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initiumseries · 4 years ago

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Which parts of BTVS did you not like and how would you have changed them?

Yes! Great question.

So, if I’m being honest, most, if not all, of my issues with BTVS start after she graduates high school. I feel like the show lost the magic of the Scoobies bond and the older they got, the more distance we had from them as characters, the more OOC it felt like everyone started behaving, So, I’ll start with s4, buckle in this is gonna be long lol.

Season 4

So as usual, I like the idea of season 4. The gang has graduated, they’re growing up, and trying to find their place in such a big pond. On top of that, the Initiative is on campus (which makes sense, you can’t just blow up a high school and there are no repercussions for that, and it’s kinda cool the idea of instead of a govn’t lockdown, they infiltrate Sunnydale and are running experiments to weaponize demons. Clever, fun. I like it.), and ofc Buffy’s given up having a normal life, but now she just wants a normal relationship, and doesn’t even get that. I’m on board. Especially the idea that the gang inadvertently drifts away from each other because that’s real. That happens when you go away to college, even if you go away together. So my issues, are rooted in the details.

Maggie Walsh turned into this weird obsessive surrogate mother, who wanted to get Buffy out of the way, except the execution was so sloppy. I LIKED commanding, no nonsense, bitch monster from hell Maggie Walsh, and I would have liked to see that follow through in how she attempts to dispose of Buffy, and how she handles Riley. She becomes this soft, weirdly maternal unhinged force after trying to kill Buffy, and I don’t really understand why. I would have liked to see more of that motherly role, while still rooted in that commander in chief sort of aura she exudes when we first meet her, when it comes to Riley. I also thought her death came too soon, like they just didn’t know what to do with her after she executed her function *coughs in the Anointed One* of creating tension between Buffy and Riley (which, honestly, his being in the Initiative at all would have been enough conflict if they had leaned into that without stuffing so much stuff in there). I definitely would have had Maggie maintain that strength and authority, while softening where necessary to emotionally manipulate Riley. I’d make it really clear that Riley is deeply confused because we believe the hold she has on him, and withdrawal on the drugs would have been a nice touch, but I think it came too soon. Which leads me directly into:

Super cool. I remember when I first watched this on TV and the gang finally rebonded (after a HILARIOUS episode of them finally addressing their conflicts), they’d reached the climax with the Initiative and Adam and Buffy does a very Sailor Moon thing of all the different emotional strengths of her friends bond together to give her enough power to defeat Adam. LOVE IT.

Except what’s the point? Prof. Walsh created Adam...for what exactly? We never really get a clear, salient reason for that, bc they kill her, and Adam’s exposition is...not sufficient to explain why she had an off the books project to stitch together a...demon son. It’s weird and especially because Adam doesn’t really do all that much, it really leaves me wondering like, what was the point? For me, I feel like, instead of making Adam a spectator for a lot of the drama that takes place in s4, I would have preferred him be the driving force. behind most things.

Also: Riley’s Black friend would not have been such an angry misogynistic raging asshole because I’m tired of Black people being The Worst to make the white characters look better, more reasonable.

I would have needed a stronger explanation for Adam trying to turn Riley into...whatever that was.

Willow would have been bi and I absolutely would have, if I went in that direction, had a much more fleshed out discovery of that fact (Because in this world Seth wouldn’t have left lol). I also would have made sure Willow and the actress who played Tara would have had the chemistry they deserved.

Anya would not have stayed in Sunnydale. She would have left. She was a poor man’s Cordelia and had 0 character growth or interest.

Season 5

Again, love the ideas. Suddenly Buffy has a sister we ALL knew wasn’t there before? A God shows up? What I love(d) about Buffy is that the escalations felt so natural? Like it didn’t feel like the show was like HoW dO wE oUtDo oURsElVes aGaIN?! It felt more organic like, well, yeah, the govnt. Oh shit, a GOD? D A M N! And Glory had personality! She was crazy! And it also matches alongside Buffy’s coming to grips with her own abilities. She’s one of the oldest slayers on record at this point, watching her in s1 and in s5 you SEE, her skill level is above and beyond, and now she meets a foe that still provides such a challenge, Buffy is scared. LOVE IT.

So Spike, getting neutered, was interesting at first, but it really starts to wear out its welcome for me, about this time. My problem being, he poses so little of a threat, that all his scenes start to feel like filler and not like they’re driving the plot forward in any useful way. His obsession with Buffy becoming sexual, was INLINE for Spike, but I liked Spike because he was a DICK, he was also dangerous, and after a lot of hilarious moments in S4, watching his basically creep around Buffy’s house and try to manipulate her into spending time together (which felt soooo pathetic to me in a way I didn’t like) and like, the Buffy bot (fucking ew) all season was just, not a fun time. I think, for me, I would have had Spike maintain his dignity as a character and I absolutely would not have had him threaten Dru’s life to drive home his obsession for Buffy. Ew. Yuck. Cringe. I just think there had to be more that Spike could do this season than run around chasing Buffy’s coattails.

One again, Tara/Willow. Tara had no character development (even in an episode that was created to provide her with development? I definitely would have made use of that episode to create more ACTUAL depth for her character) so then to turn around and have her become mindless for basically the REST of the season, is just, rude lol. And because they have no chemistry and their relationship feels so...baseless, when this moment happens, I don’t feel anything. I don’t believe WIllow would be this angry, this heartbroken, this devastated that she’d take in such dark magicks and blindly go after Glory. I’d believe it if it were Oz, but Tara/Willow do not get the same level of build up and relationship establishing for me to buy this. I would have changed that.

Unpopular opinion, but I also would have made Dawn less of an UTTERLY irritating, shrill, whiny, screaming white tween. I get it, she was supposed to be the baby. But I get nothing from watching a white girl who is mostly just bored and irritated with her life, start shoplifting from her sister’s friends and in general, because she’s kinda sad sometimes. Get a grip. The only time I feel bad for her is when she finds out she’s not real. Actual problems. Wicked, I’m on board. But I think I would have just made her less fucking annoying and whiny and a lot more sympathetic. She still could have been frustrating and bratty, but in a way that was a bit more likeable, so that in those moments where she’s *genuinely* struggling, you feel for her on a broader scope. I would not have made her do all of those incredibly infuriating, incredibly stupid things, like running away in the middle of a dangerous situation. Because it ends up reading to me, like Buffy’s anger, frustration and criticisms of Dawn aren’t her being too hard on her as the eldest, as the Slayer, but accurate because Dawn is a horrendous nightmare of a new human being with no real redeeming qualities. Definitely a better ways to execute that.

Also, I feel like this season is where the Scoobies drift again, but this time we aren’t really addressing it? Buffy’s dealing with Joyce getting sick, Riley being a POS, Spike stalking her, and she never leans on Willow for any of it. They never even really talk about any of the things going on. It’s such a missed opportunity to lean back into the core gang navigating growing up together. Willow is now basically the guardian of her new partner, and again, we don’t really see WIllow lean on Buffy at all. And Giles is preparing to leave, which, to me, felt organic. He felt like Buffy had outgrown him, but I think he was also trying to rediscover himself, but is pulled back into being a Watcher and he seems both grateful and disappointed. I would have liked to, I donno, make that a little clearer. Also what is Xander doing at this point? He’s outgrown his usefulness as well, so he kinda just becomes a hanger’s on. If Xander doesn’t just leave Sunnydale after s3 or 4. He needs to do *something*, he should have been reintegrated into the group in a new way if it wasn’t through school.

Season 6

This is so hard. I feel like this season is just, SO dark, SO heavy, and absent the levity that had been established up til s4. But it’s also really earned. Buffy is going through it. The layers are wonderful. I LOVE IT. But I also needed like...emotional breaks? And this is also kinda where I needed the scoobies to feel like scoobies, and trying to figure out how to help their friend. Xander and Willow have been friends their entire lives, and season 3 really fleshes out that emotional shorthand they have, but it’s so quickly abandoned in s4 and onward. Suddenly Willow/Xander feel like strangers with Anya and Tara between them. I feel like there should have been more moments of Xander and Willow just..being, and struggling with Buffy’s loss together in a way that only the two of them really understand because like Buffy said Xander has a piece of her that Oz, and so then Tara, can’t reach. That should be a constant thoroughline. Xander should have been the first person to see something wasn’t quite right with Willow and the magic.

Giles should have left earlier to give more time between him leaving and Buffy coming back. I like the idea of Giles beginning to build a life for himself in England and literally dropping everything once he found out Buffy was back. I emotionally hate the conflict of Willow threatening Giles, but I like it as a character development issue, and Giles definitely should have side eyed Willow, maybe even brought up his concerns later with Xander.

I think I also would have had Spike leave Sunnydale and come back when Buffy does. I didn’t need a reformed Spike, and it would have been interesting to see him ingratiate himself with the group now that Buffy is back, and he’s the only one who sees how much pain she’s in.

I HATED Warren and the group. The disgustingly overwhelming and unchecked misogyny and Warren was INSANELY unlikeable. I don’t need to like him, but I needed some catharsis way before we got it. He was HORRENDOUS.

Even in death, Tara is bland.

Willow’s magic addiction legit comes out of nowhere. I needed more organic build up than Amy, who has been a rat for like 3 years, suddenly being like “hey I know this guys who can give us magic drugs!”

The chasm between Willow and Buffy this season would have hit if they hadn’t been distant since s3.

I think we needed the seeds for Dark!Willow planted a lot earlier like I described.

Also a lot more evidence that Willow was running away from her nerdy past because when it comes up here, it’s completely left field.

This would have hit harder if they still felt close.

Season 7

Fuck man, the whole thing was awful. But I ESPECIALLY would have thrown out that left field retcon of Buffy having been in an asylum. I lost sleep over that shit lol.

But I would have totally rewritten season 7. If Spike’s involvement was necessary (it wasn’t), then I absolutely would not have had her defend him against Wood and Giles. I would have had her treat him extremely coolly. Like a tool they require. There would have been *some* level of redemption for him that was believable within the confines of his character, but not so much that we forget he’s an assaulter.

The Potentials would have been WAY fucking less horrendously annoying and I really would have leaned into conflict avoidance with the scoobies that reaches a peak when Xander loses his eye. Giles and Buffy would have renegotiated their adult parent/child relationship in a far healthier way and we would have had a lot more interiority with Buffy like we’ve had, pretty much since the show’s inception.

Angel would have been there when Buffy was isolated and alone, not Spike. Because #bangel4lyfe lmao. They still woulda kissed as a “greeting” lol. Buffy would not have told Spike she loved him, or that she ever loved him. She woulda told that dude thank you and dipped out of the cave lol.

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romancing-lady-whistledown · 4 years ago

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the fandom was exactly like this, every time Lucas or Eliott weren't a perfect human and had flaws the fans here would say they were ruined. like Lucas saying some ignorant things on s5 and s6 doesn't mean they ruined him?? and it wasn't ooc he said some ignorant things on s3 as well. but he apologises. fans are obsessed with purity, they want their fave characters to be 'woke kings' . I read fics where Lucas was super "woke" and honestly it made me cringe so much bc that's not him

Hi anon! I have no idea when I recieved this as Tumblr never notified me about it, so I’m sorry if this response is really late! This got kinda long so I’ll leave my response under the cut.

Personally when it comes to Elu-fanfiction (which is the only type of fanfiction I read, actually) I’ll enjoy anything that can give me the Elu-feelings, just in different ways depending on the genre/trope, and that also includes when they’re pure fluff and the angst that maybe would’ve happened in the actual show is cut down or cut out. Sure I’ll notice when Lucas or another character says something I could never hear canon Lucas say, but overall as long as the character has enough traits from Lucas, whether it’s more from soft Lucas or more from fiery Lucas, I’ll just take that as the writer using their freedom to make the tweaks to the characters that they wish for their story. With that being said, when it comes to the canon characters themselves and the way they’re created and presented in the show (and this is in general not just in Skam France, but definitely also in Skam France), I completely agree with you. Alot of people do want their favorite characters to be morally pure and fully woke, but that has never been Lucas or Eliott and personally I don’t know anybody in the real world who are perfect in that way either.

To me personally a well-rounded and well-developed character is a character that on some level feels real and relatable, rather than a character that always pose as an example for the ideal response to every situation they’re put in. The latter will, to me personally, make them feel less real, well-rounded and relatable because nobody has the ideal response to every situation they’re put in. People do mess up and they mess up often, whether it’s in what they say or what they do. People also do grow and change and learn but that takes time. I won’t recognize any real human I know in a character that always does and says the right thing. That’s not to say that every character with flaws is a great character (examples of characters I personally don’t think are well-crafted, relatable or likable on any level are Charles from Skam France and, from the little I’ve seen of her, Kato from Wtfock). I think the key to creating a great character is giving them a combination of flaws and pleasant traits that make them either interesting or lovable or both, in a way that fit with the role they’re supposed to play in the story, whether it’s as an antagonist or a protagonist or something in between.

What makes Lucas so lovable to me is the combination of him being hot-tempered and passionate and him also being very emotional and incredibly soft and sweet with the people he loves. He wears any emotion on his sleeve, whether it’s sadness or joy, anger or love. He’ll demand an explaination about Lucille multiple times until he gets one, but when he knows it’s Eliott and him he’ll turn into a softie who demands kisses every other minute and buys Eliott flowers and croissants when he’s not feeling well. He’ll lose his temper and he’ll sometimes say ignorant things as we saw in both S3 and in the newer seasons, but he��ll also apologize for things he say, as we saw both with Arthur, Lola and Chloe. Lucas is to me the perfect example of a character with a lovable combination of positive traits and flaws.

My one big complaint about Lucas and Eliott’s parts of S5 and S6 is not that they were ruined in any way, it’s that I feel like the writers started an arc on screen that didn’t get a good conclusion on screen. They introduced insecurities for both Lucas and Eliott that we got to see them discuss with others (Imane, Arthur, Lola) but never with each other. We actually saw Eliott very rarely in S5 and Lucas very rarely in S6, but when we did see Lucas in S5 it was partly for the part of the storyline where Arthur felt left out and in S6 it was basically to set up the club-incident towards the end of the season (that he understandably got upset about), and in both S5 and S6 his tendency to get angry and speak before thinking (that always has been there) got a bit more focus on screen than his soft and sweet side (although it was still present), but that doesn’t mean that his soft side isn’t there just as much as before. To me that is a problem in the writing and storytelling with them prioritizing showing the angst a lot more than the happy or healing moments, instead of having a better balance, but it did by no means ruin Eliott, Lucas or Elu for me. I saw enough in S3 to fully believe that the conversations that needed to happen did happen or will happen, and sometimes conversations between them were referenced but not shown on screen, like when Lucas told Lola at the video-store that Eliott had explained her and Eliott’s relationship to him.

I think it’s important to acknowledge that Skam is always gonna be frustrating with things like this because of the one POV per season thing. Conversations that we would very much like to see will take place off screen when the main isn’t there, we did for example not see Isak and Even talk about Mikael and Isak’s jealousy or Noora and William talk about their drama in S4, we were always told about this through Sana, and the people we did see Lucas and Eliott discuss their insecurities with in S4-S6 were always the mains of their respective seasons. But the thing with Skam France is that they did break the POV for the Fifi-clip or Basile and Daphne talking during S5, so it’s hard not to wish that they could’ve done that here. I also wanna add that when I say I wish they gave Lucas and Eliott’s arc in S5 and S6 a good conclusion I don’t mean Lucas and Eliott getting rid of their insecurities so they’ll never be a potential cause of conflict ever again, because I don’t think insecurities work like that. I don’t think being in a loving relationship for a year will take those insecurities away. As I said earlier, growth takes time, and deep-rooted insecurities are certainly no exception to that.

Anyway, this got long and ranty and I’m sorry about that, but the bottomline is this: I definitely agree with you that there seems to be a huge need in for beloved characters to remain as morally pure and woke as possible in the fandom in order for them not be concidered “ruined”. In reality the flaws we saw in both Lucas and Eliott in S5 and S6 were, in my opinion, very much present in S3, I think they were very much in character, but the difference is that now we only got small glimpses of the characters, their words and their actions, they were not the main focus and we didn’t get to see them up close with all of their qualities explored the way we got in S3. We only got what we got in those glimpses, and sometimes that was a glimpse of Lucas and Eliott doing or saying something they shouldn’t have, but that doesn’t mean all the good qualities of them as characters and as a couple disappeared, we simply didn’t get to see the full picture on screen the way we did in S3. In S5 and S6 I had some issues with the storytelling for Elu, just like I did for other characters, but to me personally the characters and the couple were by no means ruined.

#ask #skamfr

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siebenschoen · 5 years ago

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longing for daylight Ivan x Reader

Ivan sometimes wanders through the manor during the day, you know that by now. Still it never fails to surprise you, when you see him around.

Fair warning: this takes place during Beliath’s route (for extra drama), but the only thing I watched of his new chapter 5 so far is the conversation with Ivan, so spoilers, I guess? And also this is absolutely un-beta-ed. I’ll probably come back soon and correct any mistakes, I’ll find.

Also this whole thing will probably turn out to be incredible ooc, once we know more about Ivan. But we know so little right now and this wouldn’t let me alone, until I wrote it.

reblogs and likes are very much appreciated!

Faint sunbeams fall through the big window and you pry your eyes open to see that last bits of daylight are still desperately clinging on. It’s not night, not yet. But it will be soon, sooner than you would like.

Your body and mind are a mess, confused by the sudden changes from night to day and day to night. They feel the same to you. Sometimes you will wake at the break of dawn, to see the sun rise over the forest in lovely, pastel colours. Sometimes it will be midday with brilliant blue skies or evenings with clouds painted in orange and red. At other times it will be night and then you can sometimes hear the others moving through the manor.

Vampires are unnaturally silent in their movement, but you are able to pick out one or two signs to show that you are not alone (no matter how empty this manor feels) - a swishing curtain, the air moving with a body that had been there just a second ago…

But for now, it’s still day. Still time to roam the halls, that rightfully belong to you, in peace and quite. If you’re fast enough, you might even be able to sneak back up to your room before night time falls and force yourself back to sleep, before the first vampire wakes - before Beliath wakes.

You slip into your dress, which is beginning to look worn. You didn’t bring much with you from the orphanage. And clothes have been the least of your worries for the past few months, but maybe… maybe you will be able to go back to villages tomorrow. Beliath’s powers have never stopped you from going there before and you do not plan on making a run for it. Blindly running away will not work, you have figured that much out by now.

With a sigh you let yourself out of the Rose Room - it is still strange, to think of it as your room - and into the hallway. You think about getting yourself something to eat from the kitchen, when you are able to make out a hodded figure at the bottom of the stairs. Your breath hitches, before you remember, Ivan.

You have met him once before during daylight and kept his secret like he asked. It is weird to think about it. A vampire out and about during the day, still clinging to everything that had made him human once. But it also helps to take away the shudder that used to go through you, everytime you so much as looked in his direction.

It did nothing to change the fact that he was the one responsible for your situation, but knowing that he as well is stuck in a similar situation, helps to ease your bitterness. He is miserable and so young compared to the others - you can’t help but feel for him.

“Ivan”, you call after him and he spins around, surprised. The others would have heard you coming as soon as you left your room. Even Ivan should have. You never managed to catch one of them by surprise before. “You did not notice me”, you say as you walk down the stairs. Tone light, teasing.

Ivan seems to shrink back into his hood. His pale face hidden in the shadows. No daylight falls into the entrance hall - all the curtains have been carefully drawn close -, but still he hids himself. Well, better safe then sorry, you guess. Or maybe he was outside. But this whole hood situation doesn’t exactly make him blend in… anywhere, really, surely it is much easier to spot him this wa- “I told you.” Ivan shrugs, but it’s too forced to seem natural. “Our powers are weaker during the day.”

“Oh… yeah…”, you mumble. It’s not that you completely forgot, in fact you had stored that information away quite nicely, hoping to might get some use out of it. But it’s still weird to think of a vampire as anything but an all-defeating force, that could overpower you in an instance.

You walk past Ivan at the bottom of the staircase, when you come to an abrupt halt. You don’t know what to say to him, but it feels wrong to just leave him there. He looks lonely.

He’s a monster!, a voice, at the back of your head, screams. A monster that can’t control himself! You know that, of course you do. But it’s hard to connect that to the man - no, boy, really - standing in front of you. Maybe it’s just your mind playing tricks on you, but he seems younger in daylight. Thin, almost fragile, with dark circles under his eyes.

You’re being naive, probably. And this might be a huge mistake, but you feel like you might understand him - freshly turned, overwhelmed with everything and everyone - and he might understand you.

“I wanted to go to the kitchen.”, you say, before the rational part of your brain, can catch up with you. The statement hangs loosely, awkwardly in the air. “To get something to eat, I mean.”, you add quickly and then cringe inwardly. This might not be the best topic to breech, considering you are what Ivan would consider something to eat.

You take a deep breath and steady yourself. “What I’m trying to say is, that I wouldn’t mind company, if you would like to come along.”

Ivan looks confused for a moment, before he slowly nods and follows you into the kitchen.

Ever since you had to realize that your living situation in the manor might be more permanent than you would like it to be, you had put some effort into cleaning the abondend kitchen. Your life is not the best at the moment, but you still refuse to eat something that has been prepared on a surface covered in layers of dust. As you scurry through the kitchen, trying to find something edible, Ivan hovers awkwardly next to the door.

You’re sniffing at the bread that you found in the far corner of one of the cupboards, debating if you would survive eating it, when he speaks up. “I didn’t know that we had food down here”, he pauses, “Well, normal food”

“You didn’t. I bought somethings in town.”, you can’t help the dry laugh that escapes your lips, “Beliath tends to keep a loose lash when it comes to things like this.” Ivan scowls, but you ignore him in favour of weighing the bread in your hand, deciding to give it a try. You think there might even be some cheese leftovers still left in the fridge. Old bread and cheese crumbs - a meal worthy of a king. It seems you have to make a quick trip to the town soon anyway.

"You shouldn't talk about him like that.", Ivan looks a bit helpless in the way he stands there, still close to the door, as if he is unwilling to enter the room. You have to think about the legend that vampires can't enter a house, unless you bid them in and you wonder if there is any truth to it. You never thought that you would be able to get an actual answer to that question from a reliable source.

"I didn't know that you were that invested in keeping Beliath's image clean.", you smile to yourself - only slightly cynical. "You'd have your work cut out for you, that's for sure."

Ivan shakes his head. "That's not it. It's just...", he trails off, as you spread the cheese over your bread in a way to make it look at least slightly appetizing. "You're is chalice. And he saved your life. After I nearly killed you." Ivan glances around the nervously - is he afraid that you'll freak out as soon as he mentiones what happend to you? Until a few days ago he had every reason to, but now you feel a weird calmness overcome you. You haven't come to terms with your situation - you don't know, if you ever will -, but you know that yelling at Ivan won't change that.

You take a bite from your bread and chew slowly, giving you enough time to think about what you could possibly reply to that. "That's true, Ivan, but... how should I put it?" You sigh. "Oh well, if someone can relate to dramatic life changes, it's probably you. You told me once that you don't take joy from your vampire abilities in the same way that Ethan or Beliath do. Well, I don't take well to my role as a chalice either."

You look him straight in the eyes. They are yellow and unnaturally bright. Like sunflowers. "You said that you are awake during the days, because you cling to the things that you once had. And I feel that too." You take another bite. Ivan doesn't say a word, but he seems deeply focussed on you. "I grew up in an orphanage. It's not excactly the best place for a child, but I think I did alright. I had friends, not many, but still. There was just one thing that I always missed. The orphanage was strict. It felt like a cage. And I always wanted to be free. Free to do what I wanted, to go where I wanted. I had that freedom for maybe three days." You put your plate in the empty sink, your back turned to Ivan, but you can feel his eyes follow you. A dry laugh escapes you and you have to pull yourself together to not let your eyes grow wet. Fuck, you're getting emotional. "And now I'm trapped in another big, empty house."

"I'm sorry", Ivan's voice is soft and you turn around to see his face twisted in a guilty expression. "Thank you" You shake your head. "But you don't have to apologise. I'm not mad at you, not anymore."

"This is just a guess", you say, "But the way you cling onto the days... It feels like you might miss your freedom too."

Ivan's arms are crossed over his chest. His head is turned down, the large hood hiding his expression. He looks up and you are once again struck by how young he looks. Young and lonely and sad. "I guess so. A part of me at least." He glances past you to the tall windows with the curtains drawn shut. "I miss being able to leave whenever I feel like it. I miss seeing tree leaves against a blue sky. I miss walking through crowds, just minding my own buisness, but somehow being part of the masses. Fuck, I miss being alive."

Without noticing, you stepped closer to him. Your hand on his arm. Wanting to comfort... to be comforted. Ivan twichtes at the sudden contact. His sunflower eyes wide open. The air seems to be burning and you can hardly breath. He glances down to your neck and your breath hitches. Somehow this feels more intimated than anytime Beliath bit you. Fuck.

"I...", Ivan's voice is raspy. "I have to go. Aaron will be waiting for me." And with that he is out of the kitchen in a blink of an eye.

Your heart is beating heavyly against your ribcage. You glance to the clock. There is at least another hour of daylight left. Fuck. This is so not good.

#moonlight lovers #ml #my writing #ml ivan #moonlight lovers ivan #beemoov #ml fanfiction #moonlight lover fanfiction #ml fanfic

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leggomylino · 5 years ago

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light switch | yandere!seungmin

Genre: yandere, romance/fluff, thriller, a little angst, some comedy (mainly in the first half) Pairing: yandere!Seungmin x reader Word count: ~11k (and this is only the first half…) Warnings: Author rambling, run-on sentences, mild language (censored), a few memes, moments of high tension and possible anxiety, ooc, and mild abuse/violence A/N: Requests are open~ | Masterlist in bio! | rip this turned out WAYYY longer than I meant it to and it’s my first time writing this format (and yandere for that matter) but, I hope y’all enjoy :’)) Thanks for reading!! <3

Okay so

You and Seungmin had been friends for a while

Y’all met in junior high and immediately hit it off

Here’s what happened fam

It was your turn to stay after class and clean up

The other kids who had been assigned to help you had already done their jobs and left

You let them off easy because it was raining and you didn’t want anyone to miss the bus

You always walked home since you lived in the neighborhood and you liked the rain so it was no big deal to you

*cringey middle schooler voice* “Hey is it okay if we head out? Are you okay by yourself?”

“Oh yeah sure go ahead! Have a great day!”

“Thanks! See you later (y/n)!”

Yeah a n y w a y

So it’s raining out and it’s just you in the classroom after school, cleaning the whiteboard and sorta zoning out

The cloudy weather and sound of steady rainfall on the asphalt outside isn’t helping

But luckily you’re almost done, just gotta get a chair to reach the top of the board and--

Chunk!

What the

Hello?

What was that sis

You look over your shoulder mid-swiping to see the silhouette of a person climbing in through the window

But you can’t see who it is at first cause right at that moment there’s a flash of lightning that lights up the whole room and casts everything in a veil of black and the hollow roar of thunder (just like in all the cliche horror movies), and a scream gets caught in your throat (like half of the cliche horror movies)

It successfully freaks you out a bit but

Once you’re able to see clearly again you realize it’s a boy

A boy you recognize

Barely tho

Like hardly

Because he’s honestly never around

Always skipping class

Typical delinquent kid

His name, you scarcely recall, is Kim Seungmin

He probably thinks he’s some sort of billy-badass or smth, you dunno

Well he’s just frozen like you are, halfway inside with his legs straddling the windowsill, soaking wet, just staring at you

Staring

Still staring...

You furrow your brow at him, slowly getting back into the groove of getting your business done and hightailing it outta there. “Take a picture, it’ll last longer.”

He smirks and leans forward, resting his hand on his chin, just watching you while half of him is still getting soaked by rain; he looks like the freakin’ Cheshire Cat. “The same could be said about you.”

You’re about to ask him what kind of a comeback that is when it dawns on you that you’re still staring as well, and you visibly shun yourself and whirl away to face the board again. He chuckles and you hear him toss his incredibly late ass all the way inside, closing the window and leaving a trail of rainwater and mud and dead leaves and outside nastiness on the floor that you just finished sweeping and cleaning uGH WTF BILLY-LATEASS WHY YOU GOTTA DO ME LIKE THAT

Great now you’re gonna miss the newest episode of Totally Spies and that rerun of Sailor Moon you were really looking forward to...all because this punk had to show up half past four.

He lifts one of the chairs off the desk and takes a seat, and when you curiously peek over your shoulder to see wtfudge he’s doing, he’s watching you. Again. Just sitting at what would be his usual seat in the middle of the room if he were ever in class on time at all. You roll over the teacher’s desk chair to finish cleaning the board and have just decided to leave the trail of dirt and wet grass for him to clean up

But uh

Unfortunately you have a brain made of spaghetti like the author

And well

You somehow managed to forget for a second that the chair has wheels, and the floors are still a little slick

So the moment you clamber your (enter height here) ass up on that chair guess what happens?

Just guess

Yeah you guessed it

London bridge comes falling down

Well in this case (y/n) bridge

It all happened so fast

And yet

You never touch the ground

No you didn’t spontaneously gain superpowers like in a Marvel or DC comic

This isn’t My Hero Academia either, you’re definitely quirkless

It’s this guy

He actually managed to throw himself over the desk and slide over just in time to save you

Wow maybe this is a bit of a superhero movie

Go Spiderminnie B))

Batminnie?

...Okay lame names and rambling aside, he saved you

You stare at him with a shocked look on your face, a bit winded from the experience

But also at the way he’s staring at you

It’s kinda sus sis

He’s looking at you like...almost like he’s seeing right through you

Into your soul

You know how they say the eyes are the window to the soul?

Well this bish is sunlight and he’s cutting right through...effortlessly

Gracefully radiating a strange unnatural light you aren’t really sure how to define

It’s weird, and foreign, and a bit uncomfortable

But a part of you kinda likes it

Which bothers you because sure this guy did just save you from getting a concussion and possibly breaking your neck but still

“Uh...thank you…” you mutter, not sure what else to say. It’s a miracle your spaghetti brain even managed to remember to say “thank you” at all smh

He’s smiling down at you kindly (even tho it’s a bit creepy, surely he means well) and uh

Does he plan on letting go of you anytime soon?

I mean

He’s still wet and you like the rain and all but

Okay there we go he’s setting you down now

Phew see he’s not a weirdo or anything, it’s all good

“That was a smart move you just pulled. I’m guessing you aren’t very fluent in the common sense department.”

Uh eXCUSE ME?!

Okay wow rude much

Who says something like that after saving someone?

Who says something like that to anyone they barely know ever?

Way to ruin the moment … wait what moment

There wasn’t a moment

That wasn’t a moment that was just uh...he was just…

:)))) moving on

You squint at him and scramble up to your feet to get away from this rude boy who you’re just starting to notice is kinda cute even if the way he looks at you is a little creepy and his attitude needs work, dusting yourself off and inwardly cringing at the chill snaking up your side. That’s just from the rainwater, right...? “Like you’re one to talk.”

He laughs at that...his laugh sounds like a bell. A bit obnoxious, but it’s still pleasing to you. And that makes you pretty angry.

“Stop laughing at me!”

“Huh?!”

“I mean it! Cut it out!”

He’s mimicking everything you say in a horribly applicated high-pitched voice, which only fuels your anger and frustration. Not to mention your embarrassment.

You’re embarrassed, right? That’s why your face feels so hot right now? Or you’re running a fever. Maybe you caught the bug that’s going around. People catch colds all the time during a rain shower, it’s only in every cliche romance anime ever.

Wait a sec…

Romance anime?!

Uh hahaha no no sis that’s not what this was

Not in the slightest

But I mean

It’s all set up like one

The rain

After school atmosphere

Cute delinquent guy with a bad attitude rescuing and teasing airheaded good student

Crap crap crap

Abort mission abort abort

You gotta scram baby

So that’s just what you do

...Well you try to anyway

But next thing you know he’s lifting you up in his arms and like

Dude

Have you not heard about personal space before?!

You turn your heated face down to him and he’s smiling up at you, so sweetly, so purely, all rainbows and sunshine

“Sorry, I was just teasing you. I thought maybe you could use a lift?” ❀

Well crap

He wasn’t wrong tho

Hnnnnn you can feel your face heating up again; er, even more

HNNNNN THIS REALLY IS AN ANIME ROMANCE ASDFGHJKL;

Okay okay calm down (y/n)

Just go with the flow

No use fighting it

Nothing good ever comes of fighting it

So you smile and mumble your thanks and let it happen

And guess what?

You two end up becoming the best of friends \^-^/

It’s quite cute actually

And it happens very naturally too

A nice slow burn transition into acquaintances, then friends, then good friends, and finally by the time you reach high school, y’all are besties

He’s always there for you when you need him

...

Like, always

It’s kinda strange actually...

He always knows right where to find you and texts you the moment you unlock your phone to text him

You: 𝖶𝗈𝗐, 𝖨 𝗐𝖺𝗌 𝗃𝗎𝗌𝗍 𝖺𝖻𝗈𝗎𝗍 𝗍𝗈 𝗍𝖾𝗑𝗍 𝗒𝗈𝗎! 𝗈𝖠𝗈

Him: 𝖮𝗁 𝗋𝖾𝖺𝗅𝗅𝗒? 𝖧𝖺𝗁𝖺𝗁 / 𝖶𝗈𝗐, 𝗐𝗁𝖺𝗍 𝖺𝗋𝖾 𝗍𝗁𝖾 𝗈𝖽𝖽𝗌? / 𝖨 𝗐𝖺𝗌 𝗃𝗎𝗌𝗍 𝖺𝖻𝗈𝗎𝗍 𝗍𝗈 𝗍𝖾𝗑𝗍 𝗒𝗈𝗎!! :) / 𝖦𝗎𝖾𝗌𝗌 𝖨'𝗆 𝗉𝗌𝗒𝖼𝗁𝗂𝖼 :𝗉

But more recently, it’d gone a little something more like:

“𝖸𝖾𝖺𝗁, 𝖨 𝗄𝗇𝗈𝗐 <𝟥”

… *shrugs*

Guess he’s got some kind of a sixth sense or something

He just knows you so well

But you don’t think much of it because the two of you do spend an awful lot of time together

As in you’re practically joined at the hip when you’re not separated by classes or your mom calling you home for dinner if you happen to go out on the town somewhere

Usually it’s the ice cream parlor or the mall

His buddies Felix and Changbin work at one of the shops there so you like to stop by and say hi to them

But you don’t stay too long because Seungmin really values your alone time

Just the two of you strolling side by side, sometimes hand in hand, while he listens to you ramble on about your day and get excited over cute things in the storefront windows and grumble about being hungry every time you pass the food court

You always tug him in front of one of the stands with the full intent of buying, yet he always ends up paying; he simply insists on it

Because he loves it

Your whining

Your excitement

The way you ramble over the speed limit and express your passion so effortlessly

It’s real to him

Attractive

Inspiring

Photogenic

He’d bottle each memory up and relive them over and over again if he could

Of course they’ll always be in the picturebook of his heart, but that’s a little cringe

He doesn’t care though cause it’s true

Watching you twitch your nose and turn your head like a muskrat as the scent of fresh cinnabuns wafts through the air

It makes him smile and beam with delight and the whole atmosphere becomes warm and inviting

Of course, you don’t know that

Because Kim Seungmin isn’t an open book

More like a locked diary (with chains all wrapped around it like something out of a medieval fairy tale)

Some people have questioned why the two of you aren’t dating yet

But Seungmin’s too shy to say anything; the very notion makes him feel faint and his heart race; and you always dodge the question or tell people you’re simply “just friends”

Because to be honest, any feelings you thought you had for him have sorta cooled down into a comfortable friendship

And while you may have thought about the two of you being an item before

You’re not sure how he feels

Before you rant at the author whAt do YoU mEAN hAve yOU nOt beEn pAYInG aTTENtiOn to WhaT’S gOinG On?!

LET ME (well you) EXPLAIN

While the two of you HAVE been rather inseparable over time since that fateful encounter in junior high

Seungmin is still a bit of an odd duck

Ya know him

But sometimes it feels like you don’t

Lately he’s been getting harder and harder to read

At least when it comes to the feelings department

Aka pathos

You know he certainly cares for you, a lot

And you care for him...a lot

But surely it doesn’t mean anything...more

He’s like the brother you never had

Just looking out for you, wanting the best for you, like family

It’s not anything romantic~ or lustful~ or anything like that …

Is it?

I mean uh

So what if you cuddled while watching movies together, and when you started to drift off against his chest you distinctly felt him place a soft kiss atop your head? So what if you shared milkshakes and ice cream sundaes at the parlor while holding hands beneath the table and speaking of hands you both blushed and giggled cutely when they touched while reaching for the popcorn at the same time? So what if he made you flower crowns and took pictures of you looking like a beautiful mess down by the river, or at the beach, or in the garden behind his house? So what if he occasionally showered you with gifts and bought you food and always left you the biggest mess of flowers and chocolates on Valentine’s day and worked himself tirelessly trying to teach you material you didn’t understand, and was the first one calling to see how you were doing when you got sick, even going so far as to skip class to bring you soup and tease that “you probably caught that dummy virus you had the day we met” and stayed sitting crisscross applesauce on the floor while you laughed stuffily at Tuxedo Mask calling Usagi/Sabrina a Meatball Head and he smiled at your congested laughter while mimicking you in a memey fashion (to which you respond by throwing used tissues at him that never get very far), copying all of the days notes you missed into your journal with that surprisingly pretty cursive handwriting of his...and leaving cute little love poetry off to the side for you to find later...so what if...something is starting to click inside your head...it doesn’t mean anything. None of it does. None of that meant anything!! \(>-<)/ …

……

……...right?

You scream internally into the void

For you do not know

(╥﹏╥)

One day after school of your senior year you’re doing rounds like you normally do

And you whine like you usually do

And he snickers like he regularly does

And y’all wander over to the food court like two happy little love birds (to him) and a couple of friends in a we-aren’t-dating-we’re-just-great-buds-it’s-complicated relationship (to you)

And that’s when you see him

Wow

I mean WOW

This new guy behind the counter

You recognize him from school

He just transferred to your school from out of town

His name is

Uh...

Shoot what’s his name? (._.”) ??

It’s almost your turn in line

Guess you’re about to find out ♥

Gosh he’s gorgeous wowowow

He’s looking more attractive the closer you get, and you’ve only seen him from a distance at school and he was ALREADY the bees knees then

You take a step forward up to the counter…

That is until Seungmin stops you

This bish just completely cut you off

His tall 5’9 ass is completely blocking your view of Hunkilicious >:((

Your peeking around him as best you can, but it’s hard when he’s constantly shifting his weight in time with you; you still manage to get a glimpse though, and wowza he’s fine (♥‿♥)

That sandy blonde hair

Those gorgeous bright eyes

A whole snacc sis

You smile at him while Minnie’s placing your order, and he catches your shy little wave, sending a flawless wink back at ya

(/❛o❛)/❤,.-~*´¨¯¨`*·~-.¸,.-~*´¨¯¨`*·~ o(~_^)o

OOF

MAN DOWN MAN DOWN

HE GOT YOU

ONE HIT KO

AHHHHHH <3

If love at first sight is a thing

This may very well be it

He’s. So. Cute~ 乂❤‿❤乂

At least you think so

Seungmin, on the other hand…

…

Not so much :))

In fact

The way he’s looking at this guy

You may not know what he’s thinking

But you can tell

He’s trying really hard to put up a normal/average front

His aura is…

Well

It’s not pleasant that’s for sure

When you two stand off to the side, waiting for your order

You tug at his sleeve and ask him if he’s alright

“Hm?” He snaps out of glaring daggers to peer down at you, smiling softly. “Yeah, everything’s fine.”

You highly doubt that, but you aren’t about to open any doors that should remain locked

“Okay…”

Just then your order is being called, by the cute blonde by that recently stole your heart

You instantly light up like a Christmas tree, and before Seungmin can make a move you dash over to the counter to pick it up

Leaving Minnie in your dust

“……”

He doesn’t say a word

Meanwhile, back at the food stand, you’re taking the bag of goods from…

You’re squinting at his nametag…

Only to notice he isn’t wearing one. Now you feel kind of dumb.

“It’s Jaemin,” he laughs, dropping some extra napkins in the bag. But also…

Why is winking at you like that?

“Maybe I’ll be hearing from you sometime?”

What…

You look down into the bag

Sure enough, there’s a phone number scribbled out in pen over the top napkin

...Wow. He’s not even trying to be sneaky about it. He’s letting you know what’s up.

But doesn’t he think that…?

You look at him earnestly. “Don’t take this the wrong way or anything, but um…”

His eyes grow soft, and looks disappointed all of a sudden. But he seems to be taking whatever he thinks is going on respectfully. “Oh, so you are in a relationship. I’m sorry, I thought that-- well, Jeno told me you two weren’t anything serious, so I thought that--”

“Jeno?” You look over his shoulder, and sure enough there’s Jeno, school jock, meeting your stare and giving you a quick “what up” nod before he hustles back to work

Jaemin sighs, making himself look busy by swiping down the counter. “Sorry, again. That was really rude of me, you can just ignore--”

“No!” you cut in.

He’s looking back up at you, a bit surprised, and you clear your throat. “I mean uh...he’s right. Jeno’s right. I’m not...seeing anyone right now. I mean, I’m not in a relationship or...anything like that. Seungmin and I are just really good friends. He’s like a brother, almost.”

Jaemin’s surprise quickly spreads into a smile that travels from ear to ear, and chuckles mostly to himself, giving himself a nod as well. “Okay. Sounds great. Maybe I really will be hearing from you then.”

Hnnnnn your insides are turning to goo, and you nod a little too ecstatically, having to contain the excited squeal threatening to erupt from the butterflies in your stomach as you hurry back over to Seungmin’s side

He’s right where you left him, and he looks…

He looks like a kicked puppy

There’s no way he could have heard what just happened

But you knew he saw the whole thing

...That didn’t matter though, right?

Cause it’s not like you guys are dating

He doesn’t even like you like that

Just friends

Just friends, (y/n)

So it’s fine

You don’t even care if he sees the phone number napkin

Which he’s looking at right now; actually glaring intensely would be a better word

And now he’s

He’s reaching inside the bag

He’s taking it out

He’s glaring at it

He’s debating something

He doesn’t look very happy

Brave (Y/n) tries to reach for the phone number

Her attack missed

Minnie’s power level is too strong

It’s over 9,000

Now he’s walking away and…

You gulp as he waits to get Jaemin’s attention

exchanging some words with him

Oh dear stars

What are they saying?

What’s going on?

You’re not sure why, but your legs won’t move

There’s some kind of...barrier...there’s this aura emitting off of Seungmin. It’s the same as earlier when he first caught you smiling at Jaemin.

But now it’s stronger, more powerful. Clearly you aren’t the only one who feels it either, because the customers and employees around him are taking a few steps back and sending curious glances as well...when he comes back, he’s empty handed. And he looks…

Calmly pleased with himself. “Sorry about that, (y/n). He won’t be bothering you anymore.”

You frown. “He wasn’t bothering me, Minnie. In fact--”

You don’t get to finish that thought, because he’s ushering you off like a shepherd herding a lost sheep away from a pack of wolves...

Except you’re starting to suspect that he may be a wolf in sheep’s...well, shepherd's clothing

You sit down to eat, and it’s like nothing happened. Minus the twitch in his face every time you so much as look toward the Cinnabon shop.

~~~

The next day you’re sitting in your chosen science course, Environmental Systems. It was either that or Quantum Physics...and let’s face it, you hate math, so ES won ten to none

You’re sitting at your lab table totally zoning out...you can’t stop thinking about Minnie’s behavior the other day. What the heck had gotten into him? Why was he acting so strangely? So rudely?

He’d gotten better after he started hanging out with you. He’d stop skipping classes, started taking his classwork seriously

It turns out Minnie is actually really smart; like, really smart. His IQ has gotta be in the 150 range. It was just a matter of applying himself and actually giving a hoot; and for some reason, he’d listen to you. Most of the time, anyway.

So you’re sitting there all slumped over in your stool, elbows on the table with your head propped up in both hands. Your eyes are locked in an internal battle with the clock on the far wall; each second that ticks by is a second lost, a second wasted, a second longer that you STILL can’t figure out what’s wrong with--

...Say, why is this bothering you so much anyway?

You two ain’t dating

You’re just friends

But you still care about him and are worried for him...as a close friend, right? That’s normal, isn’t it? You’re like a fretting sister worried about her brother’s strange behavior

Yeah yeah that’s all it is

Also what was up with that aura coming off of him?

You’re pretty sure even the Fire Nation would have turned and run with their tails between their legs

Wonder what it was he said to Jaemin…

...Aw man

Jaemin

So much for that romance waiting to be written (“=3=)

You feel a hand on your shoulder

“Ahh!”

You whirl around to see Seu--

…

Lucas?

He gives you a tender smile, slinging his backpack to the floor beside the table. “Hey. You okay?”

“Oh…” You sigh, shaking your head to clear it. “Yeah. Yeah I’m...fine.” ...Not fine, but it’s okay.

New character introduction! → This is your lab partner, Lucas. He’s sat beside you all year, but you normally don’t speak much beyond idle chitchat and classwork.

But today is different

Because today is the day he’s finally getting up the courage to…

...No, not confess his undying love for you. He just wants to talk more. He’s seen you around with Seungmin a lot; in fact the two of them share a class together, and let’s just say you’re not the only one who’s noticed some odd behavior. Lucas is a caring guy, and he’s worried about you… He thinks you’re a good person. And to him, good people are precious treasures that must be protected!! (/oAo)/

He takes a seat in his stool beside you, the one next to the window, and looks at you with concern in his eyes. “So, listen...I know we don’t talk a lot, but…is it okay if I ask you something?”

“? Sure, go ahead.”

“You and Kim...what’s your relationship like?”

You frown. “We don’t have a relationship. I mean, I’m not romantically involved with him...we met in middle school. We’ve been friends ever since.”

“...Are you sure about that?”

...what?

“What do you mean?”

“Well...not to sound out of line or anything, but I’m a bit surprised...well, I have a hard time believing...erm, seeing a person like you hanging out with a person like him. And it’s not just me, either. Anyone who knows either of you feels the same way.”

(• ε •) ? Why tho

You’re looking to him for the answer, but he doesn’t give you one. Instead he’s changing the subject.

“...Not to be nosy, but Jaemin told me what happened the other day. Uh…” He rubs the back of his neck, glaring down at the table. “He wanted me to apologize to you again, in his place. But you really should have told him if you were--”

“I’m not in a relationship with him!”

You’d slammed your hands on the table, jumping out of your seat. The rest of your classmates all silence their chatter or last minute scribbling of unfinished homework assignments, staring at the far left corner of the room where your table is.

Oops

You uh

You hadn’t meant to do that

Muttering an apology you sink back down into your seat, head bowed to allow your hair to hide your face like a curtain. Showtime’s over, folks. No encores, please.

Lucas hesitates, but after a moment he places a hand against your back. Something wet rolls down your cheeks...sheesh, when did you become such a crybaby? Are you seriously crying about this right now? But why…?

You hear him swallow, and next thing you know he’s asking you for your side of the story, and you tell him everything. About Seungmin flipping like a light switch. About his scary aura you’d never noticed before. That you had no idea he was gonna react like that.

“I see…” Lucas is quiet for a moment. Then he holds out his hand to you. “Give me your phone for a sec.”

??? Okay…

You give him your phone, and he smiles a bit at the phone charms of things you stan clinking together as it’s being passed over to him. He grabs your wrist for a second (lightly) to unlock it, making you chuckle, then he’s opening the contacts app. He slides it back over not but a few moments later with the friendliest smile he’s ever given you; a smile letting you know that everything’s going to be alright.

“Text me anytime. I gave you Jaemin’s number as well. You should call him. I know he seems kind of like...a womanizer, but he’s really not. That’s just a dumb rumor going around from the popular crowd ‘cause he turned one of the cheerleaders down. He’s really a nice guy, and he talks about you a lot.”

……

QAQ <3

LUCAS I COULD KISS YOU RIGHT NOW

OmgoshomgoshomgOSH \(^.^)/

GO LUCAS YEEHAW

You do hug him at least

You can’t help yourself

You feel like a weight has been lifted

Like you can breathe a little easier

Lucas just laughs half awkwardly, half genuine, and pats your back before the teacher walks in and makes a comment about PDA, and you both roll your eyes and take your seats

You spend the whole class chatting and catching up like two good friends that hadn’t seen each other in a long time, really hitting it off even though you’ve been lab partners the whole semester

Your teacher doesn’t mind as long as you get your work done; today is a relaxed, catch up on late assignments kind of day

You’re so engrossed in a debate about which flavor of ice cream is superior that you scarcely hear the bell ring; you notice it but it leaves your mind after five seconds because this hoe over here is trying to convince you that vanilla is better than chocolate

CHOCOLATE IS SUPERIOR OKAY?!? (Author Note: if you feel otherwise, just pretend the roles are switched✌️)

You’re going into heavy detail about how your flavor is just melts-in-your-mouth kind of good, being a river of pure joy when you notice Lucas staring towards the door with a troubled look on his face...is he trying to tell you he needs to go?

Probably. Well shoot, is it pretty rude to keep someone from getting where they need to go…

You’re about to apologize and turn to get your things and uh

Seungmin is there

At the door

Just watching you two

He’s wearing the same resting b*tch face he wore during the Jaemin fiasco

Uh-oh.

He doesn’t approach you like you fear he will, though. He simply waits patiently, one eye on you, the other on Lucas.

The moment you get your things together you bow your head to Lucas, being overly respectful in a state of minor panic before scurrying for the door. Seungmin flips his attitude again to be all smiles and sunshine, taking your hand a bit too forcefully and sending a look over his shoulder before hauling you off.

“What was that all about?”

He may be smiling, but his tone is the complete opposite, making you frown

He’s not gonna freak out again like yesterday, is he??

Uh uh uh

Wait you don’t have anything to hide

You have the right to have friends

You know what

YOU KNOW WHAT

You’re about to tell this guy

This whole thing is dumb, you’re probably making it out to be way worse than it actually is

It’s surely nothing

Guys are just weird and testy

...But when you open your mouth to let him know how you feel

Aka the truth

Nothing comes out

Not a dang thing

You close your mouth; open, close, open

N o t h i n g

Then something finally does come:

“Lucas is my lab partner. We were just talking about--”

He cuts you off, squeezing your hand a little tighter. Ow. “No, not that. I meant before class.”

Be--

Before class?!

“I saw you handing your phone to him. What happened?”

Sis what

He saw that? He was there?!

WHERE?!?

He always walks you to and from class, but you were sure you saw him leave after he dropped you off! He...He had to be hiding somewhere…

Normally you’d think it was a bit cute because “oh he’s just a helicopter brother” or laugh ‘cause he’d be trying to pull a prank on you but

Given what happened yesterday

It freaks you out.

He’s squeezing your hand tighter. It’s really starting to hurt.

“Um...it was nothing! It was part of a warmup assignment!”

“Warm-up assignment?”

“Yeah! We were comparing the current temperatures around the world, and his phone wasn’t working, so I let him borrow mine!”

The lie comes tumbling out of your mouth like a rolling stone

You can’t very well give him the truth

Not if he can’t handle the truth

Plus you need time to sort out what’s really going on with him

But does he buy it?

Well let’s see

He stops and looks you in the eyes

His gaze is cutting through you again

Just like it did when you met him some four or five years ago

It’s more than a little unsettling, but you refuse to crack

Please buy it please but it please buy it…

He sighs and studies you, more gently this time, before pressing his lips together and giving a few small nods. “Okay. I guess that’s okay.”

He uh

He what now?

He guesses that’s okay…?

……

“...Listen, Seungmin. I think we need to talk later.”

“I do too. I have something for you.”

He um

He has something...for you?

Another present?

“What is it?”

His grin is almost too excited. Yet it also seems so pure and innocent. His eyes are smoldering… At least that’s how your brain interprets it, but surely he’s just trying to scare you as is his hobby 24/7. “But you’ll have to wait ‘til tomorrow to open it.”

~~~

Tomorrow comes sooner than you know it

It’s Valentine’s Day

Flowers and chocolate and greeting cards are all over the place

Ribbons and lace and delicious cakes

Hey that kinda rhymed B)) You’re the new Shakespeare

Okay anyway

You’re at your locker; for once Seungmin isn’t around between periods, he’s being held up with a board meeting

Oh yeah, that’s right...forgot to mention, he’s on the Student Council

Told you he was smart tho

But that also made him a lot more...worrisome, given his recent outburst and weird personality flips

The Student Council had a lot of influence at your school

They practically ran the whole circus here

For example, you knew it wasn’t a coincidence that you no longer shared Statistics class with Jeno, Jaemin’s buddy.

… sigh

This whole thing was just one giant me--

What is all this?? (o.o)

You open your locker, right

And well

There’s a huge mess of roses

And chocolates

And greeting cards

And ribbons and lace and delicious cakes; word 😎

You have to grab a few bouquets and boxes before they spill all over the floor

How is it that...since when did you have so many admirers?

No offense to you or anything

You were a very nice girl

Cute, smart, sophisticated, good sense of humor

But you were also rather quiet and shy

Mostly because Seungmin took up all your free time

He kept it that way

Once you survive shoving everything back into the locker in a way that won’t result in them burying you alive, you open one of the greeting cards while a janitor and a few students give you looks at the mess of petals all over the floor

(𝑌/𝑛), 𝐻𝑎𝑝𝑝𝑦 𝑉𝑎𝑙𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑒'𝑠 𝐷𝑎𝑦! (\(^-^)/) 𝑊𝘩𝑒𝑟𝑒'𝑠 𝑚𝑦 𝘩𝑢𝑔? 𝐽𝑢𝑠𝑡 𝑑𝑜𝑛'𝑡 𝑔𝑒𝑡 𝑚𝑒 𝑠𝑖𝑐𝑘 𝑤𝑖𝑡𝘩 𝑡𝘩𝑎𝑡 𝑑𝑢𝑚𝑚𝑦 𝑣𝑖𝑟𝑢𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑠 ;𝑃 -- 𝑆𝑒𝑢𝑛𝑔𝑚𝑖𝑛

You open another:

𝑅𝑜𝑠𝑒𝑠 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑟𝑒𝑑, 𝑉𝑖𝑜𝑙𝑒𝑡𝑠 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑏𝑙𝑢𝑒, 𝐿𝑜𝑜𝑘 𝑖𝑛 𝑡𝘩𝑒 𝑡𝑢𝑙𝑖𝑝𝑠 𝐹𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑎 𝑏𝑖𝑟𝑑'𝑠 𝑒𝑦𝑒 𝑣𝑖𝑒𝑤

??? Okay then…

You’re noticing that all the cards and boxes are labeled “Seungmin” or “Minnie” or “you know who” as you’re shuffling through the garden that has become of your locker

You find the tulips near the back next to some daffodils and classic red roses, having to use half your strength just to wrestle them out

Oi vey

You peer inside from “a bird’s eye view”

…

But you don’t see anything

Wait a second yes you do

There’s something dark and boxy buried inside the bouquet

You dig inside...fish it out

It’s a lovely black box, long and rectangular, with a beautifully elegant ice-blue ribbon tied around it

Wow this thing looks pretty pricey...how much did he spend on you exactly?

Seungmin had always been a little extra when it came to you but this year was overkill big time

There’s a note sticking to the back of the box; it says: 𝑅𝑒𝑎𝑑 𝑚𝑒

Wow he may as well just attached all the notes he gave you into a novel

But okay you read it

You like reading anyway

𝑂𝑝𝑒𝑛 𝑚𝑒 𝑎𝑓𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑠𝑐𝘩𝑜𝑜𝑙 𝑝.𝑠. - 𝐼'𝑙𝑙 𝑙𝑜𝑣𝑒 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑢𝑛𝑡𝑖𝑙 𝑡𝘩𝑒 𝑙𝑎𝑠𝑡 𝑓𝑙𝑜𝑤𝑒𝑟 𝑑𝑖𝑒𝑠 <𝟥

...Huh??

You examine the flowers before you…

Your eyes instantly land on the one in the center, which looks slightly different from the others

Because it’s fake...

~~~

Minnie helps you carry your things home after school. He handles your bags and chocolates and most of the flowers, but he insists that you carry the tulips

Why not roses? → Tulips were your favorite flower

But even if they hadn’t been, he’d bought you one of every kind of flower on the freaking planet anyway, as well as every good chocolate combination in existence

He’d even gotten you that cute plushie you’d been eyeing in the window of a toy shop in the mall

“Did you like everything?”

“Yeah...it’s great. You didn’t have to, though.”

His face gets a little...resting b*tch again. “Nonsense. I wanted to. You deserve it.”

M’kay…

“...Thanks, Minnie.”

“I mean it. You deserve this and more.”

“No, no. This is plenty. Wayyy more than enough.”

You laugh at first, but the moment you notice Seungmin’s not laughing, you stop.

There’s an uncomfortable silence in the air for the rest of the walk, that is until you reach your house.

“Listen, (y/n)--”

“Welp thanks for everything today!!”

You rush inside, dumping the load in your arms by the front door. When you run back outside to get the rest of what Seungmin is carrying, he tries speaking to you again.

“(Y/n)--”

“Geez it’s awfully cold out! Winter sure is a bummer huh? But I do love curling up inside and um...oh wow I’ve got a lot of homework to do--”

“(Y/n)!!”

You wince at the harsh tone in his voice; if you were an animal you’d have your ears flat against your head right now. “...Y-Yeah?”

Something...uh...uh-oh

His cheeks are turning the color of the roses in his arms.

This can’t be good

But when his lips part to say what he needs to say, nothing comes out

Cause here comes Lucas riding his bike down the street

And there’s a red rose gripped against the handle

Oh dear stars what fresh hell is this

You’re lost for words

Maybe he’d just passing by on his way to give some other girl a--

Nope he’s putting on the break in front of your house

He’s wheeling his bike over to you

Seungmin’s going into resting b*tch mode again

Why does karma hate you??

“(Y/n),” Lucas chuckles. “Don’t get too excited or anything. This isn’t from me. Jaemin asked me to give it to you. He’s been swamped by girls all day and hasn’t had a moment to himself to come find you. He’s got practice after school so...well I owe him a favor after losing a bet last week, so here I am. Haha...ha.”

Oh man, karma really does hate you

You look over to Seungmin, slowly, careful that any sudden movements will set him off (if Lucas’s words haven’t)

…

……

Wow he’s actually pretty calm right now

Hey maybe he’s okay

Wait no he’s not

He’s crushing those roses and chocolates in his arms pretty tightly

He looks really stiff and rigid

You’re surprised there isn’t a vein throbbing out of his forehead right now

And that scary aura is leaking back into the air again…

“Uh, th-thanks Lucas…” You can’t stop stuttering as you reach for the flower

You take it and after exchanging a few lame jokes and chatter, he waves and gives Seungmin a Bro Nod before riding off

...I mean

That could have gone way worse

You honestly thought Seungmin was going to try and stop you

Or say something

And truth be told the author did plan that

BUT

Then she got another idea okay back to you (y/n)

Gee thanks >->

Okay now

You’re watching Lucas ride off into the sunset (not romantically or anything, just seeing him off and secretly cursing him for choosing such a poor time to pull a stunt like that) when Seungmin blocks you view and is standing...really close to you.

Why is he so close?

He’s...looking down at you intently. Watching you closely.

Huh who what

Why

This is weird

He just keeps getting weirder and weirder

Making less and less sense

And then he says:

“(Y/n)...listen for a second. Please?”

Um okay

Kinda scared to but sure

“Okay…”

“About what happened yesterday...I’m sorry.”

Oh! He’s apologizing!

He’s not crazy after all (っ◔◡◔)っ ♥

I’m fine you’re fine everybody’s fine

You smile in relief, feeling your muscles relax and all the tension leave the air. You’re seeing the old Minnie you became friends with in those sparkling eyes, that kind lopsided goofy smile, those soft lips, that...that uh…

……

Soft lips?

Sis I

*internally shaking your head*

Girl you gotta get your butt inside RN

You quickly tell Minnie that it’s alright and sweep the whole thing under the rug, giving him a FRIENDLY kiss on the cheek that he may or may not have taken the wrong way

And you get your crushed flowers and broken chocolates and scramble up the sidewalk leading to your doorstep.

…

You fail to notice how long Seungmin is glaring after you with the purest, yet most lecherous, smile on his face

~~~

The moment you yeet yer ass back into the house

It’s like a reminder notification goes off in your head

And you remember about the tulips

Luckily your parents are out having a romantic dinner at some four-star restaurant, so you gather up all the stuff Seungmin had bought you and make three or four trips getting everything securely into the closet of your room

Plushie goes on the bed

You put the tulips in a vase, pondering curiously at what to make of the whole “last flower dying” business

But that can also wait

Because you have a gift to unwrap

You crack open a box of broken chocolates first (hey they’re still good even if they are a little messy and no longer visibly attractive), then you set the box down before you on your desk and just...stare at it for a minute

Admiring how pretty and fancy it is

It’s after school now, sooo…

You tear into that bad boy ヽ(⌐■◡■)ノ♪♬

…

……

………

It’s

It’s a

ᴵᵗ'ˢ ᵃ ᵏᶰᶤᶠᵉ

Seungmin

He got you a--

Holy cow uh

Holy shiz

What

What are you supposed to make of this??

……………………

There’s another note inside the box, beneath where the knife was

You carefully set down the weapon, you don’t know if it’s a switchblade or what and the last thing you need is this thing popping out at you

𝑊𝑖𝑡𝘩 𝑐𝑎𝑟𝑒𝑓𝑢𝑙 𝑡𝘩𝑜𝑢𝑔𝘩𝑡

𝐴𝑛𝑑 𝑡𝑖𝑒𝑠 𝑡𝘩𝑎𝑡 𝑏𝑖𝑛𝑑

𝑆𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟 𝑡𝘩𝑒 𝑏𝑜𝑛𝑑𝑠

𝐵𝑒𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑒 𝑡𝘩𝑒𝑦 𝑔𝑜 𝑏𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑑

……………………………………..

*takes a breath*

Okayyyyyyyy

You take it back

There’s a sinking feeling in your gut right now

You have an idea of what this could mean

But you don’t want to

…

You peek outside your window

No one is there

You stick your head out into the hallway; no one’s home either

Normally you’d hope Mom and Dad would bring you home some leftovers

But tonight you’ve lost your appetite

You don’t even know why you’re stuffing your face with chocolate right now

Stress eating you guess…

…...

You close your door again with a small shiver, reaching down to examine the knife he gave you

Once you manage to get it open anyway

You let out a little yelp the first time, but after practicing a few times it becomes easier and less scary, your confidence in not cutting yourself or losing an eye growing

You turn the blade in the sunlight

It was really freaking pretty

Really really pretty

It’s shiny af

So so shiny

And let’s face it you love shiny things

You were probably a seagull in a past life with how attracted you were to sparkly objects

S o s p a r k l y ✨💕

The colors blended so beautifully too, one spectrum flawlessly cascading into the other, then the next

The whole thing was very elegant and feminine

But also cool and kind of retro-looking

A rainbow-stained blade with a black chrome handle

It had a little pocket clip on one side, in case you wanna clip it to your jeans or attach it to something

The design on the handle is pretty

It honestly looks like a butterfly knife, but it’s not

Just a basic spring-assist

You only know this because Minnie catches you examining it again the next day and tells you

Why did you bring a knife to school, you ask?

Well…

What if your mom decided to do cleaning? Was your whole thought process; she always gets a little nosy after Valentine’s Day and likes to tease you about all the stuff Seungmin usually busy

Wait til she gets a load of Butterfly Gardens in the closet

You’re looking over at Seungmin now, who’s all peaches and cream, looking cute as a button for someone who just gave you a deadly weapon the other day

He looks really excited and pleased with himself

And then he asks you

“Are you gonna keep it?”

...

Well let’s see

You’re pretty sure if you bring a knife home

As in, your parents see you walking through the front door and actually find out about it

Even if you are just about a legal adult now

Your mom is gonna freak

Your dad won’t be having any part of it either

“yOU’ll shOOt yOUr EyE OUt!1!1!”

“Mom it’s not a gun and this isn’t A Christmas Story!!”

“You’LL STaB YouR eYe ouT1!1!”

Ugh yeah it’d be a no go sis

Plus with that poem he wrote you…

And everything else…

Even if you are friends and all…

Or whatever the heck your connection to him was

It’s all too much

You’re about to respectfully and politely decline when you look at Seungmin’s face and

...

He’s staring at you

Hard

Really hard

Like he looks a little pissed

It’s almost like he read your whole thought process just now

Like he knows you’re about to say no and hand it back to him

Holy shiz

Uh okay bro chill out haha...ha

“Well?”

Dang he don’t sound very pleased either

Uh uh uh

You smile to cover up the weird feeling in your gut, gripping the blade close to your chest (closed, ofc): “It’s great! So pretty! I love it!”

...That’s not a total lie, anyway.

It is really pretty

And you do like it

Even if it does creep you out a little a lot

But you getting grounded and swamped by Angry Mom™?

Not so great no

Seungmin is suddenly all smiles again, back to his usual goofy/cheerful self. “That’s great, I knew you’d like it. It suits you perfectly. It’s colorful and charming...just like you.”

He swipes a stray hair from your face, tucking it behind your ear tenderly. The whole action is oozing with love and affection...but you’re not sure if it’s the good kind. It’s light on the outside, but it’s got some weight to it. It’s got a...it’s just...

The final bell rings, signaling that All Students Must Yeet Themselves Off The Premises Because Teachers Wanna Go Home Too

Seungmin places a hand against the small of your back, leading you off campus

Once you turn the corner off official school grounds that hand snakes it’s way around your waist, resting on your hip

U m

You’re uh

You’re honestly too scared to say anything

A chill runs up your spine that doesn’t disappear until after he’s dropped you off at home

The next day goes by in a flash, mostly because for the first time ever you stayed up horribly late way past your usual bedtime to stare at what Seungmin had given you, other than a recent case of the heebie-jeebies (> ︿ <”)

You’d managed to keep the blade hidden from your parents; the moment Minnie dropped you off you’d rushed inside before he could invite himself over (since you could tell it was heading that way and uh...well he was starting to get a bit more handsy) and stormed straight up the stairs to your room, shutting the door and stashing the deadly weapon in a drawer

Seriously, what the heck was going on?! Why was he acting like this? >:((

...

It was on your mind the rest of the evening, while you were doing homework, when you were having dinner

Not even a few episodes of Sailor Moon or your favorite sitcoms were helping

Not even Studio Ghibli

Your mind was present for all of five seconds of Arrietty before you came back to reality and the credits were rolling

Preferably that one part where the dad goes, “sometimes it’s best not to go looking for danger...”

S i g h

Tell me about it, Papa Borrower

You’re trying but it’s like danger won’t stop looking for you

Danger by the name of Kim Seungmin...

...

Was he really dangerous, though?

Kim Seungmin? Dangerous?

He was such a sweet boy

A former delinquent, yes, but the worst he’d done was skip class to do...whatever it was he did. He’d never hurt a fly— at least, not that you knew of

He’s was a Chaotic Shy boy with a kind face that loved photography and flowers and being a sarcastic ass half the time

So what if he had a thing for knives?

It’s normal for teenage boys to be into all that stuff

And maybe he didn’t even have a thing at all

He probably just wanted to catch you off guard to fool you

He wanted to freak you out on purpose

It was all a joke

Yeah!

That’s it!

A dumb prank

Finally you could get some shut eye…

“Would you like to answer this one, (y/n)?”

Your head snaps up, and a few giggles circle round the classroom. Your face flushes in slight embarrassment.

“Um...yes Mrs. Hwang, of course”

Okay you’ll get some shut eye as soon as school is over

You got the answer wrong, btw

Stupid Seungmin 😞😒 you’d let him have it for giving you a scare like that later

That poem was a nice touch too, the bastard

And as soon as later rolls around, you’re ready to pass it over, boys

Here comes the thunder

It’s your free period, and while you thought about taking a nap and telling a friend to wake you a few minutes before Environmental Systems (that friend being Lucas), you were too upset to sleep

You had to give this jerk a what for

A good slap upside the head outta do the trick

Yeah!!

He should be in Woodshop right now, if your sleep deprived brain was remembering correctly

Get ready you jerk 😤 cause here comes the—

...

Your froze in the doorway

Wanna know why?

It’s because your eyes instantly find Seungmin

But the moment they do they can’t help but travel downwards to the project he’s working on in his hands

It’s a statue of you

Like okay hear me out

You ain’t tryna be vain or nothin

Because while the carving is really beautiful and all

It’s totally you

There’s no mistaking it

It’s really freaking detailed

And you see yourself in the mirror at least twice a day

So you should be able to recognize yourself when you see her

And bish that is most certainly, without a doubt, a wood carving of you

......

What are you supposed to do now?

What were you doing here again??

Um uh uh

Sh*t bro

This ain’t good

Normally one would be flattered, right?

But you don’t know

You don’t know what to think

You haven’t known what to think since the incident involving Jaemin

You really aren’t sure how you feel about this sudden new development

You’re just standing there two steps into the room with a fist raised when the boy next to him, your friend Felix (but mainly his), looks over his shoulder and smiles to you, not even questioning why you’re frozen like that.

“Hey, (y/n)! How’s it going?”

Crap.

Seungmin immediately looks up, and his whole demeanor goes from zero to sixty, calm and focused to chaotic and delighted

If only you could say the same about yourself

“(Y/n)...I wasn’t expecting you to come find me.” He smiles. He does that a lot so long as there isn’t another guy around. (Felix and Changbin not included). “Is everything okay?”

“Um…” Say it, (y/n). Say it!

You put on a brave face, trying to look as stern as possible. But that idol of you staring you down from across the room is weakening your stature like kryptonite. “Actually...no, it’s not. It’s really not. I need to talk to you--”

“Then let’s go someplace quiet.”

Wait

Right now?

Apparently so

He’s pulling you out into the hall, yelling at Felix to “cover for him.”

The last thing you see is the freckled boy giving him a thumbs up before you’re dragged off to the Student Council office

It’s empty and dark when you get there; the door is locked

Seungmin must have known it would be

He pulls out a key and unlocks the door, sliding it open and sweeping you inside.

He closes the door but

He doesn’t turn the lights on

So you reach and try to feel your way along the walls for the switch, but your fingers find his instead

Causing him to intertwine them with his

He pulls you right up against him…

And he kisses you

Softly

It’s very gentle, very tender

And you find yourself melting into it, even though just a second ago you were ready to klonk his brains out

But then…

Then he shoves you into a wall

No, he’s not passionately throwing you up against it

He’s slamming you into it

Hard

It honestly knocks the wind out of you for a second

And the first thing you see now that your sight has adjusted are his eyes; they’re boiling, dark, violent

He’s definitely not a happy camper

His grip on you is tight; like he’s trying to make you pop or something

It hurts bro

It really, really hurts

You suck in a sharp breath of air, but he silences you by getting the first word in

“Why the hell are you so difficult?”

UUUUUUUUUUUUUUUh

You, difficult?! He’s one to talk!

“Wh-What are you--”

“Shut up! I’m not finished talking yet!”

He’s totally cutting off your blood circulation

You feel your arms starting to go numb, then your hands. He continues yelling at you in hushed tones.

“Why did you let me kiss you just now? Why did you kiss me back? Why are you...and them…”

...Them?

Is he talking about...Jaemin? And Lucas? And all the other guys you’ve so much as smiled to?

“...I can’t do this anymore, (y/n)...not if you’re not going to listen to me or do as I say. It’s driving me crazy. Don’t you get it? Don’t you f***ing see how I feel about you? Have you really been so dense this whole f***ing time?!?”

You

You don’t know what to say

But that’s okay because he’s not finished yet anyway

“The other day...on Valentine’s Day...when you told me...you said it was too much…...even if you were just joking…”

He loosens his grip on you for all but two seconds before squeezing you again tenfold

You no longer have it in you to meme the situation or find any part of anything remotely ironic or lighthearted

You let out a whimper of pain and he shoots a hand over your mouth to stifle it...then he’s cupping your face with both hands, using his thumbs to brush away the tears

You’d run

But you’re too scared to move again

Seungmin is much stronger than you

Taller

Faster

And now that you think about it

You’re pretty sure you heard him lock the door while you were fumbling around for the light switch

“......”

You hiccup and bite your lip, trying to stop yourself from crying so he’ll give you the space you need right now

This isn’t driving you crazy anymore

It’s scaring you

He’s scaring you

You want the old Seungmin back

The one that wasn’t bipolar and insane

Cause it was all starting to come to you now

The dots were finally connecting

How could you be so blind…?

…

Blind…

Blind.

The poem

What did it say again?

𝑊𝑖𝑡𝘩 𝑐𝑎𝑟𝑒𝑓𝑢𝑙 𝑡𝘩𝑜𝑢𝑔𝘩𝑡

𝐴𝑛𝑑 𝑡𝑖𝑒𝑠 𝑡𝘩𝑎𝑡 𝑏𝑖𝑛𝑑

𝑆𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟 𝑡𝘩𝑒 𝑏𝑜𝑛𝑑𝑠

𝐵𝑒𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑒 𝑡𝘩𝑒𝑦 𝑔𝑜 𝑏𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑑

……

You just got an eerie feeling in your chest

Seungmin is still looking at you like a puzzle he can’t seem to piece together. You’re sure you’re looking at him the same way.

“(Y/n). I need to know...tell me, do you…” You can feel his cheeks getting hot inches away from your own. “...Do you feel the same way?”

Crazy? No.

Scared? Upset? Yes.

“...I……” You end on a little sigh, a hesitant puff of air. You can’t get your voice box to work properly.

Unfortunately for you, Seungmin takes this the wrong way; slamming you back into the wall again, he reaches into his pocket, cursing while punching in a number you can’t see. Probably because you’re sinking down the wall with fresh tears in your eyes. You seriously want to go back five years ago and reverse such a terrible mistake...or at least be at home.

You think he’s calling someone, but for some reason he only holds the phone to his ear for all of five seconds before hanging up and putting it away. Guess whoever he was trying to reach wasn’t around.

“......”

And then you see something slowly cross over his face. Like watching a sunrise of realization. Like waking up from a horrible dream, a bad nightmare.

And then you see that he’s crying.

The tears are silent and steady

And he angles his body quickly to gape at you with a look of pure horror on his face.

“(Y-Y/n)...”

He drops down to his knees, reaching for you again

But you squeal in panic and flinch away, and he retracts his hands, gripping them close and hanging his head in shame. He’s shaking all over...staring at his hands in disbelief

“......I...I’m so sorry, I...I just...wanted to protect you, (y/n).”

“......”

“Th-Those guys you hang out with. They aren’t good for you. I wanted you to see that...”

“......”

“I’m the only one, (y/n). I’m the only one that understands you. But when you toy with my heart like this--”

“Toy with your heart?!”

You found your voice again. And she ain’t happy.

“...” he swallows, tilting his face up to look you in the eye. Still crying, softly. “...Yes. I--”

“I’ve never toyed with your heart once in my life! I can’t get a word in because you scare the heck out of me! Ever since I met Jaemin at the mall and started talking to Lucas you’ve been acting totally crazy! It’s like I don’t even know who you are anymore…!”

………

And then it’s silent for quite some time

“......” he swallows again, turning his head away and muttering curse after curse to himself while he heads to door.

He locks it behind him.

~~~

Well you found the light switch, but turns out it doesn’t work for some dumbass reason

You’re sure you’re doomed

Your phone is in your bag with the rest of your belongings

You’re confused

And sore

You don’t know what to think anymore, for real this time

You could try calling for help? But…

The Student Council hall is located in a more isolated part of the school that rarely anyone uses

Then Seungmin comes back

And he’s got a first aid kit with him

As well as that kicked puppy expression on his face

Nothing really happens, thankfully

He just patches you up (even though you don’t really need it, since it’s just a few bruises and minor scratch marks)

……

And he leaves you alone

School is long over, so you grab your things from where you left them in your cubby--

…

Wait where’s your stuff

Your bag is gone

Your phone was in there

All your textbooks and homework

Gone

...This day just keeps getting better and better doesn’t it?

Then you turn around

And Lucas is standing there

He’s looking pretty worried with his bag slung over his shoulder, yours in the opposite hand

“Where were you today? You just up and vanished all of a sudden. It’s not like you to skip out on class like that.”

“......”

“Some girls in your class told me you didn’t show up for Statistics either.”

“......”

“Or English.”

“......”

“...” Lucas sighs...then his eyes travel down to your arms, catching on a bit too late, and he gapes at you. “...What happened…?”

“......” You can’t help it. Maybe it was the traumatic experience you just had. Maybe you were about to start your time of the month. But (y/n).exe shut down and fell apart.

Lucas drops everything as you run to him, and he stands there and holds you while you sob into his chest, just letting everything spill out: tears, secrets, all of it.

“(y/n)...”

You gasp for another breath, looking up at him.

“...” His face is twisted with pain, letting you know you’re not gonna like what he’s about to say. “...I think you should stop hanging around him. In fact, I think you need to get a restraining order. I’m not kidding. You don’t know this, but...the way he acts when you’re not around...it’s very different than when he’s with you. He’s very hostile and closed off. He rarely speaks a word to anyone unless he absolutely has to. He’s civil at first, but he gets short pretty easily...he gets hot under the collar the moment anyone, especially a guy, so much as mentions your name...and then today, with you…” He squares his shoulders, standing straight and tall as he’s looking down at you. “Why don’t I walk you to my house? You’re parents went out of town today, didn’t they? I don’t think it’s safe for you to be alone if he knows where you live…”

…

It was true

You’d practically forgotten

Your parents would be out of town for the evening on a short overnight business trip

……

You really don’t want to be alone right now, and you’ve never gotten a bad vibe from Lucas before. You’d grown closer to him since the two of you exchanged numbers as well, so…

You nod your head, and he gives you a kind, sympathetic smile as he leads you away with an arm wrapped carefully and lightly around your shoulders.

~~~

The moment you get to Lucas’s house

You call your mom to let her know you won’t be home

In case she tries calling the house phone and you don’t answer

You can’t tell her you’re staying at a boy’s house that she’s never officially met before, because even if you do trust him she won’t go for it; and because you don’t want to tell her about the Seungmin fiasco either, you mean to tell her you’re staying at a galpals place

But unfortunately for you you don’t have any you can recall off the bat, and because Seungmin is still on your mind his name is the first one that rolls out of your mouth

And you have to go with it

Your mom is a little unsure at first, buuuuut...well okay, Seungmin is a nice boy, he’s over all the time and you’ve known him forever. Just be careful and don’t stay up too late!

Honestly you thought she’d yell at you even if it was Seungmin, so you’re a bit surprised but

Oh well

At least she won’t call or worry now

You ask if you can at least stop by your house to get a change of clothes and your toothbrush, but Lucas doesn’t think it’s a good idea; instead he buys you a new one from the convenience store and let’s you wear his clothes

The t-shirt nearly swallows you and you have to tighten the drawstring pants all the way to keep them up but

It works out okay ^_^

You’re still a little shaken up over everything, but Lucas is a really good friend; he makes up a space on the floor just for you (he insisted a million times you take his bed; he’d changed the sheets and everything) but you didn’t wanna put him out since it was all such short notice, and he finally caves but makes a tent for you that’s as comfortable as possible

The two of you actually have a lot of fun making a pillow fort.

He orders delivery and the two of you curl up in the tent together watching some old Disney movies on a small box TV he hauls out of his closet

Wow this dude is vintage af with his VHS tapes

But it’s nice

The two of you sipping noodles and laughing at Toy Story and Finding Nemo

You started drifting off halfway through Emperor’s New Groove when he decided it was time for lights out and cleaned up everything

He tucked you in and made sure you were nice and comfortable before closing the tent and turning out the lights

Big Brother of the Year award goes to: Lucas Wong. *applause*

But, well…

M e a n w h i l e

At a certain Dandy Boy™ house

Something was rotten in the state of…[enter town name here]

It started with a phone call he’d just gotten from a little someone called (Y/n)’s Mom

Or as he referred to her, Mrs. (L/n).

“Mrs. (L/n)?”

“Hey, Minnie! I was just calling to check on (y/n) and remind her to bring the mail in before she gets too comfortable. She’s not answering her phone and well...you know how scatterbrained my daughter can be sometimes. I’m sure she’s just got it buried in her purse again or forgot to turn it off of Silent mode.”

“...I’m sorry, I don’t understand. Is (y/n) not home right now?”

“...Well no...is she not with you? She called about...oh, three hours ago? Said she was spending the night at your house.”

“......”

𝑻𝒐 𝒃𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒖𝒆𝒅.

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faresramettas · 6 years ago

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i’m not eloquent, i’m not good with words, but i didn’t like yesterday’s clip and the feeling is still raw and i need to get this weight off my chest. you can agree or disagree but you know how much i love skam italia and this is the first time i’ve been disappointed by it so i feel really sorry and upset.

this clip had a lot of good moments, but the two main scenes left me bitter, disappointed or upset. starting off with incantava’s first kiss, because this is the easy part. everything about it felt off. the pacing was off. the dialogue was off. it felt rushed, it felt out of place. it had no build-up, it was anticlimactic and so over-dramatic that frankly at some point i was cringing. i’d never felt alienated watching this show before but this time, i don’t know what happened. skam italia’s forte has always been realism, the stunning simplicity of even the most emotional scenes. bear in mind this has nothing to do with aesthetic, marti and nico had plenty of aesthetic moments that were however still grounded in reality. my problem is that this felt too cliché, and most of the times there is nothing wrong with a good cliché. i love clichés. but this was like a romcom moment, the rain coming out of nowhere, the girl running after the boy in the epilogue... after everything that happened to eva and martino, i can hardly believe eleonora would leave them like that to chase a boy. it felt almost ooc. the dialogue, as i already mentioned, was weird and cut off too abruptly. of course they were beautiful, but i wish we had more. they deserved more after one year, they deserved this clip to be about them, to have a good pace and structure. the moment where they talk inside the club is actually quite good, so i’m sorry the kiss didn’t work for me.

but then again, how could i have enjoyed the kiss after what happened to martino? i’m sorry but i don’t understand the choice of including this scene in a clip that was supposed to be incantava’s big moment. or rather, i understand the choice, but i don’t agree with it. the result was that both scenes felt rushed, and that marti’s scene took away all the impact and focus on anything that followed because it was so raw and upsetting that even if i had liked the kiss, i still wouldn’t have been able to enjoy it.

commenting marti’s scene is hard, because i don’t want anyone to misunderstand what i’m about to say. this fandom is very black and white when it comes to criticism, and i don’t have the energy to fight anyone. if you don’t agree with me, it’s fine, we can have a constructive conversation, but don’t attack me. i’d like to start off with saying this scene was too important to be included in a clip where it’s not even supposed to be the main focus. its purpose is clear, this is also the reality we live in. we knew a moment like this would come. bessegato has never shied away from showing all sides of things, not just the good ones. but that it happened now? in a way that most likely won’t have any follow-up because it’s just not the focus of the season? i feel robbed. the purpose of the scene, the punch in the gut, could have come at any other time. not before the first kiss of the main characters.

the scene, for its intent, achieved its goal. it made me sick to my stomach, it hurt, it upset me, i wanted to throw up. not just because of marti but because of eva too, how relatable it felt, how scary it was. federico cesari is too good at acting and this made the scene worse, i’ll honestly never forget martino’s face. ever. it ripped my heart to shreds. the fact that we had been anticipating the trailer scene for a month, thinking about how beautiful it was that they were finally dancing together under the red lights, free, in love, and then this happened? made it ten times more powerful. martino’s reaction hurt my heart, like he can’t even believe this is happening to him, petrified.

but luckily martino has a support system, an incredible one, and i was really happy that gio and elia were there, that edoardo and the others intervened too. the power of skam italia is in the friendships and this really shone through, again. i’m grateful for this. but there was one huge, fundamental missing piece and that was nico. i don’t know how to word this. first of all, i understand his reaction, i am not blaming him, you can’t blame a fictional character for its actions, only the writer behind it. i did not want nico in the fight, i’m very happy he was safe, far away from it. he probably did not even realize what was happening, or only realized too late. he probably froze up. it’s an understandable reaction. but i cannot agree with the choice of not showing niccolò closer to marti following the harassment scene. yes, you can see him and sofi walking towards him and elia. slowly. with no rush. you’re telling me niccolò would not rush to his side after what happened? that we do not even get to see him reaching martino? that the camera doesn’t focus or zoom on him for at all during the whole scene or afterwards, not even for one second? no. i cannot accept this. this physical distance, this absence, this lack of comfort left me with gaping hole inside. this is not martino’s season, we’re not going to get to see him afterwards, to see niccolò’s reaction afterwards, to see them healing from this. we’re not going to see their intimacy. fix it fics will not be enough, not for me, not this time. you can’t leave THIS to imagination, not for a scene that is SO important for both characters, the first direct attack on their relationship, on who they are. showing nico not even close to him after this was a slap in the face. i’m so hurt i can’t even look at them now.

#rant #i'm sorry i needed to get this off my chest #wish i had worded it better #but i slept 4 hours because i was so upset #i'm happy to have a conversation about this #let me know your thoughts #text #skam italia

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themattress · 6 years ago

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This is my final response to the toxic waste of space that is intotheventures, aka the KH2-hating anon troll who is literally insane over the fact that KH2 is the most beloved game in the franchise. I didn’t want to pollute the KH Trinity blog with more of his nonsensical bullshit.

(BTW the REAL trinity is Birth By Sleep + 1 + Chain of Memories).

That makes no sense whatsoever, because that leaves a blatantly incomplete story.

What is natural about Sora falling to his knees for Riku? Nothing.

He wasn’t doing to “for Riku”. He did it because he thought Riku was dead, all the evidence he was getting pointed to Riku having died, and he was overcome with relief that Riku, his best friend, was actually still alive after all. It was not an intentionally-written yaoi bait scene, no matter how fans took it.

What did the added AkuRoku scenes in Final Mix add to the story? Nothing.

I’m not talking about Final Mix, I’m talking about the original KH2.

But yeah, that scene had no purpose being there.

Also “he made me feel like I had a heart” is cringy.

“Cringe” is the new, ill-defined buzzword this clod throws around to bash KH2.

And how is it cringy? It is quite literally saying what Roxas did for Axel.

Have you looked at a single reaction command? Sora chopping a building in half isn’t a shallow “badass” presentation? It’s all style, no substance, it’s more blatant than anything in any other KH game.

Except in KH3 where you get Keyblades that transform into new weapons of ultimate power, can summon fucking Disney World rides to inflict massive damage upon your foes, has Sora running up walls and even jumping on falling boulders, new reaction commands that feature more flashy “badass” moves, shotlocks where there are even MORE “badass” moves to be pulled off (something that was also in BBS), Flowmotion where you’re flying all over the place...literally everything about KH3 is more “all style, no substance” than KH2. It’s right there in front of everyone’s eyes, and you’re only denying it because you are a hypocritical, intellectually dishonest freak.

Sora became more idiotic (he wasn’t this dumb in DDD, contrary to popular belief, he was just blissfully unaware and let his guard down) and hostile, constantly taunting and insulting his opponents for little to no reason (contrary to popular belief, he was not like this in the other games)

“Contrary to popular belief”, and then you don’t back up your claims. Yes, Sora WAS that dumb - no, much dumber -in DDD, and even in KH3 there were more “lol, Sora’s stupid!” moments than in KH2, with his friends constantly mocking him about it. He was also just as hostile toward opponents in KH and COM, including to the point of killing them, and that’s not even factoring in Roxas combining with him at the start of KH2. There is nothing remotely OOC about Sora in KH2, you’re just whining about him not being the pure, positive soul you want him to be

Kairi became a shallow love interest

And yet she had a shit-ton more mitigating qualities than in KH3, which you deny.

Riku was more sullen

Because behaving exactly like the cocky asshole he was before would’ve indicated that he had no remorse for anything he did and had learned nothing, had suffered no consequences. You say “sullen”, I say “human”.

Namine only appeared for brief scenes and had little personality

How is that a problem? KH2 was never meant to be a big Namine-focused game.

Roxas’ angst was really overdone.

Again, no explanation as to how/why.

Personally, I think his angst over being completely fucked over was proportionate.

Too often he just magically solved the problems of various Disney characters, like Simba.

Yes, which he also does in the other games, including KH3. By this logic, he was a Gary-Stu in the original game because he trapped Jafar in the lamp and not Aladdin.

He’s not a Gary-Stu in DDD because he ended up failing the exam after Xehanort rigged it, and his idiocy cost him greater than in KH2.

I’ll give you that one. Riku was the Gary-Stu of 3D, not Sora.

KH3 connects all of the worlds and is better at not having filler.

Again, how/why? You cite no examples, and can’t defend against the MANY examples of people in their reviews of KH3, both text and video, saying how the Disney worlds are probably the biggest case of them being filler yet, as Sora has literally no reason to be messing around in any of them, and what the Organization gets out of them is incredibly nebulous and ultimately doesn’t really matter either.

A lot of things are just brought up and either resolved too quickly (like the “I can’t use the Keyblade!” scene or just dropped (”While you’re there, the nature of that world may tempt you to do something dark. You must resist that temptation at all costs!”).

Again, just like almost every other KH game, including/especially KH3.

None of the rest of the cast really contribute anything, most are just plot devices to pad out the character count. Kairi didn’t do anything better than she did in 1, Riku’s screentime was mostly spent lamenting about his very existence, HPO did nothing anyone else couldn’t have done, same with Namine, their roles are mostly interchangeable and obligatory. Plus KH2 had a much larger cast of OCs than KH1 + CoM so it’s a much more glaring flaw.

Kairi, Riku, HPO, Namine, etc. all do things that Sora absolutely could not do and would have failed in his quest without. You are confusing “screentime” with “contributions” - none of them have the screentime Sora does (because he’s the fucking main character), but they all play the roles they are supposed to for the story. Again, not that different from most other games, including KH3 where there’s an even LARGER cast of OCs, and yet you’re constantly defending that game despite it doing the exact same things you perpetually cry about KH2 doing, and usually doing them worse.

Submit your own character: The Organization.

How the fuck are the villains a case of “Submit your own character”?

Sex scene: Obviously none, but Kairi’s panties are close enough. In no other game was she used for fanservice/sex appeal.

The panties weren’t an actually thing you were supposed to see in-game, and if you think she wasn’t used for fanservice/sex appeal with her equally titillating short-skirt design in KH3, you’re fooling yourself.

“That was undeniable proof that we totally owned you lamers!” (This sounded outdated in 2006)

He’s part of a computer simulation run by an old man. This is how said old man thinks that teenagers actually talk. It’s actually pretty brilliant.

“Sorry, “Mommy”, your poopsies are toast!” (Cringe)

How?

“Hmph, maybe you should have kept some to yourself.” (This maybe fits Riku, but NOT Sora!)

Again, how?

“You gonna cry?!” (OOC, and doesn’t make sense in context. Frustrated Jacob even made fun of this line.) ”I guess you think you can psych me out by saying really random stuff!” (Like the above, FJ made fun of it.) “Tough talk for someone who stood on the sidelines while his Nobody flunkies did all the fighting!” (WTF)

Basically “Waaah, Sora’s a meanie-head to the poor Nobodies!” Gag me.

“[Maleficent]’s toast.” (Cringe, doesn’t sound cool in the least.)

So “badass presentation” is bad, yet you hate a line if it doesn’t sound “cool”. Got it.

“Lowlife.” (OOC)

HOW? DEFINE your goddamn TERMS, you utter twat!

“I bet you can’t even fight!” (OOC, just sounds like a prick)

“Just give it a rest! You’re Nobodies! You don’t even exist! You’re not sad about anything!” (He says this after meeting Axel, Roxas, and Namine. Plot hole + OOC)

“Then stop moping and DO something!” (later) “Why stick around if he’s not even gonna try?” (later) “C’mon, Goofy.” (This is too OOC to be Sora.)

Again, you want Sora to be perfect and nice to everyone. Got it.

In short, your ranting and raving means nothing. Not to me, not to anyone. You can keep up your insipid KH2-hate posts on your fringe blog, you can keep spamming the same messages in people’s ask boxes when they dare criticize other KH games over KH2, but KH2 is always going to be the most beloved entry in the franchise, KH, COM and KH2 are always going to be the real KH Trinity, and you aren’t changing people’s minds on that. Ever.

And now, to quote the great Ansem the Wise:

We’ve said enough! FAREWELL!

#Disney #Square Enix #Kingdom Hearts #Kingdom Hearts II #Fandumb #Stupidity #Too Dumb to Live #Objection #Correction

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she-who-fights-and-writes · 7 years ago

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The Three Deadly Fanfiction Sins and How to Avoid Them

I love fanfiction with all of my heart.

I think it’s an amazing tool to use to hone in on your writing skills and learn about time management, how readers view your work, and in some cases− if someone leaves a helpful review− how to improve your writing overall. Not to mention that if you have a severe case of writer’s block on your WIP, writing fanfiction is a great way to keep yourself writing even if it’s not on your main work.

As a reader of fanfiction, however, I often come across works that, when I read the description, I get super excited about. It’s the perfect fic! It’s about my favorite pairing, the plot sounds amazing, it has ten chapters with a sufficient word count, AND it’s complete! And then I open it up and immediately click out of it before I finish reading the first paragraph, disheartened but determined to find something else that sounds just as good.

We all know that feeling when we’re excited about a great-sounding fic and then we open it up only to find that it’s committing one of the Three Deadly Fanfiction Sins.

What are these sins, you ask? And how can you avoid them when writing your own fanfiction?

Well, buckle up tight because I’m here to tell you what will make readers immediately click out of your story and move on to another one.

JUST A NOTE: ONE OF THESE POINTS ARE JUST MY OPINION, AND I DON’T INTEND TO OFFEND ANYONE WHO MAY ENJOY WRITING/READING FICS LIKE THIS

1. It’s just one.....long.....paragraph

^^By the way if you actually read this like I did you’ll probably find it absolutely revolting, and not in a sexual way

Did you read that entire thing?

I bet you didn’t, and that’s my entire point.

Do you remember the beginning of this post? Do you see how I’ve broken it up in to separate paragraphs and formatted it in a way that it seems well-organized and thought out?

Now, imagine I didn’t do that:

I love fanfiction with all of my heart. I think it’s an amazing tool to use to hone in on your writing skills and learn about time management, how readers view your work, and in some cases− if someone leaves a helpful review− how to improve your writing overall. Not to mention that if you have a severe case of writer’s block on your WIP, writing fanfiction is a great way to keep yourself writing even if it’s not on your main work. As a reader of fanfiction, however, I often come across works that, when I read the description, I get super excited about. It’s the perfect fic! It’s about my favorite pairing, the plot sounds amazing, it has ten chapters with a sufficient word count, AND it’s complete! And then I open it up and immediately click out of it before I finish reading the first paragraph, disheartened but determined to find something else that sounds just as good. We all know that feeling when we’re excited about a great-sounding fic and then we open it up only to find that it’s committing one of the Seven Deadly Fanfiction Sins. What are these sins, you ask? And how can you avoid them when writing your own fanfiction? Well, buckle up tight because I’m here to tell you what will make readers immediately click out of your story and move on to another one.

If you say you wouldn’t scroll past that, you are, indeed, lying.

You could be the best writer on this side of Earth, but if you don’t format your story correctly, people won’t even read it.

I’m not sure the scientific part of it, but I just know that most, if not all readers are intimidated by large paragraphs that don’t end.

It’s just a lot to take in, you know? Not to mention that it’s technically incorrect, since MLA format insists you break up your writing into separate paragraphs in order to make it easier on the eyes. (But seriously fuck the rest of MLA this is creative writing not an essay).

Basically, whenever a new things begins, or a new thought (For example, let’s say you’ve just finished describing the scene and are now moving to talk about the actual plot) Make it a new paragraph.

Even if it’s not a different thought and you just see a huge chunk of text in your document! SPLIT. IT. UP.

Not only will it make your fic seem longer, it’ll also keep those clicking into it from clicking out of it.

If you still don’t know what I’m talking about, go to your favorite fandom and look at the fic with the most favorites/follows/kudos/etc. Does it look like that huge paragraph from above? I doubt it.

The way you present your writing is just as important as the writing itself.

2. Improperly punctuated dialogue

Okay, so this kind of goes hand-in-hand with the last point.

A lot of people don’t seem to know how to properly punctuate dialogue, and I’m not one to judge, since I’ve been writing since third grade and only learned how to properly punctuate dialogue in eighth grade. Granted, eighth grade was a while ago, but I still learned, even if it was five years late.

Instead of droning on and on about how it affects your audience, I’m just going to tell you right now.

“Hi, Stace.” Jack mumbled, looking down at his shoes . “Hello, Jack.” Stacie retorted through gritted teeth. “How are you?” “I’m good, thanks.”

This is an example of improperly punctuated dialogue, and it makes my brain hurt just looking at it; it’s difficult to follow and is grammatically incorrect, so here’s how it should look when it’s properly punctuated:

“Hi, Stace,” Jack mumbled, looking down at his shoes.

“Hello, Jack,” Stacie retorted through gritted teeth. “How are you?”

“I’m good, thanks.”

You can’t really see it, but I bolded everything that I changed. You see how, where there had once been periods at the end of the dialogue, there are now commas?

You see, whenever there’s dialogue followed by some form of speech tag ([insert name here] shouted, yelled, said, mumbled, retorted, etc.), you put a comma within the quotation marks and not a period. If it’s an exclamation point or a question mark or an elipsis (this thing: “...”), you can leave it the way it is. This only goes for periods.

Not to mention that someone speaks, you need to make it a separate paragraph. This helps break it up and make it easier to tell who’s saying what; you can’t have a huge chunk of description and then someone speaking at the end. The speaking needs to be separate from that, and whatever that person is saying can be in the same paragraph. If someone new starts speaking, then that gets a new paragraph and so on.

3. First Person

Okay, I know I’m gonna get a lot of hate for this, so feel free to skip over this point if you personally like reading/writing fanfiction in first person.

First person is a great POV, unlike what some people might think. It’s the POV of my novel, and I feel that whenever you’re writing an original work, you shouldn’t immediately dismiss it.

However, with fanfiction, it’s a huge problem.

I myself used first person in my fanfiction when I just started out, and the only reason those fics haven’t been catapulted into the void already is so I can look back on them and look at how much I’ve grown as a writer (or just look back at them so I can cringe so hard my eyeballs roll out of my skull)

First person in fanfiction is incredibly difficult because, unlike with your own original characters, you don’t know everything about the character you’re writing about.

You might think you do, but only the author really knows the characters inside and out, and because of that reason I don’t appreciate first person in fanfiction; it leaves too much room for errors, and often leads to them becoming OOC.

Also, if you’re writing smut, please don’t use first person. Under any circumstances. It’s as if the character we all know and love is personally telling us about their sexual exploits and it’s really awkward and uncomfortable, at least for me.

HOPE THIS HELPED, AND FEEL FREE TO ADD YOUR OWN ISSUES WITH FANFICTION THAT YOU CONSIDER DEADLY SINS!

#writing #fanfiction #fanfic #writing fanfiction #writing tips #writing help #writing advice #how to write fanfiction #fanfictions #fanfiction sins #fanfic sins #creative writing #help with writing #writers #advice for writing #tips for writing

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cripsycremecuckery · 2 years ago

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Your feelings about this are absolutely valid, and I in no way mean to disregard them when I say this,

But Eggman caring about someone does not mean he is ‘less evil’, as I’ve seen a lot of posts try to say. (Both woobyfying AND evil defending) because if he’s capable of getting attached to a child then that means he’s gone completely OOC, right? I’d disagree. (But I agree Ian handles it very poorly. He should not be a lead writer.)

And before anything else, yes, I absolutely loved the story. especially Eggman’s, because I am too part of the fandom that ‘eats this family stuff up’. (That is to not say there aren’t issues even I saw, Ian’s writing could be so so much better if he just took criticism.) But I can assure you, I am far from someone who doesn’t think critically about these things. In fact I’ll prove it.

In Frontiers, Eggman is still portrayed as arrogant, self centered, and hungry for world domination, and even laughs and sneers at Sonics supposed demise.

Not to mention this is the first sonic game where Eggman was left alone with only one other person for WEEKS, trapped and desperately trying to find a way out. (Sonic world he was trapped for only a bit I think? And even then he was shown to be really shaken up that Metal betrayed him)

Eggman was stuck for that long under constant threat with literally ONE thing (Sage) keeping him away from deaths door, and you expect him to not form some kind of value for her? He was forced to fully rely on someone for survival, info on the outside world, etc. A man who NEEDS constant control, having little to none at all? And then gaining a bit from one of your creations? It’d do things to anyone. THAT BEING SAID,

Eggman is not automatically absolved or excused for ANY of his shitty actions just because he loves his new daughter! People are complex, and although I completely understand the groans at the ‘atrocious villain has a soft spot’ trope (as I’ve far too often seen it misused myself) I really think it’s a trope hated due to how terribly it’s handled, rather than for the reason that it ‘needlessly humanizes’ villains.

For example, Amphibia. I adored that show beginning to end, and the twist antagonist ADRIAS was an incredible villain regardless of the fact he cared about Marcy.

I will repeat that, he was a great villain REGARDLESS OF THE FACT, THAT HE CARED ABOUT A CHILD.

The show pounds in his tragic backstory and shows his motives, it shows how unbelievable damaged and broken he is as a leader, and it shows how agonizing it was for him to take the position.

But you know what the show also did? It harshly reminded you of what he did, CONSTANTLY, and not once ever made an excuse for his actions.

Despite him regretting and feeling guilt, mourning even, he was never excused for what he did. (One thing being stabbing said child he cared about) Even after he helped save AMPHIBIA, and return the girls home, he was still not suddenly ‘forgiven’.

That’s what I think should happen with Eggman. I agree that the fandom painting him as ‘just misunderstood’ and ‘actually a good guy deep down’ is, not great, but not that he couldn’t end up caring about someone! It’s not fair to say that it’s just ‘cringe fanfic’. He’s still evil and really shitty, he just now has someone to value. I think that can be taken advantage of in the next game, imagine how scary Eggman could be now that he could potentially loose someone he actually values?

TDLR; Even the most fucked up villains getting attached to someone is not an impossible feat, nor should it be an excuse to justify their awful actions. It’s just very often handled poorly by mediocre writers

i have literally had trouble sleeping thinking about how badly ian has fucked up eggmans writing and how its gonna permeate through this fandom for YEARS so much so that the jp translation minimized/removed as much mention as they could of what ian tried to force in, because its NOT his character, hes NOT LIKE THAT

i like the core of the story, i like sage, but god ians writing just,,,, everything feels so wrong,,,, it genuinely makes me so fucking mad like, eggman isnt a blorbo of mine but hes becoming an honorary blorbo now just bc of how much of an injustice to his character this is this plot with eggman IS FUCKING FANFIC, it is the most generic oc family fanfic plot ive ever heard "Eggman creates an AI that finally changes his heart and he finds the one thing hes been missing the whole time, fatherly love 🥺" NO HES FUCKING EVIL!! HES EVIL AND THATS OK, HES FUCKED UP TO HIS CORE "it makes him more human" SOME PEOPLE ARE ***JUST*** FUCKING EVIL, AND THATS HIM, HES NOT REDEEMABLE AND HE SHOULDNT BE, AND THAT SHOULD BE OK, STOP TRYING TO CHANGE HIM PLEASE

if you look closer this is a stunning track record of Ians to try and soften up (woobify) eggman and imply "hes a good guy deep down" from sonic X where his real secret passion is wrestling, to Mr tinker, and now this man needs to review his fucking source material bc this is frankly disrespectful to the 30 year legacy of Eggmans consistent characterization of being unapologetically evil, narcissistic, abusive, manipulative and a great villain bc of that fandom eats this family stuff up without being critical of it and im already so exhausted of how hes going to be misrepresented because of a writer writing what he wants eggman to be rather than who eggman actually is

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flyswhumpcenter · 7 years ago

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Earth Never Stops - Part 1 - Oreburgh Mines

Summary: Oreburgh Mine is Sinnoh’s only remaining source of coal and, as such, serves as its main source of electricity alongside Flowey Meadows’ countless wind turbines. It contains enough resources for years to come, but what may be more interesting to the casual tourist visiting the region is the presence of fossils in its rocks, waiting to be discovered between two coats of black ore. As such, it requires constant functioning and there has to be someone to manage the miners, right? Well, it works until the main gear fails: the foreman is, after all, only human.

Length: 2.5K words

Notes: Someone will have to smack my head into oblivion so I don't write that kind of shit ever again. I'm sorry for this, even if I know I'll probably continue to write it beyond reason. Let's hope this isn't the new Symphonie Cacophonie lmao The OCs are cameos of my PDV characters Luc Parillot (Luke) and Timothée "Tim" Ethan (Timothy).Huge thanks to Magnetism and their Auraverse, whose Roark's been an inspiration for my own interpretation of the character. http://archiveofourown.org/works/10698855 It's some good stuff so please check it out, it's worth a read much more than what you're about to read because it has more plot than, essentially, "mine sickfic".I have to expose some headcanons and stuff which count in this story: -I headcanon the Nurse Joy who appears in this as a "doctor" because she can also diagnose humans. Such a famous mine would have at least a bit of security, wouldn't it? -I know Machop is used for mining in the games, but I also added Geodude because it's literally a punching rock who can learn Rock Smash. -I don't know what a foreman does in a mine despite living in the north of France and having seen mine history here and there. Turns out having once visited a terril and Roubaix's La Piscine museum isn't enough to make you versatile in mining history and functioning. Hell, I even had to Google what a foreman was because I'm that terrible.Writing got me thinking: can you get OOC a character who doesn't have much dialogue in their original material?

AO3 version available here!

Oreburgh Mine is Sinnoh’s only remaining source of coal and, as such, serves as its main source of electricity alongside Flowey Meadows’ countless wind turbines. It contains enough resources for years to come, but what may be more interesting to the casual tourist visiting the region is the presence of fossils in its rocks, waiting to be discovered between two coats of black ore.

As such, it requires constant functioning and there has to be someone to manage the miners, right? The role goes to the foreman, who is always up. In any case, there’s a substitute, but he’s usually not in Oreburgh City since the foremen seems to have an iron health. Someone working in the mines would joke that their previous foreman eventually became Canalave City’s Iron-type Gym Leader.

The following and current foreman is the youngest they’ve had yet. Byron used to bring his son to the mine from time to time since the latter was a child, and some of the eldest miners remembered seeing a newly born Roark, twenty years before. It was like he was born with a pickaxe in his hands, and he was already excavating fossils when he was in elementary school. What was once a tease of Byron, “your son is gonna replace you before we know it”, became reality when the foreman left Oreburgh City for Canalave City, called by the League themselves to take care of its Gym after its previous Leader had retired.

Nobody was really surprised when the boy, the eighteen-year-old boy mind you, was picked by Byron as his successor. It was as if they had always been around Roark, and it had “only” been a bit more than a decade, but the transition felt natural. It didn’t mean he didn’t remain in the shadow his father, foreman for twenty years before him, to whom the miners were all attached, and some considered him their own father, in some way.

The foreman sub’s been missing for the twenty-fifth week in a row. “Where in the hell could he be?” isn’t a real question in the mines anymore: it’s more of a private joke. A question nobody really cares for the answer, and usually it’s replaced by the latest, funniest place to put in a conversation. Last time, it was someone’s ass. Maybe comedy isn’t their forte, but as long as it makes the other miners laugh, it’s all right.

Today, Luke is asking the question to Tim, who simply replies “In Canalave’s Gym, right where Former Boss lost to a ten-year old girl and her Gastrodon”. Tim then shots a look in their current foreman’s direction, only to notice he doesn’t even cringe at the teasing of his own dad.

“Boss,” Tim calls out, “you heard me? Your dad lost to a Gastrodon of everything. How ridiculous is that?”

“Oh, right,” the foreman responds with delay, “that’s right. Gastrodon. Canalave Gym.” He forces a snicker out of his mouth.

“How’s the Gym going?” Luke asks. It’s been ages since he’s taken a break in the Gym. Last time, he got to see a blonde-haired girl beat the Gym with a Turtwig and a Starmie of everything.

“It’s going… well I guess. I broke my latest lose streak yesterday…”

Luke and Tim look at each other. The former shots another look at Roark while the second one orders their Machops to work a bit on their own for now. Once they both thumb up each other, they get closer just so they can speak about stuff their foreman shouldn’t hear them talking about.

“There’s something wrong about the boss,” Luke tells him in a whisper. “He’s quieter than usual.”

“He may just be tired,” Tim replies, almost shrugging off Luke’s worried expression. “The boy’s also a Gym Leader and whatnot.”

“I could have sworn he was usually the first one to make jokes about how busy his life is. He doesn’t even bother with our jokes today!”

“Your dad instincts are playing again. This isn’t your daughter we’re speaking about, it’s the boss. Byron’s blood runs in his veins, he’s fine.”

Tim still looks at their foreman. His own face doesn’t seem as confident in his beliefs as before.

“On second thought, the boss looks a bit weird. He’s a bit slow too.”

“Right? The sub’s not here though, so he can’t entirely leave us without having another foreman to make sure it’s secure.”

“I don’t want to interrupt you on purpose, but I think he’s looking this way. Let’s go back to work and discuss that after lunch.”

While he mines, Tim stumbles upon what looks like a fossil, a weird one of that. He swears he has never seen such a fossil before, despite having worked there for twenty years. His scientist of a husband walks behind him.

“Mark,” he calls him out, “come check out that fossil. I don’t think I’ve seen one like that before.”

The scientist walks to the rock and examines it carefully with his gloves and glasses.

“It’s a Helix Fossil. They’re usually found in Kanto, but there are some in the Underground. It’s very rare to see such a big one in a mine.”

“What about we tell the boss? I’m sure he’s going to lost it in front of it!”

“I’ll let you get him then.”

That’s what Tim does. He goes the fastest he can to his foreman, who’s in another part altogether of the mine, probably making sure the Machops trained to dig alone do their job correctly and safely. He swears he can hear some pants and maybe some coughing echoing between the rocky walls. Finding him and his red hard hat isn’t difficult, and it doesn’t take long for the miner to join his “boss”.

“Boss, Boss, I found something incredible! Come check it out!” he screams in the mine, getting the attention of Pokémons around him.

“What is it…?” a weak voice replies to him, as the foreman turns towards him. His helmet isn’t put on correctly, which is weird for someone as cautious as him on security for everyone inside the mine.

“I found a very rare fossil according to Mark. I thought I should at least tell you so you can check it out later.”

“Works for me… Oh, if you’re here, can you check out on the other miners for me a bit? Tell them I’ll check up on them once I’m done here…”

“Sure thing, Boss.”

“Thank you…”

Tim finally gets what Luke meant earlier. He would ask him if he was alright, or something alike, but he has a job to do and the boss probably doesn’t like to be bothered with such questions. He’s probably just tired and focused on whatever he’s doing. He’s a bit hesitant to get to his previous working spot, but he still makes his way there.

Suddenly, he feels something grapping his pants. He looks at what could possibly be clutching his leg: a Geodude. Wait, this can’t be a wild Geodude, there isn’t any wild Pokémon left in that zone of the mine. The fluorescent band it has around its left arm immediately tells him it belongs to the boss. It seems to cry for help.

Tim lowers to the rock Pokémon’s level.

“What is it, big guy?” he asks it.

Geodude points to the back of this section of the mine with its other arm, its face void of its usual anger, replaced with worry. What can it possibly be worried for? This doesn’t reassure the miner at all.

“You want me to follow you there?”

The Rock-type Pokémon jumps around a bit as it lets go of his pants before starting to make his way to where they both come from. Tim decides to follow: there may be someone trapped under rocks that fell, or there may be an Aron they need to take care of.

He decides to run back there instead of walking, as he’s afraid someone got jeopardized. On the way there, he recognizes the specially-trained Machops looking a bit panicked, just like the Geodude he’s following. This doesn’t sit well within him: the only person he’s seen there for a while is Roark. If their foreman has found death between rocks, they’re pretty much fucked for the remaining century. They’ll probably all get fired too. He doesn’t realize he’s crossing fingers.

The Geodude, unfortunately, brings him where he spoke to his boss barely minutes ago. The lack of light, which he finds weird because it was lit just fine before, makes it so he has to turn on his own helmet’s headlight. He can hear the usual sound of pants, something entirely ordinary in itself, aside form the fact he’s never heard these pants in particular. This can’t be good at all.

The miner stops right in his track as the Geodude goes next to the person lying on the floor of the mine. This can’t be possible. He must be in some kind of weird dream, and he has to find a way to wake up. He still runs to the lying body, just like the Pokémon before him.

“Boss?!” he yells as he kneels next to the other man. “Hey, Boss, this isn’t time to sleep! You gotta wake up, this is a mine!”

Tim puts a hand on his shoulder and shakes it off in an attempt to wake the guy up, to no success. He just knows he’s alive: he can hear his breathing, which sounds ragged if not difficult.

“What the fuck do I do…?” Tim says to himself, truly wondering what he can do with an unconscious Roark, the latter’s pickaxe and excavation kit, a Geodude and five autonomous Machops around him. The pickaxe and the kit can wait, really. The Pokémons, a bit less. He just hopes the only idea he has will work…

His foot hits a lone Pokéball which rolls until he grabs it. He finds five of them near it, all marked with a special sticker representing the Coal Badge on them.

“Geodude, come back,” he says as he points the ball towards the Pokémon in question, successfully calling him back. He’s surprised that even worked.

“Guys, you too, come back,” he then says as he points each ball to the Machop group, once again ending in pure success. He puts away the balls in the bag near him before taking it and putting it over his shoulder.

It’s with a pained look and an ache in his heart that he takes his foreman in his arms. He feels incredibly light for a miner: it may be him who is pretty strong, or the boy being a lightweight when he’s unconscious, or just both at the same time. He’ll ask for the guys to get the pickaxe and kit later: for now, there’s something more urgent than recovering some mining tools, no matter how important they are to Roark.

It takes a bit of time, and Tim feels like he’s carrying a statue made out of glass when, clearly, he shouldn’t. He braces himself for everybody else’s reaction: he just hopes it’s not too bad, otherwise they’ll have issues, and nobody wants to cause a coal lack in the entire region, not to mention none of them want harm to their foreman for Arceus’s sake!

He gets to remember it’s noon and lunch time when he reaches his usual zone of work, which is next to the entrance, so not many people are around. The less, the better. However, the nearest infirmary-like area he knows of is already outside of the mines: he has to walk past everyone else to bring their boss where someone can say what exactly happened to him.

Luke spots him from the entrance and runs to him, his own face filled with anything but joy.

“What happened to him?!” he screams, eyes fixated on the carried one.

“I don’t know… I was telling him about the fossil discovery I had made, but as I left his Geodude grabbed my leg and made me follow it, and when I arrived he was already knocked out…” Tim replies. “We don’t have time to waste, I have to bring him somewhere.”

“Wait a second. I need to check something…”

Luke rises the foreman’s helmet a little and puts his naked hand first on his forehead, then on the other man’s one, before almost cringing in a hiss.

“That’s what I thought. He’s running one hell of a fever man.”

“A fever?! He’s been sick all that time?! Quick, we have to run to the infirmary! Inform the others please!”

“Roger that.”

Tim isn’t walking at the speed of a Dunsparce now: no, he’s fucking running for someone else’s life to their infirmary, hoping there’s their usual doctor there. He can trust Dr Taylor to be there, right? She’s always there for them, she’ll be there for Roark too. That’s one unusual case for them all, and he hopes his hardest it’ll be alright.

Honestly, he’s afraid shitless when he kicks the door to knock, his hands obviously unavailable to do so. The pink-haired woman opens the door and she looks like she’s going to scold the hell out of him for kicking the door.

“Hello, Timothy. Why makes you behave like a Growlithe all of a…” she starts to tell him before her voice comes to a halt.

As soon as she sees his face then lowers her eyes, her face takes a sharp turn.

“Oh goodness… Put him on the bed,” she reacts as her thumb points to the inside, “I’ll see what’s wrong.”

He executes her orders and, soon enough, they’re both in the room, looking over the third person in the bed. After taking off the red helmet, he lets her examine his boss, more anxious than he’s been in ages, as she silently works on him.

“What does he have, doctor?” Tim asks.

“It seems like exhaustion and overwork has caught to him,” she replies in a much calmer voice. “He should be all right as long as he rests for a few days.”

“But…”

“Before you say it,” Dr Joy replies in a sadder tone, “I know Mr Roark has a very busy life and probably can’t afford many break days, especially since the summer rush is about to start. However, I can’t let him work when he overworked himself to illness like this.”

“Then, what can we do?”

“We’ll have to see that as soon as possible. I’ll have to call the substitute foreman by myself to justify his suddenly needed presence… Please go take your break, Timothy. Just tell the other miners about the situation, will you?”

“Sure thing. See ya later, Dr Joy.”

“See you.”

Tim can’t shake the situation off his head as he walks to his friends and workmates, lost in thoughts, hoping someone finds a solution real fast unless they all want to get in some serious troubles. The less they see the director of Fuego Inc, the better, especially when Roark isn’t here to discuss the matter with his own boss.

He sits next to Mark and unpacks his lunch as he summarizes the situation, a work already started by Luke. The summery air of early June around them all feels heavy, all of a sudden.

#pokemon #pokemon diamond and pearl #sickfic #whump #oc #fever #roark (pokemon)

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