the most time together in. Shaking his head, he had no trouble navigating his way to his childhood room. Where he set the bag down.

He reached out to his back pocket to get out his phone, switching it on as the screen illuminated, 11:28PM, the screen read. To kill the time, Yuta set up all the items required in place to proceed the ritual smoothly. He pulled his laptop out of the backpack once he was all set to maybe watch something on the internet. It being other peoples attempt at the ritual he was about to perform.

11:55PM.

Yuta inhaled, having only a few more minutes until he had to proceed. He recalled your words,

"Alright boys, my turn" You snatch the phone out of Jaemin's hand who seemed really immersed in finding out more about the legend he just read out about, earning a pout from him. "I was reading" he let out in a whiny tone immediately going stoic after receiving a 'do i care' look from your end. "Okay, so the story I'm going to read out is called the midnight man, or the midnight game" You scroll back and forth through the pages the oldest of the group screenshotted. "From what he's gathered, there's not much backstory, but apparently it's a ritual or mostly a punishment that the pagan's use to punish the betrayer of the group who failed to stay loyal to their lords or the group. One of the people of the religion will summon the midnight man to an abandoned house where they lock up the said betrayer who'll then be put through god knows what by the midnight stranger," You stop to look up from the screen to look at each of your friends before letting out a sigh. 

"My take on this though is that it's highly impossible since the rules here state that once you start the ritual you aren't allowed the leave the place until the game is completely done unless you want the midnight man to follow you around for as long as you live, so unless the midnight man actually favored the pagans, there's no way they could punish the betrayer without one of the loyal ones passing away along with the one being punished" you state, "But what if, it's the midnight man that they preach? You know, like, they could be praying the midnight man" Haechan adds in a point which seemed to make sense, "That's possible too" 

"Why would someone preach an evil entity? That's so sketch" Jaemin asks perplexed. "They did a lot of sketchy things back in the days, Jaem. I wouldn't question it," Yuta chirps. "Is there any other backstory given about the midnight man?" Yangyang finally speaks up, "Well not really, but when i was taking screenshots of this it apparently started with a curse on someone whose identity is unknown to most. There was no such thing as the midnight game or ritual until the said bewitched man came back into town. I only know up to there, but there are high chances that he's probably the origin of the ritual." Yuta explains. "Why does Y/n get the best always, that's so unfair"  Haechan's dramatic self whines while leaning onto Yangyang who rolled his eyes but nonetheless threw his hands around the latter's shoulder, "Anyways, the procedure for the ritual is given here."

"You need one candle, a lighter or a match box or anything that ignites fire, a piece of paper, something to write with, a sharp object, it could be a pin, it just needs to be something sharp enough to draw blood, a wooden door, and salt for protection-" You read out, "Now why the fuck would they need blood," Jaemin asks, shaken up. "That's for them to know and us to find out" 

"Here's how the invitation for the midnight man goes. Begin prior to midnight," 

Yuta stood up from his bed, and walked up to the backpack on the floor, picking out the papers he'd brought along and took out a blunt pencil. 

"Write your full name- first, middle, and last- on the piece of paper with your writing implement." He wrote syllable by syllable, Nakamoto Yuta. "Prick your finger with the pin and squeeze until a drop of blood appears. Dot the blood on the paper and allow it to soak in. Turn off every light in your home." He took out the small safety pin he brought along from his jean pocket, pressing his fingers hard and pricked into the skin as hard as he could, keeping in mind to not draw too much blood. Yuta let the droplet fall right in the space between his last name and first. 

"Place the paper with your name and blood on it in front of the closed wooden door. Light the candle using the matches or lighter and place it on top of the paper. If you are using a taper, make sure it is placed in a candle holder." He walks up to the door and places down the paper with his name and blood on it, with the half melted scented candle he brought along. Yuta took out his phone once again, 11:59. "Knock on the door 22 times. The final knock must occur precisely when the clock chimes 12am. Open the door; then blow out the candle and close the door. Relight your candle immediately." He starts to knock on the door, drumming on the dusty wood, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22.

He checks the time once again, 12:00AM.

He leans down to pick the glass jar containing the candle, relighting it, 

"I welcome you."

Taeyong loved the tiny creatures in the human realm. They were so naive and so, stupid but weirdly smart at the same time that made playing with them ten times more interesting. The callings from them, or the way they say it in the human realm, summoning the spirit was the only way he could gain access to enter the place. Summoning wasn't even necessary. Saying his name out was more than enough for him to go up to you. Midnight man, midnight stranger, midnight visitor, pagan's god, What not had the human's named him. 

The only one besides his ancestor of said curse that enjoyed the power of punishing people was Taeyong himself. The youngest of the bloodline and the freshest of pagan's spirit, he loved the power he had. Sure he had no access to love, instead besides lust and range he felt nothing, maybe amusement too, but none other than that and he seemed perfectly fine with that. Human's always seeked lust more than love either way so he found no problem in being void of feeling a vulnerable emotion. Instead, he found love pathetic. Watching human's from where he lived, he'd seen all from men and women seeking love by going to heights of trouble only to waste away your remaining life with one partner. Leeching off of pleasure at times when you had a significant other. He always got a hearty laugh from all of that. According to him, if you want someone, get them. Instead of tailing them and trying to be a goody two shoes, just make them yours in a way that's inevitable for them to fall for you. Control how they feel. Easier said than done since he was the only one with the ability to do so, 'how fucking pitiful'.

So when he saw you and your small group of friends discussing about him, laughing at all the assumptions you made along the way, he wanted each of you to himself. "My take on this though is that it's highly impossible since the rules here state that once you start the ritual you aren't allowed to the leave the place until the game is completely done unless you want the midnight man to follow you around for as long as you live, so unless the midnight man actually favored the pagans, there's no way they could punish the betrayer without one of the loyal ones passing away along with the one being punished" you're smart and that was intriguing to him. He liked the way you thought of things and the male beside you too, you both seemed to take tales of him as a grain of salt and that, besides angering him, made him feel the want to prove himself to you. Taeyong found the other three cute, seemingly scared of him just the way he liked it. 

His ancestor's who held the same power as him, the curse actually, came to be known as said lord because of their power of manipulation and to inject in their worst nightmare into their minds that had the people divide themselves into groups. One that believed the power they had was for the good and considered them to be their god, their savior. And the other being the one's scared of their power and the fear that the same faith would bestow upon them that had them pray for forgiveness for sins they never committed. So your friend had the point a little, but it was inaccurate. They believed him. Believed Taeyong and feared his power. He loved people bowing down in front of him, eyes trembling and body shivering. It gave him a sense of dictatorship. And he had set his mind to have both of you non-believers fear him. 

Having been brought up with little to no love, Taeyong followed down the same path as his great grandfather. Not having enough time to feel the vulnerable emotion, he chose to go down the path of pleasure and power play. His powers though, seemingly stronger than the past generations, probably due to the fact that he was young, ruthless and free of care. He could make himself appear physically in the human realm in any shape and form, though he always preferred to go in his original, but less scarier form. His visuals were out of the world. He didn't have to scare people to make them obey, instead all he had to do was pretend to be there and just be himself and that only made humans seem even pathetic to him. 

"Relight your candle immediately"

12:01PM, The main event. 

"Keeping your candle in hand and your salt and matches or lighter close by, begin to move about your home. Should your candle go out, you must relight it within the next ten seconds.  If you are successful, continue moving about your home. Do not stop moving until 3:33 am. If you are unsuccessful in relighting the candle, immediately surround yourself with a circle of salt.  Remain inside the circle until 3:33 am. At 3:33 am, it is safe to stop moving or to step outside your circle of salt. You may also turn on the lights. The game Is Over."* You conclude. Hissing slightly at the sudden pain by your shoulder that was exposed from the minimalistic clothing you'd adorned, the stranger looking over it all smirked to himself. 'Got it'

Yuta opened the door again, mindful to keep his phone back in his jean pocket along with the lighter and of course, the salt be brought along. Starting from the end of the hallway, nothing seemed to change except now, the eerie silence was starting to bother him, 'Just 3 hours to go,'. He didn't miss a single corner, walking room to room, corner to corner, mindful to stay inside all the way. The temperature of certain rooms seemingly lesser than others. A cold pocket. 

"There are few warnings too," you swipe the image to go to the next one, "At 3:33 am, the Midnight Man will leave your home. After he has left, you may safely end the game. Do NOT turn on any lights during the game.  Do NOT use a flashlight during the game. Do NOT go to sleep during the game. Do NOT use a lighter instead of a candle during the game." Check. He had a lighter on him just to relight the candle anyways. 

Taeyong, following the guy seemed to be quite impressed by his bravery. Not even the slightest of shaken up as he proceeded to walk about the villa. That's good, no slip ups and he seemed too good to mess anything up either ways, and that bored the entity. Where's the fun if he just succeeded? 

To avoid the candle from going off at the sudden flickering, Yuta covered it up the best he could with his hands and checked around whether any windows were left open. Darkness engulfed the surrounding all of a sudden, the lad being taken aback, 10 seconds. He rushed to take out his lighter, 9,  pressing the button repeatedly to ignite the flame only to get a small blue flame instead, huh? 8, running back full speed happy that he was in the premises of where his backpack is, he pulled the spare lighter, a brand new one out of the side pocket, 7, repeating the same process of flicking the button over and over, 6 until a bright orange flame engulfed the dark room, 5, he immediately grabbed his candle from besides the bag, 4 reaching in close by the wick, burning himself slightly in 3-, the process. Yuta heaves out a sigh of relief, while the spirit laughs at the frantic boy. 'He's cute.'

For a breaker, he took out his phone, looking at the time that seemed to pass by quickly throughout the ritual, 2:47 AM. A little more while to go until he'd finally get it over with. "Do not attempt to provoke the Midnight Man during the game." You ended for the nth time that night, "Which idiot would-" Yangyang asks "Haechan-" Jaemin pretends to cough while blurting out his best friends name, the mentioned feigning offence while tilting his head to the side, tongue poking at the insides of his cheek. "Seems like that's pretty much it." you shrug while the older guy beside you leaning back on both of his hands, "I kinda wanna try that out" Yuta raised his eyebrows at you. "Halloween night? We all go together" you chirp in, both of you whipping your heads to look at the three perplexed boys. "Uh, I have to water my fish on halloween? She'd get pretty thirsty". Jaemin's eyes wandered about, coming up with an excuse, "And I gotta walk my rock yo, physical fitness." Haechan adds, "Can I bring my fish along? She could use some exercising". 

"Come on guys, it won't be that bad, we'll stick in a group?" You pleaded, trying your best to muster up the cutest puppy eyes. "I'm down" Yangyang shrugs. You do a tiny seal clap, looking expectedly at the other two, Yangyang and Yuta doing the same. "We stick together?" Haechan asks, to which the three of you nod your head, 

"Alright then we're down too"

[3:04AM 30th, October. ]

A few more minutes left until he'd succeed, Yuta was starting to grow tired of constantly roaming. He'd usually not the one to wear out that quickly, but for a reason unknown to him, he felt utterly sleepy, tired, hungry and just wanted to lie down. He decided to take a small break, the candle still light, dangerously flickering but yet still intact. Yuta sat by the foot of the stairs as Taeyong looked at him with the same cocky smirk on his face, contemplating whether to pop out or not. 'Maybe let's make it subtle? '

Taking up the form of a black humanoid figure, Taeyong makes his way towards Yuta whose eyes seem to be dropping low with each passing second. Upon hearing the sounds of footsteps Yuta looks up, a hand on his forehead from the sudden throbbing headache. Letting out a loud yell at the figure in front of him that disappeared almost immediately, he rushed to grab his lighter again. The sudden temperature drop made him shudder. Taking out the new lighter, he pressed the button again and again as the time limit started to exhaust, 6, at a successful fire, he reached for his candle, only for the flame to go off when it neared the candle wick. "what the fuck.." 5, "come on.." he stated in a rushed voice, sure that he just saw whatever he saw once again. Finally flicking the button one last time, he succeeded in lighting the candle. 

Contrary to popular belief, the midnight man didn't always radiate death. Sometimes he just messes around with the humans because the underworld could get a little boring. And as the curse states death and wrath is only to be faced by those who sinned and the boy playing right now seemed to be of no threat. All Taeyong wanted to do was get the guy to believe in his existence. Skeptics were like an insult to him. So if he had to prove himself and his existence on his own, then so be it. He gets some pretty good experience out of it anyways. 

Yuta stood up immediately, remembering the warning's you'd stated, "Do not stop moving until 3:33am", walking back up the stairs, he took out his phone to check the time, 3:29am. Almost. 

The same sounds of footsteps resonated from behind him, Yuta took an immediate U-turn. Going back down the stairs and roaming the empty, dark hallways, making sure to enter each and every room, keeping a mental note to thank his parents for having a slightly confusing infrastructure. The wax was almost completely out in the glass jar, but he had to hang in there for a little longer than 2 more minutes when he felt something brush his shoulder, much similar to how a friend would drape their hands over his/her friends' shoulder. He could've brushed it off as anything if it weren't for the sharp pain he felt right after the feeling of someone touching him. He's getting the proof he wants. Almost as if someone pulled his hoodie, Yuta stumbled back, letting out a shaky scream, tripping on his own foot, landing butt down onto the floor, catching a glimpse of the same humanoid figure he'd been seeing. He needs to get out of there. 

Stumbling back onto his feet, Yuta bolted it upstairs, grabbing his phone once again to check the time, 3:32am. Reaching his room, he set the candle down right beside him, vary of the windows and doors, starting to back his backpack, the sounds of rushed footsteps running start to where he is ringing through his ears, hands shakingly packing his bag. Keeping the candle closeby, contemplating whether to draw a salt circle or not since there was only less than half a minute left when the same humanoid figure neared him with fast footsteps, reaching by the door frame with a loud agonizing scream only to disappear immediately. 

Not realising the stress of tears flowing and the tresses sticking to his forehead, Yuta looked at the door frame in a perplexed yet confused manner. What the fuck was that. 

Taking out his phone once again while grabbing his backpack, laptop and the car keys in the other hand, 3:34 am. He'd made it through. After reaching the front door, not even bothering to close it, he rushed to his car, starting it before pulling up your contacts, seeing the messages he'd never sent you. 

Yuta san 1:39am: The boys said they won't make it tomorrow, it's gonna be just you and i

Y/nleE 1:43am: Why not? 

Yuta san 1:45am: Dk, they said they aren't interested. So come near xxxx tomorrow at 11:30. I'll meet you there. 

Y/nleE 1:48am: Coolsies. 

Yuta san 3:38am: Y/n don't come here, gather the boys and meet me by Haechan's dorm tomorrow. The game's no fucking joke. 

And with that he started driving away quickly to his dormitory, not once looking back at the house to see a human. Or a human like figure standing there, A bright red hair standing out due to his blood drained looking pale skin. A smirk on his face

Message not delivered. 

31st October, 22:37PM, 2020.

Today was a weird day, 

Having all plan's set two days before, you'd make sure to keep yourself ready for whatever you and your friend group were supposed to do today. You finished up all your assignments earlier that day to keep yourself free from afternoon and on. 

The weird part was that, no matter how much you kept your phone for charge, each time you tried calling one of the guys to ask for the sudden bailing out on plan, which is a shocker because they've never done that, your phone kept switching off. You could've gone all the way to their apartment, well, dorm, but you decided to wait until later to do so. Maybe a few minutes before leaving to the place Yuta texted you so that they'd have no choice but to come along. Since your last time texting with Yuta, you hadn't heard from him. Granted, he did text you quite late at night saying he's going to do god knows what and to tell you of the sudden plan change, but you hadn't heard from him after, that being weird since he literally lives a floor below yours, he could've come any moment but nope. You kept a mental note to tell him off later. 

You took out your phone once again to check if they'd sent any messages or missed calls only to have an empty chat box, other than that of your other friends that is. Added on top of that came the constant pricking feeling on your shoulder blades from the last day you hung out with the boys. The pain would appear randomly and it would be hurtful enough to draw blood, which is weird considering the fact that you kept yourself away from all sharp objects and had a full sleeve covering the area. 

One stone, two birds. Taeyong's motto. 

After having interfered with your phone, your friends, trying to keep you away from them until you'd go through the same as your other skeptic partner, Taeyong made sure that Yuta would be sick enough after returning home to keep him from even getting up from his bed. Temporary paralysis. Your other friends, of course they tried reaching out to you, only for him to cut the service to keep you away from them for a while. They got easily distracted from you ignoring their texts as they were focused on reaching out to Yuta. 

Unknown: Hey Y/n, I'm Yuta's friend. He told me you aren't replying to his texts so asked me to do so. 

Y/n: Who's this? 

Unknown: Oh! I'm Taeyong! A close friend of well, your friend XD. 

Y/n: Nice to meet you, Taeyong. I'm Y/n but it seems like you already know that. 

Unknown: Yeah :). Yuta's on his way here and told me that you'd be joining us? Are you nearby?

Y/n: He left? No, actually, I'm just leaving my place. I guess I'll meet you there? 

Taeyong: Meet ya :)

[23:22PM, 31st October, 2020 continued. ]

Hailing a cab to the address Yuta had sent you with his friends, Taeyong's number saved on your phone in case the later won't pick up, you left your place. Still feeling a little eerie from how Yuta just decided to leave you behind when he could've just offered to go together, which is pure Yuta style. He probably wasn't in the best of moods but he could've at least texted you letting you know of his departure from the apartment building. 

The journey to the given address didn't take that long surprisingly. A little towards the outskirts of the town in a much aloof part but nonetheless, doable. It's not like you'd be alone there any ways. Paying for your fare, you took your purse, brushed your fingers through your hair to tame it a little from the ride, and turned towards the building, jumping slightly at the bright haired guy sitting by the front porch. Adorning the simplest of fit, a black knee slit jeans, with a graphic tee and a black leather jacket with a chain or two. He, in no doubts, was ethereal. His pale skin stood out the most in the street light if you could call it that and his lips seemed a little drained of blood, eyes hollow yet captivating when he looked up from the dirt below him to you who still stood yards away. Smiling, he got up, making his way towards after brushing off the invisible lint from his jeans, "Hey" he offered you his hands for you to shake upon reaching you. "Hey..? Taeyong, right?" 

Wanting so badly to smirk, he only looked down with a silent snicker, looking up immediately to not look suspicious, "Yeah, Y/n..?" you nod in response, shuddering from the coldness of his skin, "Have you been out for too long? You're freezing," you exclaim, looking at him with a guilty expression and taking a mental note to hit Yuta for not arriving earlier. "Oh no, i just reached a minute or two prior to your arrival." you nod in understanding, withdrawing your hands from his hold, "By the way, Yuta called me a few minutes ago, telling me that he wouldn't make it and to just carry on" Taeyong said, looking at you with his eyebrows raised at your confused, innocent expression, his humane form threatening to change into his original form. "What? Why? It's like,-" you look down at your wrist watch, "11:50! And he's bailing out now?", smiling at you in fake sympathy, he replied, "he said he had other things to take care of," "But you said he'd left the place and was on his way here?" you ask, hands on either sides of your hip, "Last minute plan changes" Taeyong shrugs, "Anyways, let's get inside?" 

He pointed towards the front door with both his hands, gesturing you to go forward first. And so you do. You offer him a smile before turning your back towards him and making your way towards the old house, the door seemingly open. Climbing up the stairs with caution, humming at the sound of dried leaves crunching up below your feet with each footstep. Taeyong stood behind where you two had introduced yourselves for a few minutes, a few more minutes. "Taeyong? Are you not coming?" you turn around slightly, looking over your shoulder at lad standing still, "Yeah, I'm coming" he replied soullessly, still standing his group until he saw you open the door ajar and then took his first step forward. Not bothering to go too quick. 

The insides were simple, very very simple yet magnificent. The flooring seemed to be that of wooden finishing that creaked with each step you took, implying that of how old the infrastructure must be. You look around in awe, clutching at the sling bag that you carried along. You go corner to corner, not bothering to look behind to see if the friendly stranger was hot on your trail, instead seemingly being captivated by the olden time-ish wallpapers and paintings and antique pieces that the wall adorned. Taeyong on the other hand was just growing restless, 4 more minutes until he could play his next victim, he was growing frantic. He did follow you inside, instead opting to walk the opposite direction as you, towards where he'd hidden the paper with your crimson blood and name written on it, contemplating whether to just tear it and carry on proving his existence to the female in the room. 3 more minutes, he bit into his lips, "Taeyong? Look, i found something!" He heard you scream.

Puffing out a breath of frustration, Taeyong replied "Coming!" and he walked out of the room, hands in his pocket towards where you stood by the bottom of the stairs, looking at the lighter in your hand that seemed relatively unused. "I found lighter down here" you look at him with a tiny pout evident on your lips, looking back and forth between the candle and the guy, puzzled. "It must be some thugs who came here to smoke or something" He shrugged it off, taking the lighter out of your hand. It must be you over analyzing things but without a single light turned on in the villa with only your flashlight acting as a source of light, but Taeyong looked even more lifeless than before. Eyes dark ebony and dangerous, somehow intimidating, lips adorning a bright shade of red in contrast to how you saw it the first time, and his aura had seemingly darkened. 2 more minutes. You shake your head and walk up the stairs and towards a room which has it's door wide open. Choosing to lay out your things there, you stretch out a few stiff limbs, "So, me and the boys were planning on doing the midnight game, you know. One of those stupid creepy pastas? I can't believe all of them bailed out on me last minute," you speak particularly to no one in the room, assuming that Taeyong was listening to you, whose ears only perked up at the words midnight and stupid. Midnight. 00:00Am. The devil smirked to himself. Midnight, at last. 

"I mean, Yangyang, Jaemin and Haechan came off as no shock to me- they're the other friend's by the way, but Yuta, it's weird for him to at least not let me know." You keep going, scrolling through your phone screen, only for it to load suddenly, No internet access. Sighing, you pull out offline downloads, "Did he tell you anything else? Like if he's feeling unwell or something?" you ask, letting the question float in the air, waiting for a reply. Getting known even after the passing of a few seconds, a minute too maybe, "Taeyong?" you stand up from the bed, well, the bed frame and make your way outside, "Tae?" you look left and right, searching for any moving soul when you feel your phone vibrate in your hands, and the sound of notification resonates through the eerie silence. You look down at the device in your hand, one new message from Yuta san and an immediate black out of the screen. Impossible. 

You remembered full well charging your phone to a hundred percent before leaving your dorm. Hell, you even kept it on airplane mode your whole cab ride. Shrugging it off, you keep your phone beside your bag and then proceed to go out to look for your new friend? acquaintance? You didn't even know how to classify him as yet. "Tae, if you're trying to scare me, I'll give you heads up, it doesn't work on me." you chuckle, walking to the room beside the one you were previously lounging in. "It's past midnight and we both seem too uninterested to try out whatever we were supposed to anyways, how about we just head out?" you start, looking down at your wrist watch which displayed 00:09 on the screen in neon green. "I mean, it was stupid enough that my friends and i even decided to try it out knowing it's some made up shit to scare some seven olds, probably" you continue, feeling as though you're talking to the walls at the lack of response. "Taeyong, come on. I'm growing bored." 

"Tae-" "You know, the way you logicised made it seem like you're smart enough. It was impressive," you hear his voice, a little too hoarse and plain for your liking, he continued before you could muster up a reply, "But seems like you aren't all that smart after all, seeing how you believed a total stranger and are even ready to spend time with him." you look around the place, only hearing his voice but his figure to be nowhere near you, "Taeyong, what are you talking about?" you head out of the room you currently stood in, jogging to catch his voice.

"It was a little angering you know? The way you spoke about me and my followers, it was disrespectful. And I could've taken you then and there, but what to do. You seemed too cute to take your soul without a small game? Is that what you humans call it?" You feel breathing fanning the nape of your neck and a cold air following it right after, making you turn back, "Your friend got his share of play" you whip your head forward, finally seeing the male in front of you, standing by the door frame of a connective hallway, you swore you felt his presence behind you though. His infamous smirk still adorning his features. Figure a little more towering and intimidating. If you thought he couldn't have seemed more lifeless a few minutes ago, then his appearance now only seemed to prove you wrong. "So it's only fair if you got your part of the play too, right?" 

"Taeyong, you're only making your existence weird for me, let's go if you're done." He only tilted his head in amusement, "Oh it's only about to get weirder, darling" You turn back to face a blood red shot eyed male, well, Taeyong, eliciting a gasp from you, you look over your shoulder to see the place where Taeyong stood a blink of eye ago. "How..did-" His chest visibly vibrated from the hearty laugh he let out, "How did I do that?," you step back as his voice dropped even lower, only for you to bump your back into something rigid, something cold, making you let out a yelp as Taeyong seemed to stand still in front of you, "I can do a whole lot of things," you feared turning back, the insides of your stomach hurdling around as whatever was behind you reached their arms up and held you still in a vice grip. "Y/n!" you hear a voice scream from downstairs, "Y/n! Come out! We need to get out of here!" you recognize the voice as that of your friends, Yuta's. 

You squirm hard to loosen the person's grip on your shoulder. Once succeeding, you bolt down the stairs, skipping a few steps, tripping now and then but nevertheless making it down without landing face first as you hear Taeyong's laugh thunder throughout the place. You take a turn to reach the front door, where Yuta stood in all his glory. You immediately run into his embrace, ignoring how his body seemed just as cold as the one you felt from whatever Taeyong was, "Y-yuta, he's sick, let's go, we need to go!" you try pulling Yuta's body a little closer to the exit, only for him to stand his ground, wrapping his hands around you even tighter as he caressed your hair, "Oh, Y/n.." your body goes stiff as your eyebrows furrowed in confusion, that sounded nothing like your best friend, "Yuta..?" 

You try pulling your head away from the nape of his neck to look at him, "No darling, it's 'stupid made up shit''," his body vibrated once again from the laughing against yours, as you feel yourself growing scared each passing second. You try mustering up all your strength to bring it to his sides and push him away when you feel a plush yet cold muscle press against your neck, only for it to go futile. "Still made up for you?" you feel a sharp pang of pain flow through your nerves, result of him biting the skin in a manner far too away from soft, "Taeyon-g- lord--midnight man, whatever you are.. I'm --sorry" you say in a hushed voice, scared that if you voiced out a little louder, he'd pounce at you. You feel him nibble at the soft skin, making you whimper, "Oh no, darling, do not apologize. Your doings really intoxicated me. Kept me entertained for a while." 

"But now, it's angering me to know a feeble creature as you kept poking fun at my people. At me. And I want no more than to turn you into something belonging to me. Who'd worship me the way 'my people' do." He whispered against the area, lifting his head up and leaning down, making sure not to let go of his grip on you, "oh no, pretty girls aren't supposed to cry. Tsk tsk, what is this, Y/n" His eyes bore holes onto the crown of your head. "Look at me." he acted on making you look at him faster than you could, "Could you beg for forgiveness? Give me a piece of yourself?" he inched closer to your face, a small snarl escaping his throat at your scared and trembling figure, "Or you could just be my queen and come below with me, and you'd not have to cut down your lifespan" 

"Are you turned on by all of this, Y/n? Or is it out of fear?" you let out a shaky breath as the tip of his nose touched yours, "Because i can smell you from here and oh," he let out what sounded like an animalistic growl, "Is it delicious.". "Taeyong, please let me go.. I'm sorry. I really am, just please don't hurt me,-" you let out a whine of pain when you feel his other hand knot his fingers in your locks and pull it back with much aggression, immediately planting his lips onto your trembling once, bearing his fang like teeth into plush flesh to draw out blood, earning a loud high pitched scream from your end as you try your best to push him away, futile once again. His hands tighten their grip at the waist while his other hand pulled your head further back, latching onto the firm skin of your neck, treating it with the same aggression, puncturing through the skin with his teeth as your hands go limp beside your body, nevertheless, letting out a whimper from the harsh treatment, which, in all your defense couldn't be help since you still are a human with all emotion any human would feel, that including lust. You feel his cold lips curve into a smirk against where blood flowed out, lapping it up with his tongue as you feel your vision blacken the more as time went by. 

"Oh darling you're no different than me.."

4th November, 19:48Pm, 2020.

"She's awake!!" you blink multiple times to get accustomed to the blaring lights in the room, a comfortable white filling your eyesight. You move your head towards the side to find all your friends sprawled out on each side. A drip connected to your hands making you squint in confusion, "Can you hear us, Y/n?" you feel your shoulders being shaken as jolt, "Hey? Yeah i can hear you, why won't i be able to?" you ask, confusion still laced in your voice, "Because you hadn't responded to us the last time we called you. And because you've been laying dead the past few days" Jaemin spoke up first, earning a smack from his elder brother 

"Why didn't you stop when we screamed your name the other day, Y/n? You literally weren't breathing the day we found you" Yangyang inquired and stated, "And why did you leave us all on seen??" Haechan added, "Most of all, where were you even??" Yuta spoke. You hiss at all the questions being thrown at you as you try sitting up by the inclined hospital bed, "Screamed? Didn't respond? I left you on seen? That's highly impossible and where was i??" you stare blankly at the plain wall in front of you, trying to remember any such episode. The more you strained your head, the more clueless you grew. Your throat starts to grow dry so you turn your neck to check if there are any water bottles nearby, only for a sharp pain to flow through your nerves at a particular spot in your throat. You yelp at the sudden pain, "I'll get the doctor," Haechan rushed outside, when you reached out to touch your neck, feeling it with the tips of your finger, feeling in the swollen skin, the dried up blood when it all hit you. Your eyes grow wide as you start shaking, for it to be first noticed by Yuta, "Yuta, that house! The game, it's all real! I saw hi-him, his name! I swear he's real!" growing concerned at your sudden frenzy behavior, Yuta kneeled down beside your bed, holding your non-injected hand giving it a comforting behavior. 

"Calm down, angel. Tell me point by point," he encouraged you to take in a long breath, as Haechan rushed in along with the doctor whose face was half covered with a doctor's mask, "Doctor, he-he's probably out for me, you need to get me far away from here! Please" you beg with your eyes stinging with all the tears, "No one's going to get you from here, Ms. Y/n, you're safe here" You pause your frantic actions for a while. That voice sounded a little too familiar for your liking, making you think you're over analyzing everything again. The doctor gestured to your friends to leave you up to him to have a doctor to patient talk. All of your friends nodded in understanding, giving you one last reassuring smile before collectively leaving the room. 

The doctor, once after making sure that everyone left, removed his mask to reveal the oh so familiar smirk and the hair protector, rustling the same, familiar bright red hair with the same familiar pale fingers of his. Your eyes widen, mouth falls wide ajar

"Oh wait, there's one last warning, Do not assume that the Midnight Man has left your home for good at the conclusion of the game. I'm for real done now" You laugh at your friend who snatched the phone away from you,

"Pleasure to meet you again, darling"

[naturallytom]

Little Things (Tom Holland x reader)

a/n: this is for @rosyparkers​ writing challenge!! italics are flashbacks, bold is the prompt!! again i hope u enjoy this im sorry it’s been like 10 years since i’ve posted something lmao also big thank u to @sunshinehollandd​ for reading this over!!

warnings: a lil angst, scared of opening up/being vulnerable, other than that it’s fluffy fluff 

prompt: “Do you want to know the hardest thing about having a soulmate? It’s not the separation in the beginning, not the endless nights lying awake, hoping and praying that someone was made for you. It’s…it’s the love. It’s too strong, and you can’t fight it. I’ve tried. Believe me, I’ve tried…but I’m always going to love you. And I need you to know that.”

“You ready, my love?” Tom held his hand out to you as the dj announced it was time for your first dance, his brown eyes radiating a type of warmth that brought you comfort when you needed it most. You placed your hand in his and allowed him to guide the two of you to the dance floor, his hands going to your waist while you wrapped your arms around his neck. 

“Have I told you how beautiful you look tonight?” He asked, his voice so soft only you could hear it. 

“Only a million times.” You smiled, hiding your face in his neck. It amazed you that even after years of dating he still had that effect on you. 

“I’ll tell you a million more times, then.” He smiled, pressing a soft kiss to your head. “You look absolutely beautiful.”

“Not so bad yourself.” You replied, a small smile on your lips as your mind wandered to when you first met Tom and how far you came with him. 

“What are you thinking about?” Tom chuckled. 

“How do you know I’m thinking about something?” 

“You have that look on your face. The one you make when you’re deep in thought.” He told you, pressing another kiss to your head. “Everything okay?” 

“Mhmm. Just thinking about how far we’ve come.” You told him honestly. 

“We have come a long way, huh?” He smiled. “Remember when we first met?” 

“How could I forget?” You chuckled, your mind replaying the day you met him as if it was yesterday. 

The first snowfall of the season and you were in your room studying for an exam. Not ideal at all but you had this big exam coming up that you just couldn’t fail so you had to study as much as you could-

“y/n?” Your roommate poked her head into your room, a hopeful smile on her face. “How much studying do you have to do?”

“Ermm a lot, why?” You asked, flipping through your study guide so far. 

“Was thinking we could go out in the snow, at least for a little bit?” She grinned. 

“I don’t know, I still have a lot of studying to do-” 

“You’ve been studying all day! Come on, you need a break.” She argued, making you sigh. 

“I suppose it wouldn’t hurt to take a quick break. But only for a little bit!” You gave in, making your roommate cheer as the two of you got ready to brace the cold winter air. 

“It’s so pretty.” Your roommate said, her voice almost a whisper as the two of you took in the scene while you walked to the nearby park. 

Light, fluffy snow fell from the sky, landing softly on the ground around you as well as on your faces. For a moment when you looked up at the night sky, seeing glimpses of the stars and the snow falling, all your worries and obligations washed away, bringing on a sense of peace. 

The two of you arrived at the park, seeing other people there, all enjoying the snow. People were making snow angels and snow men, while others were having a snowball fight. 

“Hey check this out!” You roommate called, laying down in the snow and making a snow angel, sitting up when she was done. “How’s it look?”

“Not bad.” You laughed, bending down and molding some snow into a ball. “But unfortunately this snowball is too good not to be thrown and you’re the target so..”

Your roommate stood up and fortunately for her but unfortunately for you, she moved out of your way right as you let go of the snowball, allowing it to crash into the man right behind her. 

“Oh shit!” You gasped as he turned around, a look of confusion and slight amusement on his face while your roommate was hysterically laughing off to the side. “I’m so sorry!”

“That meant to be for her?” He chuckled, making you nod. 

“I’m so sorry, I tried to throw it at her but she moved at the last minute and-”

“Hey don’t worry about it.” He assured you. “I’m Tom.” 

“y/n.” You replied. “Really is there any way I could make it up to you?”

“Really it’s fine.” He laughed. “But I am getting cold so I was gonna go across the street and get a tea, if you’d like to join.”

“Sure, but I’m paying for yours.” You insisted, making Tom smile. 

“Pretty sure I’m supposed to pay for yours.” He tried, but you shook your head.

“No, no. It’s my treat. I’m the one who hit you with a snowball, after all.” 

“You looked so cute that night. The snow was falling and sticking to your eyelashes and the moonlight was hitting you just right. God, you looked like an angel. Still look like an angel.” He sighed. 

“Yeah an angel who didn’t let you in for a long ass time.” You chuckled. “‘M not sure what you did but you made me open up to the idea of being vulnerable and open to someone else. I hadn’t really done that before you.”

It had been almost eight months since the snowball incident and to your surprise, Tom was your (very caring) boyfriend. It sort of came as a shock to you when he asked you to be his girlfriend. You definitely had strong feelings for him, no doubt about it. But you weren’t good about expressing them. Tom liked to talk about his and open up his heart to you while you liked to keep your heart guarded and show you cared with smaller actions. 

Tom was patient, though. He was patient and caring and understanding and it made your heart swell within your chest to the point that you weren’t even sure if you could keep it to yourself. He didn’t rush you into opening up or being vulnerable, but he noticed the small smile that formed on your lips whenever you showed him a song or meme that reminded you of him. He noticed the way your eyes sparkled with pride when you successfully made his favorite meal to surprise him after a long day. 

You noticed the little things Tom did too. Like how he always took off his jacket and wrapped it around your shoulders if you were out on a date and you got cold. Or how he always offered to walk or drive you home before you moved in and if he couldn’t or if you drove yourself, he would tell you to drive safe and to text him when you got home. 

“All those little things you did just made me fall even more in love with you.” He laughed softly. “Maybe I rubbed off on you a little bit.” 

“Maybe.” You sighed, your head resting gently on his shoulder. “You told me you loved me all the time, it probably rubbed off on me little by little until I said it.” 

A year and a half after a snowball resulted in you meeting the man of your dreams, you and Tom were still going strong, but you were scared. Tom had told you he loved you so many times yet you couldn’t find yourself to say those three little words back. 

“I love you.” He would say. “You’re my soulmate.” 

You loved him, you know you did. But despite Tom telling you all the time how much he loves you and that you were his soulmate, you were still scared. What if you said it and he rejected you? What if the two of you broke up and you were open and vulnerable for no reason? 

It happened one night when you were laying in bed, your head resting on Tom’s chest, playing with hands, lost in thought. 

“What’s on your pretty little mind, hm?” He murmured, pressing his lips to your forehead softly. 

“Nothing.” Lie. You were actually thinking about how much you loved him and how lucky you were to have him in your life, but the thought of opening up like that terrified you. You fell in love the way you fall asleep, slowly and then all at once. 

“Do you want to know the hardest thing about having a soulmate? It’s not the separation in the beginning, not the endless nights lying awake, hoping and praying that someone was made for you. It’s…it’s the love. It’s too strong, and you can’t fight it. I’ve tried. Believe me, I’ve tried…but I’m always going to love you. And I need you to know that.” He said softly, as if he could read your mind. 

“How do you know you’ll always love me, though?” You asked. “That’s a long time.”

“Darling I fall more in love with you every day.” He chuckled. 

“It’s just,” you started, not thinking about the words that left your mouth next. “I do love you but I’m scared. I don’t like being vulnerable like that, you know this.” 

Tom paused before he let out a soft laugh, a sense of ‘I knew it’ mixed with confusion taking over your body. 

“What?” You asked, starting to get mildly defensive. 

“Baby you just said you loved me.” He smiled, making your eyes widen. 

“I did?”

“Mhmm. Also said you were scared and didn’t like being vulnerable.” He mumbled against your head, his thumb rubbing over your knuckles softly. “Being vulnerable is what makes us human, lovey. ‘S okay to open yourself up, especially to me.” 

“What if you didn’t feel the same way?” You glanced up at him, a small smile on his lips. “What if we broke up?”

“Neither of those are even possibilities.” He assured you. “I love you too much.” 

You paused before responding. “I love you too.”

As the song came to an end, you found yourself overwhelmed with love and felt tears involuntarily fill your eyes. Tom frowned lightly when he saw the tears, pausing to hold your face in his hands gently, concern in his eyes.

“What’s wrong, hm? Regret marrying me already?” He teased, making you laugh softly. 

“No. ‘M just really happy. I really love you. Don’t think I’ll ever stop.” You murmured, the concern and frown on Tom’s face being replaced with pure love and adoration. 

“Good, darling, because you’re stuck with me forever now.” He replied.

“I wouldn’t want it any other way.”

_______________________________________________________________________

please rb/leave feedback!!

tagging some mutuals: @daydreamparker​ @angelic-holland​ @moonlit-void-to-the-far-unknown​

[vtforpedro]

medical update - long post, TWs in tags

my head is as bad as it's been since the beginning of it all. it's been seven months since it's been at this level. nearing the end of my rope here anyway. so the only thing that's keeping me from getting the official IIH diagnosis is a lumbar puncture. I was gonna do one cause my neurosurgeon wanted me to get one and as he was on the way out of the door (in april 2020) he's like 'oh yeah if you read anything about death/emergency surgery from getting a lumbar puncture with a chiari malformation don't worry about it' me, who had not been googling things anymore cause it was making my anxiety really high, now very worried about it: haha ok!! yeah so there are numerous documented cases of people with chiari malformation having an LP done and for whatever reason, the sudden decrease in spinal fluid causes the chiari (cerebellar tonsils have herniated into the spinal cord opening in the base of the skull) to 100% herniate and results in immediate life-saving full-on brain surgery right then and there so!!! I never got an LP because I was like, fresh in the middle of the worst of the medical trauma, three weeks out of the hospital where my intense phobia of IVs came from, no one was believing me about any of it etc etc lmao goddd I wish he hadn't said anything cause my anxiety brain is stupid but when I saw him in late october and he finally believed me and started talking about IIH, the actual diagnostic tool (the last one anyway) is a lumbar puncture. to rule out anything in the spinal fluid (which is pretty much already ruled out for me because it's been 19 months and I would've had other stuff happening if it were something in the fluid) and check the pressure in my brain. IIH is intracranial hypertension for who knows why. I asked my neurologist yesterday if I get it, since we have ruled everrrrything out, and my pressure is high, will I get the IIH diagnosis and he said correct. like it's the only thing I'm missing!!! but the problem with getting the diagnosis is there are legit two medications they use to treat IIH and they are not without potentially severe side effects (they lower spinal fluid production and fucking with your brain when they don't really know Why can. fuck your brain) and I am already terrified of new meds. I don't want to go through all this shit just to have horrible things happen when I try to treat it, you know? but weight loss is clearly not working, at least not yet and I don't know if it ever will. if it doesn't, I'm going to have to have surgery. that's the only way to fix this :/ I talked to my neurosurgeon in october about the risks of herniation with an LP and I think he got frustrated lmao because he's like 'it's like the biggest myth out there! I've never seen it in my entire career' but it's not a myth because it HAS happened. I would say him being a renowned neurosurgeon means that it's probably a really low risk? but it's not a fuckin myth and with him being a renowned neurosurgeon I have no doubts he knows that. because I saw a neurologist team shortly before I went back to him that said 'oh no, we never order LPs for chiari patients. it's taught in school because the risk is too high' so I'm like ok my neurosurgeon is fantastic at what he does but he was playing fast and loose with the truth, so do I want to trust this guy? I'm being told they teach it in school to not do this because people have died. I'm being told by my new neurologist that he thinks the benefits far outweigh the risks, my chiari is so mild, it'll be done in the hospital under the right settings with monitoring, etc etc, and that he considers my neurosurgeon the true expert on the matter and to maybe listen to him and himself and not what a different neuro said WHICH WOULD BE OKAY if the risk wasn't fucking DEATH in a horrible way during a fairly common procedure!!! like it's considered 'invasive' but it's still done often enough my brain is at a complete standstill. I am living in such horrible agony that I want to end my life. if I get the LP, I could actually experience relief for a while because

of the removal of some SF resulting in less pressure in my skull. or I could just straight up die lmao but also I don't want to be on meds to treat it even if I do get the diagnosis!! I am in the middle of applying for disability (not even 50% of the way through and it's a long process ._.) so if I get this diagnosis and I add it to my claim, this, along with everrrrrything else, gives me an even higher chance of getting approved and if this doesn't go away from weight loss, I will be forced to do an LP anyway because I will have to confirm the pressure in my skull so they can perform surgery. but that would be months away, maybe even late next year, because I do still have to lose all the weight first so my dilemma is, do I just go ahead with the LP despite the risks (no matter how low they are and I genuinely don't know how low from getting so many mixed answers from doctors) because I could get relief and because I could get the diagnosis to add to disability? what happens if the Worst™ happens and I never walk out of the hospital, you know? it's scary. it's genuinely so terrifying to me. I'm having traumatic nightmares about this shit my cognitive function has been declining enough that I have zero recollection of a few things happening. it's not just forgetting, it's a complete blackout. I'm mixing up meds and a couple other things. and it's scaring me. neuro referred me to a neuropsychologist to evaluate this stuff my head is so bad I am in a constant heightened state of extreme anxiety and depression and stress. I'm starting to get heart palpitations again. like something's gotta give, right? I don't know what to do if you or someone you know has had a lumbar puncture, please please please do NOT tell me any horror stories about it (I legit can't handle it). if you've had one and it was easy peasy lemon squeezy, can you tell me about it, please? hanging on by a fucking threeeeeeead. love you all very much

[bubmyg]

three pancakes - myg

pairing: yoongi x reader

genre/warnings: vampire!yoongi, fluff lmao so much fluff when do i not write fluff, domestic goodness, no blood warnings this time but the kittens make a cameo!

word count: 1,382

summary: there’s someone playing the piano in your dreams or the one where yoongi has a normal saturday morning with you

a/n: omg hannah u still write yeah i know alright ajfdlksf forgive me i haven’t written in months but i got this idea and wrote it in forty minutes here we go :’-)

There was a piano in your dream, a rich mahogany color lined in engraved bits of gold that drew in prominent trim designs to flecks in the wood. Someone, something, was playing it, the succession of keys pressing down into a haunting melody not the result of your hand reaching out to feather over the slick ivory. You jerked the appendage into your chest, holding your hand at your wrist as the music seemed to gather speed, more keys pressed down at a time in flurrying speed and the jerk of your gaze to keep up with the phenomenon was almost enough to rouse you from your sleep.

Instead, it was the slow of the music once more than eventually peeled your eyes open, the transition from the white swathed around the piano in your dream becoming dark then dim, grays and blues melding together from where black out curtains quelled the knocking of the morning sun. The music never stopped, however muffled now, crawling out from the spaces left underneath the cracked bedroom door when your bare feet hit the hardwood to pry it open. 

A few other noises joined the concerto, the steady ticking of the grandfather clock in the hallway and the excited meows of the kittens as they tumbled over each other in an effort to greet you. When the piano didn’t seem to cease with the clear indication that you were awake (to a vampire with hypersensitive ears, that is), you paused in your trek to the siren song, crouching to let the orange tabby and black kitten curl their purring heads into your cupped palms for a few passing heartbeats. 

Fingers played the keys of this piano, delicate ones wrapped underneath a few silver bands and covered at the palm by the sleeves of a baggy black turtleneck. You followed the line from pink tinged knuckles to the slouch of thin framed glasses resting on the edge of a rounded nose, pausing in the archway to the living room just to let your heart recover from the rush of fondness it got in that moment. 

Yoongi didn’t acknowledge you until you’d lowered yourself into the massive armchair stationed at a diagonal to the instrument, eyes flitting to yours long enough to have an endeared smile of his own pressing into the line of his lips before the human color of his eyes, a richly gentle brown, became hidden behind thick eyelashes as his fingers continued their work. You watched in rapt attention, feet curled underneath you, chin to the palm of your hand until the song died out in an almost playful skip of his index and middle fingers over the last couple of notes. 

He sat back, abandoning the character of a centuries old vampire once known for his skill on the very thing he sat behind in favor of your Yoongi, using the hyper extended curl of his ring finger to shove his glasses up on his nose before stuffing flattened palms under his thighs while broad shoulders hunched a bit and the same pink color in his knuckles tinged the top of his ears. 

“I didn’t wake you, did I?”

You shook your head, “You’re up late, anyway.”

Rarely was he “awake” when morning came for you, generally already trapped in the work in his basement studio while the curtains, all three layers, on the upper level had been drawn back for your benefit. Upon further inspection, you found that to be the case in that given instance, curtains of the grand bay window facing the front of the house drawn open. Panic seasoned into you from years of dating a vampire silenced into just the roar of your heart when you noticed it was cloudy, splashes of rainwater curling down the glass planes. The circle of natural light spilling through the windows didn’t quite reach Yoongi’s purposefully placed bench, anyway. 

“It’s the weekend,” Yoongi offered as simple explanation, “I wanted to see you.”

Your heart warmed, shaking your head to disperse the unwarranted shyness that trickled into your smile. “What was that you were playing?”

Yoongi didn’t pluck the keys hard enough for the full capacity of their sound to emit, relaxing your stature a bit more as the rain seemed to make up for the disparity in sound. “Something I’ve been writing…”

“You’ve already got me hearing it in my dreams so,” You grinned when he furrowed an eyebrow at you, “I’m sure it’ll be wonderful.”

He parted his mouth to question when a bit more light spilled into the room, a few of the clouds in the distance breaking with the introduction of the sun. Amusement lit his features when you moved to scramble for the curtains, rising to gently catch your wrist and tug you to him albeit the bit of nausea that rumbled low in his stomach. 

“Come. Let me make you breakfast,” When you hesitated, Yoongi touched pouted lips to the back of your hand, “No windows in there.”

Yoongi held your hand as you rounded the kitchen island, clambering atop the countertop while he abandoned you for the cupboards. Fingers stalled on a box and he turned to you with a knowing smirk, “Do you want pancakes?”

You tried to suppress your smile. “Yes, please.”

Then did he drag the box out, a cheap pancake mix you’d picked up at the store weeks ago. An indignant wrinkle met the bridge of his nose and he glared at you over the frames of his glasses, “Is this all we have?”

“It’s good,” You tried to argue. 

Yoongi rolled his eyes, dropping the box back into place beside a half eaten bag of corn chips and a dented can of corn, instead yanking open the cabinet containing his cooking materials. Ingredients came in a frenzy then, quickly filling the opposite counter and before you could blink at the sound of thunder outside, he’d dropped a mixing bowl next to your thigh filled with a gooey brown substance stirred by a massive spoon in his grasp. 

“What was that you said about your dream?”

He wasn’t looking at you, fluffy black bangs pointed to you instead as they ruffled with every few passes of his spoon through the mixture. You hummed, drawing your attention to the far corner of the kitchen while letting your legs swing over the side. 

“There was someone playing the piano in my dream. I think the song sounded similar to the one you were playing,” You didn’t notice that Yoongi had stopped stirring as you continued to ramble, “There wasn’t anyone sitting at it...but the keys were being pressed down? It was weird, come to think of it—”

Cool fingertips touched the side of your neck first and then your cheek, soft in nudging you closer for Yoongi’s lips to linger on the opposite side of your face, closer to your nose than anything. 

“It was probably me,” He teased lowly, nudging his nose against your cheek, “I’m a vampire, remember? I don’t show up in anything—”

“Is there your way of telling me your ever growing list of superpowers includes hacking into my dreams?”

Yoongi sighed against your cheek, “No—” His hand dropped from your cheek to your thigh, giving it a gentle squeeze, “—but I will say this…”

He was stoically serious when you cocked your chin to look at him, “...if I still dreamed as you humans do, mine most certainly would include you, angel.”

If Yoongi would have stalled a fraction longer you were almost sure the over growing fondness deep in your heart would have expanded enough to draw him into your little bubble of love but he broke the ambiance but gently patting your thigh a couple of times before pulling away with the pancake batter at his hip. 

“How many do you want?”

Maybe it made it worse that he’d moved further away (enough to drag out the griddle and grunt to reach the outlet for it) because you found yourself stalling in your answer for so long that he turned to look at you again with expectant eyebrows. 

“Two is fine.”

You giggled when Yoongi placed his hands on his hips and glared, “All this batter and you only want two?”

“Okay, three…”