#I'll go watch the lecture videos and hope for the best

[wolfchans]

I've been feeling awful since yesterday lmao 😭 it's like my body decided to give up on me and gave me the most awful migraines known to man

[whorergal]

SHE'S MINE (PART TWO)

summary: after you've been attacked, the group becomes cautious and confused, now being targeted as well. but you still can't get over the fact that ghostface had helped you and why you think you know who it may be. and maybe you wouldn't mind keeping a secret.

warnings: scream vi spoilers, language (cussing), blood, gore. it follows the plot loosely.

pairings: ethan landry x fem!reader

authors note: hiiii i really hope u enjoy :-) also i have no idea if mindy shared the apartment with tara, sam and quinn but if she didn’t, we're just going to pretend she does and i also altered ethan's motive a bit too for this (lowkey was inspired by don't blame me by taylor swift so if you like listening to music when reading, i recommend that song for this part)

———————————————————————————

The hospital visit wasn't as long as you anticipated. Two of the stabs you endured hadn't cut deep so they were able to stitch it upon your first visit and they closed up that same night—it still hurt like a bitch. Your previous stab wound was the worst one overall as the stitching process was a lot more painful because your skin was sensitive as it had been punctured once before.

When you were released, Sam took you under her care. She didn't feel safe having you and Anika alone in your apartment since the attack so she offered her, Tara, Mindy and Quinn's home to you two. It didn't really matter for Anika as she was always there in the first place but it bothered you.

You didn't mean to feel unappreciative but you hated being controlled by useless fear. Whether or not Ghostface attacked you in your home, he would find them someway or another; it didn't matter where you were. But, you agreed in order to clear her conscious.

They didn't ask much questions when you were in the hospital. After the second Ghostface left the apartment, you remembered blacking out and waking up in the hospital bed with Anika by your side. The doctor wouldn't let anyone come in since you were preparing for surgery but decided to let Anika stay since she was your roommate.

Her story was that your security system she had built when you two first moved in had went off when the second Ghostface broke in. Her and Mindy didn't tell everyone before leaving because they didn't want to risk not making it in time. The frat house was only a block down so they just ran their way to your building, ultimately finding your unconscious body on the kitchen floor.

Anika told you that they had met Ethan at the entrance of the building when the ambulance was called and said you called him, which was true but you wondered what took him so long. You were highly suspicious of him but you didn't want to be because he was your best-friend, you couldn't imagine him having anything to do with this.

Ever since that night, he was around, a lot. He even skipped his Econ classes to keep you company because Sam didn't want you to be alone and everyone else was busy.

You didn't ask him about what happened. You were afraid of what the outcome would be. But you knew you had to do something in order to understand. At least interrogating the truth out of him (because he couldn't lie to you) would give you peace of mind—well, depending on the answer.

"You don't have to be here, you know." You broke the silence, watching him write notes from the lecture he was missing.

"But I want to be," he told you honestly.

"E, you're missing Econ. You have an exam this week."

"I'll be fine, don't worry." He looked up from his notebook, putting the lecture video on pause to give you his full attention. "I don't want anything to happen to you again."

"Ghostface rarely attacks in the daytime," you joked.

"Still, Y/N/N." He was being serious. "Your stitches haven't even fully healed yet."

"This isn't the first time." You sighed. "Plus, Ghostface never attacks the same person twice."

"Says who?"

"Says Mindy."

Ethan rolled his eyes. "Yeah, well, I don't want to take any chances."

It went back to comfortable silence. You went back to reading your book for your English class while he continued to write his notes. After a couple more minutes, you decided to ask the question that had been eating you alive.

"What took you so long?" you asked randomly.

He furrowed his brows, turning to look at you. "What do you mean?"

"When I was attacked," you clarified. "I called you and you said you and Chad were on the way. Anika and Mindy beat you to it and Chad wasn't even with you when you arrived."

Ethan looked away, his face becoming pale. "Well, I went to go find Chad when you were on the call but I couldn't find him so I decided to leave. I didn't realize how much time I wasted until I saw police lights outside your building."

That was the first and final conversation you two had about it. You gathered what you knew from it but, again, you didn't want to believe he was Ghostface. Unless he wasn't and used the costume to throw the other one off. But where could he buy a replica of it that quickly and still be able to make it in time to save you? It didn't make sense.

You kept this realization to yourself. You felt guilty for it, especially because if he was apart of the plan in harming your friends, this smudge of proof could be enough to hold him accountable before it was taken too far. Of course, you didn't listen to yourself and decided to keep his secret that he wasn't even sure you knew because of how much you liked him.

On the third day of your recovery, your stitching was finally beginning to heal. It hurt to bend down and sometimes walk because it worked the muscles underneath the wound but you couldn't stand doing nothing anymore.

You made the excuse that you were planning to meet Ethan at his dorm for the night because you promised to help him with Econ. Sam wasn't exactly keen on the idea, wondering why he couldn't come to meet you here but you told her you were beginning to feel claustrophobic and wanted to get out. She didn't say much in defense and reluctantly agreed.

They all offered to walk you there just in case something were to happen but you brushed them off. If your assumption about Ethan was correct, he wouldn't let anything happen to you.

The subway was packed because it was nearing Halloween and it took you awhile to finally make it inside one. And the thirty minute ride to campus added onto the time. It was around twelve at night when you arrived at his dorm.

First, you decided to knock. Nobody answered. Then you remembered he had an Econ lecture to attend for the night and took out the extra key he had given you awhile ago and unlocked it yourself.

Honestly, you were glad he wasn't there because it would make your digging a lot more easier.

You searched through everything he owned. Through his drawers (which you highly regretted), under his bed, inside some of his unpacked bags—everywhere but you couldn't find anything that incriminated him.

It had been what felt like hours, but was really only thirty minutes, when you gave up. Your phone was going off but you didn't pay any mind to it because the group had consistently texted you ever since your attack; you just assumed it was them checking up on you and then getting paranoid because you weren't answering. Even if you knew you should've checked, you didn't bother as you were going to head back to the apartment anyway.

You quietly snuck out of the room, making sure the coast was clear until you turned your head to the left and saw Ghostface, waiting there for you. When you tried to scream, they grabbed your face with their hand, restricting your voice from releasing.

They were strong, being able to grab your entire body with their one arm and toss you carelessly back into the room.

You hit the floor, wincing at the impact because of your stitches. Ghostface shut the door behind them, looking down at you. They stalked toward you very slowly as you made sure to keep your distance from them.

Using the dresser that stood behind you, you lifted yourself up with your available arm as the other clutched your stitching instinctively to keep you balanced. It was a silent stare-down until they reached for their mask, untucking it from the behind. Then, they pulled it off.

You stared in shock. "…Ethan?"

"Y/N." He didn't have much expression on his face. He looked out of breath as you could see sweat shimmering on his face from the lighting.

"Oh, my god," You breathed out. Although you suspected him this whole time, finally being able to know it was the truth hurt you more than being stabbed. "You're Ghostface."

"What the hell are you doing here?" Ethan ignored your statement as he furrowed his brows.

"I knew it. I knew you were the one who saved me," you confessed. "That's why I'm here."

"You shouldn't be here," he told you, shaking his head.

"You're trying to kill me and our friends and you're telling me what I shouldn't be doing?!"

"Y/N, there's more to this than you know."

"That much is obvious," you snapped. He tried to step toward you but you backed up. "Stay away from me."

"Please, just listen to me," Ethan began to plead.

"You let them attack me!"

"No, I didn't!" he declared, lowering his voice when he saw it made you flinch. "They promised to leave you out of it. That was the only thing I told them to do."

"They?" you repeated in confusion.

He thought over his response for a second. "Look, what I'm doing—what I've done—is for a good reason. You have to understand."

You furrowed your brows. "What have you done, E?" You couldn't help but use his nickname; you couldn't help but try to hear him out.

"Y/N." He walked toward you slowly and this time, you didn't back away from him. "You're the only thing I care about. If it means I have to kill a thousand people to keep you safe, then I'd do it."

"I don't understand." Your voice was almost a mumble.

"I agreed to do this before I met you but when I did, it all changed. I-I tried to convince them to stop. I wanted to try and be good—for you but she found out and threatened to kill you if I didn't continue with the plan so I did with the exception that they would leave you out of it," he explained softly. "I did this…for you."

You looked at him like he was insane (he kind of was). "You'd kill our friends?"

"If it meant that you'd be safe."

His words didn't completely register but when they did, you couldn't help but feel guilty. You had a crush on him for so long and here he was, basically confessing his love for you in such a fucked up way. You hated yourself for finding him even more attractive after hearing him say those words.

"Ethan…" you whispered his name.

"Can I kiss you?" he asked. "Can I please kiss you?"

You didn't give him an answer as you closed the space between the two of you.

It seemed wrong—no, it was wrong. Kissing him while he still wore the Ghostface robe, one that he wore while taking someone's life.

You knew he wasn't wearing this costume for fun. They only ever wore it for a purpose. Even though your mind was totally blanked because of how dumb his lips made you, when you pulled apart, you began to think about where he had come from and who he had just killed and why you weren't more concerned about the matter.

He chased after your lips, kissing you again with more force this time, even pulling you closer by the waist. You only pulled away because you were receiving a call.

You pulled your phone out from your pocket, the reality setting in when you saw Sam's contact. He looked down with you, not doing much in keeping you from answering. It took you a couple more seconds of contemplating until you decided to click the green button, putting the phone to your ear.

You took a deep breath before answering. "Hello?"

"Y/N, what the hell?!" Sam hollered into the speaker, her voice mixed with relief and annoyance. "Why weren't you answering? Are you okay?!"

"Yeah, I'm fine," you replied rather nonchalantly. "I had my phone off. What's wrong, Sam?"

There was a short beat. "Ghostface attacked us."

You furrowed your brows, glancing at Ethan. "What?"

"Yeah, he killed Quinn and…"

"And?" you repeated instantly. "Who else, Sam?"

"Anika…" Sam's voice was barely above a whisper. "Y/N, I'm so sorry. I-I tried to help her."

You shut your eyes, feeling tears starting to build. There was silence on the line and you were sure it was because Sam didn't want to say anything knowing you would be taking her death as personal as Mindy did.

Suddenly, your stab wounds began to throb which made you let out a grunt. You knew better than to cry over Anika only because it would achieve nothing. Yes, it was messed up that you were now standing in the room with her murderer, watching him undress himself of his black robe that he wore while killing her but you realized nothing you could've said or done—whether you got to him before she died—could've changed her outcome.

You watched him pull out a hunting knife from his back pocket, the silver glistening with dried blood. That blood probably belonged to Anika and Quinn. It made your throat go dry.

"Sam," you blurted quietly.

"What, Y/N?"

You were going to say it; tell her the truth. It was the right thing to do. Ethan, even if you liked him a lot, had just murdered your best friend and one of Sam's. They deserved the justice of their murderer being caught.

But when he walked back over to you, his eyes scanning your expression, you had already picked your choice.

"Y/N, what? Are you okay?" Sam's voice echoed in your mind.

"Yeah, yeah, it's just…" You tried to find the words. "Is everyone else okay? Did you get hurt?"

"We're fine. Mindy got cut but she's fine," Sam answered softly. "Can you come down here? I'd feel a lot better if you were here with us. Plus, I'm sure you can comfort Mindy than the rest of us. She doesn't want to be anywhere near Tara or Chad."

You let out a shaky breath. "Yeah. Ethan and I are on our way."

"Ethan?" she questioned.

"Yeah. Remember I told you I was going to meet him at his dorm? I was with him the whole night," you lied.

"Oh, okay." Sam sighed into the speaker. "That's good to hear, actually. Mindy thinks Ethan was the one behind all of this but if you were with him then it checks him out."

"Don't worry, Sam," you said. "We'll be there shortly."

"Okay, see you soon. Be safe."

You nodded, even though she couldn't see you and then hung up.

"You kept my secret?" Ethan asked.

You shook your head. "I shouldn't have. You killed Anika and Quinn."

He bit his lip, nodding calmly. "I know, I know. It wasn't exactly my first choice. But I had to for saving you the other night."

"Yeah, I know," you mumbled. "But did you mean it?"

"Mean what?" He furrowed his brows.

"What you said about wanting to be good?" You repeated his words. "Because that's the only reason I saved your ass. I should hate you. You killed Anika."

"Y/N/N," he said softly, walking over to grab your hands. "I only did this to protect you. They made me think my original motive was right but it's actually fucked up. I realized that the moment I met you. So, yes, I do mean it. And I'm sorry about Anika. I didn't really want to do it either."

You mulled over his words, looking down at your connected hands until you finally spoke. "Okay. Then, I'll help you," you informed him. "But, in order for me to do that, I need to know everything."

Let's just say it was an interesting conversation.

[thana-topsy]

Ok, gosh, sorry to pester but your response got me actually sorta tempted to maybe give writing atleast a small fic a try. So I've got a fair lotta experience with running and playing ttrpgs and I imagine there's *some* skill overlap (Both kinda being in a roundabout way narrative writing, just as a group) and, well, wondering if you have any tips and tricks for fic writing? I know I really struggle with character dialogue when I'm writing both sides of it 😅

YASSS LET'S GO!! Fic writing time!!! (And don't worry, you're not pestering me. If anything you've infected me with Minotaur Brain).

Okay, this is about to get long, so apologies in advance. You've unleashed the beast.

I actually went from playing and running TTRPG to fic-writing because I had more ideas than any single game of DND could possibly contain. I wanted these stories out of my head and I wanted complete control. (Do I have control issues? Maybe~ But only when it comes to impatience. I didn't want to have to wait on people to make story decisions, damn it!) So I can say that, yes, there's absolutely some overlap that'll come in handy!

Ahhh character dialogue. I know a lot of people struggle with that exact mechanic, so you're not alone. Fortunately (or unfortunately) I have the boon of having conversations with myself pretty constantly lol. Dialogue comes very naturally for me, and is one of my favorite things to write. I'd say just pay attention to how you speak to people, how people speak to you, and keep in mind that two people talking are going to have different motivations and interpretations of the conversation. It can feel intimidating, but the #1 thing to prioritize is knowing your characters inside and out. Their responses in dialogue will come naturally if you know their personality well.

As far as external sources, I follow a lot of "On Writing" type channels on YouTube, and I'll link a few of my favorites: Hello Future Me has a whole playlist of writing tips and tricks, but his entire channel is just lovely. For dialogue specifically, I gotta recommend this video, which I've watched plenty. (Also he has videos on The Elder Scrolls!) The Closer Look tends to focus on movies and scripts more than written work, but one of the best ways to get better at writing is to critique all types of storytelling media. (Critique as in look critically at what makes a story successful, not just shit on popular media for fun). Brandon Sanderson is an absolute master of fantasy fiction and has a WEALTH of videos on youtube. His playlist on writing advice is great for bite-sized nuggets of knowledge, but also he has entire college-level lectures available for free on youtube. Shit's amazing.

I also love watching channels, like Cari Can Read, that read and discuss popular books. It's entertaining, and also a good example of what to do, and often what not to do, in a story lmfao.

I've also read many many books on writing techniques. "How Fiction Works" by Oakley Hall is probably my all-time favorite.

I hope this helps you get a good start! But at the end of the day, just write! Technique can come later. Get some words down and see where the story takes you. Worry about the craft later. As they always say, you can't edit a blank page.

Best of luck, my friend, and I look forward to seeing what you come up with. 🙏

[sakurasfallingstar]

ShiSaku Week: Day 6

Comebacks were always Sakura's favorite. There were interviews, guest staring, dance practices, and just the hype that her favorite group was releasing a new album.

Now that her favorite group was releasing their title track MV, Sakura couldn't wait until the school bell rang. At the moment, she didn't really find Iruka's lecture of the invasion of mist on their homeland a priority. She drowned out his lecture, eyeing as the minutes ticked on by.

"Just a few more minutes," she thought,.

Her hands twitched with anticipation, toward her bag.

RIIIIIIIIIIIIIINNNNNNNNNNGGGGGGG!

that was her cue, she grabbed her bag in a hurry, and practically ran out the door. Their was no way Sakura was going to to miss this. Not this time. She unlocked her bike and pedaled as fast as she could home.

There were only a few more minutes until the MV was released, and she wasn't going to miss their special message from the group. It was something they always did seconds before the release. She's missed so many times previously, but this time would be her chance to catch it.

By the time she got home, there were only 5 minutes until the premiere. She hopped off her bike, not caring as it fell on its side, unlocked her front door, and ran inside.

"I'm home," she shouted, as she ran to her.

Her parents could only stare at eachother a bit dumbfounded.

"Well, she's your daughter," said her mother to her father, before resuming with dinner.

Shutting the door to her, she jumped on her bed, turned on the TV, and set up NinTube.

Clicking the video, she saw that the count down had already began.then it all turned white.

"Obito, I think the camera's good. You can move away now," said Sasuke.

Sakura's been stanning this group from their debut, she can already tell who is who, with just a picture of their nose. Of course she'd be able to tell who's talking without seeing who's talking.

"Ok. Ok," Obits said, moving away from the camera to stand with his group.

"Ichi, ni, san. Hello, we are F4N," they introduced together with a bow and wave.

Sakura couldn't help, the smile that spread across her face.

"There's my favorite person, " Shisui said, with excitement to the camera.

"Shisui, don't you mean 'persons?'' You'll  have Celebrities saying you're flirting with them," joked Itachi.

"Well, maybe I am," he replied, before turning to the camera yelling, "Celebrities, I love you!"

Shisui then began to do do some silly, cutesy poses.

'He's so cute,' Sakura thought with a giggle, as she watched her bias. She's sure she'll find screenshots on Tweeter later. She'll download them then.

"Shisui, quit it. We're on a time limit," stressed Sasuke.

"Oh, right."

"Anyways, we worked really hard on this MV. Each of us did our best with this concept, despite it being different from our usual stuff," began Itachi.

"Yes, got to admit. I am kinda happy we are not wearing our usual amount of eyeliner," commented Obito.

"Yes, and since we've gone with a more  bright and upbeat concept; we hope you'll enjoy seeing this side of ourselves," Sasuke, said with a smile.

"Now, without further ado, let's roll the MV," Shisui said, winking at the camera.

That wink almost killed Sakura.

The video began with them out on a boat enjoying the sun. Then, the next thing you see is them shipwrecked on an island. The music begins then. It's upbeat and makes you want to dance.

Each one of them is trying to make the island livable, from starting a bond fire to setting up some Christmas lighs around the area. Shisui even chased Sasuke around with some seaweed.

By the end of it seemed like they set up for a beach party. It was a fun concept.

Sakura was sure that this song would be the summer anthem  of the year.

Notes

Group Name: F4N (pronounced FAN)

Members (oldest to youngest): Obito, Shisui, Itachi, and Sasuke

Fandom name: Celebrities

(Get it? Cause they are their fans' biggest fan. Ok, I'll stop.)

Shisui is Sakura's ultamite bias.

Most of their concepts are dark or horror. Some may even call ot erotic...

@shisakuweek

[mi5018tomberry-compositing]

AI and the Animation Industry

During the lecture I took a few notes for the debate trying to balance out pros and cons for AI in the present and future.

A few weeks prior to the lecture I had watched this video about AI whilst looking for something to educate myself about the current state of AI and what it could mean for the future and for me. Its very sensationalised, especially in the introduction, but it is a chance to hear the concerns and beliefs from a prominent figure in cutting edge AI. Mo Gawdat worked for Google X as a part of the team developing Google's AI and he sits down to discuss how he got into that field, why he left it and what his concerns are for the future. Mo is very dramatic and pessimistic which could be a means to sell his book 'Scary Smart' to the viewer and this puts a bias on all of his arguments throughout the video to shape the narrative which will sell the most books. Regardless, it is fascinating and quite concerning to hear someone from the cutting edge of AI tech refer to it as an independent conscious entity. AI has progressed exponentially and will continue to do so despite the looming threats that it poses and those at the forefront's reasoning is if I don't make this someone else will, in another country or another organisation so I might as well work to ensure that my country's AI is the best. "If I don't someone else will" has compelled the greatest minds in the past to race with one another to reach the finish line before anyone else and be the first one to open up Pandora's box. The aftermath of the last box being opened is still felt in Nagasaki and Hiroshima and it seems that the world is once again locked into another race into the unknown and as individuals we can only hope that this race won't end with another nuke in the face. But all this doom and gloom won't get us anywhere because right now we have the chance to steer AI towards a brighter future for all parties. Right now at our fingertips we can generate whatever we want with a few words, its unprecedented but there is so much potential to make any old garbage to your heart's content. So pull your head out of the sand and start shitposting AI generated memes, all these oracles predicting the future really don't know anything concretely all we do know is that AI is here to stay. We didn't blow ourselves up last time who's to say we will now? Maybe the jobs we know today in the arts will all disappear but they'll come back in a new shape or form.

This video shares a similar sentiment and also provides us with an opportunity to see just what can be made with AI. When CGI came along practical effects artists suffered for a time but there is still a time and a place for them even today, undoubtedly there will be a shift but if you hide yourself away and spend your time poisoning data sets you're just going to fall behind. I've rambled enough now and I'll let you be the judge if this stream of conscience made any sense. Maybe the jobs we hoped we'd get from this course won't be here in ten years or even five years but we're all in the same boat, every industry will change in the wake of AI, it is Ford's assembly line all over again; a new age of automation, I hope we can all keep up.

[mi5018tomberry]

AI and the Animation Industry

During the lecture I took a few notes for the debate trying to balance out pros and cons for AI in the present and future.

A few weeks prior to the lecture I had watched this video about AI whilst looking for something to educate myself about the current state of AI and what it could mean for the future and for me. Its very sensationalised, especially in the introduction, but it is a chance to hear the concerns and beliefs from a prominent figure in cutting edge AI. Mo Gawdat worked for Google X as a part of the team developing Google's AI and he sits down to discuss how he got into that field, why he left it and what his concerns are for the future. Mo is very dramatic and pessimistic which could be a means to sell his book 'Scary Smart' to the viewer and this puts a bias on all of his arguments throughout the video to shape the narrative which will sell the most books. Regardless, it is fascinating and quite concerning to hear someone from the cutting edge of AI tech refer to it as an independent conscious entity. AI has progressed exponentially and will continue to do so despite the looming threats that it poses and those at the forefront's reasoning is if I don't make this someone else will, in another country or another organisation so I might as well work to ensure that my country's AI is the best. "If I don't someone else will" has compelled the greatest minds in the past to race with one another to reach the finish line before anyone else and be the first one to open up Pandora's box. The aftermath of the last box being opened is still felt in Nagasaki and Hiroshima and it seems that the world is once again locked into another race into the unknown and as individuals we can only hope that this race won't end with another nuke in the face. But all this doom and gloom won't get us anywhere because right now we have the chance to steer AI towards a brighter future for all parties. Right now at our fingertips we can generate whatever we want with a few words, its unprecedented but there is so much potential to make any old garbage to your heart's content. So pull your head out of the sand and start shitposting AI generated memes, all these oracles predicting the future really don't know anything concretely all we do know is that AI is here to stay. We didn't blow ourselves up last time who's to say we will now? Maybe the jobs we know today in the arts will all disappear but they'll come back in a new shape or form.

This video shares a similar sentiment and also provides us with an opportunity to see just what can be made with AI. When CGI came along practical effects artists suffered for a time but there is still a time and a place for them even today, undoubtedly there will be a shift but if you hide yourself away and spend your time poisoning data sets you're just going to fall behind. I've rambled enough now and I'll let you be the judge if this stream of conscience made any sense. Maybe the jobs we hoped we'd get from this course won't be here in ten years or even five years but we're all in the same boat, every industry will change in the wake of AI, it is Ford's assembly line all over again; a new age of automation, I hope we can all keep up.

[passingdaysthings]

8.9.2023 - Training at Work

Today is Wednesday.

My class has been such a pain in the ass because there are so many little things I feel like I am missing to just get my stuff running smoothly. It's too the point that chatgpt can't even help me fix the problem. I have been able to learn a lot from chatgpt, and it had made school much more bearable since the professors I've had are shit. I also really hate the idea of online school because I can't even go to office hours for my problems. They have online office hours, but they have all been at very inconvenient times for me. Like the one for this class is at 2pm my time.. I am at work. I probably wouldn't go if even if I could though because I don't really like the professor we have right now. He is just way to into letting us discuss things without really explaining anything. At least Crutchfield would have a class discussion and teach at the same time rather than just telling us to discuss it with our classmates. We are legit the blind leading the blind since most of us don't know what we are doing. I also think it's a waste of my time to talk to people who are just as confused as me. Why would that help me? I am paying my professor to teach me not my classmates. This class is about 70% class discussion. That's is crazy to me because how are we suppose to know what we are doing when we get about 30% of lecture time. I am almost done with this class though because this week is week 9, and next week will be the last week. I hope I do well on my final because I need a B in this class. I currently have a 77%. I need to make sure I turn in all my assignment's and get a B on the final. I am having issues with my stuff right now, but hopefully, I will figure it out soon. I know that my code doesn't have an issue right now, but it's the connection between my python code and mysql. Oh well. I will just have to ask for help.

So I have has quite the development in my relationship with Taylor again, and I am kind of detached from it. I do feel some things, but it's not as strong as it use to be. I think it's because I know him much better as a person now than I did then.

Let's start with that one Monday that Taylor got tipsy... we talked like usually, he made some comments, and then he asked to sleep on the phone with me.

Next.. this past weekend, he got drunk (?)... idk. He was drinking, and that really pushed things. First off, he video called me which is something he never does because it makes him feel uncomfortable which I don't care. We have video called before, and I am not pressed to see his face or anything. I do think he is a cutie though. He basically apologized to me for not video calling me more, and I felt kind of bad. I don't know why he felt the need to apologize and explain why he doesn't video call me. I think the next thing was funny. He explained that he was really warming up to me and trusting me. I thought that was funny because of the things we have done and gone through in our whatever the fuck it is we are. I'll say best friends for lack of better terms. That's why is was funny to hear that he was warming up to me. I guess it make sense since he is a whore and all those other things are more comfortable for him, but the emotional part of our friendship is harder for him. At the end of this, he basically said the he still watches the saved videos I sent, and he was sad/mad about me deleting the ones from the past. He said that's why he decided to just stop what we were doing. I don't feel bad about deleting though because it made me uncomfortable, and I think that's because of my feelings. Now.. I do feel things here and there, but nowhere near as strongly as I use to feel. We have gone back to having a sexual relationship, and he said he is gonna go to EDCLV in May. This was kind of weird because he said it in kind of a possessive way because I told him I might be going with my ass and titties out. To that, he said he would have to go with me, and I was gonna spend all my time with him. I told him that the others were going to, but he said nahh, idc. This is a pretty normal thing in our relationship though. These random moments of possessiveness. Damn... writing this.. I am just use to this. Maybe.. that's why I am feeling less. Well, at the end of this, he told me that I was going to be is sleeping buddy, and that I am his co-dependency attachment. I got fired from my sleeping buddy job last night though. Nothing I can do with that fickle man.

Last night, we continued with what we talked about, but he was being weird. I felt like he was being really shy and more conservative than usual. He was also worried about me? Usually he would just go about his desires and say what he wants. It was honestly really awkward LOL. I thought it was kind of funny, but I was really confused on what he wanted. He like.. wanted to do things, but it also felt like he didn't? I don't understand how a dude could be so fickle for so long. He initiate it too. He said he wanted to my button up that didn't fit.

I think the biggest thing about this time around is that I am just not convinced about dating if that ever happens. I have a lot of apprehensiveness with the idea of possibly dating him because of the history we have right now, but at this point, we can't even be normal friends. I would have a lot of doubts about his feelings if he one day started liking me or says that he likes me. That's why I believe that one day.. our friendship will end because we crossed the line of friendship, but being in a relationship would be kind of complicated. It's really sad to know that this is what our friendship has become because I really care about him.

-P

[kemakoshume]

Okay first off, congrats on 350 followers! You deserve that and much, much more babe <3

Now I absolutely loved the last Asahi fic you wrote for me (I reread it so often you have no idea lol), and I'm here to make another request if you feel like doing it! I don't know if you write for Aone but he's my current obsession haha. So I was thinking a drabble for him or Asahi if you don't write Aone, reacting to reader making a move and initiating sex for the first time? (Also chubby reader would definitely be a bonus!)

No pressure to do this of course, but thank you if you do! Either way I'm gonna be stalking watching to see what sorts of drabbles and headcanons you end up writing to celebrate your milestone!

𝐋𝐞𝐬 𝐀𝐦𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐮𝐱 – [tl;dr – making the first move and initiating sex with Asahi] ~ ❀ஐ〰

a/n; hi sweet pea! i hope you're feeling better :') tytyty for the request! i'll write it for asahi because i dont really read anything about aone & i didnt rly click with him in the show so im afraid i'll make him super OOC by accident lmao. also, this prompt came at the BEST time. i just got done watching this video from best dressed aka ashley and im in the biggest "first time" mood. ily for this ♡

warnings; virgin reader (cause why not, let's go wild), first time, chubby fem reader (as per usual), reader kind of having a late bloomer sexual awakening "hey sex sounds fun actually" sorta thing. masturbation, titty suckin, lots of praise, etc.

(￣ω￣;) me: "yeah i'll do drabbles" also me: [3772] words ~

The relatively short time you've spent dating Asahi Azumane have been the best few months of your life. He was sweet, and thoughtful, and he knew how to make you laugh. He was achingly handsome and you could swear you saw literal stars in his eyes. But lately, after six whole months of knowing how to act, your hormones now refuse to cooperate.

Have you always gotten warm at the sight of his biceps stretching the cotton sleeves of his t-shirts like that? Has the way his Adam's apple bobbed when he drinks his water always made you squirm in your seat? Have you always felt this flushed and warm under your collar when he brushes the tips of his fingers against your thighs?

Now, you weren't blind. His long brown hair, structured jaw, and lean build had always been things that you noticed. The way he kissed you made you feel butterflies and you wanted to choke him out of love every time you saw him smile but fuck.

You knew you were later to the "sex sounds fun" party bus that most of your peers had long since been riding, but Asahi knew that. He was content with your kisses and the way that you cuddled and he never pushed you past your limits. But now, on this random Tuesday afternoon in the breezy warmth of the September season, the limit no longer seems to exist.

"Hey babe," you whispered, peeking over the rim of your tea mug to look at your man on the floor.

"Yeah?" he said, turning his full attention to you, placing his pencil down on his sketchpad like he wasn't just fully engrossed in whatever new piece he may have envisioned in his mind.

His pretty brown eyes were looking up at yours through his cute little wire-rimmed reading glasses, and fuck, you're a goner. Is it possible to be so horny that you think you'll die? Because you're pretty sure you'll collapse right now if he looks at you that way one more goddamn time.

"Uh, I... can you come up here for a sec?"

You felt your pulse racing against the smooth skin of your wrists and in the junction of your neck. Was now really the right time? Before your evening lecture and right after he had just been over to collect sweets from his Nan? Had you discussed this enough? What if he was secretly just not interested and that's why he had never made a move? What if he only enjoyed looking at you under the blanket of clothing you wore most of the time? Would he even like the way that you looked naked? Was he-

"Hey," he whispered, disrupting your thoughts, "you okay baby? What's on your mind?"

Now, there was probably a more eloquent way to say this. Anything would have been better than the words you chose. Still, you'd never seen Asahi's sweet doe eyes grow larger than when you blurted out the words "I think I'm ready to fuck."

If the big man upstairs had an earthling remote with a pause button on it, then he'd just pressed Asahi's.

"Uh, I, what?" he stammered, "Well, no, not "what." Not like it's a bad thing. I just, you, are you sure? We haven't talked about it in a while and I know you're not waiting for marriage or anything but you, I mean we, you... you never really seemed to be rushing and I didn't ever want to push you. Are you bringing this up now because of something I said, or did? Did I make you feel pressured honey? I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to, I mean, I didn't know that I-"

"Babe," you interrupted, a sweet giggle escaping your lips, "okay, now you're the one who needs to chill out."

You crawl across the short length of your bed to where he's sitting near the end. Normally, you'd just sit beside him like a good, virtuous, wholesome girlfriend, but today... wholesome no more.

"Asahi," you whisper, climbing into his lap to straddle his waist, "I said what I said. I want you to fuck me. I don't feel pressured, not at all. I'm just... realizing how badly I wanna show you my love in a different way. In a way that we haven't tried yet."

You drape your arms around his shoulders, sliding your hand up the nape of his neck to gently scratch at the sensitive nerves there. You lean in for a kiss and hum into his mouth as he reciprocates your affection. You let your tongue explore his mouth and really feel the kisses for the first time. Your lips linger on his for a moment longer than you normally would before pulling away, and soon you find your body swaying a bit with his as you both start to get into the sensations.

"Do you want to have sex with me?" you question, breaking the kiss for a moment to place your forehead against his, looking into his eyes, "Tell me what you want."

He groans, closing his eyes shut as if he needed to collect himself for a moment. His hands tightened their grip on the meat of your ass and your hips a bit before he relaxed them, running them underneath the fabric of your shirt to trace his hands up your spine.

You've never been so happy that you weren't wearing a bra.

"I wanna make you feel good," he whispered, like the words would shatter the air in your room if he said them too loudly, "I wanna... I don't know, make love to you. Fuck. I just, I want to go at your pace. So, if you're ready to try this with me then I want to. You're in control here. So... you tell me what you want."

You pondered the thought for a moment as you leaned back in to exchange heated kisses.

If you were being honest, most of your sexual knowledge stemmed from three things: your friends' hoe tales, sex educators on social media, and the rare occasion that you watched amateur porn online. They all preached and showed plenty of visual examples that knowing yourself before knowing someone else would help a lot the first time, and you could confidently say you knew your own body pretty well even though your drive to have sex with others had never been this high.

So, having that in mind, you said, "I think you should watch me touch myself. So you know what I like, yanno? Then you can join if you want, maybe?"

Asahi was lucky he wasn't ice cream because the boy would be a puddle of sweet cream on the hardwood right now if he was.

"Oh my god," he said, his voice gruffer than you'd ever heard it before, "You gonna touch yourself for me? Show me how you do it when you're alone?"

"Mhm," you mewled, arching your back so that your breasts were pressed up against his chest, "If that's okay."

You can feel him growing harder already, his confined length forming a bulge against your ass. You moved your hips experimentally, delighted by the little gasp that spills out from his mouth. You can feel how slippery wet you're becoming just from his kisses.

"No, of course, yeah. It's okay. So, where do you start?" he questioned, tracing figure eights on the side of your thighs with his fingertips, "Do you play with these?"

He brought up his hands to cup your breasts, massaging them, and running his thumbs across your nipples, hard and sensitive even through the barrier of your t-shirt.

You nodded your head yes. Kissing him again to distract from the growing desire to moan as he touched you.

"Don't be scared to make noise baby," he said, placing kisses followed by shallow bites across the underside of your jaw, "Tell me what you do when I'm not there to take care of you. I can't learn unless you teach me."

You whimpered, absentmindedly grinding yourself harder against him.

"You like pinching them a little?"

You nodded, doing so yourself through the fabric to show him that you liked it.

"Can I take this off?" he asked, pulling gently at the hem of your shirt.

You tensed, only for a moment. The nerves were there, of course they were, but this man loved you, and you knew that. So you said fuck 'em, and let the love of your life help rid you of the top half of your clothing.

"So pretty baby," he said, kissing down your neck towards your breasts, "I can feel how fast your heart is beating. You nervous?"

"A little," you admitted, a soft whimper quickly followed when he kissed the puffy little bud, "Not too much though. I'm more excited, I think, than anything else."

You could feel him smiling against your skin.

"That's good baby. Do you wanna get more comfortable?"

You nodded, sliding yourself off of his lap. You crawled up the length of your bed, adjusting your body so that you were laying propped up on your little legion of pillows stacked up against the headboard.

"Take this off," you said, motioning to Asahi's shirt, " ‘s not fair that I'm basically naked and you're still dressed."

He did as he was told, standing up to remove the offending piece of fabric, all but throwing it down on the floor. This exposed his well-conditioned (former) athlete’s body. His muscles had softened a bit as he’d grown away from the sport and embraced the comfort that came with a loving relationship; the lines of his toned abs were less defined, the cut of the “v” around his waist wasn’t as deep, and his stomach dommed like yours when you ate. He was sweet and soft and god you would never get over how much you love him.

“Wait,” you said, making your partner stop his descent back onto your bed, “Take your boxers off too. But like… put your sweats back on afterward.”

He chuckled, quirking his head to the side a little before agreeing, standing back up to do as he was told.

“Any special reason why you want me to do this?”

You sucked your teeth, looking away from him to glance at the wall in lieu of looking at his face. You couldn’t help but giggle a bit to yourself at the thought dancing around in your brain. How could you possibly explain that dicks were still very… interesting to look at for you. They just weren’t… well.

Dicks just weren’t exactly pretty to look at, alright?

Though, to be fair, you had felt his before, multiple times. During the occasional intense makeout session on the floor of your room or while you sat in his lap while you watched movies, but you’d still never seen it. So, seeing it first through his sweatpants, fully hard and free within the loose fabric instead of confined within his boxer briefs may be a good transition.

“I just... I want seeing it to be a surprise for later, kinda.”

He laughed, a pretty sound coming from his belly that forced him to squint his eyes and show you all his pearly white teeth.

“Okay, I’ve never heard that one before in my limited years of sexual experience but alright. Whatever makes you comfortable baby.”

He leaned down to grab your chin between his thumb and index finger, placing a flurry of kisses against your lips before basically sprinting into your attached bathroom.

It only took him ten or so seconds to remove his sweats, then his underwear. You did however hear what curiously sounded like him tripping over himself to get said sweatpants back on.

“You okay in there?” you giggled, trying and failing not to see the humor in his little flub.

“Oh, yeah I’m great,” he said, coming out of the bathroom with his sweatpants hanging even lower on his hips.

He leaned against the doorframe trying to play off the little blunder. His hair was thick and silky, cascading down the hard planes of muscle around his upper arms and the meat of his full pecks. You could see the outline of his cock clearly now, the length hard and thick and just long enough to reach down past the top of his thigh beneath the relaxed fit of the fabric. If you weren’t already, you were undoubtedly aware of how turned on your little impromptu suggestion had made him now.

I mean, to be fair, who doesn’t get excited about the prospect of getting their dick wet for the first time with someone new? Especially when that “someone new” was with their sweet, untouched, perfect bombshell of a girlfriend. He couldn’t help but be hard like that for you, at the mere idea of getting the chance to finally fuck you.

“God you’re pretty honey,” you said, the words slipping from your lips without any thought behind them.

He smiled, climbing back onto your bed to sit in front of you, laying his chin on your propped-up legs and wrapping his arm around your thighs.

“You’re prettier baby. Quite literally the most gorgeous human being I’ve ever laid my eyes on. I bet you’re pretty all over,” he said, grabbing your knees to pull them apart a little, butterflying your legs, “Especially right here.”

He tentatively ran a finger down your clothed sex, dipping the digit into the warm slick dampened fabric. You had worn a pair of thin cotton shorts, sans underwear, so the barrier between you was tantalizingly useless.

“Feels nice,” you said, your voice soft and breathy as his finger softly mapped out your folds.

He chuckled a bit, hooking his finger through the patch of fabric covering your most intimate parts.

“Show me how to make it feel even better.”

You nodded, bringing one hand up to your chest to caress your breast, while you let the other rest on the warm skin of your plump lower belly.

“‘S’really sensitive here,” you said, rolling one hard nipple between your fingers, “Sometimes I suck them myself when I’m alone. I can’t really cum without something stimulating them.”

“Oh wow, my pretty baby’s so delicate,” he said, kissing at the skin of your inner leg, “You look like you’re gonna fall apart already angel.”

You moaned at his praise, the warmth building beneath your flushed skin surging as you felt his lips touch a part of you that he’d never touched before.

“I’m not,” you said, though your tone did betray you a bit, “It just feels good. I’m not there yet.”

“Oh?” he said, quirking an eyebrow up, “Then what do you do next?”

You met his eyes, looking at you like he’d eat you whole if you let him and you'd hardly even done anything yet. It was too intense, too intimate, so you looked at the ceiling instead as you lifted your hips a bit, letting Asahi help you slide your little sleeping shorts off of your body, exposing your slippery wet pussy to the cool air of your bedroom.

You lowered your hand from your belly down to the small patch of hair above your cunt, tentatively applying pressure to your outer labia before letting your fingers slip into your own wetness. Asahi kept his hand wrapped firmly around your inner thigh, just below where your fingers were starting to work in tight little patterns on your clit.

You were practically dripping all over your sheets, knowing he was watching you get yourself off like this. Could he tell that you liked the rhythm of three circle patterns and then up and down? Was he looking at how much you were leaking? Could he see how hard you were trying not to stare at his face?

“God you’re fucking amazing,” he said, sucking on his own bottom lip as he stared at your sex, and blinking slowly like a little tomcat relaxed and satisfied after a long day of successful hunting.

You felt a rush of heat go up your spine at the praise. His sweet words scratched an itch inside your brain that you never fully realized was there. Then suddenly, he moved.

“Need to touch you,” he groaned climbing up the length of the bed in one long stride.

He came up to hover his body above yours, leaving room between your tummy and his so that your hand had room to continue moving.

“Can I kiss you right here baby?” he asked, lowering his head to put his face a few centimeters away from your nipple.

His breath was ragged and heavy, blowing warm air on the hard bud just beneath his lips.

“Please,” you whined, grinding yourself harder against your fingers.

He kissed you, pinching your nipple lightly before he took it into his mouth, sucking on it like it’d give him the elixir of life if he just kept pleasuring you.

“Fuck, Asahi. Fingers too, please,” you moaned, the warmth swirling in your belly building but lacking something… extra.

He looked up at you, searching your face to make sure you meant it. When you nodded at him gently, angling your arm to rub against his length as well, he obliged. He bypassed your own hand, going lower until his fingers were pressing up against your slit. He pressed in, started with one. The intrusion wasn’t as shocking as you thought it might be, since you had done the same to yourself many times before.

However, there was one stark difference. His fingers were markedly bigger than yours, and the stretch was delicious in how different his fingers felt from your own. He rubbed along your inner walls at a matching rhythm as your own digits, pumping and dragging his fingers around until he found the little spongy button that made your vision go blurry.

“Oh, there. There, there, there,” you cried, circling your hips to move with his fingers and yours.

The noises you were making were intoxicating. You could feel how hard he was against your belly, his swollen length throbbing incessantly against the fabric of his pants. When you moaned, deep and long as you let all the air in your lungs run out, his cock twitched so hard you feared he might cum before you could even get him inside of you for the first time.

That in and of itself was its own form of praise.

“Baby,” you moaned, feeling that lightning crackling across the sensitive nerves in your clit begin to reach a fever pitch, “I’m gonna cum. Can I cum? Please?”

He groaned, nodding against your chest with your nipple still sat snuggly against his tongue.

So you did, letting the wave of pleasure crash over you like a typhoon. You arched your body against him, rubbing against his length as well as it was trapped between your bodies.

“Fuck,” he moaned against your skin, feeling you clench around his fingers, “Next time I’m making you cum with my mouth.”

He came up to kiss you again, removing his fingers in one smooth motion as he did so.

“In me,” you muttered between kisses, “I need you in me Asahi.”

He groaned into your mouth, physically shaking a bit at your words.

“God, angel, I wanna feel you so bad. I want you to scream out my name and scratch my back and cum on my cock so hard you forget how to talk,” he said, his eyes fluttering closed as he kissed at your cheeks, “But, you can say no at any point. If it hurts, if it’s too overwhelming, whatever. Okay? You can say no and we can, shit, we can just watch movies all night, fuck your night lecture. Or, we can go to a restaurant, or… or.”

“Or nothing,” you interrupted, bringing up your hands to hold his face to soothe what was obviously a bit of anxiety, “You’re gonna fuck me and I’m gonna love it, and we can do whatever else sounds good afterward. I’m not going to my class whether we end up ordering pizza or fucking all night either way though. I’ve decided already.”

He chuckled, his smile stretching across his face as he looked down at you underneath him.

“Sounds like a plan then babygirl,” he said, kissing the tip of your nose, “Ready for that surprise now?”

He made his eyebrows jump a bit, a smirk curling up the corner of his lip. You couldn’t help but giggle, nodding your head as you propped yourself up on your elbows. You grabbed a pillow to support your neck while Asahi grabbed another as he sat back on his heels.

He slid the pillow underneath your butt, grabbing you by wrapping his arms around your thighs to pull you down so that your butt was on the edge of the pillow, but your back was supported.

You looked down to where he was palming himself through his sweats, a wet spot from where he’d been leaking precum straining the fabric. He made staggered eye contact with you as he pulled down the waistband of his pants, letting his cock spring free from the confining apparel.

So, his dick was beautiful, actually.

Well, as pretty as a dick could realistically be.

“Woah.”

He looked up at you with a hesitant smile on his face as he maintained a loose grip on the base.

“Good woah, or bad woah?”

You couldn’t stop staring at it. It was a decent length and noticeably thick, but not too much. The color of his skin there matched the rest of his body, albeit maybe a shade or so lighter, and his hair was groomed well, like the rest of him. It was flushed a gorgeous shade of red, and his balls looked heavy and full, ready to fuck you open the way you’d somehow never fully imagined before this moment.

“Definitely a good woah,” you said with a smile present on your face.

He reached down to the floor to grab his wallet, grabbing a condom out from the pristine leather pouch. He rolled it on before coming up the bed to balance himself above you again. You could feel him resting on top of your sex. His cock was heavy and warm and leaking within the latex barrier.

“Ready angel?” he asked, kissing below your ear.

“Ready.”

hehehe lmk your thoughts ~ the masterlist for this milestone celebration // also posted this on ao3: here if you wanna bookmark it over there || taglist request || TAGS: @anime-central @hqintheclub

[anenbylittlepotato]

I hope i'm not bothering you with this request, you're free to ignore if you want!

If that's okay could i request the brothers or the side characters comforting a teen MC who's scared about their future? As in they don't feel ready to become an adult despite them being almost 18 and that overwhelms them a lot. (I see all of my classmates already knowing and being ready to adulting and i feel like shit cause i'm literally sitting here worrying about how being an adult is scary and that i'll never find a job that makes me happy or that i'll never be happy with my life as an adult...)

This is all platonic ofc!!!

Oh no, it's alright, you're not bothering me at all 😁 I've actually been hoping for some more requests, so I'd be more than happy to do yours. I am also very close to graduating high school and becoming a full adult, so I know how you feel there.

The Bros Comforting a Teen MC who's Scared for Their Future

Lucifer

You're scared for your future?

Well, he supposes that makes sense. After all, it will make for a very large change in your life and you're going to be dropped into the real world with all these responsibilities with no sense of direction. You're bound to be a little afraid.

He'll sit down and listen quietly as you tell him your fears, rubbing your back soothingly.

He might offer to help you figure these things out by sitting with you as you do it and helping you get your foot up. I mean, hell (pun intended), he's been doing this stuff for him and his brothers for thousands of years. Adulting is kind of his forte.

He'll also offer advice to you, giving you tips and tricks he's learned over the centuries of doing it himself.

Seriously, this man will give you a full lecture on how to be an adult if you let him

Mammon

Huh what?

Haha, what makes you think he's any more prepared to be an adult?

This man didn't even know you had to pay rent to live in an apartment lmao

If he were tossed out on the streets right now, he'd be homeless. Especially with all his debt he has to pay.

So don't expect much advice from him there.

But he'll try his best to comfort you. Even if he sucks at it.

He'll smile that smile that could light up the dark side of the moon and pat your head, telling you not to worry about it.

I mean, he hasn't gotten it all figured out yet either, and look how great he is! After all, he's the GREAT Mammon!

So just take it easy! Not everyone has to work things out right away!

Leviathan

Bro same.

He's terrified of his future. He doesn't even know if his plan to be a pro gamer will even work.

But fuck if he's not gonna try.

And, hey, he may know what he wants to do, but he's had thousands of years to think about it. Don't rush yourself! I mean, some of his favorite idols didn't know what they wanted to do until after they'd finished college!

I mean, not everyone's gonna figure things out right away. He didn't know what he wanted to do for the longest time!

Honestly, though, he feels bad for humans. They all have such little time to figure things out.

He'll offer to sit and talk to you about it, or if you don't really want to talk about it, he'll offer to play video games or watch anime with him.

Satan

What's that? You're scared for your future?

Well, that's understandable. Humans are quite fragile, so it's not surprising that there's a lot of things that would scare you. And to make matters worse, you're plopped into all sorts of responsibilities straight out of high school. I mean, that would be pretty scary. Especially if you have no idea what you want to do.

He'll offer to lend you some books, to do some research and help further prepare yourself for what's to come.

He might even sit with you and help you work things out. He's read so many books about and from the human world that he knows plenty about how things work up there.

If you're still nervous, even after all the studying and reading, he'll recommend some books to you that he, personally, likes, to distract you for a while.

Asmodeus

Aw, you poor thing! You're afraid? Don't worry, come here, Asmo will make you feel better~!

He'll pull you into his bed and immediately start giving you a makeover.

Spa day! And the entire time, he'll be chatting your ear off, telling you all about tons of partners he's had in the past who also had no clue what they were doing with their lives.

He'll give you all the juicy details! Well... Maybe not all of them... Hehe~

He'll tell you all about their own fears, of which are quite similar to your own, and he'll tell you all their struggles and how they got past them.

All the while, he's painting your nails, and doing you hair, and applying your makeup.

Beelzebub

Oh no... Don't be afraid!

Um... He doesn't really know what to do here. He's never really thought much about what he'd do in his future. Do you want some food?

He'll sit down with you and offer you some food. He'll try to give comforting words, but he doesn't really have much experience with this sort of thing.

He'll mostly listen as you tell him about your fears, offering small words of comfort.

He's not very good at this and he doesn't know much about all of it, but he'll try his best to help you feel better.

I mean, he hasn't really thought out his future either. The most he's gotten is that he wants to do something involving food.

Belphegor

Lmao why tf are you coming to him for comfort about your future?

He doesn't know wtf he's doing either. And he doesn't really care all that much either. He'd rather sleep.

Why you just sleep? It would be nicer than thinking about all that.

Oh, you can't sleep? Fine. He'll use his power to ease you to sleep then. Now you won't bother him while he's trying to sleep.

He might consider helping you better later. When he's not trying to sleep, that is.

But even then, he can't promise he'll be any good. Being nice and comforting people aren't exactly his forte.

But, if you're still nervous by then, then he supposes he'll help you

==

I couldn't do the side dateables, sorry, but I might do them another time.

[ddaehyeon]

。✧ hyacinth; park serim + reader

— pairing: fashion designer!park serim + photographer!reader

— genre: angst, slight fluff, exes au, post-breakup, slightly suggestive (one scene only!)

— word count: 7.1k

— warning: arguments, heartbreak, mentions of anxiety and emptiness

— summary: years had passed since you broke up with serim; life had been continuously patching up ever since. his name had marked several clothing lines, while your studio was well-known in the small city you lived in. who would’ve known that a sight of him on a bus stop would be enough to bring back wounds you thought had long ago healed?

— navi: playlist | video teaser | cravity masterlist

— a/n: my wips suffered from a major slump and this is quite an overdue fic (i also have another overdue fic help) but i hope someone would still at least read this though >< the first ver of this didn't satisfy me and though this ver didn't satisfy me that much, i feel like after rewriting almost half of the fic, this one's better. i'll do my best to pull something better soon!

autumn must be the most magical part of the year. the leaves experiencing a color alteration, scarlets and golds carpeting the ground— a yearly harvest of the earth where everything was gradually being taken away. long gone was the heat of the summer; the chilly evening breeze sure was much friendlier than of winter. the season served as a comforting quilt. it was such a great time for warm drinks that could lift up the mood even for the wariest.

you let go of a breath as you stared at the window, the sun was setting. the color fleshed out in the sky golden, jiving well with the surrounding that was already of the same palette. with an indoor shoot for a seasonal issue of a magazine, it sure was a tiring day. the sound of camera clicks still ringing in your head, along with the hushed talks and chitchats coming from the staff members and the models.

at first, you were hesitant to accept the project. afraid that you’d bump by one of the renowned fashion designers in your region, park serim. but then, you couldn’t just chicken out when a hefty sum was to be paid. the relief you had when you saw that his name wasn’t on the list of designers was almost the same kind of relief you'd have after preventing big trouble from occurring.

“i finished placing back the props in the room.” hyeongjun’s voice was still as bright as it was this morning as if not touched by any fatigue. he was one of the photographers you hired in your studio, offering only fine shots. “i’ll be going home early, just send me a message about what time tomorrow’s shoot will be!”

“thank you, junie.” a smile was on your brim as you nodded on his words, watching him pack his camera and leave afterward.

silence melted in the room as soon as hyeongjun stepped out. alone in your photography studio, you sat on a stool used earlier by one of the models. the room was dimly lit with only one of the umbrella lights open. it was only by then that you realized your thighs were already stiff from the nonstop work earlier. you wanted to go home and just be in the comforts of your bed.

pulling out your phone, you dialed your brother’s number, frowning when it took him quite a while to pick up. was he busy or did he just forget that he was supposed to pick you up tonight?

jungmo would always fetch you by your studio after his working hours concluded. with the two of you living together in the same house, your brother just found it ideal— bringing you to your work every morning and giving you a drive home every evening. it might seem like he was babying you, but it was a gesture you grew fond of.

“y/n?” jungmo gasped on the other line. it seemed like he was outside, music playing in the background which mingled well with the peals of laughter. “shit, i forgot to tell you.”

you raised a brow, questioning his words. “what’s the matter?”

“can’t fetch you today.” you can already envision the pout he had on his lips. “i’m at a party with allen and woobin, catching up with my colleagues. i’ll make it up to you tomorrow, i promise!”

“alright. i’ll just ride the bus then.” it was your turn to purse your lips. you can’t bring yourself to complain about it though. “have fun! just stay in woobin’s apartment tonight, don’t drive!”

“i will, i will,” jungmo replied, a call of his name following. his friends might’ve been looking for him already. “text me alright? get home safely, y/nie.”

at the end of the phone call came another sigh from you. a tightlipped smile braced your lips as you stood to turn off the remaining lights. you retrieved your camera and placed it back in one of the drawers. making sure everything was back to its place, secured; you gave the place one final look. something you’d do every single day before going home. a reminder of the thing you loved the most. a reminder of what could have been.

the sidewalk wasn’t as empty as you imagined it to be, maybe you weren’t used to walking to the bus stop anymore. strangers of different day occurrences exchanged various looks that shared one same element, tiredness.

when the wind blew, fallen leaves danced along with it. the slight coldness making you tuck your hands inside the pocket of the cardigan you were wearing. you loved the cool breeze, but not when you knew you had to stay out on an open shed with it as your companion. cold weather could be your friend, a company for a better evening sleep. but rather a harsh fellow when you had to be alone, when loneliness can easily be injected to your senses.

tracing the path, a memory went to play in your head. way back in college, this was the same sidewalk you’d walk in with your ex-lover. a camera on your hand while he had a roll of satin in his arms. it was such a usual view for the two of you as you talked about how the day went, ranting about the monotonous lectures, gushing over how you missed each other’s company and how you wished that the two of you could get back to your shared apartment as soon just so you can snuggle on the couch.

you glanced at the sky, the cloud hiding the few scattered twinkling stars. a faint smile spread upon your lips, only to disappear when your gaze went back to the bus stop. the male that passed by in a form of fleeting memory earlier was standing right in front of you as if fleshed out from your mind. a lavender-colored paper bag was hanging on his arm, the logo of his product line delicately stamped on the middle. his phone was resting on his other hand, if he was scrolling through sns or texting someone, you weren’t sure.

the magical feeling he used to offer long gone, your stomach twisting into several knots. a cold sensation went down in your spine as a familiar tug came to pull your heartstring. he’s back? what is he doing here? he lives here again?

your thoughts were loud in your head, but none of it was pulled out loud. each word ending up as a lump in your throat. the air was thickening, your heart beating fast, not out of excitement, but out of the clashing thoughts that left you so nervous and confused. it had been years, how come a single sight of him made you feel like all your resolutions are gone? how did a single sight of him become enough to shatter the glass that protected you from the ache that night had caused you?

it was cold. but no, it was no longer because of the autumn breeze.

“serim?” the name was uttered in the same way you would before everything came crashing, yet it held a much weaker tone. you can’t even remember the last time your voice came to wrap around the syllables of his name.

the male turned his head to look at you, a brow raised as he stared at you. no obvious emotion, his eyes held no recognition.

and his reply? it sent a shiver down your spine, your stomach flipping in a horrendous manner.

“who are you?”

for a moment, the air caused such a nauseous feeling— thin and hard to inhale. it was only three words, yet it was powerful enough to serve as a punch in the gut.

how can he forget?

how can he forget how the two of you first met?

not that it was a very momentous event, just a regular struggle faced by two college students that needed someone else to accomplish a project for a major subject. there were no butterflies involved, nor did sparks fly the moment you met. regardless, up until now, that day burned fresh in your mind.

“i know someone from that department,” woobin said without even looking at you, his eyes focused on his book. though you weren’t sure if he was really paying attention to the words written there as he kept on diving in the conversation every now and then.

“and who might that be?” the dreadful task of having to pair up with the design department had been inhabiting your mind ever since it was given to you. pressure rising as you saw your other blockmates having no hard time getting themselves out there and communicating with the department they weren’t really accustomed to. you still have a month and a half, you were sure you can still make it. it was just a photoshoot anyway, featuring your partner’s designs.

“park serim,” woobin finally answered as if he had to think hard of the person’s name. “i think no one had asked him to become their partner, he’d be available to do it.”

desperate to get over with the task, later that day, you found yourself by the catwalk the design students would take. it was a path that connected their building to the main gate directly. your building wasn’t exactly far away from theirs, but still of a different building. with their building equipped with supplies and machineries for final products, yours were of computers, lightings, and screens.

you stared at your phone, his instagram profile opened. earlier, you already took the pleasure of checking his works out and without much filtering, him as well. he sure does love taking pictures of himself; something that could work perfectly with him being your subject. once satisfied, you left him a dm that was probably one of the most awkward sentences you had ever typed in the entirety of your life.

a notification popped out as you look at your screen, which was shortly followed by another. it was only of common courtesy to follow him before asking him for a favor right? you did that before messaging him and now he followed you back and replied to your dm. unlike you, he didn’t spend much time wandering in your profile. well, as if he had so much to look unto aside from the sceneries and some stories posted.

‘you were the person woobin was talking about? i’ll be out in two minutes. see you in the catwalk.’

it wasn’t too long of a duration, you allowed yourself to simply jump from a social media to another, mindlessly scrolling and liking some post every now and then. only lifting your head up when a wave of students began getting out of the establishment. most were holding mannequins with unfinished clothing attached to them, some were holding rolls of fabrics you weren’t sure what to call.

with squinted eyes, you tried to look for him among the crowds. woobin said that serim was a fashion design major, so he’d probably be holding the same thing as the other students that came out.

and he was.

leaning on his shoulder was a mannequin, asymmetrically dressed in silk. it wasn’t sewn yet, only supported by sewing pins. an arm wrapped around a roll of what seemed to be linen of pastel blue color. there was also a paper bag hanging on his arm which seemed to have some extra fabric and maybe some other supplies.

you walked towards him with a wave to which he gave you a confused look at first, the frown melting away when he realized that you were the one who messaged him not even an hour ago.

“you’re y/n?” he asked, merely to confirm.

you nodded your head and offered a hand in carrying the paper bag. something he didn’t refuse to. “so…” unsure of how to bring up the means of meeting with him after his class, your voice trailed.

“what do you need anyway?” he supported your words as he traced the path of the sidewalk. “take pictures of me or take pictures of the clothes i make?”

“both.” a chuckle left your lips, laced with nothing but sheer abashment, at the same time mentally cursing this project. you were okay with taking pictures, but the negotiation that comes with it wasn’t a task you were so used to doing.

serim hummed, saying an almost inaudible ‘i see’ before taking a big step and stopping in front of you to do a curt observation. his gaze trailing from toes up to your shoulder. “i’ll agree to do it, if you’ll model for me for a project.”

blinking your eyes multiple times, a baffled frown came to mask your countenance. “what?”

“i need a model that will wear the dress i’m doing by the end of the semester,” serim uttered nonchalantly, proceeding to turn his back to you and resume walking. “that would be quits.”

“i’ll do it,” you said, despite still being hesitant. having close to zero knowledge about how such a presentation would work, you were so close to disagreeing. but then again, it would only be a good way to repay him, right? and perhaps the other fashion design students would ask you of the same thing if you try to team up with them.

turning to look at you, there was a curve that formed on his brim. “that’s a deal then.”

how can he forget how the two of you confessed to each other?

two months. it took two months of random meet ups, daily conversations, and occasional hanging out to get to know each other. the awkward messages of checking up on each other’s side of the project turned to asking about each other’s day, sharing rants about academic life or life in general. the occasional hanging out turning to planned dates and spontaneous ones when the two of you both have the time to spare.

you’d usually stay in his unit as he worked on the dress for his project, a clothing that perfectly suits your figure. late night talks induced by the slightest energy given by coffee the two of you had clung into in hopes of being able to finish what was due.

it seemed like time flew by and before you knew it, you were in the backstage. serim was pacing back and forth, more nervous than you were. he wasn’t the one that was going to the stage, but sure his body was restless.

“are you alright?” you asked him once the two of you were left alone in the dressing room.

this was enough for serim’s movement to come to a halt. even when his eyes landed on you, it was obvious that his mind was floating. in fact, it even took him hot seconds before he was able to commit to a verbal response. “i am.”

“you are?” a smile broke out of your countenance which was eventually followed by a chuckle. “are you sure with that?”

your laughter was adequate to ease his nerves a little, a curve appearing on his lips. “i am.”

one of his classmates who was in charge of the flow came knocking to the door, signalling that you should be on standby.

“i’ll do my best,” you said, walking toward the door. it would be a definite lie to say that you were not at all nervous. a deep breath taken before twisting the knob, stopping when serim called you. it was covered with a bit, yet noticeable hesitation that it made you cock a brow for a moment.

“good luck.” it was all that he uttered, along with a gesticulation of him raising both fists. though serim’s mind spoke of different words, words he had little courage to let go of. at least not yet at that moment.

you gave him a smile, nodding your head afterward. “thank you.”

and off you go.

roaring crowds and camera clicks; the auditorium set up for the use of the fashion design students as they exhibit their works through their chosen models. formerly, you’d find yourself among the crowds, snapping pictures and admiring the clothes done by the other students. but this time, you found yourself clothed in a floral print silk-blend asymmetrical dress designed by serim himself.

the lights were blinding, being always part of the photographers, you were quite accustomed with how you were part of the persons behind the camera lense. serim was in the dressing room, watching the runway from the screen that displayed the live broadcast. some of your friends were among the crowds, your older brother even telling you before the show started that he’d be sure to take pictures of you.

fortunately, the few days of practice didn’t go to waste, no major mistakes happened when you modeled serim’s design. perhaps the only problem was you were a little stiff, something too trivial for some audience to notice.

as soon as you stepped by the backstage, serim’s proud smile welcomed you. unable to rest in the dressing room once he saw you getting out of the stage, he practically ran to meet you behind the curtains.

his eyes were filled with adoration, not just for the dress he finished making, but for the overall beauty you radiated. without much thought, he walked closer to you, soon wrapping you in an embrace. tight, yet gentle.

“you did well, y/n,” serim whispered, not letting go.

a soft chuckle was heard from you, your cheeks burning. “you did well,” you corrected. “please, it’s your design.”

“thank you.” releasing you, a smile lingered on his visage. “i’ll make you a better dress in the future.”

“you don’t have to, but thanks,” you replied before the two of you sunk into silence. regardless of how the surrounding was of heavy music and cheers, peace had found its way to emanate in the dimmed part of the area.

no words spoken, yet feelings poured when serim leaned closer. his lips easily capturing yours enough to make your heart pound in your chest, louder than it did while you were in the catwalk.

serim broke the kiss, his lips still close with yours. his eyes were of another glow when he uttered a set of words, familiar yet foreign. “i love you.”

once again, you were under his spell. soft kiss turning into a sloppy one once he guided you to a more secluded area. it would be such a waste to rip the dress off given that it was an original design, yet as the person who sewn each part of the clothing you were wearing, serim had his way to resolve the small dilemma.

the surrounding was silenced, your body frail under each of his touch, breath taken away, chest heaving. sure, it was a night you won’t be able to forget.

how can he forget about how the two of you practically lived with each other for years?

the exuberance exuded while the two of you carried several boxes into an empty unit you called home. maybe it wasn’t really about the place, but it was who you were with. his arms served as a shelter. his hand caught tears of both happiness and sadness. his lips pressed affection that no one else could offer. everywhere with serim was of comfort, of tranquility— a home.

living with another person, being under a single roof wasn’t exactly the easiest thing to adjust to. throughout the first few months of living together, your head was filled with memories of sheer trial and error as the two of you tried to learn the curves. this included adjusting for each other or at least compromising for what the other likes that the other doesn’t. silly mistakes became such a fond memory.

the smell of burnt food that wafted in the air when the two of you decided to stay on the balcony while cooking dinner. astonished by the stars and the almost endless stories that passed on both lips the meal you were preparing was left neglected. that night, the two of you shared bitter food of dark exterior, quite hard to swallow. but the laughter that filled the house after the incident lifted up each other’s mood. despite the bad-tasting meal, it was probably one of the best dinners you had in that apartment.

it didn’t end there. who would forget about the laundry disaster that rendered one of serim’s white long sleeves saturated with colors you weren’t sure what to call. the mixture of forget-me-not blue and azalea pink stood as the most distinguishable pigment along with the other colors. serim only let out of a chuckle at what occurred, even joking that maybe the two of you could start a business of dying white clothing in such a way.

the best memory thus far was a late-night run by the convenience store when the two of you were chasing a morning deadline. a grumbling stomach that broke the mutual silence the two of you exchanged, along with a suspecting look that ended up with laughter.

“let’s buy some food,” serim suggested, removing the tape measure from his shoulder and settling it to the mannequin.

you hit save on your laptop, the editing could wait for a few minutes.

pulling yourself off the chair, you gazed at him with a smile. it wasn’t a surprise that he had the same beam, as bright as the morning, regardless of how the evening was already crawling onto the whole city. sometimes, you wondered how a simple smile could give you so much energy. what kind of magic does a beam flashed by the person you love hold?

a few snacks picked up by the convenience store; a bag in his hand, your hand on the other as the two of you walked back to your unit. the evening sky and the soft gush of wind amplifying the peacefulness provided by the city. no words were exchanged, yet the silence was enough of a word.

deadlines momentarily escaping the mind as you allowed yourself to be engulfed by his presence. his soft voice breaking the silence, the phrase that left his lips drew a curve on your lips. “i love you, y/n.” you weren’t looking at him, but you could perceive the smile he had. “so much.”

“i know,” you replied.

serim’s steps became slower as he looked at you, waiting for the actual response. with a tilted head and shining eyes that reflected your figure and the street lights, his gaze didn’t waver.

a chuckle left your lips, finding yourself lost in his eyes for a moment. “i love you too, serim.” you squeezed his hand, cueing him to continue walking. “so much.”

sighing out of content, a radiant smile decorated his lips.

at that moment, the two of you wished nothing more but just to be next to each other for as long as life would grant you.

how can he forget about your first anniversary?

it wasn’t grand, just the two of you sitting by the balcony. the bouquet he bought abandoned on the dinner table as the two of you gushed over plans you were sure were realistic enough to be achieved. your eyes twinkling with mirth, a lifetime with him sure was the ideal one you’d want to spend.

“y/n,” despite being just beside you, serim called.

you looked at him with a brow raised, catching his eyes on yours. “mhm?”

a smile simply spread onto his lips before he broke the gaze. his hand seeking for an item inside the pocket of his hoodie, a small box retrieved afterward. there, a necklace sat. the pendant was of a ring that was not entirely decorated with fancy stones, rather a lone blue sapphire stone was on it.

“the pendant is a promise ring,” serim explained before scooting closer to you. his hand reached for the back of your head while the necklace rested on your skin. he locked the jewelry on your neck, pressing a gentle kiss on your forehead after.

you were silent the whole time, not because you didn’t like the gesture. but because you were sure words wouldn’t be enough to express the satisfaction and light feeling that was blanketing your heart.

serim had a faint smile as he admired the necklace for a moment. just like you, his heart was in an ocean of peaceful joy. lifting his head to look at you directly, he gave your lips a light peck. “i’ll buy you a better one once we’re ready for it.”

“thank you.” your countenance mirrored the same expression serim had— of joy and serenity. “i love you so much.”

“i love you too.” serim leaned in for another quick kiss, swift yet lingering. “i can’t wait to spend a lifetime with you.”

the evening droned on and on with the two of you staying by the balcony, exchanging conversations about the future. two hearts in one home, seemingly able to find the path where both can hold each other’s hand. minds filled with dreams where the other can also be spotted. a considerably spacious studio apartment became the foundation of your plans and dreams.

aspirations that soon became the neglected cause of why your relationship with him gradually crumbled down.

how can he forget about your very first fight?

gazes that held no definite emotion, silence that cut through the air— it was all an unfamiliar experience, hard to swallow. something that you weren’t able to forget easily as it was the first time you’ve ever seen serim with such a cold expression.

the coaster of shows on the television had long passed, a few recaps played. something that wasn’t really able to get a hold of your attention. your mind drifting elsewhere and the few notifications appearing on your phone were the only ones that managed to pull you out of your daze momentarily.

“where’s serim?” for the nth time that day, you asked. the room was quiet with only a few chatters from the screen in front of you. the evening was growing older and older, but you haven’t received any message about serim's whereabouts. neither had he sent you a message the whole afternoon.

worried, you opted to stay up and wait for him. even prepared a meal that can be easily heated so he can have something to eat once he arrives in case he hasn’t eaten anything yet.

with the door clicking, you were quick to get off the couch. the faint footsteps signaling you right away.

“you’re finally home,” you said, a smile easily located on your brim. only for it to melt away at the sight of serim’s stern look. his gaze piercing through, enough for chills to trace your spine.

he walked past you, not even offering you the regular hugs and kisses he would do every time he’d arrive. all that was left were cold stares. something you attempted to break. and heck did you regret doing so.

“why haven’t you been answering your phone? have you already eaten?” the worry you had accumulated coming through in waves of questions.

a sigh was emitted out of his mouth as he went to get himself a drink. it seemed like a verbal response was not an option for him since he continued to ignore your questions. at this point, it was as if there was no one else in the room. it was like you weren’t there.

“did something happen, serim?”

a minute. it was all it took for the entirety of your relationship to come to an unknown turn. the curve strange, it crawled to the skin with such a frigid touch enough for your stomach to flip horribly.

“can you give me a break?” serim hissed, a glare shoot in your direction. his voice growing power word after word. your breath was taken away, how can words suffice to make you feel so small? he placed his glass on the sink, the item almost meeting its demise. he turned to look at you once again. “can’t you see, i’m tired?”

“i waited for you.” the words spilled out of your lips, disappointment hugging your tone.

“who told you to wait for me?” serim snarled and before you knew it, you were already standing on the same page. similar expression, different cause. yours were anchored in concern, while his were of fatigue from the whole day of heavy workload. those seemed to have lulled both of your senses, blinding each other.

“oh well, i was just worried about you because you didn’t send me a message the whole afternoon up to this point.”

“do i really need to report my actions to you?”

“no, but you have to at least tell me if you’re going home late.” your voice gradually softened, a tear held back.

no, you can’t cry. no, not in front of him. no.

“i was worried,” you broke out. but it wasn’t enough for his fumes to dissolve. like gasoline poured into flames, each of your replies only intensified the exasperation boiling in his stomach.

“i’m going to rest.” serim sigh was audible as he stormed off to your room, leaving you with tears in your eyes.

a minute.

it only took half a minute for everything to fall out of its order. that fight wasn’t the last one and each passing day, the unit you once called home was stuck with unfamiliarity.

it was no longer a home.

how can he forget about that night?

cold meals by the table had your eyes fixated on them. the date encircled in red, a supposedly special day that turned bitter. different from how you used to spend it before—of laughter and warm touches— serim wasn’t there. he was far too involved with projects that your shared unit only became a short shelter. words were barely exchanged, yet alone gazes. you still sleep on the same bed as him, but no warmth was offered.

you weren’t sure which was better, to continue living with him even if it felt like you weren’t living with him or to have him gone in your life for real. regardless of the turns that occurred, the continuous erosion of your relationship, you couldn’t find it to yourself to let go. still tied by your attachment to the former serim.

a sigh left your lips, desolated gaze trailing on the table. you tried. but it seemed like those attempts were futile. it takes two people’s efforts. you can’t revive a relationship alone.

switching place, you went to the living room and sat by the couch. the place dimly lit by a lone lampshade. the city lights filtering through the window. the air gradually thickened around you, it held your throat in a vice grip. the photographs displayed by the shelves were foreign to you, despite how it was simply you and serim. it was like you were staring at completely different people. smiles had long been taken away, touches had melted, flutters subsided— all that was left was a terrible feeling of helplessness. something that seemed to guide you to nowhere. you were lost.

before, you were sure of how the story was to be written. how the chapters were to unfold. but right now, you weren’t even certain what would be on the next page. it was like the next ones were torn from the spine, gone. oh hell, you weren’t even sure what page you were on right now or if the story was bound to be written in the first place.

serim’s arrival went unnoticed at first. only until you heard the clink of the glass meeting the sink did you turn in his direction. an empty gaze was earned and for some reason you found yourself offering him a faint smile. a small gesture packed in pain that was quick to course through your senses.

sighing had become his way of greeting. dark circles under his eyes and the disheveled look emanated how his work had been weighing him. but your mouth was closed regardless of how you wanted to speak of reassurance and praise. it was strange, the inability to speak of warm words around him. why were you so held by fear?

“serim,” you called, breaking the floating silence.

he looked at you, eyes deep like he was examining a piece of fabric. it was enough for your stomach to churn. the stillness continued after your call. you weren’t sure how to continue it; it was as if his name was unnatural in your tongue. not only was your breath sucked, but also all the possible words had dissipated.

yet again another sigh as he tore his gaze away, stepping towards the bedroom. “i’m so tired, y/n,” he uttered, setting a line for you to not cross onto. “very tired.”

resurfacing on your brim was a smile. your eyes weren’t exactly skillful of lying though as tears soon gathered on it. heart hollowed in emptiness as if a scream would echo on its wall. likewise, your voice decided to betray you— shaking. “serim, i’m getting tired too.”

for a swift moment, serim tried to come up with an answer. but just like you, comforting words seemed to be an unfamiliar language. even aware of how a look would be inadequate, he only stared at you. his eyes don’t speak of words nor radiated comfort— it was vacant. lowering his head, he carded his fingers on his hair before letting go of a breath.

serim finally stepped inside the bedroom.

and that was how the two of you parted ways.

how can he forget about you?

it went on and on in your head, the question continuously striking.

a gush of autumn breeze pulled you out of your daze. serim was still looking at you, his eyes slowly lightening with recognition. a few blinks and he spoke. “oh, wait.” he tilted his head to the side. “y/n?”

you weren’t exactly sure what kind of answer to give, but you gave it your best to offer a faint smile. “yes.”

still— despite how other people were walking on the sidewalk and how vehicles passed by the road, the surrounding seemed to come to a stillness you didn’t ask for. denying and pushing away the feelings you’ve long ago tried to bury and made yourself believe that you’ve healed from only brought a new wave of pain. as if you were its child, sadness came to hug you.

just in time, the bus arrived as if to save you from further drowning in emotions you didn’t wish to engulf you in. to your surprise, serim also boarded in. while you chose to sit somewhere just nearby the driver, he went to the last row.

usually, your rides on the way home were the most relaxing ones. a time to just stare at the window and watch the night spread into the city. it will always be accustomed by jungmo asking you on and on about how your day went and also sharing about how his day went. but your brother wasn’t around for that kind of support right now. and you can’t blame him for it. you can’t blame anyone for this unexpected meeting with the person you never knew you’d ever meet again.

the ride was sickeningly slow, all you wished was to get home and allow your voice to echo in your room. to release the emptiness if it was even possible to empty something that was already vacant. the sky held no comfort. its color dissipated and all that was left was an empty canvas that like a broken record, played memories. it was silly how despite those quick memories popping in and out of your mind, questions still managed to penetrate.

serim was living in another city, why did he ride the same bus? was he to meet his new lover? maybe to meet an old friend?

or did he perhaps mean to meet you? this was a guess you despised. the hope it brought that maybe an answer for all the questions formed that night were to be given tasted bitter in your mouth and offered restlessness in the heart.

an urge to talk to him surfaced, but then you asked yourself why. why would you want to talk to him? for what?

despite being curious about the reason why he left that night, a certain fear crawled onto your senses. the fear of knowing.

what could knowing his reasons possibly bring you?

the time when the two of you loved each other wasn’t of the best timing. two newly graduates seeking career growth, wanting nothing but to achieve various goals. those were dreams drawn with the other person placed as a part of it. however, during the process of achieving those, that same person where the aspiration was rooted gradually disappeared from the mind. the path the two of you promised to take together came at crossroads and you ended up taking something different from what he preferred to go to.

at first, there was a powerful yearning that made the two of you grow more fond of each other. but it was slowly replaced by numbness towards it, making love such a foreign word.

you understood. but it wasn’t something you had fully accepted.

a familiar shed came to flash on the window, your stop nearing. and when the vehicle finally came to a halt, you gave serim a final glance. he was looking at you, not moving from his seat. dismissing the contact, you walked down the bus and began tracing the sidewalk with heavy steps.

disappointment curled into your stomach when you arrived near your house, realizing that the recurring questions will not be answered. however, fate played its game. anxiousness arose when once again you heard your name wrapped around serim’s voice.

you turned to look at him, his lips hesitant to let go of a word.

serim was also in deep thoughts, mind all over the place despite how he already had the resolution to talk to you, not to explain and justify himself, but to apologize for the damage done.

“i’m sorry for that night,” serim began, the initial words already clinging into his chest, weighing down. “i should’ve been more honest with you and trusted you more with my struggles.”

there was nothing serim wanted but to prove himself worthy of you. achieve things that could make you be proud of him and deem him as someone who deserves you. working up to late hours, diving into designs in order to perfect his craft. the thing was, he forgot that you already loved him even when he was simply that serim. that you loved him as park serim.

blinded by the goal, the mean diminished. as he was too caught up with it, he was no longer striding towards it for you, but for himself.

“it was selfish of me to decide for something we both should be deciding for. i left that night thinking it was better that way without even considering how you will feel,” serim continued, his voice weakening. he lifted his hand as if to hold you, but stopped midway. it fell to his side as he breathed in. “i’m sorry. i’m really sorry.”

“i was hurt, but you were probably hurt as well.” the way those words left your lips ever so calmly surprised you. “it wasn’t the most pleasant experience, but i hope we both learned from it.” a smile became evident on your visage. “promise me one thing serim, do not make the same mistake with your future lover.”

“i will not,” serim replied.

both of you never really imagined the end of your relationship and as the page of it was torn years ago, an ending was deemed impossible to earn. closing a book would never be that easy, but some stories were meant to end— yours included.

“also, this is for you.” serim handed you the paper bag he was holding. “i told you years ago that i’ll make you a better dress, and here it is. i figured that i wouldn’t be able to keep the promise laced on the ring i gave you before but i at least want to have one of my promises kept.”

you looked at the item for a moment before turning to serim once again. “thank you.”

“i also want you to know that i truly loved you.”

never at once did you doubt serim’s love for you. the thing about it is that people will grow and know love from a better perspective. know how to best keep it. know how to best show it. but it will not change the fact that back then, you felt that it was love.

serim had a single flaw and that was to hold everything to himself to the point that those created a wide gap between the two of you. the distance far enough that reaching his hand became impossible despite how you wanted to hold him.

and maybe during that time, parting was the best solution. and up to this point, it was too.

“it’s nice seeing you again, serim.”

“likewise, y/n.” a genuine smile crossed his lips. “goodbye?”

“goodbye.”

tonight, you gave him a piece of your heart. it was his, to begin with. whatever he was to do with it— keep it, throw it, crush it— it was a decision for him to make. keeping something that shouldn’t be there would only bring further destruction, it’s way better to have an empty spot in your heart rather than keep a damaged one.

the breeze embraced you. the goodbyes uttered were to serve as a beginning. there were new questions that formed and you knew there were tears that were yet to be spilled. but it was a start. opening a buried wound would never be pleasant, but it was way better to open it yourself than have it bare you.

staring at the newly planted hyacinth in the neighboring flower bed, you let go of a sigh. they will bloom in the spring. and you hoped that you would experience the same.

[thatgrumpybxtch]

Hello! I hope you are having a wonderful day. May I request a matchup for FNAF? 🥺

PERSONALITY/BASICS

I'm a female and my sexuality is straight. Myers-Briggs type is ENTJ/INTJ. My Hogwarts house is Gryffindor. My zodiac sign is Cancer and I'm Indian. My love language is Acts of Service.

Okay, so I'm basically the stoic type. I don't really laugh, talk or smile when I'm outside. I'm a reserved person and sharing my feelings and thoughts to someone weirds me out. Unless it's someone whom I love the most. When I'm in my house, you can see me giggle or laugh like a maniac. I enjoy corny jokes and I have a bit of dark humour. Sometimes, I laugh at the wrong moment. It sucks and it got me into trouble multiple times. I'm very dominant and arrogant. Sometimes, a little annoying since I get clingy when uncomfortable. I'm a hot headed person, so it's very easy to make me angry. Sometimes, I get a little insensitive which hurts others' feelings. I really didn't mean to do that. It just comes out of my mouth when I'm in a salty mood. I'm also bossy and Independant. I have the "I don't give a sh*t" attitude. I don't involve myself in any drama. I love peace and quiet. When people see me for the first time, they'll either be scared of me because I have a resting b*tch face and a bossy attitude OR they'll think of me as a super sweet shy girl. If someone stares at me, I'll stare at them back and make them uncomfortable. I'm very hard working and I have goals in my life. There are times where I overwork myself which makes me grumpy afterwards. I don't wanna talk to anyone. I'll just go to my room and play video games or watch YT. I'm very supportive, loyal and protective of my family and friends. I always make a person feel better when they are emotionally or physically down. When I'm in my house with the ones I'm super close to, I do a lot of weird stuff. I'm a weirdo and it's something that not a lot of people will think of me being when alone or with my close ones. I'm a little out of touch with romantic stuff. I try my best though. I'm a huge nerd/geek and I'll start rambling about my interests to someone. They wouldn't understand, but I still do it for some reason.

LIKES

Motorcycles and cars.

Technology. Learning about them excites me.

Paranormal Activity. I find ghost and demons interesting.

Video games

Boxing and Basketball

Excercising

Animals

Horror, Action, Sci-fi and True-Crime shows.

Cooking and Baking

Spicy Food

HOBBIES

Playing video games

Helping people

Studying

Listening to music

Writing

DISLIKES

Spiders. I have arachnophobia.

Fake people. Sometimes, people in general.

Lectures.

RANDOM FACT ABOUT ME

I look exactly like my sister. She is six years older than me, and we look like twins.

I match you with… Freddy Fazbear!

His love language is also Acts of service(but also a mix of quality time) so it's perfect that yours is too!

Freddy doesn’t mind your reserved, quiet side since he, himself, is not much of a talker. But he absolutely adores your goofy, giggly side since it means you must trust/love him a lot

He can’t help but admire the hard work you do, and the aspirations you have in life, he just hopes he can help you reach your goals as best as he can

Freddy will also try his best to make sure you relax and don’t overwork yourself too, though you may have to do the same for him too

Freddy can relate to the fact that you’re protective over friends and family, as he is protective over the other animatronics

He and his friends are also pretty weird themselves and won’t know any better when you do something considered weird as well

So just be weird with them!

That fact that you are into technology comes in handy!

Since Freddy is technically an animatronic

He’s thankful that you have an interest in the paranormal, everything about him and the other animatronics is purely paranormal and he doesn’t want to scare you away

Surprisingly Freddy is quite the baker, so baking dates are more likely than you think

[brideofcthulhu10]

More headcanons to help me work through the dreaded writer's block! Hope you guys don't mind it's a bit slow right now, I plan on posting another tonight and hopefully I'll be able to get to some asks once my brain is no longer fried

Dwayne Headcanons

When he was responsible for Laddie, Dwayne would often take him out to the boardwalk whenever Star was busy. Sometimes he’d even choose to take him along even if they were with Star just to hang with the munchkin

If anyone told him he was too short Dwayne would hypnotize them into letting him one. He wasn't exactly worried about the kid being flung from the roller coaster, he could easily catch him if it happened. It felt awesome impressing him at the strength test, just watching him jump up and down as the attendant handed him a giant blue monkey which of course he'd give to Laddie. The boy was such a hyper, sunny child it was hard not to laugh when this spritely eight year old would play a water gun game and yell “this is a load of bullshit” when he lost. Well, he did grow up around four teenage guys, two having the worst language you could imagine. David used the word "fuck" like it was going out of style. At one point some lady in her thirties tried to lecture Laddie about watching his language, to which Dwayne had immediately stepped in after he said “piss off lady”. Again he had to choke back a laugh, pushing the kid behind him before this lady throttled him. To save face Dwayne feigned some half assed “shame on you” to Laddie just so she would piss off, and then ushered him away- for an ice cream sundae. Granted while he couldn’t condone a kid cussing up a storm, he did find it utterly hilarious watching this uppity chick squawk like a hen in outrage.

“Seriously though I don’t know where the hell you learned all that from-”

“Paul taught me.”

“Yeah, well, Paul probably isn’t the best guy to copy, kiddo. "

Chinese food isn’t his favorite, but he knows it’s Markos so he doesn’t complain when they have it at least once a week. Actually, his favorite is probably Hispanic. Many forget much of California was once Mexico, and as such the culture still thrived even into the early 1900s. Santa Carla flourished, and between pick pocketing gigs and heavy labor on the docks, Dwayne could always count on there being fresh tortillas for a few dollars after a long day. Elotes with extra chili powder, huarache, freshly brewed horchata on ice? Utterly delicious! Nothing can compare to freshly made tamales by a sweet abuela in a tiny food truck cooing to you in Spanish. Even he can blush when they pinch his cheeks gushing about what a skinny man he is. Paul and Marko love it as well and will often tag along when Dwayne goes to Mama Rosa’s, although he often has to elbow Paul in the gut because he’ll flirt with the cooks in the back into getting a free taco.

“Ay, Paul, mi angelito querido cielito, you’re skin and bones!”

“Well, I always skip a meal before coming here, abuela. Your cooking is too epic to have anything else in my stomach!”

“Dude, will you stop flirting with that poor woman before you give her a heart attack, you ass?”

Dwayne had a brother many years ago who was lost after being caught in direct sunlight during the great San Francisco earthquake of 1906. Since then on April 18th he holds a small memorial for his brother Jasper, who died pulling the curtains shut to shield them from the sun. Some years David, Paul and Marko will join him, silently drinking to their fallen friend. It's a rare moment of seriousness for these wild boys, sitting beside an altar crudely constructed atop a wooden crate, draped over with the jacket once worn by Jasper that survived the flames. Decorated in worn candles melted by decades of use, a bottle of rum from over eighty years ago still untouched with an empty shot glass beside it caked in dust and cobwebs, worn flowers shriveled into darkened husks, a glass of blood they keep freshly filled with each visit, feathers of birds to help carry him to the sky. Every time he adds something new, a gift from every era. Recently he brought Jasper a Def Leppard vinyl record, propped against a sketch of his brother drawn before his passing by an admirer who had died long ago. Paul left a little toy motorcycle for him, Marko brought an old pocket watch he found at an antique store that bore a striking resemblance to one he had admired long ago, and David brought him a hunting knife

“You would’ve loved hair bands, Jas. Everything’s changed now, its crazy. It sucks you never got a bike of your own,” Dwayne would say, sitting in the dark with only the tender flicker of candles brushing away the dark. Never again would he let the sun take him. It was the darkest, deepest cave in the hotel. And there, Dwayne spoke more than he ever does outside “Horses were cool, but it’s better to have something that doesn’t stop every time it takes a shit, you know?”

Unfortunately Dwayne sucks at video games. It’s not that he doesn’t get it, but he has the worst gamer rage. Now, Dwayne doesn’t often get legitimately mad, but when he’s been playing the same god damn stupid water level for the past hour and a half just to be killed by a squid-! Well, lets just say Paul practically dove to catch the controller before it was chucked at the tv, and cue a dirty look towards Dwayne for nearly smashing his “baby”. He wasn’t about to have him break ANOTHER controller. Yeah that wasn’t the first. At this point he’s content just watching from afar and sometimes back seat gaming when Marko is going the wrong way. He’s not nearly as bad as David who will openly call someone stupid after dying. 

Dwayne is definitely the type to nap after a long night. Truthfully he misses when he could just lay out in the sun like a lizard on a hot rock after a long day, it’d feel incredible. Instead he’s resorted to a hot water bottle or a heating pad. Yeah, he loves hot weather. Summertime is his favorite time, just savoring the toasted air blowing in his face on rides over the beaches. Sometimes he’ll try to wake up early to watch the sunset from within the cave, although it’s burnt him on more than one occasion he will still try to get a glimpse. Winter is the worst for him, he hates, absolutely despises the cold. Even though he doesn't technically get cold anymore, everything seems to die away in the winter leaving only twisted branches and grey skies. David may enjoy all that gloomy melancholy but not him.

One wouldn’t assume Dwayne to have much of a sweet tooth. That’s because they’re wrong. While he isn’t into the marshmallow caramel double candy bars deep fried and dipped in chocolate like Marko or Laddie, he has a serious weakness for chocolate. Like, a major weakness. Paul is still searching for his stash, tucked away somewhere secret in the hotel. Any time he thinks he’s close to finding it, Dwayne moves it again.

“Dude, sharing is fucking caring you greedy bastard”

“Get your own candy asshole, why do you think I keep my stash hidden from you guys?”

Now the whole hoity toity fancy chocolate isn’t what appeals to him. He can certainly appreciate a well made chunk of dark chocolate sprinkled with chili powder, but he’ll settle for a cheap bar snatched from a gas station. Most sweets weigh heavy on him, but chocolate is such a unique medium that can be changed into almost anything, appealing to every taste imaginable. Sweet, savory, spicy, bitter, semi-sweet, rich, dense, light. Chocolate cake, chocolate doughnut, hot chocolate, fudge, and of course the traditional candy bar. You make him a mug of Mexican hot chocolate and he is putty in your hands. You couldn’t necessarily bribe him with food. But you could certainly butter him up to suggestions when he’s crunching down on a candy bar. Paul knows this, and at this point Dwayne knows this guy has royally fucked up if he comes up to him with a stack of chocolate bars.

“Heeeeey, Dwayne, buddy, old pal, chum, lookie what I found, all for you man how cool is that?”

“....,” Dwayne glances up from his book at the handful of chocolate and slowly lowers it with a firm sigh. “What the hell did you do now?”

“Wha-Whaaa-? Oh! Okay, wow. Woooow. Offend much? I go out of my way- I mean, can’t a guy just, you know, do something nice for his best friend-?”

“Paul. What. did. you. do?”  

“Okay okay, well you see David made me go fill up his stupid bike, and there was this hot chick at the gas station, I mean perfect fuckin ten man, she had the biggest frickin tits- okay anyway! Well, next thing I know the keys are gone, the chick's gone, the fuckin bike- You gotta help me man he’s gonna fucking kill me and dance on my grave!”

Of course Dwayne will help… in exchange for twice the chocolate. Like I said, it won’t always work as a bribe, but it’ll certainly help your cause if you go in with some incentive.

[shihozaki]

hi can i request an matchup for haikyuu please? i use she/her pronouns, i'm empathetic/optimistic and i'm really good at comforting people! i don't like violence so when i see people arguing/fighting i get really panicky and i try my best to stop them, (I'm an infp 9w8 so it's in my nature to keep everything in peace). i lecture my friends when they do something wrong/dangerous and i'm always checking up on them but i'm really forgetful and clumsy, im forbidden to carry anything fragile and i daydream/zone out a lot so i easily get lost and i walk into things by accident- also i have a hard time defending myself/saying no to people :') when i'm stressed i get super emotional and cry over the most smallest things, i also cry when someone is hurt or was/in danger but besides that i'm really bubbly/giggly! my zodiac sign is scorpio and my house is hufflepuff! i'm protective over the ones i love and i wont hesitate to take a bullet for them. when im sleepy i get really affectionate/clingy and i'll ramble about the most random things. i'm super into conspiracy theories/horror movies but i get scared so easily- i love to read!! i bring a book with me everywhere i go and i used to volunteer to read to little kids and teach them how to read as well :D i'm 5'6 with dark auburn hair and brown eyes, i have freckles on my face and i have fairish skin. i would appreciate it if my s/o was protective but not to the point where it's too overbearing! also someone who can encourage and motivate me! my favorite color is purple and my biggest fear is spiders, i kid you not i don't care if its even an inch long i'll freak out and beg for someone to take it away- im so sorry this is so long, i tried my best to be as specific and short as much as possible please spare me ashjkhlfgh. you can use y/n or annie it’s your choice! have a great day <3

Thank you for requesting! I also enjoy conspiracy theories, and i added one of my favourite theories in the scenario :)

I pair you up with Kei Tsukkishima!

- Tsukishima is… quite the opposite of you. But opposites attract, and you guys are a match made in heaven!

- You first met him when you were lost in thought and tripped in the middle of the halls. Tsukkishima catched you right before you fell, and that was when everything started.

- Tsukkishima is WAY taller than you. Definitely tries to make fun of you for that. But because of that, he thinks it’s adorable when his hoodies are too big for you.

- He loves talking about conspiracy theories with you, playfully arguing with you is one of his favourite things to do.

- Whenever you guys cuddle and you fall asleep on him, Tsukkishima counts your freckles for fun. He would never admit it, but it calms him down.

- Remember when Tsukkishima got hurt when he was versing Shiratorizawa? Yeah, you almost cried while wrapping up his hand. Even though Tsukki was the one that got hurt, he had to calm YOU down.

- Kisses you out of the blue often. You could be doing baking or reading and he would just randomly give a small peck.

- Since you have a hard time saying “no” to people, he often says them for you. Whenever you give him the I-want-to-go-home-please eyes, he immediately picks it up and steps in. He’s surprisingly overprotective.

- Whenever you’re stressed and you’re crying, he pulls you into his chest and starts stroking your hair to calm you down.

- Overall you guys are in a very chill and safe relationship. He never admits it, but you got him wrapped around your finger.

- Also you steal his glasses sometimes and pretend to be him- he says he hates it but in reality, he thinks it's cute.

Scenario: When you first meet Tsukkishima!

‘Birds cannot be real.’ You thought as you walked through your school’s hallway. You had recently watched a Yootoob video about birds being intellectual spy drones designed by the government, and honestly, it kind of made sense. ‘But would that mean all birds were AIs? Even the pets?’ You shook your head. ‘No, maybe only some species of birds are robots. Not all the birds in the world can be drones.’ You started to list the species of birds you knew, until you felt your body fell forward. You shut your eyes, preparing for the cold floor to hit your face, but it never came. Instead you were greeted by a tall boy who had catched you. You quickly backed away from him, embarrassed. “Sorry! I mean, thank you!” You blurted out. A soft chuckle escaped from the boy. He pulled down his headphones. “You’re welcome. You should watch where you’re going.” Said the boy. He was tall. Was he a Third year? You gave a smile. “It’s okay, you don’t have to be worried! This happens a lot.” You held out your hand. “I’m Annie.” The boy stared at your hand. ‘Does he not know what a handshake is?’ You thought to yourself. “I’m Tsukkishima.” He replied, before giving a hesitant hand shake before walking away. You watched him disapear into a classroom, and wondered if you’ll ever see Tsukkishima again. Meanwhile, Tsukkishima walked to his class, wondering who he had just spoken to, and why his heart was beating so fast.

Song: Cheerleader by OMI

Thank you for requesting, I hope you enjoyed it! Constructive criticism is always welcome, so don’t hesitate to pop into the chat! I hope to see you again soon :)

[mind-reader1]

Queen of Hearts (Ch.9)

Drake x MC (Emma Barnes)

TRR AU: What would happen if Emma loved Drake but had to marry Liam?

Catch up here

Warnings: None. Pure Fluff 

Note: If you’d like to be added to the tag list let me know! Also I love talking with you guys about the chapters and story to please don’t be afraid to tell me what you thought! :) 

Word Count:  2735

Summary: The first stop on the engagement tour is Fydelia, Madeline’s home! Will she be able to recruit her as a press secretary and Madeleine’s family’s support? Emma and Drake find a moment to themselves and she tries her best to teach him the waltz.

Chapter 9: I don’t Dance (Lee Brice)

I’ll never settle down, That’s what I always thought Yeah, I was that kind of man, Just ask anyone

I don’t dance, but here I am Spinning you around and around in circles It ain’t my style, but I don’t care I’d do anything with you anywhere Yes, you got me in the palm of your hand girl 'Cause, I don’t dance

Love’s never come my way, I’ve never been this far 'Cause you took these two left feet And waltzed away with my heart

Once he cleared the hall she went back into her room and started packing, it was the first day of the unity tour. She had just finished packing when there was a knock on the door.

“Maxwe- Bertrand?” She was surprised to see the elder Beaumont at her door. Now she was really glad that she had made Drake leave.

“I'm glad to see you're already packed and ready. Today is a very important day, it's the first stop on the unity tour.”

“Where are we going exactly?”

“Fydelia.” Emma laughed and looked at Bertrand whose expression didn't change.

“Good one, where are we really going?”

“We're going to Fydelia. It's an important stop, even more important since it's the first. It shows that you, Madeleine and Liam can put aside your differences and get along, and we're going to be recruiting Madeleine as your new press secretary.” Emma felt like she had walked into a nightmare.

Later that day in the boutique with Bertrand and Maxwell, Emma still hadn't wrapped her head around the idea.

“Of all the press secretaries in Europe, why does it have to be Madeleine?” Emma was getting desperate, she was willing to beg and grovel if it meant she didn't have to recruit Madeleine, her least favorite person in Cordonia.

“As you know Justin isn't an option because he was injured and is still in the hospital, he recommended Madeleine though. He was impressed by the way she handled the press during her brief engagement to Liam.”

“You have to admit she did manage to spin everything in a favorable manner.” Emma shot Maxwell a look, he was not helping her case. Maxwell being Maxwell however, took it in stride, he'd rather have Emma be upset with him for a few minutes than have Bertrand lecturing him about the impending doom of House Beaumont.

“If I must. I suppose it will be good to have her evil, snake charming powers working for me rather than against me.”

“Yes! The unlikely hero-villain team up against a greater threat.” Maxwell grinned.

“Exactly. She still holds much influence at court and is frankly far greater an asset than enemy.” Emma really couldn't argue with that, even if she tried it would be futile, Bertrand had made up his mind.

“This is all assuming we can convince her to help me. We never exactly had a close relationship, especially after everything that happened.”

“Precisely why you will need every advantage you can get, and why we are here.”

“A dress with the color of Madeleine and Adelaide's house. A dress as green as her envy towards you and as black as her shriveled heart.” With a flourish Maxwell pulled a dress off the rack. Emma grabbed the dress and slipped into the changing room. It was a club style dress, tight fighting so it hugged her curves but a halter, so it wouldn't slip while she was dancing. It appeared to be black with a patterned green lace over it, some of which extended past the end, just long enough to be classy. It was beautiful, as always.

“Don't forget this isn't only about Madeleine, you also must convince Adelaide to attend the wedding.” Emma brushed off Bertrand's concern.

“Adelaide won't take any convincing, if there's a party she's there.”

“Yes, but you will also need the support of Adelaide's husband, Madeleine's father which will be far more difficult.” Emma raised her eyebrows in surprise.

“Adelaide is married?”

“Duke Godfrey doesn't reside in Cordonia. He spends most of his time in England at his duchy.”

“The rumors at court are that Adelaide and Godfrey don't exactly get along.” Maxwell whispered as if someone may overhear.

“Which means his attendance at your wedding will be so important and hold a lot of sway, further into this tour.”

“So, do the impossible. Sounds like a normal day at this point.”

That evening Emma approached Madeleine's estate with her friends, but she hung back as they gushed over it, not feeling in much of a party mood.

“What's on your mind Barnes?” Drake fell into step beside her.

“What do you know about Godfrey and his relationship with Adelaide?” Drake sighed.

“Not much. Married for political reasons, as far as nobles go, he's as uptight and pretentious as they come. All he cares about is titles. My least favorite kind of noble.”

“Well I guess I have my work cut out for me then.”

“If anyone can do it Barnes, it's you.” Emma reached over and squeezed his hand, releasing it before they entered the ballroom which was…surprisingly empty.

“Wow, this place is like a ghost town.”

“Father mentioned that there would be a lot turn out. Fear is still high along the nobles after the attack on the palace and more recently the video.”

“They're afraid to be seen supporting the monarchy.” Drake scowled. He hated the idea that his best friend and love of his life had to put their lives in danger while the other nobles hid like the cowards he always thought they were. Scanning the room, Emma saw Adelaide speaking with Constantine and Regina, and a man with white hair, a permanent scowl on his face who she assumed was Godfrey as he took a seat right next to Adelaide.

“You'll win then over though, you always do. It's like magic!” Maxwell inserted himself into the conversation.

“It'll be easier to talk to them alone though.” Emma noticed Madeleine on the other side of the room, clearly not interested in the party. She approached Madeleine who properly greeted her for the sake of tradition.

“You've been greeted, could you leave me alone now, for once?”

“Actually, I needed to speak to you about something, an opportunity for you.”

“I'm sure it's of no interest to me.” Madeleine tried to leave.

“I want you to be my press secretary on this upcoming tour.” Madeleine stopped and turned, a satisfied smirk on her face.

“I knew it. You've come crawling back to me, begging for help because you've dug yourself too deep into a hole. Good luck getting yourself out. I'll be sitting at the top watching.” Madeleine hissed, and this time didn't stop as she walked away from her. Emma explained what happened to her friends and they decided to take a break. While they were getting some food, Drake accidentally bumped into Neville. Emma couldn't help but roll her eyes as she approached, he was amongst her least favorite people. He droned on and on while still managing to find a way to insult them all. Drake stepped in to defend Emma, some part of her loved that Drake would defend her even if publicly she was with Liam, but another part wanted to be able to elevate Drakes status so people like Neville would leave him alone. When Neville had the audacity to compare Drake to a dog she could see him losing it, Emma almost lost control of her own temper, it took all of her will power not to.

“He's not worth it Drake.” She whispered in his ear. As much as he hated Neville, he couldn't make things more difficult for her or his best friend and so he backed off, Emma was right. Drake had a feeling that Neville would get what was coming to him, even if that day wasn't today.

“We still need his support though. We need all the nobles we can get.” Hana said. The idea that Drake would have to watch Emma get married to Liam, knowing Neville would be in the crowd to mock him made his anger spike again. He needed a moment to himself and so he made a beeline for outside, hoping he wouldn't be followed. He turned when he heard soft footsteps, relieved to see it was only Emma.

“I'm sorry, I just needed some fresh air. I couldn't let my anger get the best of me. He was right, if I do something rash it only hurts you and Liam.” Emma gave him a sympathetic smile.

“For the record, I want to punch him too.” Drake chuckled.

“I don't suppose there's a metaphorical way I could punch him.”

“Maybe if you knew what fork was for what purpose.” Drake smirked.

“Guy like him, he'd know all that stuff. I did have one idea though.” Emma raised her eyebrows at him.

“Oh yeah?”

“Yeah, something you could help me with.”

“What would that be?”

“Don't make me say it Barnes. You know what I'm talking about.” Emma really had no idea though, she shrugged.

“Dancing. Maybe you could teach me some fancy court dances.” Emma grinned.

“The Drake Walker is asking for dancing lessons?”

“I know. Can you help me or not Barnes?” Emma smiled and grabbed Drake's hands.

“Let's start.” He led her to a secluded part of the gardens under an arch filled with twinkling lights.

“Why dancing?” Drake sighed.

“We'll be going to a lot of balls, dancing is usually involved.”

“Neville got to you. Fuck what he thinks Drake.”

“It's not just Neville. I want to do this for you! For Liam! You guys need all the support you can get, and I can't be just the commoner friend who sticks around, I need to show them that I'm an asset.”

“Drake you don't need to change. You don't need to earn their respect to be helpful. I could never ask you to change for me.” He lifted her chin gently.

“I want to Barnes.”

“I love you Drake. Despite what anyone else thinks.” Drake kissed her gently and smiled.

“Okay, where do we start?”

“What do you know?”

“You know me Barnes, I don't dance. I know the starting position and that's it.”

“Let's start there then!” Drake gently placed his hand on her waist and grabbed her other hand with his, holding it out. She put her hand on his shoulder and slowly began gliding him through box steps, as she sped up, he struggled to keep up with her. His footwork became sloppy, almost stomping on her toes. Drake sighed in frustration, breaking hold.

“This is hard. You always make it look so effortless.” He ran a hand through his hair.

“That's because I'm not stomping like I'm part of some military marching band, you need to glide. Your movements need to flow together rather than stiff, and individual.” Drake just stared at her like she was speaking another language.

“Imagine you're dancing on glasses of whiskey, every time you stomp you break a glass.” Drake gasped.

“That's a tragedy Barnes.”

“Then I guess you better learn to glide.” It only took Drake a few more steps to finally learn to glide.

“Am I good? A perfect dancer now?” Emma smiled and shook her head.

“You still need to correct your frame, you have to hold it at all times.” Emma waited for Drake to find the correct frame.

“When you hold your frame, it helps your partner react to your movements accordingly.”

“Like this?” Emma pretended to be checking over Drake's frame and snuck in for a kiss. Drake immediately broke hold, falling into the kiss before pulling away.

“That's not the next move.” Emma giggled.

“You don't know that. You said yourself you don't know anything about dancing.”

“I've been around court for years Barnes, nobles don't go around kissing each other. That was a cheap move.” She winked.

“You loved it though. Anyways, my point was that you need to be able to focus through distractions. Your partner is trusting you to lead them through the dance, especially this next step.” Emma demonstrated and explained the next step before Drake took his place with her. Drake glided forward, and Emma took a step back, spinning under Drake's arm.

“What's the last step?” Emma grinned and jumped into Drake's arms, catching him off guard. She wrapped her arms around his neck and enjoyed the quiet moment together.

“As much I love this, what's the real move?”

“A simple spin.” Drake began twirling and Emma giggled until he lost his balance and they tumbled into the bushes.

“Aah!” Drake hissed and grabbed his shoulder. Emma rolled off him and looked at him, worried.

“Drake I'm sorry! Are you okay?” He nodded and let out a deep breath.

“I'm fine.” He pulled Emma back on top of him who wasn't convinced.

“Your shoulder, Drake.” He silenced her by kissing her. Her protests immediately stopped as his tongue slipped into her mouth.

“Drake? Emma!” Maxwell's voice forced them apart just as Drake's hand began wandering up her dress.

“We've been gone too long.” She whispered. Drake sighed and helped her up.

“Right here Maxwell.” They brushed each other off and stepped out from the gardens.

“What were you doing out here?” He looked them up and down.

“I was teaching Drake to dance.” Maxwell clearly didn't buy it.

“She was Maxwell.” Everyone dropped the subject.

“Thanks Barnes. I never wanted to learn because I didn't want court to change me. You've done it all though, you're going to be queen, but you're still the New York waitress that I fell in love with. If you can do it, then so can I. For Liam, for Cordonia, for you.” He gave her a meaningful look and she returned it, walking back inside to the ball behind Maxwell.

“Lady Emma!”

“Bertrand!” She mocked his rushed tone and waited for him to explain.

“I've been looking everywhere for you. Adelaide and Godfrey are alone, you should talk to them now.” Emma made her way over to Adelaide and tried to recruit her with no luck, she also had no luck with Godfrey, but she was able to figure out why everyone was so tense. It was something at least, she needed to talk to Madeleine again though, Bertrand would be furious if she didn't recruit her.

“Any luck?” Hana asked. Emma shook her head.

“I need to talk to Madeleine again, I know what's bothering them all.”

“I think that's going to have to wait.” Emma followed Maxwell's gaze to where Neville was asking Madeleine to dance. Emma's lips curled into a smile, Liam was nowhere to been seen.

“Let's show them how it's done Drake.” He looked at her wide-eyed and shook his head. “You want to give him the courtly middle finger, this is how you do it. You've got this.” Emma grabbed his hand and dragged him on to the dance floor. Drake took one look at Neville and his demeanor changed, he deftly began guiding Emma through the steps. She looked over her shoulder and saw him scowling at them, Emma turned back to Drake and grinned.

“We're definitely getting to him.”

“Guess he can't handle a little competition.” Neville grew increasingly showy, twirling Madeleine and gliding her across the dance floor, his scowl never leaving them.

“I think he's going to do something big. Can you do a lift?” Emma looked at Drake and was genuinely concerned, she wasn't going to ask him to do something that would hurt him. He nodded and met her gaze, he could do it. As the music crested, Drake lifted Emma by her waist and spun her as she threw her arms back, he gently set her down as the music stopped.

“That was amazing Drake!” Emma wrapped her arms around him and laughed as their friends rushed over.

“I guess she really was teaching you to dance. Stop holding out on me Drake!”

“Where'd you learn to do that Drake?” Hana joined them as Neville stormed over. Again, he tried to pick a fight with Drake and the others.

“Just because you did one waltz doesn't mean you belong here with us.”

“Why are you so threatened by Drake? It it because you know that no matter what you do in your sniveling life you'll never be as good as the commoner who took a bullet for the future queen.” Emma got in Neville's face and he took a step back sneering.

“That's the most ridiculous idea I've ever heard.”

“Really? Then why are you running with your tail tucked between your legs?” Neville huffed and walked off, at a loss of words.

“Thanks Barnes.” Before Emma could say anymore, she heard a commotion and turned to see what it was. Madeleine and her parents had begun arguing in raised voices.

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[rudolphsboyfriend]

Thats good! Dw about writing just duit whenever u get the time/remember ik how it is w these things lol

That sounds fun! Where did ur friends leave :(

omMG IM SO PROUD!!!! Ur doing amazing <33 all the best w ur projects!

Ohhh wow that woulda been so cool fr u omg. 60k is. A lot. But I'm sure ull get in somewhere good! It's great that ur researching these things i hope u find a good place fr u!

OMG that sounds so coolkchfkdkd i love channels like that. Crash course I've heard of it I've watched a few vids but i never saw theur stuff propeely i will go check it ou at the earliest

Yeahh thankfully im mostly fine. Worst part is I'll be missing atleast a full week of classes which will be really hard to catch up on later sigh.

Other than that I've been good! I got a 89 in my latest Anatomy exam!! The highest score was a 90 and that was my best friend who got it lol. But yeah rlly happy abt that. I started reading a webnovel and its rlly good! I'll tell u abt it if u want.

I'm also kinda rereading this other book but I'm just listening to the audiobook while cycling everyday. So yeah!

Classes r annoying, i have physiology this week. Physiology as a subject is pretty interesting, but it's also really difficult if u don't understand it. Like hellishly difficult. So i need to watch a ton of videos if i wanna understand the lectures i miss

Hii!! I've missed u! I hope you're doing well? How r classes??

In other news, i might have covid :( it's not serious I'm not like realllyyy sick but I've been having a cough and fever for a few days now and today i lost my sense of taste n smell so :( I'm getting tested tmrw. Like i said it's not serious and if i do have it i just need to isolate n stuff, I'm not bedridden or anything so yeah.

Hi!! I've been pretty good, sorry I haven't been writing (I keep on planning to and then forgetting TT) I went to a historical district and the aquarium with my friends this past week, it was super fun! sadly almost all my friends left this morning though :'( I cried a lot

classes are going well! We got our midterm marks last week, I have 94 in English and 90 in philosophy! I have a big project in both classes (in English it's about Frankenstein and in philosophy it's about Kant), so I started working on those today

I've also been doing a fair amount of research about financing uni (scholarships, bursaries etc) and yesterday I was told that if your parent works at the University of Toronto, you don't need to pay tuition. my dad used to work there!! I could have gone for free if he hadn't decided to take the offer he got from the research facility he works at now! instead I am destined to pay over 60k every year if I end up going to uni here TT so close and yet so far

ooooh and!!! we watch lots of videos in philosophy from this one YouTube channel and I went to their channel today to watch more about philosophy and I found out they have videos on so many subjects! so excited, I spent the morning learning abt physics, I have so many videos of theirs that I want to watch (the channel's called Crash Course if you're interested)

that sucks!! I'm glad you're not too sick, but I hope you're feeling better soon <333

other than being sick, what have you been doing lately?