#and ofc i want to redo some stuff

[cannedbabs]

Rbti rewrite post :] (was gonna be more but I’ve had an eventful day.. will say later ofc)

Closeup of KCB, some more evolution of lore, and my day below cut!

((If I had the choice to redo this bug piece it would be to turn off his glowy eyes. Plot reasons. Also sorry I only ever post sketches, I fear if I do more it’ll sap my energy to get content out at ALL so))

I will say the plot has been wavering a LOT! I’ve been talking with some of my irl friends (all of them have lovely story writing or creative backgrounds which is amazing) and so it’s being patched significantly. Still not 100% finished, that’s why I haven’t made an entire lore post yet!! There’s a lot of loose ends and placement that needs to be figured out. But I feel like it’s only appropriate to state some at least :] you guys have given me amazing feedback and showed interest and I can’t thank you enough!

The “big bad” has been juggled around. I do like BEV, her motives are a little grey and need to be strung together accurately and cohesively. I also don’t want a twist villain, as much as that’s amazing I am not trying to rewrite WIR. Turbo in himself is a “big bad”, always will be, he’s the worst of the worst and completely irredeemable, that’s why the writing is so hard. “How do you put in a big bad that has to contest with one of the worst characters of all time?”

My answer is to make BEV solely target Turbo, and in turn it’s a domino effect for everyone, but then that makes this rewrite a little more Turbo centric than I wanted ((granted it IS because of my bias, but even then I realize he is NOT the main character of the previous movie))

These are out loud thoughts tho!! Def the story is gonna take a route where it’s more Ralph vs(?) Vanellope, where they realize their goals don’t really align but are trying to keep it from the other person (kinda like RBTI actually! But not as ‘drama needs to get in the way to actually make an issue’). Ralph is gonna be taking BEV’s side and Vanellope will be taking Turbo’s side, at least that’s the concept for now!

Talking about my day will be super short. Basically I showed my friend group (who doesn’t have the turbo autism I do, but Turbo has become such a referenced joke in my group. Instead of saying ‘this is my hyperfixation’ we say ‘This is my turbo’) the entire 2hr analysis video (thank you Randomalistic :]) and they loved it! Sat through it all front to back!! And I’m having a sleep over w them tomorrow and having a DnD session yippee!! But that’s the only reason why I’m posting this and not accumulating more for a bigger post.

I AM planning on working on ref sheets and even stuff like a ref sheet for their chat bubbles since they’re all different :] idk this became a super long ramble post idk have some funny WIR-related Jack box things my friend group made you earned it

[sungbeam]

𝐈𝐍𝐂���𝐍𝐓𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍𝐒 — part one

nonidol!ji changmin x f!reader

messing around with demonic rituals isn't exactly how you imagined getting bound to changmin's soul. (note to self: salt circles don't work when you draw the pentagram inside it...)

▷ genre, warnings. f2l, technically a college au, demon au (it's different from night terrors i swear. also it's not as intense lol), comedy, suspense/mystery, swearing (a lot... sorry 😭), drinking, low fantasy/supernatural elements, mentions of chronic illness, mentions of rituals and pentagrams, self induced soulmates? 🤔 but ofc 😂, kissing, mentions of blood, very small amount of violence (like one scene), what is a mfking slow burn like who needs to take their time w falling in love i sure don't 🤷🏻‍♂️, one allusion to death

▷ part word count. 16.3k out of 34.8k / read part two here

▷ inspired by. incantations (composed by richard meyer) it's not like,,, the fic's "soundtrack" or anything. i just think it sounds cool lol

this is my submission for deoboyznet's boyz who bite event! HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

a/n: i'm telling u that i resisted the idea of another demon changmin au for ONE WHOLE MONTH. i went through THREE OTHER IDEAS BEFORE FALLING BACK ON THIS DRAFT. I SWEAR. so pls reblog + comment + enjoy! :') and thank u to @justalildumpling as usual for reading this for me 😭💖

PART I: THE CATALYST

THERE WERE WORSE WAYS TO GO OUT, you supposed. However, the paranormal wasn't often a subject you frequented, so sitting atop an ashy-white pentagram wasn't exactly how you expected to be spending a Friday night.

“Changmin, you're always hooting about this shit,” Juyeon said as he peered over his shoulder at the boy lurking in the far corner of the living room. “Are you seriously all bark and no bite?”

No one really paid attention to Changmin's response besides you and Juyeon (kind of—he was busy lighting the candles). Technically, it was a new behavior; Changmin was usually the one obsessed with horror movies and the paranormal, constantly getting you all to participate in Halloween horror nights and haunted houses, and bringing his beloved (cursed) Chucky doll to any and every group movie night. But now that you were finally acting on his demonic big talk, all of that stuff and nonsense dissipated like the snuffing out of a candle.

A shadow fell across his face. “I already warned you guys. This isn't something you should be toying around with.”

“It's a Ouija board—what could go wrong?” Shuhua wrinkled her nose as she began tapping out a circle of salt around your body and the pentagram on the floor. “I saw them on sale at Toys R Us for half off.”

Because you were the last one to arrive tonight, you were chosen as the sacrifice. It wasn't really fair because this was literally Juyeon and Changmin's apartment, but it didn't matter much in the end. You didn't believe in this stuff and it wasn't your salt being wasted. (You were also exempt from venmoing Hyunjae a portion of the paycheck he spent buying candles and chalk. Save fifteen bucks and sit on a pentagram in a salt circle? Why the fuck not.)

“Don't we need to draw blood or something?” you asked, half joking.

“No.” Changmin's expression somehow grew even darker. Your eyes widened slightly; you'd never seen him so serious. “Absolutely not. Do you want this to turn out worse?”

“Changmin, dude, you gotta chill, man.” Hyunjae dumped the Ouija board he'd dug out of his parents’ attic onto the floor next to you, just outside the salt circle.

Shuahua squawked. “Oy! You're ruining my perfect circle!”

“Just redo it, dumbass!”

“You redo it, asshat,” she growled back, tapping out some salt to finish it.

Juyeon, as if to placate your friend, said to Changmin, “The salt will protect her.”

You blinked. “Oh, that's what it's for?” You could've sworn that was what the candles were for, but again, you didn't believe in this, so why would you know a thing about it?

Changmin's face hit the palms of his hands with a resounding slap. “Absolutely not. You can't have Yn in the circle if she doesn't even know what the Hell is going on.”

“So do you wanna be in the circle?”

His left eye seemed to twitch as he cocked his head to the side. Something about that movement made a shiver crawl down your spine. The sensation was akin to watching a predator consider its prey from the brush… but that wasn't right. Changmin was all dimpled smiles and goofy shenanigans and twinning with his horror doll child. There wasn't anything remotely scary about him, unless you made him mad (you hadn't yet). So why were your inner alarms screaming for you to run? “That's actually not a bad idea—”

“Okay!” Hyunjae called his hands together. “Let's get started, shall we?”

The thoughts were brushed beneath the dusty rug in your head. You shrugged at Changmin. “Too late, I guess.”

You thought you heard him mutter out something under his breath in frustration, but you didn't understand the language.

All of your other friends began to gather on the side of the circle where the Ouija board was. You weren't even sure what all the pomp and circumstance was for, but Changmin didn't seem up to correct anything. He continued to sulk in the corner with his arms folded over his chest, eyes shaded by the brim of his cap as he stared onward.

Hyunjae's eyes fluttered closed as he, Juyeon, and Shuhua placed their fingers upon the planchette. “To the spirits who may be here in this room with us—”

“And demons,” Shuhua murmured.

A choked sound came from Changmin's side of the room.

Your eyes flickered open and saw him rub a hand down his face as if he was stressed.

“We are opening the veil between your world and ours,” Hyunjae continued. “My name is Hyunjae, and with me are Shuhua, Yn, Juyeon, and Changmin.”

Shuhua inhaled shallowly. “Is there someone here with us?”

The apartment was consumed in a dead silence as the five of you waited. You sat cross-legged in your ring of salt, cheek resting against your fist. Your eyes were drifting to half-mast—it’d been a long day for you, and considering it was approaching midnight already, it was about time you went to bed.

“We brought you a sacrifice,” Hyunjae said. “We were wondering if you could tell us your name.”

A chilling breeze brushed past your cheeks and you glanced up, expecting the air conditioning to have caused it. There was no vent above you, however. Strange.

You wrung your hands in your lap. “You could possess me if you'd like.”

Your eyes joined your friends’ as you all pinned your gazes to the Ouija board. The planchette remained still.

After a beat, your patience ran thin, and you sat up to lean back on your hands—wasn't something supposed to happen?

The amber glow from the candles in the living room wavered violently. In your surprise, your fingers grated against the salt and hardwood as you nearly fell backward. You yanked your hand back to you at the sting.

The bodies in the room went taut, speechless.

A gust of wind—something impossible in this enclosed space—whipped past you in a wide circle. The salt circle was no more, the candle flames were snuffed.

You sat stiff as a board. For a moment, you could swear you felt some invisible, foreign weight rest upon your chest. It sank deep into you, a phantom hand reaching into your body as if to latch onto your very soul.

Ba bump ba bump ba bump, your heart drummed wildly in your chest.

Howls and gasps of delight were drowned out by the blood in your ears; they were sounds of awe from your friends. You placed your hand over your sternum in the dark to feel for that unseen force, but there was nothing.

The room flooded with warm light. It chased away the shadows to the furthest corners.

You glanced up and saw Juyeon at the light switch with a boyish grin stretched across his lips. “That was crazy! Yn, how do you feel?”

Eyes darted to you.

The pentagram beneath you was smudged, the white chalk staining your pants and your hands. You managed a smile, and then a slow nod. What you felt earlier was probably nothing.

“I'm good,” you chirped. You glanced over at Changmin in the corner, his eyes still shaded by the brim of his cap, but with the muscle in his jaw clenched. Why? Why did you look at him? You couldn't fathom why survival instinct had you encoded to turn toward that which was capable of your demise. “Yeah, I'm good.”

A yawn tore through you as you stepped into your darkened apartment. Your hand fumbled for the light switch and you tucked your shoes away on the rack, before depositing your keys onto the table with a noisy clatter. The remainder of your time spent at Juyeon and Changmin's had been spent cleaning up the failed ritual, and you hit the road as soon as it was over.

Your roommates were all out for the night, so the apartment was cold and quiet as you stumbled down the hall to your bedroom. Compared to your friends, you'd left rather quickly because of a text you'd received from Lee Chan, a good friend of yours and former neighbor from childhood. His home life hadn't been the most spectacular, so you and he became fast friends during the moments after school when you hung out on your front lawn.

He'd swung by your apartment earlier to drop off banana muffins, but you hadn't been home. I'm home now! But you can totally come by in the morning instead, you texted him after setting your backpack down and peeling off your jacket.

As you sat in the dim gold illuminating from your desk lamp, the pressure in your chest returned. You could feel your heart pick up speed in your ribcage and you lifted your finger up to your mouth to suck on the dollop of blood that had welled to the surface. It was a small scratch from when the candles went out—your own clumsiness—but it was nothing a My Little Pony bandaid couldn't fix.

A featherweight sensation drifted over your arm, and you slapped your palm over it as if to catch whatever invisible insect crawled atop your skin.

There was nothing though.

You glanced over at the window to your right. The sky outside was an unpeculiar ebony riddled with the white speckles of distant stars. No breeze drifted in from outdoors and you double-checked that the window was closed.

You startled as your phone vibrated on top of your desk.

dino!!: oh it's okay! i have dance practice early in the morning, so i'd rather bother you while ur still awake haha dino!!: i'll be by in about 10ish min if that's cool? your phone: sounds good lol and tysm :’)) love mingyu's banana muffins

You smiled to yourself at the thought of those delicious pastries. Chan's friend Mingyu baked whenever he was stressed, and he usually gave out the results of his stress-bakes to friends. The first time you'd tasted his banana chip muffins was the closest you would ever get to heaven on Earth.

“I'm glad he makes you smile at least.”

Your phone clattered to the floor, your physical body leaping five feet in the air as your soul flew out of its encasing. Everything in you jolted like one, big heart palpitation, and your wide eyes took in the sight of a person standing by your window.

Ji fucking Changmin had nary an apology on his lips for scaring the everloving Hell out of you. It was as if he hadn't even moved out of his position at his apartment: the crossed arms, the tense posture, the clenched jaw.

Except, his eyebrow was cocked this time, unamused by your very valid fear.

“Oh, fuck you.” You braced your palms against your bed as you stood opposite from him. “Fuck you, fuck you, and fuck you.”

“I got it the first time.”

You could have blown steam out of your ears. “What the fuck are you doing in my room, you creep?”

He raised his palms up, finally breaking pose. “I know what this looks like—”

“You know what this looks like?” You let out a scoff, throwing your arm out in wild gesticulation to match the throttle of your heartbeat. “This looks like Edward Cullen in Twilight, except this isn't a movie, you're not Robert Parkinson, and you just climbed up a five story building!”

Changmin stepped forward, and you took a very obvious step back. He exhaled, pressing his lips together. “Okay, I deserve that,” he muttered.

“No shit. I should call the cops on you, friend or not. What is the matter with you?” You had known Changmin for as long as your college career thus far. The five of you had met in the freshman dorms and stuck together like a package deal since. You were all quite close, and you'd spent more than your fair share of quality time with Changmin.

But this—nothing could warrant this behavior.

“I need to talk to you about something important.”

You enclosed your palms around your arms, defensive. “Then you call or text or use the front door. My window was locked—”

“The lock on your window should be the least of your concerns,” he huffed. There was a firmness in his voice and behind his words, and a matching gleam of desperation in his face. He pressed his fingers against your bedspread and the air seemed to still.

That phantom breeze had returned and it drifted against your arm. It came accompanied by the weight in your chest. “What,” you stammered, “do you mean?”

He glanced away then, that tension seizing his shoulders again. He scratched his jaw seemingly at odds with words. “The ritual that happened tonight… that was real.”

You paused. “You have got to be shitting me.”

“I'm not.”

“Changmin, I'm way too exhausted to deal with your pranks right now. If tonight was all an elaborate thing you guys did to get back at me for waking you up at 4AM—”

“Yn.” The tone of his voice made you stop. It made you think. You considered the graveness of his expression differently; you had never seen him so serious. It was jarring. “I am being incredibly serious. The thing that happened to you tonight? That was a summoning ritual, and you were actually put into contact with Hell.”

You remained quiet, unknowing of how to answer. All logic in your brain was countering his statements profusely—it wasn't possible. There was no way something as little as chalk, salt, and candles could open up a portal to Hell.

At your lack of response, Changmin continued, “Tonight, a line to Hell was opened. The ritual was meant to contact a demonic entity. Usually, ritualists use it to make deals and bargains with whoever answers the call. The human link—the 'sacrifice’” —he looked at you pointedly— “is one half of the signing party responsible for fulfilling whatever the bargain is.”

A shudder rattled down your spine at what he revealed to you. This had to be a joke, you thought. This could not be real. But every time you looked at Changmin, the expression on his face did not change and his voice did not waver.

You swallowed, hard. “So,” you said finally, your voice barely a whisper, “you're saying…”

A lone nod. “You made contact with a demon tonight.” He paused for a beat, something warring behind his eyes. “You made contact with me.”

What. You sputtered out a laugh.

Changmin released a small, but sharp exhale, patiently waiting for you to let your giggles out. There were undoubtedly better ways to reveal it, but any way would still evoke such a reaction from you.

“Okay, now I know you're fucking with me,” you said with the lingering curl of a smile on your face. “You're saying that you're a demon?”

He seemed to weigh an idea in his head for a millisecond before caving. He flicked his chin out toward you. “You cut yourself tonight?”

You flinched and instinctively curled your right hand, your other fingers running over the small slice in your index finger. “What?”

“Come on. Let me see.” At your balking, he lifted up his hand. “I bet you I have a matching mark.”

Your eyes narrowed. “What hand and where?”

“Right hand. Index.”

“This doesn't count because that's the most predictable hand and finger.”

He rolled his eyes. “Yn, don't be silly. I literally have the same mark.”

Slowly, he stepped his way around the bed to your side, stopping only close enough where you could inspect his hand from a distance. Lo and behold, the flesh of his index finger was neatly sliced open, slightly diagonal in the top right quadrant of the finger—exactly where yours was.

The breeze returned like a cool breath, gentle against your cheek, as you raised your eyes to meet his again. The horror in your gaze must have confirmed that he'd convinced you of who—no—what he was.

“So what does this mean exactly?” you asked him. There were no giggles this time.

Changmin sucked his bottom lip between his teeth. “We are now bound via soul,” he said and extended his hand out slightly. His fingers curled inward and he gave a tugging motion level with your chest, and something deep within you moved.

Your eyes went as wide as a full moon. “What the Hell…”

“That's the line we're connected by.”

“I'm on a leash?”

Changmin glanced toward the ceiling as if mentally counting to three, then took a breath. “Not a leash; it's just a line. That's what was created between us when I became the demon on the other end and you spilled your blood on the pentagram. It doesn't mean we're restrained to stay within physical proximity of one another, but it does mean that you can't run away and hide from me.”

You shuddered. “That sounds scary.”

“It would be if you didn't fulfill your end of a bargain, but you never made a bargain.” He lifted his baseball cap up to card a hand through his blond hair before replacing the hat on his head. “Which basically means that we're stuck like this. We are emotionally and metaphysically bound to one another.”

There were a lot of words that had been said over the past few minutes, and most of them were difficult to wrap your head around. The worst truth of all was the brief, but very real sensation you had felt when Changmin had tugged on the invisible link between the two of you. That weight on your chest from earlier… had that been the “bond” settling into place?

“How could sitting on a chalk pentagram even” —you waved your hands around as you attempted to formulate words— “how was all of that possible? I thought Ouija boards were fucking toys?”

“I told you guys that you shouldn't play around with those things.”

“Well, how the Hell were we supposed to know this was going to happen?” you countered. The four of you had done some innocent fooling around, and now, you were “emotionally and metaphysically bound” to Changmin. Whatever the fuck that meant.

Changmin sighed, rubbing his hands over his face. “We can undo it. I think.”

You think? “How?”

“I—I need to do some research,” he said with a grimace. “I've never heard about instances like this and I didn't think it was even possible. I thought I could just intercept the call—”

Intercept the call? You shook your head. “I need you to start from the beginning, but slowly, as if you're speaking to a five year old.”

He opened his mouth to retort, then stopped abruptly.

A change in expression flickered across his face. It was brief, almost instinctual. You swore it looked like mild irritation, but it was gone before you could be sure. “You should probably answer the door.”

“Answer the what?”

You nearly yelped at the sound of loud knocking at the apartment door. Confusion pummeled you first, then you were swearing. “Chan.” You forgot he was stopping by.

“I'll be right back,” you said, moving toward the bedroom door.

“It’s fine. I need to go looking for answers.” Changmin stopped you before you went out, and you couldn't suppress the violent shudder when the invisible line in your chest pulled taut. “And Yn? Don't do anything stupid.”

You made a face at him from over your shoulder. “I'm already soul-bound to you by accident. How much more stupid can this get?”

He threw his hand up in the air. “Just don't do anything Hyunjae or Shuhua would do. Actually, just don't tell any of them about what I just told you.”

Why not? You were about to ask when you heard Chan's voice at the door calling out to you. Another swear fell from your mouth and you rushed out into the hallway to rip the door off its hinges.

Chan startled as it opened, his eyes going wide like a deer's in the bright hallway lights. There was a loose blue hoodie hanging over his green dinosaur pajama pants. He had his phone in his hands along with a paper bag undoubtedly carrying the legendary banana muffins. “Oh, hi. Sorry, is someone here with you? I thought I heard another voice.”

You braced a hand around the doorframe. Don't tell anyone. “Ah,” you winced, the lie curling up your tongue, “I was just on a call with a friend and he wouldn't shut up. Sorry about the wait.”

“No, it's no worries,” he insisted with a classic, easygoing smile. It made the adrenaline in your veins calm somewhat. Chan had always been a good presence to be around. There was something perpetually warm about his persona that made you want to stay in his orbit. “Oh, right!” He handed you the bag. “These are all yours. Mingyu says to let him know how they taste this time around, as always.”

As you accepted the bag, your face lit up like a Hollywood billboard. “I can guarantee that they will taste as divine as always. Tell him thanks for me” —you glanced up sheepishly from the paper bag— “and also, thanks for stopping by. I wish I was home earlier so you didn't have to drive all the way back.”

You didn't realize your face had contorted into a grimace. If only you had come straight home instead of indulging your friends’ curiosity tonight. Then, you would have been here with the banana muffins and one less soul-bond to worry about; and you would have been none the wiser to the fact that one of your college friends was a demonic entity.

Hadn't Changmin mentioned that you were now emotionally and metaphysically bound? Did that mean he could feel your emotions?

The smile had long since slipped from your face, but now your hands grew cold. When you got your muffins just now, did he know—

“Yn?” You perked up at the sound of your name. Chan's hand froze midair, then retracted back to his pocket. Concern shone on his face as stark as day. “Are you okay? You look like you just forgot you have something due tonight,” he chuckled half-heartedly, but the sheen in his eyes told a different story.

“Oh.” You forced out a laugh. “I'm fine! Yeah, I was just reminded of something. Actually—uhm, I shouldn't hold you up for any longer. It's getting late.”

Chan stared at you for a moment longer, and for that seemingly infinitesimal second, you feared he could see the invisible knot tied to your ribcage. “Right,” he said suddenly while shaking his head. “You should get some sleep.”

Your hand reached for the doorknob. “Thanks for dropping by again.”

“Wait” —his palm pressed against the door to keep you from closing it— “are you sure you're okay?”

It was as if your guilt was written in plain words across your forehead: No! I just became magically handcuffed to one of my demonic friends! And I also sat in a pentagram salt circle less than two hours ago! Please help me!

You channeled all your energy into a convincing smile. “Yes, I promise I'm okay. Have a good night, Chan.”

It was enough. That easygoing beam graced your eyes once more and he took his hand back. “Okay,” he said, “good night.” He waved to you as he turned on the ball of his foot, and you waited until he turned the corner before closing the door.

Your entire body deflated as you let out a rather dramatic sigh. That sigh turned into a loud groan, which eventually escalated into a borderline scream.

Like a woman possessed (would possession have been a better outcome than this?), you slunk back into your bedroom with your treasures in your grasp. “Hey,” you muttered as you kicked the door closed, “I'm… back.”

The room was vacant. Not a trace of the blond demon could be found.

“Son of a gun.” You settled into your desk chair and pulled out one of Mingyu's stress-baked muffins. As you peeled the parchment wrapper from the muffin's bottom half, you attempted to process all that had occurred within the past two hours. Every time you rewound the events, you met the same dozen or so questions. If only Changmin were still here to answer them, but he mentioned something about going off to answer questions of his own, including ones pertaining to undoing this rather inconvenient situation you’d found yourselves in.

“He should have stopped us,” you garbled between bites of banana chip muffin.

Your chewing came to a gradual halt as you marinated on that thought. “He… should have stopped us.” Why didn't he stop the four of you? If he had stopped you and suggested a movie instead, or any other activity for that matter, you wouldn't be here and he wouldn't be stressed.

He should have stopped you since he knew what you were getting yourselves into.

You crumpled the now empty muffin wrapper in your fist. Ji Changmin had far too much to explain to you.

PART II: THE CONSEQUENCES

IF THERE WAS NO REST FOR THE WICKED, Changmin didn't want to be wicked anymore. By popular perception, he and half his heritage were “evil.” While his father was a human from this mortal plane, his mother hailed from one of the nine circles of Hell. They'd fallen in love, conceived a halfling child, and the remainder was history.

“You look like shit, Ji.”

Changmin's eye twitched as irritation needled beneath the surface of his skin. “Thanks,” he drawled, not bothering to spare Lee Chan a glance. If he had limited energy reserves, he wasn't about to spend a drop on giving Chan the time of day.

Plus, Changmin was more than aware of the thick shadows that lingered beneath his eyes like fog clinging to cobblestone. He had woken up from his ninety minute power nap, trudged into the bathroom, and faced his own gauntness in the mirror. Why the fuck did Lee Chan think it necessary to point it out?

Chan's stare lingered on him through the practice room's mirror for a moment longer until he was called away by Kwon Soonyoung. Only then, when Chan's attention was passed elsewhere, could Changmin release the breath he was holding onto.

It was one thing that Changmin couldn't shake the offputting energy he felt whenever he was near Chan; he could stomach being on the same dance team as the guy, even though they each harbored an unspoken dislike for one another; but it was another thing entirely that he and Chan were both friends with you. The two boys attempted to be civil in front of you because your comfort was more important than their pettiness, but currently, said truce was nowhere in sight just as you were.

Simply, there were less reasons for him to be amiable today, including his thinning patience. Last night’s debacle had drained him of his energy. He was a halfling, not a pure-blooded demon. Additionally, his mother wasn’t a high-ranking demon by any means, which basically screwed him in the area of power stores. He had magical capabilities, but it could only handle so much. Answering ritual calls and creating soul bonds required a decent amount of power, which was why they were usually only answered by the more powerful demonheads of Hell. They enjoyed making human suffering a pastime.

Tacking onto that Changmin’s brilliant idea of warping into and out of your room last night instead of using his own two feet, as well as spending hours digging through the occultish corners of the internet, added all together to make for one exhausted, stressed, and grumpy halfling.

A presence—this one being far more welcome than the previous one—appeared by Changmin’s side in the mirror. “You really need to start going to bed when you say you're going to bed,” Juyeon said as plopped down onto the laminated hardwood to stretch out his calf muscles.

Changmin followed his lead onto the floor, but opted to slide into a left split. “I was tossing and turning the whole night,” he dismissed with an innocent lie. (Well, “innocent” was subjective.)

“You should try this new matcha that Hyunjae got from his hyung. He brought it back from his recent trip from Japan.”

For a second, Changmin let the words feed into his head one by one: matcha… from Hyunjae… from Hyunjae's brother… which one was he? Oh, the one who just got back from Japan, Sangyeon. When his tired brain finally caught up, he gave a nod. “What about it?” he asked, raising himself up to switch his hips into the right split.

Juyeon looked on with envious admiration, even if this was the thousandth time he stretched with Changmin. “It’s really refreshing and has a bit of a caffeine kick, but it's not as awful as coffee. Indigo likes it, too—said something about it being one of those rare finds that you can only get in the secluded countryside or something.”

Changmin paused. Juyeon's girlfriend Indigo was someone Changmin got along with well, but that wasn't why he was slightly interested in the matcha now. What Juyeon wasn't aware of was Indigo's witch heritage. Just as Changmin was hiding in plain sight, so too was Indigo. And if she recommended some countryside matcha powder, he was going to be inclined to try some.

“Yeah,” he coughed, “sure. Sounds like it wouldn't hurt to try.”

Pleased with the outcome of the conversation, Juyeon smiled and nodded. “I'll get you some later today then. Hopefully it'll help with the weird headaches you've been having, too.”

Changmin had nearly forgotten about those with everything that had happened. He'd recently been struck by random headaches; there were no patterns to their appearance, and no remedy—human, at least—that could soothe them until they faded on their own. He'd failed to ask Indigo about it because, well, he didn't think it was important enough to act on. But if this tea could help him out, then it would be taking out two birds with one stone.

Practice went on swimmingly. Though Changmin could only boast about his ninety minutes of sleep, when it came to dance, it was as if he was possessed. This was a hobby—a passion—that never failed to drive a fire through his veins. It didn't matter if he'd had the worst week in the history of worst weeks; when the music started, he was cued in, and he gave it his all.

As a river of sweat poured down his face and the room suffocated with the humidity of everybody's labored breathing, practice came to an end. Changmin hiked his duffle bag over his shoulder and poured water down his throat. Juyeon wasn't far behind as the two of them waved goodbye to their teammates and headed out.

Saturday mornings usually occurred in similar fashions: dance practice was held from 7AM to 10AM, then Changmin and Juyeon would return to their apartment to wash up; Changmin would then eat about an elephant's worth of food while he caught up on lecture recordings—unless he had something else to distract him.

In the case of this Saturday, as soon as Changmin had finished showering, he plummeted face-first into his pillows and was out like a light.

Demons could dream, one must understand. However, the demonic body tended only to dream when it was well spent—exhausted. Demons liked to correlate a weakness with having dreams, because foolish visions meant that one was unable to control their own mind. Control was rather important when dealing with magic.

Even if the dream was about, say, something real and occurring right at the moment Changmin was asleep—it was still considered a dream. Because he had not yet learned to leash his mind from meandering down his fresh soul bond, he found himself in a body that was not his own.

Yours. It was your body.

Was this real, he wondered, as he soaked in the familiar sight of your bed, the desk, and the closet space. He'd been in here just last night—albeit, in a fashion that wasn't agreeable—and he didn't expect it to change, but it did look real.

It was like he was actually sitting in your room, except he wasn't able to move or control his own body. The heart that beat in his chest was yours, the blood that pumped in his ears was yours, and the breath that fell from his mouth was yours.

He inwardly sighed as you adjusted your position at your desk chair. What a predicament he found himself in. He could feel the ache in your back from the uncomfortable piece of furniture beneath you, as well as the knots in your shoulders. (Did that mean you had a bad night of sleep?)

Though, it wasn't all bad, he supposed. He did adore the smell of your perfume lingering in the air and clinging to the sheets, the walls, the furniture… You would never know this of course, if he could help it.

You were currently reading a book—for class or for enjoyment, he hadn't the foggiest. The left side of the novel you clutched in your hand was riddled with colored sticky tabs, and you had the back of a ballpoint pen pressed between your lips. (His lips? …No, this was a precarious line of thinking.)

Changmin followed along as you read. Well, he tried. Whoever designed the layout of this book must have had perfect vision and no sympathy for someone visually challenged. The font size was likely less than ten point, and good grief, the line spacing—

“Holy shit.”

He paused. Right, that was you and not him.

You leaned forward and brought the book closer to your face as you read over the line again.

“Oh my gosh, Eliot, you incredible, talented woman.” This earnest compliment was swiftly followed by a colored tab to mark the passage. Changmin was about to read what you tabbed, but your eyes went down to the desk to scrawl a thought onto a post-it note. “Dorothea, you poor, poor soul. Casaubon needs to get the fuck over himself—you are fifty, dude.”

Changmin, frankly, had no clue what was happening. But he didn't entirely mind, because the pure joy that fluttered in your (his) chest was enough to keep him satisfied. There was something oddly serene about being in your sphere of presence, and in this state of being, that kept him at ease.

The stress of breaking this soul bond ebbed away like the receding edge of a tide.

Alas, all good things had to come to an end. Changmin couldn't tell how much time passed before you bookmarked your place with an index card and pulled your phone toward you.

12:04PM was what your lockscreen read.

Oh, so he was definitely catching up on sleep, at least.

Wait—had you not eaten lunch yet? The unmistakable void in the pit of your stomach…

Yn! Eat lunch, you silly girl! Eat—

“He could just be away from his phone,” you muttered to yourself. There were a few app notifications waiting for you, but each dismissal was fueled with mild disappointment.

Who were you talking about, he wondered.

A flash of bitter annoyance pierced his chest at the memory of who you'd been texting last night with that big smile on your face. However, any of that sentiment was dashed clean away when you pulled up your text chain with him, not Lee Chan.

Changmin's heart sped to a gallop as he watched you swipe out just as quickly as you'd checked in. The reason was two-pronged: one, you were wondering about him; and two, you had texted him while he was currently asleep and he did not know how to wake himself up.

Ji Changmin, he chastised himself, you're not only intruding, you're also inadvertently ignoring her.

He could understand that he put you (and abandoned you) in a worrisome place last night. If he could tear out the strands of his fried, blond hair he would.

You were his friend, were you not? He cared about you, and this soul bond wasn't only stressful to him, but to you as well. Maybe ignorance really would have been bliss in this case.

Your phone emitted a low vibration as it rang. Changmin had missed the moment you decided to call someone. Juyeon's contact name and photo was displayed in the middle of the screen, and he answered before the call went to voicemail. “Yn, what's up? You're—you’re not mad about last night, are you?” The wince in Juyeon’s voice was audible.

“No, I'm not mad,” you promised him as you leaned your cheek against your palm. “I was just wondering if you know where Changmin is. I texted him an hour ago and he hasn't answered yet—I guess I'm just a little antsy.”

Shuffling, then, “Oh! Changminnie's sleeping. He didn't sleep well last night, so as soon as we came home from practice, he was knocked out.”

Relief made your shoulders sag. “Ah, okay.” A smile, self-deprecating in nature, curled up on your mouth. “No worries then. Thanks, Juyo.”

“No problem. I'll let him know to call you once he wakes up.”

“No, it's okay” —you began putting your materials away— “have you had lunch yet? I can swing by with food; I haven't eaten yet.”

“Really? I haven't eaten yet, and Changmin hasn't either. I'll split the cost with you.” Changmin wished he could say that he would also split the cost. Why were you coming over? He hadn't gotten a good look at the texts you sent before.

(It had to be because you wanted to see him, right? To talk—of course to talk and not for any other reason.)

You stood up from your chair and stretched out the stiff muscles in your back. “I'll be by in—maybe twenty or thirty minutes?”

“Sounds great!” Juyeon chirped. “Thanks Yn-ie. See you in a bit.”

You let out a small laugh. “Yeah, see you.”

As the call cut off, Changmin was left with a daunting task: to wake himself up. There didn't seem to be many options as to do this. If demonic dreaming was activated based on lack of control, that meant he had a lack of energy. Thus, if he couldn't yet regain control, it could only mean that he was still tired.

There were a great many things that he had yet to figure out about this kind of magic. It wasn't like his mother ever anticipated he would need to know about it, so she never explicitly taught it and he never asked.

He was kicking himself in the head now.

Meanwhile, you had busied yourself with getting ready to leave. You'd selected a jacket from your closet, swiped on a thin layer of lip gloss, and spritzed yourself with that divine-smelling perfume. It made his toes curl and his chest feel fuzzy.

Just as you were filling your purse, your phone jolted with an incoming call.

Changmin soured as he saw the caller ID through your eyes and felt, not disdain, but pleasant surprise. He couldn't fathom what you saw in Lee Chan, but he never said anything; you and Chan knew each other longer, after all. It wasn't his place to say anything, especially when his reason revolved around something as subjective as a “vibe.”

“Hi Chan,” you greeted when you accepted the call.

It was funny—a dull, but annoyingly familiar pulsing appeared in Changmin's head. It beat steady against his cranium, hard and relentless. The longer it continued, the more it hurt. Could you feel it, too? The sensation was recognizable at this point after so many instances of the random headaches popping up. Was he seriously getting another stupid headache during a dream?

He winced to himself, but suddenly felt his heart drop into the pit of his stomach when he heard you audibly grimace.

Was this headache yours or his? Should he be worried?

“What was that? Are you okay?” asked Chan from the other side.

Changmin/You clenched your jaw as your vision went spotty for a moment. Your hand whipped out to catch yourself against the table.

Panic seized his chest as you muttered out a reassurance, though unconvincing. The invisible string that tied Changmin to you tightened, stealing the breath right out of his lungs. It was as if his own physical body was yanking him back.

He was waking up.

No, he thought, no I need to make sure she's okay—

Distantly, he heard yours and Chan's voices. Your words between one another were muddied and distorted to Changmin. Before he could even begin to understand what was happening, his eyes opened.

“I could smell lunch through the door,” Juyeon sang to you in greeting as he eagerly beckoned you into the apartment.

You chuckled, shucking your shoes off under the rack by the door. In your hand, you held onto a large bag containing a box of delectably fragrant fried chicken and fries. Oh, glorious sodium and cholesterol. “Yeah, well, imagine my suffering as I was driving over here with it in the car,” you mused.

Juyeon locked the door behind you and took the bag out of your hands.

It was another thing to return to the site of last night's ritual. You'd been in this apartment dozens of times before, but it was difficult to look at the specific spot on the living room floor where the chalk and salt had been. Even if the vacuum cleaner had taken care of all that remained, you couldn't help but choose to sit on the end of the couch farthest from that spot on the floor.

“Oh, could I get a glass of water, by the way?” you asked Juyeon as the two of you began taking things out of the bag to lay them out on the coffee table. “I was feeling a bit lightheaded earlier.”

Juyeon's eyebrows creased as he straightened to head into the kitchen. “Shit, yeah—of course. You drove here while feeling like that? What if you passed out, Yn-ie?”

You snuck a fry into your mouth, murmuring your thanks as he handed you the cup of water. “I'm fine,” you insisted with a vague wave of your hand, “it was just the blood rushing up to my head, I think. And besides, you were already expecting me and I was hungry.”

“I would have woken Changmin up and dragged his ass out of bed.” Juyeon settled onto the couch with you and cracked open the can of Sprite he'd gotten out of the fridge. “You know, Changmin's been getting these random headaches, too. I guess not exactly nausea, but you guys have gotta be more careful,” he waved a fried potato at you as he said this.

The irony could not escape you, and you failed to keep a sarcastic smile to yourself. Uh huh. Be more careful, you say? Too late for that. You took a ginger sip of the water. “Is that right? Maybe he just needs more sleep or something.”

“That's what we thought at first,” Juyeon hummed, idly scratching the back of his neck, “but they happen no matter what he does. There's not really a noticeable pattern.”

You wondered if it had anything to do with his demoness. You couldn't be too sure because you hardly knew anything about his species yourself, but that could explain the seemingly randomness of the headaches. Perhaps it was another question to add to your list.

“Huh.” You frowned. “Well, I hope they go away for him soon.”

Juyeon nodded solemnly. “Yeah, same. Hyunjae's gonna bring over some matcha for him to try… oh, hey! You like matcha—do you want some?”

“Sure, I'd love—”

Your phone buzzed violently in your jacket pocket. A laugh of disbelief flew from your mouth when you saw the caller ID, and you flashed the screen at Juyeon. “Speak of the Devil.”

Juyeon chuckled as you answered. “Hello?”

“Hey, I'm so sorry I missed your text.” His voice, rough from sleep, was accompanied by heavy breathing and the sounds of fabric shuffling in your ear.

You nearly choked, but you remembered that Juyeon was none the wiser to the weird spike in your heartbeat, nor the reason for it. “It's all good; I was being impatient. Juyo said you didn't sleep well.” Your eyes darted to his closed bedroom door and wondered why he hadn't come out yet.

“Yeah.” A brief pause. “Are you—are you okay?”

“Of course, I'm okay,” you drawled, glancing over at Juyeon. “Why? Should I not be okay?”

“No, I mean—” His voice in your ear and behind his bedroom door overlapped one another like two ocean waves colliding along the sand. His door ripped open.

Changmin stood on the threshold with his phone in one hand and the other clutching the doorknob. He was in a loose white T-shirt and sweatpants, a thin layer of sweat making his cheekbones shine. His eyes, a wild creature of their own, landed on you—all of the tension in his body melted away.

He exhaled and sank against the doorframe, ending the call. “Hell…” he muttered under his breath as he dragged a hand through his hair.

Concern had you rising to your feet. “What? What's wrong?”

Changmin closed his bedroom door behind him and collapsed onto the couch somewhere between you and Juyeon. “Bad dream,” he grunted. “How much are we splitting?” The latter was asked as he shoved a fry into his mouth and pulled out the Venmo app on his phone.

You and Juyeon exchanged glances over the blond head: what just happened?; you think I know?

Juyeon sent you a shrug. “Well Yn?”

Now their focus was on you. You took your seat again and reached for your glass of water. “Ten bucks each.”

All of the food that you brought turned into crumbs faster than Cinderella's carriage at midnight. Considering all three of you had barely eaten all day, it was expected. At some point, Juyeon dipped out of the apartment to meet someone for a group project, so that left you and Changmin alone. It was the perfect opportunity to get what you came here for.

“You left pretty abruptly last night,” you said to him as you returned to the couch with a full glass of water. Changmin stood nearly opposite to you, his back against the wall by his bedroom door. He also nursed a cup of water. “And I have some questions.”

He let out a small laugh, his lips pressing his dimples into his cheeks. “I'm sure you do. Sorry, I realized that after I left,” he admitted and raised his free hand up to grab the back of his neck. “So shoot.”

It was strange, you thought. There was no way this guy could be a demon, but was that leaning into stereotype? Last night, that feeling you got when he looked at you from beneath the shadow of his cap… your hairs had stood on their ends and you couldn't shake the spike of adrenaline in your bloodstream. It had been undeniable.

But here he was with a pretty, boyish smile as if he was a completely different person.

“What did you mean by 'intercept the call?’ What exactly happened during the ritual last night?” you asked.

The smile slipped from his face a little, and his eyes flitted over to the spot you had been sitting twelve hours ago. “Like I said,” he began, “you opened a line to Hell—like a phone call, basically. I channeled enough energy to answer it before anyone else from Hell could. And instead of, y'know, appearing in front of you like another demon would, I was already there and just chose to stay quiet when the candles went out.”

You straightened. “So the breeze in the room was your doing?”

Changmin cocked his head to the side with a wince. “I think so? At least, I can't control it yet. Think of it as a physical manifestation of power.”

A physical manifestation of power—you imagined last night's scene from Changmin's point of view, where he stood in the far corner. He would have focused his energy toward the breach between the worlds, and that fulfillment swept through the room like a gust of wind. But then what about all the other times? That moment wasn't the only other instance of a cool breeze on your skin.

When you brought this up to him, Changmin pressed his lips together. “Ah. This?”

On cue, something lightweight and cool brushed past your cheek. Your hand darted up to cover it, and you looked over at Changmin who arched a brow at you. “You get creepier and creepier the more I know you.”

His mouth burst at the seams with a smile. He ducked his blond head, shaking it. You were missing some kind of joke here. “Don't speak too soon,” he said. When he raised his head back up, he ran his tongue over his smile. “It happens when I want it to, it happens when I don't want it to. Just depends.”

“Great.”

“I'll get it under control,” he promised.

You leaned forward onto your knees and pressed your mouth into a slight pout. “Is there anything I can do to bug the shit out of you? This seems like it's only entertaining for you.”

“Well,” Changmin shrugged helplessly, “that's kind of the point of why demons started to do this. They find humans entertaining, and they also like to hold them accountable. The line” —he gave a gentle tug at the invisible string you still couldn't find— “is an insurance policy.”

“Saying it like that just implies it's that much harder to work your way around it.”

“Pretty much.” A grin split his face, and you were struck by the ease you smiled back without having meant to. “Don't look too excited now.”

You flattened your face and voice. “I'm thrilled.”

Before Changmin could respond, you suddenly remembered the main question that plagued you last night. You cleared your throat, your fingers dancing around the sides of your glass. “By the way… why didn't you stop us last night?” You watched his facial expression and how it was carefully knitted into something blank. “If you knew what was going to happen, you could have insisted we stopped, and we would have. Why let us get to this point?” you asked, gesturing between the two of you.

Changmin's throat bobbed as he swallowed. “I was pretty confident that I could intercept it, so there wasn't any real risk with doing the ritual if you guys wanted to have fun. I just didn't count on…” He lifted his right hand, where the pinkish scar was left on his index finger.

He hadn't counted on you getting cut and sealing the bond.

You pinched the space between your eyes. “Ah. My clumsiness has now doomed me to be metaphysically handcuffed to you.”

“I wasn't going to say it…”

“Oh, go to Hell.”

Changmin laughed. “Only if you come with me.”

Heat rushed to the surface of your skin. Sometimes, his mouth moved too fast. You snuck a glance at him through your fingers while he sipped on his water. If you peered close enough, the tips of his ears were flushing to a light pink.

He lowered the glass from his lips, and a crease formed between his brows. “Also,” he said carefully, his tone starkly different from less than a minute ago, “I do have another side effect to add to the list.”

Your stomach flipped. Not another thing—

“I may or may not be able to occupy your physical body when I'm dreaming—”

Changmin grimaced as the bottom of your glass banged against the wooden coffee table. That expression only deepened at the wide-eyed fury—fear—on your face. “And when I was asleep earlier,” he continued on, dooming himself to walk the plank, “I kind of intruded on your reading session, and when you called Juyeon, and when Chan call—”

“Can I murder you? Would that harm me in any way?” you cut in.

His mouth was open, but no words were coming out.

You stood, abandoning your seat on the couch and your water glass, to step across the room toward him. “Because if I could,” you said while pressing the back of your knuckles to your lips, “I can rid myself of the absolute creep of a friend I have!”

Changmin's eyes widened as soon as it hit him—your hand. Your hand hit his shoulder.

He bolted.

“Hey, let's talk about this, Yn-ah!” he exclaimed and dove into the kitchen to duck behind the counter. Some monstrously high-pitched scream left his mouth as he scrambled to stay out of your reach.

“We are talking about this, Changmin-ah.” You charged after him, chasing him around the counter and back out of the kitchen. If you didn't respect Juyeon like you did, you would have fully embraced becoming a bull in a china shop.

Your fist hit the solid plane of his bedroom door just as it slammed in your face. You let out a sound suspiciously close to a growl. “You possessed my body without my consent!”

“It's not like I consented to it either! It just happened!”

“That's not a valid excuse, you panini head!”

“I don't want to possess your body!” he insisted through the door with his voice going higher than the Eiffel Tower. “Why would I want to possess your body? I don't wanna be around when you and bestie Lee Chan gush about Star Trek.”

On certain occasions you really wished you had Superman's laser vision. Then you could burn through this stupid piece of door and roast a demon. “You're not helping yourself, Ji.”

A beat passed. “Look,” he huffed. “It only happened because I was exhausted as shit, okay? I really had no control of it, I swear on my life.”

You remained still with your arms braided across your chest without a word coming to mind.

“I didn't see anything sensitive, I promise, and my body woke me up and pulled me out of it when you got that really bad headache.”

Huh? That bout of lightheadedness… was that related to how the connection was severed? Or at least, hindered? You brushed the curiosity aside; weren't you supposed to be mad at this guy?

“Which was also why I was worried when I woke up and asked if you were okay,” he added in earnest. He did look worried like you were going to die when he woke up…

You glared impetuously at the closed door to the point you were sure even the wood grains were two seconds from apologizing to you. “Okay, fine,” you relented. “But you're not fully off the hook; I just won't use the kitchen knives.”

A choking sound filtered through and you felt the corners of your mouth tug upward.

“What can I do to make it even?” Changmin asked, though he continued to remain behind the closed door.

Frankly, there weren't many things he could do to even the score unless you chose to be creepy and sit in on his private moments. You shuddered—you’d rather not. Those were private for a reason. Maybe he could burn his eyes out with bleach. (Kidding… ish.) “I don't know,” you said half-heartedly, ”tell me a secret.”

A moment of silence passed. “I thought it was hot when you asked if you could kill me.”

Not even an ounce of shame with this one, huh? “You're sick. I'm leaving.”

For the second time today, his bedroom door ripped open. “No, wait, I was kidding! Yn, I was kidding.” (He was not kidding).

You stopped, half-whirled around. In your periphery, he stepped out of his room, but refrained from getting too close. When you turned around fully, the red that dusted his cheekbones was unmistakable. Unfortunately, seeing him flustered was enough for you at the moment.

With a feigned, heavy sigh, you motioned to him. “C'mere.”

Changmin perked up like a confused puppy.

“Come here,” you repeated with more urgency this time. You curled your hand toward you to beckon him closer.

He crept closer to you. There was a gleam of uncertainty and suspicion in his eyes as you continued to gesture at him closer… and closer still. Your heart throttled against your ribcage; your physical body was even unsure of what exactly you had in mind.

Only once his face was close enough you could count his eyelashes were you satisfied. You could hear him gulp.

And maybe you let the moment linger too long. His gaze flickered away from your eye contact for a heartbeat, eyelashes fluttering as he considered something out of the bounds of friendship.

You raised your hand up to his forehead and flicked him between his eyes. Hard.

Changmin yelped and fumbled backward to the boisterous sound of your laughter. He rubbed his forehead furiously where an angry, red mark formed and smarted. He snarled at you, “Not cool!” His face was nearly as red as the mark… oops.

“That's what you get!” you countered with an accusing finger. “Now. Promise me you'll never purposely possess my body in your dreams, you perv.”

A grumble came from the depths of his throat—agreement. “I never did it on purpose,” he mumbled, slapping his hand with yours in a binding handshake. He sounded like a teen boy who's gaming console was just taken away.

“And promise me that you will take care of yourself, so that we can get out of this binding thing and so that you don't accidentally possess me.”

“Didn't you offer to get possessed last night?” Changmin stiffened as the words left his lips. “I didn't mean that! Don't get the kitchen knives!”

His giggles pierced the air, sharp but endearing, as he scrambled back into his room with you clinging to his heels. “Or get the kitchen knives—it’s kind of hot.”

“Ji Changmin.”

PART III: THE RELATIVE

WHEN YOU APPEARED IN YOUR 8:30 biopsychology lecture on Monday morning, you had nearly forgotten that the world had not completely turned upside down when you bound your soul to Changmin’s. No one else but you and he knew about it, and it seemed he was determined to keep it that way. Nonetheless, when you settled in your usual seat about midway up the lecture hall, close to the exit on stage right, you looked into Yeh Shuhua’s terrifyingly beautiful eyes and almost blurted your secret.

It was because of that reason, and the fact that she was one of your close friends. She was one of the participants of the ritual; it was only right that you disclosed to her the consequences of all your actions. However, the reminder from Changmin echoed in your head like a dull heartbeat: Don’t tell any of them. Don’t do something stupid like Hyunjae or Shuhua. He realized that ‘stupid’ applied to him, too, right?

“You seem antsy,” were her first words to you as you finally decided on how you would roll up your jacket. It had taken a couple tries and configurations before you settled on just draping it over the chair behind you.

You straightened in your chair. Perhaps subtlety was not with you this morning. “My coffee was too strong,” you said.

She snorted, a bright and unassuming sound, as she pulled her laptop out from her bag. “Honey, you don’t drink coffee.”

…Right. You let the words sink in to properly register your dumbassery, then settled on the most basic excuse known to college students. “It’s too early for this.”

“Amen.” Conversation saved.

When you first signed up for this class, you were under the impression that it would be a riveting insight into the brain and its inner workings. Alas, your professor from Psych101 did you a disservice by testifying to Psych210’s interest factor, because it was entirely lacking in interesting things. The majority of what was being discussed in lecture could be read about via the slides, but unfortunately, participation was mandatory. Even worse was that this class was the prerequisite to the neuroscience class that was actually interesting.

You didn’t like to critique the teaching skills of a professor who was meant to research and not to teach, but you were going to for the umpteenth time.

Beside you, Shuhua barely swallowed a yawn and hid the last bits of it behind the lid of her coffee tumbler. She took a sip, then leaned over to you. “I’m pretty sure I learned all of this in freshman year biology.”

“Is that right,” you murmured. You hadn’t taken the introductory biology series because you were only minoring in psychology, whereas Shuhua was a neuroscience major. “You must really be suffering then.”

Her head slowly touched down onto your shoulder. “Tell me about it… by the way, did you hear about the house party that’s happening on Saturday?”

You hummed. “Who’s hosting?” House parties were usually something you needed to be a part of a friend group to be invited to. Though, that was usually the case for all parties in college, you’d found out. Fraternity parties were oftentimes exclusive to Greeks, or if you knew a frat brother or sorority sister. Other parties were spread by word of mouth and required an entrance fee that amounted to a fraudulent sum of money. Thus, if you went to any party, it was either a house party hosted by a friend of a friend, or one of your friends’ birthday parties.

“Hm… it’s my family friend’s kid’s friend group.” She paused, then clarified her statement, “Yangyang. You know Yangyang, right?

You made a sound of acknowledgement. “Isn't he friends with Xiaojun, Kevin, and Yuqi, that group?”

“That's the one,” she chirped. “But he only lives with Xiaojun and a couple other guys. It's a house in one of the neighborhoods nearby.”

“I see. Are we going?”

“Of course we are, silly.” Shuhua blindly patted one of your hands and you imagined that her eyes were likely already closed. You and your friends were accustomed to forcing one another to socialize outside the group from time to time; it made the college riptide a bit easier to swim through. “I just didn't know if you were aware or not yet.”

“Well, now I am,” you chuckled.

“You sure are.”

The remainder of the lecture went by as dull as it usually did, and 9:30 could not come faster. You and Shuhua bumbled out of the packed auditorium among the crowd of others filing out.

A yawn stretched your mouth open as you checked your phone. “You've got a class after this, right?” you asked Shuhua.

She nodded. “Unfortunately. Do you wanna have lunch together afterward?”

“Ah” —guilt anchored itself to the pit of your stomach, allowing the urge to spill your secret to dwindle— “I'm actually hanging out with Changmin today.” Neither of you had terribly busy Mondays, so you both decided to do some solution-hunting together, whatever that meant. He just needed to be back by the time his dance rehearsal started.

Her mouth quirked to the side in a slight frown. “Oh, okay. Just you two?”

“Yep.”

For a second, you thought she was gazing right into your soul where the invisible knot was tied linking you to your mutual friend. But she suddenly smiled and blew you a kiss. “No worries! Have fun.”

You blinked, the anxiety lingering. “Yeah… thanks. You, too.”

Shuhua left first to hurry off to her next class while you remained in the lobby. You had fully expected that she would at least ask what the two of you were doing, and you were prepared to come up with another dumb excuse. It wasn't suspicious that you and Changmin were hanging out alone, right? There were plenty of instances where you hung out solo with your close friends.

You brushed it away. It was the paranoia talking.

You headed toward the nearest parking lot. Because you lived relatively close to campus, there was usually no need to drive, but since you and Changmin were going elsewhere in the city, you opted to drive.

As you settled into the front seat, you sent him a text to let you know you were on your way over to his apartment. It would be convenient if you could somehow use the soul-bond to communicate with him instead, you thought as you navigated through campus to a nearby neighborhood. Alas, based on what Changmin told you before, the bond was more useful to him than it was for you. How wonderful.

You let your car run as you pulled up to the curb outside of his apartment complex. Through the windows on the first floor, a periwinkle sheen caught your eye. There wasn’t much doubt in your mind that it was the ribbon Changmin tied to his bicycle. It was his favorite color—not that you knew that for any particular reason, other than the fact that you were friends. It was useful information for birthday cards, was your reasoning.

Before you could meander down some weird mental road of thoughts, the passenger side door opened and closed. Your counterpart was dressed in dark green today: dark green sweater, a darker but muted shade of cargo pants, followed by a matching cap shoved over his blond hair. “Hi,” he said, strapping himself in with the seatbelt and setting his bag down by his feet.

He looked particularly pocket-sized today with the cheeky, dimpled smile on his face and you smiled in greeting. “Hi!” you chirped back. “Where to?”

“An aunt of mine lives downtown. Do you know how to get to Union Station?”

You nodded, tugging the car into drive, “Yup. Wow, she lives down by the waterfront?”

“Yeah,” he laughed. When he did, he ducked his head so you only caught a glimpse of that dimpled smile. “She’s married to a siren.”

Your eyes went wide, and his laugh grew louder. You flattened your expression into a deadpan as heat rushed to the back of your neck. “Don’t laugh,” you muttered. “Why are you laughing?”

“I’d say for you to not pout then, but it’s cute,” he replied with that smile lingering on his face in the form of a half-smirk. He had pulled his phone out to text someone. “I’m only laughing because I had a feeling you’d react like that, and I was right.”

You huffed. “I feel like I’m at too much of a disadvantage around you.”

“You have more power than you think.” Changmin passed you a glance and deposited his phone in the cupholder. He leaned his cheek against his knuckles. “You just need to exercise it.”

“Well, I can’t exactly threaten you with kitchen knives and forehead flicks all the time.”

He shrugged. “That’s not what I meant, but it’s whatever. How was class?”

Changmin, Juyeon, and Hyunjae were all aware of yours and Shuhua’s disdain for your shared biopsychology class. The complaints had filed (flooded) in as soon as the first week of classes were over. You could gab on and on about the boredom that plagued you, but you hardly wanted to be a broken record when there were other things to talk about. “It was fine,” you said, then swiftly moved to something else. “I think I almost told Shuhua, like, twice about the soul bond thing. Why can’t we tell them again?”

“Do you really think they’d believe us?”

You thought about it—about the twin cuts on your index fingers, the unseen string that tethered your souls together, the dream that Changmin had. They would think Changmin had roped you into his regular shenanigans, and in a way, he had. You sighed, albeit reluctantly. “True. But it just feels…” you grimaced. “Is it weird that I feel guilty?”

Changmin shook his head. “No, I’ve had to tiptoe around my mom’s and my true nature around you guys for years. It’s natural to wanna be truthful to your friends, Yn, but some things are better left unsaid.”

“Is there a reason why the supernatural community stays hidden? Is that something I can ask?”

“Of course,” he said easily, turning his gaze out the window. “It’s just that it’s better—safer—for us this way. Humans can hardly handle differences amongst themselves as it is; imagine what would happen if they found that even more species of sentient beings existed, y’know?”

Truth was a difficult pill to swallow. It was a capsule that often found itself lodged in a throat rather than being digested. And even if it eventually managed to make it to the stomach, it sank to the bottom like a body anchored by bricks in a river. There was, unfortunately, much merit to what Changmin said.

Your eyes flickered to your side mirrors as you merged onto the highway. “I see.”

“It’s definitely relieving that at least one of my close friends knows the truth now, though.” He knocked the back of his hand against your arm in a warm gesture, and although you were unable to return the expression or even look at him then, he was looking at you.

Because you and Changmin set off just after rush hour passed, the drive through the downtown scene was relatively easy. The rest of your time in the car was spent chatting about the party Yangyang and his housemates were throwing, as well as Changmin directing you to his aunt’s residence by the marina. His ability to give directions left much to be desired; your car was filled with shouts and bickering whenever he told you to turn too late.

Somehow though, you arrived at the right street, and he even helped you find a parking spot along a curb that didn’t involve ungodly hourly parking rates. You wouldn’t call it a complete redemption, but he was on his way toward one.

“Are you sure it’s cool if we just show up unannounced like this?” you asked him, tilting your head back to peer up at the apartments that towered above you. Some of the windows were left open and their curtains drifted whimsically in the mid-morning breeze; some of the fire escapes were connected by copper-colored ladders, fitting together like a puzzle. You liked to think that complexes like this housed residents who were friendly to one another like some fantasy video game—a pair of friends hanging out of their windows to gossip across the fire escapes, a cat sleeping in the window—that sort of thing.

Changmin stood next to you, but his gaze was turned out to the marina in the distance, the sails of boats in the foreground of the slate blue-gray of the bay water. “Yeah, it’s cool. And we’re not exactly unannounced; I told her we were coming.”

“When?” You followed him in through the front door. The hinges squealed upon use and the door shuddered violently when it closed.

“In the car.”

You deadpanned at his back as you followed him up the stairs. “You’re an awful relative.”

“Don’t all relatives show up to their other relatives' homes unannounced?” he jested. “I’m a model nephew, actually.”

“A model in what standard? Hell?”

He shrugged up ahead, glancing back to pass you a boyish grin. “Yeah, basically. My mom says demons just kind of teleport into their relatives’ homes unannounced.”

“So that’s where your incredible lack of boundaries comes from,” you said and glowered up at him.

You met Changmin on the landing of the second floor and ducked out of the stairwell into the dimly-lit corridor. It was quiet here in the middle of the day, but you could hear the muffled sounds of television programs and voices emanating behind different doors you passed by. The carpet was well-trodden and didn’t kick dust up when you walked, and the overall smell was vaguely fishy and reminiscent of the seafood section of a supermarket.

“Cultural difference,” he replied cheekily. “This is hers, Aunt Jenna’s.” He gestured to the door he stood at with a rusted, gold B29 hanging on its surface just above the peephole.

You tucked your hands into your jacket pockets. “Anything I should know before going in?”

Changmin paused and his face flashed with realization. It translated roughly, but accurately enough, to ‘Uh oh.’ He opened his mouth to say something, but the door beat him to it.

Correction: his aunt beat him to it. Or at least, she was who you assumed was his aunt. Her facial features and bone structure weren't similar to Changmin’s at all, but those eyes—dark like the deepest corner of a shadow; engulfing, embracing, enveloping—her eyes were what made familiarity pang in your chest where the soul-knot sat.

Her mouth stretched into a bright smile. “Changmin-ah! And his significant other, isn’t it—or kids these days say partner instead, hm? Don’t be strangers now; come in, come in!”

What did she just say? You have got to be kidding me.

Too overwhelmed to think, you let his aunt usher you and Changmin in through her front door. You threw—chucked—an alarmed glance over at your counterpart, who could only meet your wide eyes with his own. Shoes were exchanged for slippers, and you were guided toward a couch settled in one part of the cozy living space.

“It’s nice to meet you, Aunt Jenna,” you finally managed to say through the heat flaring up your neck and behind your ears. “But I do have to, uhm, correct you.”

Changmin coughed beside you on the couch as his aunt perched on the coffee table across from you both. “She’s not my romantic partner, auntie. Yn’s just a friend.”

You nodded earnestly.

His aunt’s face flickered from that sunny smile to a more somber surprise. She broke into a sheepish sort of laugh, absentmindedly brushing a lock of hair behind her shoulder. “Oh, well how silly of me. I’m sorry if I made you uncomfortable—I got embarrassingly excited,” she confessed. She addressed Changmin specifically, reaching over to whack his knee, “You used the word for lover when you texted me earlier!”

Changmin’s hands rocketed up as both you and his aunt fixed him with pointed looks. “It was a typo and an honest mistake,” he swore. “I haven’t spoken or written in that demonic dialect in awhile,” he said to you, “and the words for friend and lover are, like, one letter different.”

His mouth had pursed into an unconscious pout, and you reached over to flick him between the eyes. Bone against fingernail, and the dense thunk sound the impact produced was quite satisfying.

“Ow! I'm sorry!”

You turned to a rather amused Aunt Jenna. “I'm sorry I did that in front of you. I swear, I won't make a habit out of it.” That remained to be seen, however. How had you refrained from flicking him for his behavior before this?

She chuckled. “I'm sure he's warranted it more than once. It's nice to meet you, Yn.”

“Likewise. You have a lovely home.”

Changmin held his forehead with his hat now sitting in his lap, and his eyes narrowed at the two of you. “This was the worst idea I've ever had.”

“Do you drink tea, Yn?” his aunt asked you, waving aside her nephew's comment. “I'll make us some tea and we can talk about whatever you both came to discuss.”

Tea was served on an elegant tray made of polished dark wood. The color was a deep red, as if it had been dipped in a vat of blood, and was engraved with images of what you assumed to be flowers with long stems crowned with big, beautiful petals. You nursed a Finding Nemo mug between your palms, gently blowing on the steam that wafted out of the aromatic floral tea.

Just the fragrance of the drink was enough to put you at ease. The muscles and knots in your shoulders loosened, your frown lines smoothed over. You took a gentle sip and savored the tangible warmth that streamed down your throat and into your stomach.

You nodded to Aunt Jenna who's dark eyes gleamed knowingly over the rim of her mug. “That's very good,” you said.

“Isn't it? Would you like to take some home?”

Changmin harrumphed from beside you after taking a hulking gulp of his own drink. “Guys, please.”

“Mm yes, yes.” Aunt Jenna waved her free hand flippantly. “Your problem.”

While Jenna had prepared the tea, you and Changmin explained to her how your souls became tied together. Most of the explanation consisted of specific details of the ritual itself, not the circumstances before. You described the physical sensations on your end, and Changmin added in his out-of-body experience.

When your piece was said, it left Aunt Jenna to marinate on all the facts. She took a sip of her drink first. “Well, you're both fools, but you” —she wiggled an accusing finger at her nephew— “especially. How could you be so irresponsible as to let your friends go through with a bargaining ritual?”

Changmin grabbed the back of his neck and hung his head like a kicked puppy. “It didn't seem like the end of the world if they wanted to have fun.”

“I suppose,” Jenna muttered, but not without some sympathy. She was a demon living amongst humans, too, after all. “But look where that's gotten you both. There are just far too many unforeseen variables that could have made this situation ten times worse. You and Yn becoming soul-bound is probably the best outcome, frankly.”

You would beg to differ, but you kept your lips stitched together and attached to the rim of your mug.

“But as for undoing it, I'm afraid there aren't many options.”

You detached your mouth from the mug.

You and Changmin exchanged a glance with one another. He asked, “What are our options?”

Aunt Jenna's mouth pursed slightly to form small divots in the sides of her cheeks. “The one most accessible to you is to bargain with another, more powerful demon to take over your bond with Yn.”

“Absolutely not,” he interjected. “That's out of the question.”

“I guessed as much,” she said, taking another sip. “Then it's quite literally impossible—unless you used cursed magic—but even if you didn't care about facing the hellish consequences, gaining access to a Book of the Diabolical is insanely difficult.”

Though you were completely ignorant to almost everything Aunt Jenna was saying, you weren't so ignorant to her message between the lines: you were fucked. Supremely.

Looking over at Changmin only confirmed what you were thinking. There seemed to be a war being waged behind his eyes as he clutched his mug in his lap and glared at a grain in the hardwood floor. This situation was partially your fault and his, and now, the only thing you could do was to drown in the consequences.

You turned to his aunt. “Then how can we live with it?” In your periphery, Changmin's head raised. “I mean, are there techniques to better control this situation, like on both Changmin's end and my end if we can't simply rid ourselves of it?”

Aunt Jenna considered you for a moment, then nodded slowly. “There are,” she said. “Control is something very valuable to demons, Yn. I don't know how much Changmin's told you—”

You sent him a thin smile.

“—but mastering your own body is one of the most integral things young demons first learn. If you don't have control over your mind and body, then how could you possibly be trusted to control anything else?”

That made sense, you thought. It was a thoughtful principle, too, that others (humans) could learn from. What other parts of demon culture and values were there that these two would be willing to share with you?

Jenna had finished her cup of tea by now and set her empty mug back onto the tray. “So the easiest way, I think, to safeguard yourselves against one another is to strengthen your minds.”

What exactly Aunt Jenna had in mind was meditation. Because you were human and couldn't exactly perform the same demonic energy rituals and mind exercises that Jenna and Changmin could, meditation was the next best group activity. In order to do this, Jenna shut all of the curtains and sealed the living room off from the outside world. The coffee table and sofa were shoved to the edges of the room, while the empty space was occupied by three bath towels and a Bath and Body Works candle.

It was reminiscent of the ritual from That Night, but your heart rate sat a little more stable with the belief that you were in capable hands this time.

The three of you arranged yourselves in a loose triangle around the lit candle, its small flame shuddering at the force of your breaths.

“You can place your hands wherever you're most comfortable,” Aunt Jenna said lowly, softly—a vocal embodiment of the small head of fire upon the candle. “Sit up straight, close your eyes, and breathe in deep… let the darkness envelope you.”

There weren't many moments when you considered yourself petty, salty, or bitter. But at this very moment, you were most certainly all three at once.

“Are you really still mad that you fell asleep?” The question was posed with as much audacity as there was incredulity in his voice.

You didn't have to direct your glaring eyes at Changmin for him to feel the edge. “It was embarrassing,” you grumbled.

“Aw, it's okay. Not everyone has the mental fortitude to meditate.”

And you do? you wanted to snap back like a five year old. Instead, you tightened your grip on the steering wheel and focused on not steering the two of you off the road. “I will literally ditch you on the highway.”

He leaned his head against the window to watch you with a twinkle in his eyes and a toothy grin on his lips. “And I will literally haunt you in your sleep.”

The pair of you were in the car driving back up to the university. You had just left Aunt Jenna's about fifteen minutes ago after the failed meditation session (for you) and her insisting you both stayed for lunch. With your stomachs full and your heads quite literally empty, there was nothing left to do but to return home.

There had been a moment before you both left when Jenna pulled Changmin aside to have a private conversation. You had lingered outside the apartment door, but couldn't hear anything despite it being left slightly ajar. There must have been some crazy soundproofing done on her apartment. A charm, perhaps?

But when Changmin came to join you, you picked up the tail end of their talk. It had to do with Changmin pleading with her not to tell his mom about what happened; Aunt Jenna would only agree if he promised to babysit her kids next week.

That thought made you smile to yourself even through the cloud of salty pettiness in your vision. What was Changmin like around kids? The guy was rather childish himself, but… you wouldn't deny that he would probably be good—

“What are you smiling about?” he mused as he peered out from under the brim of his cap. He reclined his seat back a little and crossed his arms over his chest, settling himself in for the ride back.

You scoffed and forced the smile away. “Wouldn’t you like to know.”

He hummed. “Methinks it was about me,” he teased and tugged his cap further over his eyes so even his mouth was barely visible. At your silence, he murmured, “Also, I hope you're not bothered about earlier.”

“Hm?”

“I mean—the fact that you weren't able to meditate. And,” he added quickly, “I'm not trying to make fun of you. It's just that that was the only way Aunt Jenna could think that you could safeguard yourself against me. I'm gonna be really good about this, Yn, I swear. I don't—y’know, I don't want anything to change between us.”

Ah. Well, since his hat was over his eyes, you allowed your smile to slip back into place. The weight in your chest was warm, a comforting sort of tightness. You were gradually getting more accustomed to its presence, and at this particular moment, you were glad to be aware of it.

“I believe you,” you said to him. “And I don't want anything to change between us either.” You were friends before the ritual, and you would continue to be friends after it.

You were content with being accompanied by your thoughts and the radio for the remainder of the ride. Your companion in the passenger seat had drifted to sleep at some point when the highways began to grow rather congested with the early afternoon traffic. Changmin had a dance rehearsal in a couple hours, which gave some leeway as to what time you needed to get him back by.

By the time you hit the university district, the sun perched lower in a sky spotted with cirrus clouds, wispy and drifting in the autumn breeze. The filter it cast over the world was a mute gold, warm.

Changmin peered out his side window as you navigated through the busy streets, his face nearly pressed up against the glass because his cap was turned around. There was far too much foot traffic at three in the afternoon, but it was unfortunately a popular time to be out and about for students on a Monday. “Could you drop me off at the sandwich shop on the corner over there?” he asked suddenly, his voice gravelly from disuse. He inclined his chin further down the block, and you had enough time to switch lanes.

“Yeah, sure,” you murmured, glancing over at him. “You don’t want me to drop you off straight at the dance hall?”

“Nah, I’ve got a couple hours, so I think I’m gonna get another bite to eat first.” He rummaged around in the bag at his feet, double checking that he had brought along everything he needed. “D’you wanna…” His voice trailed off as he turned his head up toward you.

You hummed in question and furrowed your brows in concentration to direct your car into a parking spot along the curb.

“Did you wanna come in with me? I don’t know what your plans are after this.” Changmin had one foot out the door, but the rest of his body remained here with you, in the car, as if hesitant to leave just yet. With the brim of his cap turned around, you could better see his face, the hair pushed out of his dark eyes. There was a small smile seated upon his lips, hopeful in the way it curved into his cheeks in the way you always found slightly endearing.

Your hand lingered by your seatbelt. What were your plans after this? Nothing, right? “I mean, if you don—”

“Yn, is that you?”

The voice and the interruption elicited similar jolts from both of you. Your head whipped around on instinct to locate the person who had called out to you.

Crossing the street to you now was Lee Chan. He had his backpack slung over his shoulder, and he waved a hand at you when he caught your eye. But they flickered away from you to someone behind you—Changmin straightened to his full height, his head appearing over the roof of the car.

You glanced back at your counterpart. That smile, so boyish and innocent, had grown an edge.

“Thanks for the ride, Yn,” Changmin said to you, ducking his head to address you. He reached into the car so he could clasp your hand, his fingers clutching yours as he stole your gaze away… they lingered. “I’ll talk to you later, hm?”

You nodded, unsure why you were so dumbfounded. “Yeah, sure,” you stammered out. “I had fun today.”

“Same.” And there was that smile again. It wasn’t exactly the same, but it had softened out at the corners. With a final raise of his hand, he shut your passenger door and jogged off toward the shop.

You blinked as air suddenly filled your lungs again. Had you been holding your breath the whole time? You forgot to wish him a good rehearsal.

A knock on your window had you swiveling your head around. Chan grinned as you rolled your window down. “Hey, what’ve you been up to?”

Not a mention of Changmin, you noted. You were aware of Changmin and Chan’s dislike for one another, and though it caused you a torrent of internal conflict, there was nothing that you could do about it. If they were unwilling to talk about it with each other or with you, then there was no use. Both of them were important figures in your life, so it was just as important that you could keep them both—was that selfish? It seemed that they were able to somewhat coexist, however, if they participated on the same dance team. How did that even work out?

“I was out with Changmin for most of the day,” you said. “We were just… y’know, visiting a relative of his downtown.” There was no harm in saying that, right?

Chan’s expression didn’t even shudder. “Oh? I didn’t know he had relatives downtown.”

Of course, you didn’t. You appreciated that he tried to be civil about Changmin around you, but sometimes the pretense was more aggravating than the petty disdain. “Yeah, they were really nice. We drank tea and chatted a bit.”

“Glad it was a chill time,” he smiled. “Ah, speaking of—I was wondering if you wanted to go visit Chaeyoung noona with me sometime this week? I've been trying to figure out the best time to go see her before midterms.”

You brightened at the mention of Chan's older sister. Though his parents had passed away before Chan graduated high school, he was supported mostly by his older sister, Chaeyoung. You'd heard and seen for yourself the chronic illness that she was cursed with, however. There had been a decent stretch in time when her situation looked much better, but recently, she had been forced back into long-term care at the hospital.

“Yeah, definitely! It'll be nice to see her after so long. Just text me and let me know what day you decide.” The last time you saw Chaeyoung was probably at the start of the past summer break when you went home to see your parents with Chan. Though you and Chan were around the same age, he acted more as an older brother figure to you, likely because of Chaeyoung's good influence.

The golden hour sun glinted its rays into your eyes, and you were reminded of the time. “Oh, don’t you have dance practice soon? Need a ride over?”

“Yeah, I do, but I don’t need a ride,” he said. “I was about to meet Vernon in the cafe down the street though. Do you wanna come with?”

The idea of accepting his invitation crossed your mind, but the ache in your legs and at the nape of your neck were suddenly a lot more prominent than before. You hadn’t even realized how tired you were. “Not this time; I think I'm a little tired. Thanks for the invite, though!”

He pressed his mouth together in slight disappointment, but waved it away with a casual hand motion. “Of course. Drive home safe, then.”

“I will. Have a good time, Chan.”

Chan returned the sentiment back to you, but instead of leaving right away, his lips parted another time. He paused, concern gleaming in his eyes—or was that the setting sun? You couldn’t tell the difference, but there was something he couldn’t quite articulate with words that his facial expression was desperate to reveal to you instead.

You frowned. “Something wrong?”

He let out a small laugh and brushed away the thought. “No, don’t worry about it.”

Are you aware that you've been cursed?

Aunt Jenna's words echoed in Changmin's head ceaselessly throughout the dance rehearsal. They had been subdued slightly when he was asleep in your car earlier, but consciousness tended to surface more nightmares than the unconscious state. Even in the bright light of day, those shadows found a way to creep in and force him into some horrific tunnel vision.

No, he wasn't aware that he'd been cursed. How could he?

Out of everything he thought she pulled him aside for, that was the last thing he expected. The look in her eyes—those dark irises that mirrored his in depth—had been stricken by a grave worry. Those all-knowing eyes, far surpassing his in experience, had taken one look at him coming in through the door and determined something horrible had happened.

A curse?

You haven't been feeling strange lately? She had grasped him by the shoulders, her hands firm in their iron grip. Any strange aches and pains?

The headaches. He told her about the random, spotty headaches that had been plaguing him recently. It hadn't occurred to him at all that they could even be a side effect for a curse.

I've heard some strange things have been going on to the demons in your area. The curse has subsided for now because of your half-humanness, but…

Changmin could fill in the blanks.

His appeal to Aunt Jenna about not telling his mom about any of this included both the soul-bond and the curse. Based on what his aunt told him, there have been demons in this area who have been forced into critical conditions by an energy-stealing curse. That would explain his frequent headaches and his increased exhaustion. Though, the headaches had been on the decline as of late, which coincided with the other part of Jenna's warning.

He was at odds. He couldn't simply sit around and wait for whatever maniac was at large to suddenly stop. He and all the other demons around him were sitting ducks. Worrying about the soul-bond was one thing, but he supposed this now took priority.

Changmin hunched over his bag in one of the darkened corners of the practice room. The lights had been turned down slightly as their four reserved hours drew to a close. It was a hard night, but the sweat, heat, and adrenaline was a delightfully addicting mixture.

Absent-mindedly, he rubbed a palm over his chest. The invisible knot there that linked you to him tightened at the attention. He had made a habit of this over the course of the past few hours; the physical sensation of the string tugging grounded him and kept him from disappearing into his head too much.

Could you feel him on the other end? He was certain you could if he made it obvious. If he tugged just right—

“Ji. I need to talk to you.”

The only sign of surprise Changmin let Lee Chan see was the raising of his eyebrows. “I don't need to talk to you.”

“It's about Yn.”

Changmin's movements froze. He let go of his bag's strap and zippers with a sigh, then straightened up to meet Chan eye to eye. He crossed his arms over his chest. “What about Yn?” You were his problem now, whether you liked it or not.

Chan's eyes narrowed at him, a muscle in his jaw twitching. “I don't know what you think you're doing with her, but you need to stop. It was enough that she's friends with you—”

He couldn't help but scoff. What the fuck is he going on about? Changmin's mouth twisted into an incredulous smirk, the points of his canines peering out from under his lip as he jabbed his tongue into his cheek. “I was wondering when you'd finally drop the Nice Guy act.”

“This isn't about me putting up a front,” Chan quipped in hushed tones. He wouldn't have done so if he wanted to make a scene. “This isn't even about us not liking each other. My problem is that you're roping Yn into your—your fucking bullshit.”

Changmin furrowed his brows. “You're being vague and dramatic, Lee Chan. I really don't have the time or the patience for this.”

“I know who you really are, Ji.” In any other context, those words in that order would have made Changmin bark out a laugh.

Changmin shuddered as he sized up Lee Chan in a different light. It was almost funny how perspective could change everything. In the daylight and bright fluorescents, Chan was a model kid with a charming smile and unshakeable charisma. He cared about you and watched over you like a brother. But without the presence of light was when Changmin was most afraid of what he saw. It was not because he was afraid of the dark—the shadows, frankly, were a demon's ally—it was because the dark did something to Chan in the same way blood infested clear water.

Chan's mouth was set in a firm line, and nothing about his facial expression or stance gave even an inkling that he was bluffing.

“I still have no fucking clue what you're talking about,” Changmin replied lowly, scooping his bag up and brushing past Chan.

He went to find Juyeon. The organ in his chest pumped his blood wickedly fast through his system; the blood thundered in his ears, loud and deafening, like an oncoming train. Aunt Jenna was in his head, you were in his chest, Lee Chan was at his back.

Ba-boom, ba-boom, ba-boom, ba-boom—

He and Juyeon were out the door in a flash, but Changmin glanced backward—because we always turned toward that which was capable of our demise; that was survival instinct—and he flinched when Chan's eyes caught his again.

Changmin let the door slam behind him as he stole into the cold night. If only the darkness could hide him from whatever just happened.

read part two here (if the link isn't there yet, refresh out of this page and it'll be linked at the top)

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[bloomzone]

💭. ˎˊ˗Jα𐓣𝗀 wo𐓣𝗒oυ𐓣𝗀 o𐓣𝖼𝖾 𝗌α𝗂ᑯ

Okay, sometimes wonyoung says things that just hit. It’s stuff that actually gives you a little push when you need it . I’m not here to just repost her quotes (wish I worked hard to extract them and translate them ) I’m here to talk about them, break them down, and explain why they matter. Like how they can help you with your mindset and life in general.

if y'all like it i will make more of them !

enjoy part 1 !

"Which is worse: the struggle of preparing, or the disappointment of a bad result?For me, I think I’d hate the disappointing grade more.So even though it’s tough, try to use this time wisely study efficiently, and work hard so you can feel proud.Once the exam is over, you’ll have time to rest and enjoy yourself. Even just a little bit.That’s why I think the most important thing is to give it your best, so you have no regrets."

- jang wonyoung vlive

﹙ ✿ ﹚

🗒️: the question of “Which is worse the struggle of preparing, or the disappointment of a bad result?” is a reality cuz the truth is, both are uncomfortable. But one of them builds you up, and the other just breaks you down.The struggle of preparing it’s tiring ofc no doubt. You have to push yourself when you’re sleepy, bored, or overwhelmed. It’s showing up for yourself again and again, even when motivation isn’t there. But there’s pride in it. A kind of strength that grows with every small effort and when it’s done, even if the result isn’t perfect, you still walk away with no regrets. You know deep down: I tried. I fought for this.But when the result is bad and you know you didn’t try... that’s a different kind of weight. It sits in your chest. It makes you wish you could go back, change things, redo the moments you chose to scroll or sleep instead.So when you think about it, studying hard isn’t just about getting a good grade. It’s about giving yourself the chance to feel proud, not guilty. Even if you don’t feel “ready” or perfect effort is always better than avoidance

♡ ﾟ a little tip from me : like always keep some backup energy. Whether it’s ur fav food , a calming playlist, or a memory that reminds you why you’re doing this your why your dreams and ofc your future self have something in your pocket for those tired moments. It helps more than you think.

"I think the most important thing is to cherish yourself and make yourself the top priority.Of course, I have to love myself first for others to love me.So I hope you all can think of yourselves as the most beautiful, the coolest, and the most precious.I hope you see yourself that way first.I already love you all, don’t I?So there must be so many people who love you, including me.Got it?"

- jang wonyoung vlive

﹙ ✿ ﹚

“Cherish yourself and make yourself the top priority.” it’s hard for some people ikr especially when you’re used to pleasing others, hiding your feelings, or not even knowing what you want.

Loving yourself isn’t just looking in the mirror and saying “I’m pretty.” It’s more like choosing not to talk badly about yourself when you feel down. It’s not easy, because your brain is used to doubting you. That’s why this mindset takes practice.

So how do you even start doing that? Start by treating yourself the way you’d treat someone you really love. Would you tell your friend they’re not good enough? No. So stop doing that to yourself. If you mess up, forgive yourself. If you’re tired, let yourself rest without feeling guilty you are ur own home treat it and tidy up yourself and take care of urself .It’s small stuff, but it builds up. You say no when something doesn’t feel right. You take time to listen to your feelings instead of pushing them away. You stop chasing people who don’t see your worth AND THIS IS VEEEEEEEEEEEEEEERY IMPORTANT and it’s all about being honest and gentle with yourself.And just like Wonyoung said even if you don’t see it yet, there are people who already love you. So try to see yourself through kinder eyes.

♡ ﾟ a little tip from me : life moves on. The people who try to bring you down now u won't see them forever. Start slipping away from them, little by little. Even if it feels like you have something good to hold onto some old memories, shared laughs, or habits that make you feel stuck you can let go. You can change your way of thinking. You don’t need to give your energy to people who drain it and stop giving a damn about their opinions. Block them from ur phone ur mind and ur heart You don’t need to make a big show out of it. Just slowly get busy with yourself. Your goals. Your peace. Your healing and look around for good energy ... They’re not worth the tears or overthinking.You’re allowed to choose yourself. To say, I want better and this is ENOUGH .The more you build your world, the more you’ll realize they were just noise .

"Even if someone says something hurtful, if it doesn’t feel true to me, I don’t take it personally.Honestly, things would be a lot simpler if everyone thought that way.If it’s not true, then it has nothing to do with me.But if it is true something I actually need to work on then I just focus on improving it.It’s all about knowing what to let go of and what to take in.Being able to tell the difference is a skill in itself."

- jang wonyoung for salon drip

﹙ ✿ ﹚

This wonyoung helpful way of thinking can really help us protect our peace. When someone says something hurtful, we don’t have to take it to heart if it doesn’t feel true to us. It’s like, if it’s not part of our reality or doesn’t resonate with who we are, we can just let it slide. This takes a lot of emotional strength and self-awareness n it’s about trusting ourselves enough to know that other people's words don't define our worth. But If it’s something we do need to work on, though, then we take it as an opportunity to grow and improve, rather than let it bring us down.

The real key here is knowing what to absorb and what to release. It’s a skill like developing emotional intelligence, and it can make a huge difference in how we handle life’s ups and downs by experience ! . Learning to distinguish between helpful feedback and unnecessary negativity allows us to stay focused on what matters our own growth and well-being so it’s about being strong enough to choose what gets under our skin and what doesn’t.

♡ ﾟ a little tip from me : Always take time to reflect in a journal and organize the things u want to work on. It's normal to be critical of areas where we're not perfect, and sometimes others may notice things we don’t. Use that as a chance to grow and improve, without letting it affect your confidence. Journaling helps u process these moments and stay focused on your personal development.

"I hope you live with the joy that comes from chasing and achieving your own goals. Rather than worrying about how others see you or trying to meet their expectations, focus on what you truly want to do and accomplish. I hope you can move forward in life not for others, but with the excitement of reaching your own dreams."

- jang wonyoung for youngji show

﹙ ✿ ﹚

The first key takeaway is focus on what YOU want, not on what others think or expect. This means getting real with yourself about what truly excites you, not what’s expected of you by others family, friends, or society. When you spend all your time trying to meet external expectations, you lose sight of your own desires and dreams. This shift requires clarity, so the first step is to figure out what goals genuinely make you feel alive and excited. It’s not about impressing anyone it’s about getting yourself to the finish line of your own goals.

But It’s easy to say, "I’m going to stop worrying about what others think," but in practice, it’s hard. There will always be moments when you’re tempted to compare yourself or feel like you’re falling behind. But YOUR life is YOURS. No one else is living your journey. The most important thing is not to beat yourself up when you feel unsure or when you hear those voices telling you you’re not enough. It’s normal. When you feel like you’re not meeting others’ expectations, take a deep breath and remind yourself: Your goals, your pace, your happiness are what matter most . It’s okay to disappoint others if it means you're staying true to your path. Move forward not for anyone else but for YOU. The excitement and joy that comes from chasing YOUR dreams will be more fulfilling than anything else.

♡ ﾟ a little tip from me :when the noise gets loud and you start doubting yourself, take a moment to unplug grab your journal, go on a walk, do something u love or also u can watch something that bring u back to ur passion... Ask yourself “Is this what I truly want?” Coming back to your own voice helps you stay grounded and protects your energy. The more you listen to yourself the less space doubt and outside pressure take up.

@bloomzone ✧⌨️👛*⁠。

[lizdive]

Heyy :3 I saw your Lynette! Reader and I'm love with it 🥰 Can I also request some version for Welt, Gallagher, Argenti? Ofc platonic all they wayy [I love ur work 🫶🫶🫶]

Yes you can nonnie 🫡🩷 thank you so much for your sweet words MWAH MWAH 🫶🫶 thank you for requesting !! if you’re unsatisfied just tell me and i’ll redo it <33 ALSO !! NOT CLICKBAIT I GOT TWO POSTS OUT TODAY AND THE CROWD WENT HOME 💯‼️ *Comically gets tomatoes thrown at me* /j

notes 𐙚 gender-neutral reader — "you" used to refer to reader ,, reader is a teenager ,, reader is based off of "lynette" from the game genshin impact ,, platonic relationships ,, mentions of being sold, close to being 'used', creepy old men, and other things relating to lynette’s past ,, mentions of various other characters in various parts ,, platonic relationships ,, not proofread ignore typos

⭑ Much like Dan Heng, WELT did not expect you to fully trust anyone on the express quickly, which was why he tried to make himself seem as welcoming as possible even though he very much is welcoming on his own.

⭑ He was patient with you and respected your boundaries, and when you’d give him your wacky replies he’d just nod his head and leave you alone. He never pushed you to do stuff with any of the members and was overall pretty chill.

⭑ His comforting and welcoming vibes alone helped you trust him easier than the other members of the express, and soon enough Welt found himself walking around with you trailing behind him like a duckling. If he was sitting in the parlor cart, you were next to him practicing or showing him your card tricks. If he was in his room, you were probably there just in the corner doing your thing.

⭑ Tea time anytime anywhere. WELT will always have the time to enjoy tea and snacks with you whenever you’d like! If you make your treats yourself, he’ll help you make them, too. It’s nice bonding time. He’ll also learn a thing or two about tea making from you as it seems that you take the art very very seriously.

⭑ He’s not a swordsman by any means but he’s seen many different fighting styles in his time so he’ll give you some tips on how to improve. He’d still prefer for someone else to properly mentor you and by someone else I mean Dan Heng as he’s the closest one to a swordsman on the express.

⭑ Like some others in the first part, he’ll keep something sweet with him in his pocket so if you’re ever craving something sweet or feeling hungry in general he’ll be able to hand you the sweet treat easily. Feels bad whenever he doesn’t have anything on hand, especially when there aren’t any stores nearby.

⭑ He can do the talking for you if you want him to. He’ll calmly tell others that you aren’t comfortable with conversations and that he’ll be doing the talking for you during interactions. If they don’t cooperate then he’ll just,, leave with you. He needn’t waste both of your times with someone who cannot respect boundaries.

⭑ Not surprised by your feline features as he’s seen many things in his time, but if you lean more into the feline mannerisms he’ll give you extra head-pats and ear scratches and may buy you cat toya if you want them. Makes sure you take care of your nails too!! Doesn’t want you hurting yourself.

⭑ He doesn’t mind participating in your performances. He,,,, he has experience on stage,,,, ahaha,,,, WELT can entertain a crowd! Doesn’t like the tricks that involve the both of you getting a bit messy thought like the water container, but he’ll indulge you in any other tricks! He also doesn’t mind watching your performances! He’ll smile and clap after every trick, praising your skill and what you do. He’s very supportive and would be honored if you teach him how you do what you do.

⭑ If you ever open up to him about your past, he’ll be there for you as he pats your head and rubs your back soothingly, telling you to take your time and that he’s so proud of you for getting through that and having the courage to tell him all of this.

⭑ Like Veritas, I don’t think WELT do anything to the man should he still be alive. He’ll help you forget him if you’re bothered by the memories and help you heal should you be repressing emotions. He’ll teach you how to accept and will make sure by the end of your journey you’ll be the best self you can be. He’s already so proud of you.

⭑ You both are like old people with technology and both learn as you go. A member of the express teaches WELT something, he’s quick to message or tell you about it and vice versa.

"Humans are complicated creatures. Even when they are not doing so intentionally, they will still unconsciously hide their true selves. Though I can always notice a few 'redundant' details, I won't expose their facades when it isn't necessary."

"That’s… very nice of you?"

⭑ You were a performer at the bar, many of the patron and visitors flocking to the bar just to watch your amazing performances. GALLAGHER couldn’t deny that you were a talented kid, and he also quite enjoyed your performances.

⭑ You were young, so it’s not surprise some people did try to get you to work for them instead in hopes of exploiting you. GALLAGHER would always step in if they were being too insistent and sometimes even kick them up, however most of the time they left you alone due to your eccentric replies. They always made him snicker in amusement secretly.

⭑ GALLAGHER will make you drinks as you work and fix up small snacks if there’s anything available. Because of you he’s become a bit of a tea-making expert. Every time you take a break or finish a performance he’ll have a nice cup of tea set up for you in the staff room at the back. He awaits your feedback.

⭑ When you invite him to joins you in your tea breaks? He’s either tossing the bar to Siobhan or another employee, and if there’s non then uhm,,, yeah he can’t join you but he’ll make it up to you! And if you help him with drink making he’ll cry a bit internally. You’re such a good kid,,,

⭑ Not only are you both a good duo in the bar, but you both are a good duo in officer work. He’s is a bit intimidated with your swordsmanship, but he also admires your quick and clean cuts. You become his unofficial official assistant sometimes when it comes to snatching up criminals and it’s actually kind of fun.

⭑ You suck at technology, he’s decent at it, he doesn’t mind. If you want to improve he’ll help you out but if you don’t he’ll supervise you whenever you’re using anything relating to technology so that you don’t burn the bar down or something. Is it possible to get hurt in the dreamscape? I can’t remember. But still, he doesn’t want you to get hurt.

⭑ Calls you 'kitty' jokingly but if you get upset he’ll drop it. Also, only he’s allowed to call you that. Nobody else. He feels that if others do it then it’s mocking you — even if they mean well he just doesn’t like it so only he can do it.

⭑ He’ll help you practice but I don’t think he’d perform insane acts with you. Maybe the more simplistic ones or ones that don’t require him doing really complex things. He just doesn’t want to mess up and ruin your acts. If you want him to do a dramatic announcement for you before you go on stage, he’ll do so happily.

⭑ The moment you open up to GALLAGHER trust that he’ll make sure you’re much more guarded and kept safe. He’ll also be much more observant of the patrons and visitors and nobody will be offering you work offers. He’ll ask you during your break times if anyone tried to do anything to you, and if so, to give him as many details as you possibly can. No need to ask why — he’ll deal with them.

⭑ Should the man that you were sold to dare be alive and enter the bar, GALLAGHER will have him out of there before you even catch a glimpse of him. He’ll also make sure that man is out of the dreamscape. Man, Sleepie has been needing a new toy as of recent!

⭑ Does the talking for you but at the same time not many people will be talking to you anyways after your performances because you’re having your tea break and so he’ll tell anyone that wants to interact with you that you’re unavailable for the rest of the time.

"If you explain a magic trick, then the allure of the performance is lost. Personal relationships are the same. If you want to understand me, why not learn a bit at a time, and gradually piece together a complete picture?"

"I like how you think, kid. Don’t change your mindset ever, got it?"

⭑ A new feline-featured performer holding a show in a planet nearby? Oh how delightful! ARGENTI’s getting a ticket to your show the second they’re available! He’s always loved performances and shows as they show how skilled others are and are always so beautiful.

⭑ He absolutely loved your performance and even wanted to thank you personally for the lovely time! And so after the lights were back on and all guests left, he made his way outside in search of you with an appreciative rose in hand which he expected he’d be able to give to you.

⭑However, what ARGENTI didn’t expect was for you to give him the wackiest response ever. He blinked, handed you the rose, and then continued to converse with you. He’s like Sunday but oblivious — there is no winning with him he can talk for hours.

⭑ It’s a huge yapper / listener situation. You travel a lot for performances and he travels a lot in search of Idrila, so you can’t escape him because he has the excuse to follow you around. Well, he does protect you even if it’s not needed due to your swordsmanship, but it’s convenient so you guess it’s fine.

⭑ ARGENTI also does all the talking for you which is a nice and huge bonus. Sometimes he does it without even realizing and nobody is able to make him shut up. It’s a big win win for the both of you and he never brings it up out of concern because you don’t seem bothered by it.

⭑ Finds your feline features beautiful and would love to help you groom your ears and tail if you’d let him !! He’s be very gentle as he brushes out the loose furs and if you like head pats / ear scratches he’ll sneak them in while he grooms your ears. He’s somehow so good at it for being a first timer (or so he claims.)

⭑ Very present in your performances and will always be there to support you and cheer you on, handing you a rose as a congratulations for the successful show. If you perform for him alone during your free-time, he’ll clap with a big smile and tell you how wonderful that was and how you’re improving so much.

⭑ ARGENTI is probably the best performance partner out of everyone because he puts in so much emotion with the tricks and acts he pulls. Also, he doesn’t mind being in front of a large crowd and he manages to captivate their attentions so that’s a bonus. You’re deadpan and he’s very emotional. A good duo.

⭑ If you open up to him, ARGENTI will be appalled. Not at you — never ever you — but at that disgusting man who dared to even think about using you. He’ll promise you that he’ll make sure nothing like that ever happens again and then he’ll ask if there’s anything he can do to make you feel better. Would you like a specially prepared fish dish? Some sweets? Tea?

⭑ Speaking of tea, he loves tea time with you! It’s a nice time for the two of you to bond and relax from life, enjoying the flavors of the teas that would vary each time you prepared some. If you teach him how you make your teas he’ll be over the moon.

⭑ I don’t think ARGENTI is bad with tech, he’s probably pretty good, so he’ll help you figure out how to not bust everything that contains some sort of tech or machinery. If you break things he won’t be upset or anything — he’s a pretty patient person. He’ll care more about you and if you’re injured.

⭑ Spars with you and constantly praises your agility and clean cuts. You both share tips and tricks for tending to your weapons and fighting in general, too. ARGENTI won’t be too rough on you but he will put up a challenge — he genuinely wants you to improve!

"Building a relationship with someone is like gambling. No matter how much information you have, it's hard to predict how other people might change. I've always had the habit of keeping a safe distance from others, but in your case... I'm willing to shoulder the risk of losing a bet."

"I promise you, you will not regret this gamble nor will you lose."

[imnameimswrld]

ⵌ ׄ ۪ 𝐊𝐄𝐘𝐒 𝐓𝐎 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐁𝐄𝐍𝐙 ⁴⁴ ׄ ⑅ LH44 ‌˖ ֺ ᰮ

— DESCRIPTION ੭yn is been wanting to take lewis' xmas present for a spin ever since he got a new one sent from mercedes amg, but it will take some convincing.

— PAIRING ੭ lewis hamilton x fem!reader.

— FILE ੭ social media au.

— WARNINGS ੭ suggestive content, mdni !

— FACE CLAIM ੭ meghan fox.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

ynwis_supremacy

liked by lewish44news, ynusername, and 878 others

ynwis_supremacy actual footage of yn trying to convince lewis for the keys to his benz.

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user yn liked omg 😭😭

user the ice-cream one gets me everytime 💀

ynusername trust, I WILL get those keys.

⤿ ynwis_supremacy OMG QUEEN 😭

⤿ user ma'am, you dropped this: 👑

user I give it a week before he caves, who can handle saying "no" to THE yn ln for that long anyway ???

user "lew, look, i will take Roscoe on two walks, everyday, for 3 weeks,"

[ liked by ynusername ]

Y/N baby 💋

...

i will take ros on 2 walks everyday for the next 3 weeks ?

Lew Baby 💋

cute, but no.

Y/N Baby 💋

OH COME ON LEWIS.

PLEASE.

just one spin, that's all I'm asking here babe

is that really too much to ask ?

Lewis Baby 💋

ofc baby, anything for you 😚

Y/N Baby 💋

c'mon lew-

wait... fr !!?!?!?

Lew Baby 💋

NO

fucking Russell snatched my phone

it's gonna take more convincing baby, sorry 💋

Carmen 💏

how's convincing lewis for those merc keys going hon ?

Y/N 👭

I am failing miserably carm.

I feel like I've tried EVERYTHING

even sexy stuff like-

Carmen 💏

OKAY YN !!!

on that note, g and I have an indea

Y/N 👭

oh ?

I am all ears hon

Carmen 💏

4 words girl

sex in the benz.

ynusername

liked by georgerussell63, carmenmundt, and 1 223 454 others

ynusername keys to the benz ? keys to the benz 😉.

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user HE CAVED.

georgerussell63 hehe 😎

⤿ lewishamilton something tells me you and carm were behind yn's little...act.

⤿ user UH, WHAT DID MOTHER DO 😲

⤿ ynusername shhh, i don't kiss and tell 💋

user mother brought out the big guns OO

⤿ user there's no denying THE yn ln

landonorris I'd say I'm impressed, but it's yn we're talking about here so

⤿ ynusername thanks lan ! 😄

⤿ lewishamilton mhm, thanks mate.

⤿ georgerussell63 oh suck it up hamilton, it's not like you didn't enjoy it 🥱

⤿ ynusername EXACTLY !!!

lewishamilton

liked by ynusername, landonorris, and 1 233 090 others

lewishamilton bought her own so she'd stop asking for mine 🙄 , happy 2 years baby 💋

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user DAMN.

user mother has a G-WAGON PEOPLE

ynusername thaaankkss baby 🙃

⤿ lewishamilton love, you can thank me with a redo of what happened in my benz

⤿ ynusername mhm, yes sir !

landonorris MY EYES

carmenmundt yeah, you're welcome lewis

[ liked by ynusername & georgerussell63 ]

user oh they did the nasty IN THE BENZ.

user goals honestly

[aliciasays]

Safe - Joel Miller x OFC - Chapter 3

Word Count: 1.6K

Status: Ongoing

Let me know what you think!

Chapter 3: Butterflies

At the end of the night, Penelope found herself sitting on her porch swing, watching her dad, Tommy, and Joel, haul all the boxes out from the bed of her truck and into the house. Sarah sat beside her, a popsicle in her hand as she kicked her feet, and both slowly rocked on the swing in a comfortable silence.

At about 9pm, the neighborhood had dispersed and decided to head to their own homes. Penelope was happy that she’d finally be able to get some semblance of peace on her first day back in Texas– but then, Joel Miller had thrown a wrench in her plans when he’d asked her dad if he wanted help unloading her truck.

So now she sat on her porch swing, with his daughter, watching him and his brother and her dad haul all her things into the house.

Penelope couldn’t help the butterflies that fluttered in her stomach as she thought about their time together earlier that day. It was stupid, really– he’s just being nice, she told herself… and yet, with the way Joel had smiled at her as they sat at the picnic tables, how he’d fixed her a plate of food and all but commanded her to sit her ass down and not strain herself, or how he was obviously uncomfortable making small talk but tried anyways just to keep her talking– it made Penelope want to squeal like a damn teenage girl.

He was just being nice, he ain’t trying to get into your pants, Penelope thought, a small frown crossing her lips.

The delusional side of her however, was whispering in her ear that maybe Joel was into her in the same manner that she was into him. It was normal to find someone attractive and be physically into them, Penelope tried to rationalize. It wasn’t like Joel was in love with her or anything. Maybe he thought she was cute? Or maybe he was just being nice.

I’m so fucked, Penelope sighed, refraining from groaning loudly in despair as Sarah was sat beside her.

No need to let the little girl know that she was lusting after her father.

Suddenly, a very annoyed sigh left Sarah’s lips, pulling Penelope out of her thoughts.

She turned to look down at the girl and saw that she was swatting at the stray curls on her forehead that had escaped from her poorly tied ponytail.

Popsickle still in one hand, Sarah tried to untie her hair with the other– probably to redo her ponytail, Penelope thought, but then she noted that a part of her hair was knotted around the rubberband.

“Hold on a sec, let me get that for you” Penelope offered softly, “I’ve got a brush in my truck– give me a few secs, okay?”

“Thank you,” Sarah sighed in frustration, “dad doesn’t know how to do my hair.”

I can tell, Penelope thought, smiling softly as she got up and walked towards her truck.

She needed to get to the glovebox, but as she walked towards her truck, she caught Joel’s eye and he immediately walked from behind her truck and met her in front of her passenger door.

“Go sit down,” he said simply, nodding his head towards the front porch where Sarah sat on the swing. “We got your stuff taken care of.”

Penelope felt like squealing like a damn little girl. Her chest felt tight, and the butterflies in her stomach were making her breathless.

“I– uh– thank you, again, for… taking my stuff in,” she stuttered nervously, giving him a small smile, “I was just gonna get a hair brush– it’s in the glovebox.”

At that, Joel gave her a disbelieving look. Of all things, a hair brush– these damn women, he thought to himself. The whole purpose of him and Tommy helping her dad take her stuff inside was so that Penelope wouldn’t have to move around and strain herself, yet here she was, trying to get a hair brush from her truck.

Joel resisted the urge to roll his eyes and shake his head at her in annoyance. There was nothing wrong with her hair, he thought as he gave her quick, once over. She had long, full, black hair that came down to the small of her back. With the Texan heat and how much she had been sweating, he had noticed that her wavy hair had started to go curly at the ends and roots… And suddenly, he couldn’t help but to imagine what her hair would feel like if he ran his hands through it.

Before he could let his mind wander into a darker place, he sighed and reached for the door handle of the passenger door, pulling it open and taking a step to the side to let Penelope through.

Penelope stepped forward, shoulder lightly brushing against Joel’s chest as she reached into the truck to retrieve her hairbrush from the glove compartment. Coming back up, she became painfully aware of how close he was standing. She was sandwiched between her open passenger side door, and Joel, and she felt like dying.

“Got it,” she said almost hesitantly, holding the brush and bringing it up to her chest.

“You don’t need it,” he said simply, eyes softening slightly as he added, “your hair looks good.”

“Thank you,” Penelope nearly whispered, her heart beating a million miles a minute after receiving that compliment. “It’s not for me though, it’s for Sarah. I’m gonna braid her hair.”

At that sudden piece of information, Joel slightly straightened, his eyes darting above Penelope’s head to look at Sarah on the porch swing.

“For Sarah?” he questioned, eyes dropping back to look at Penelope with an unreadable expression on his face.

“She’s got a knot in her hair, I told her I’d help her with it.”

Suddenly, almost hesitantly, Joel’s hand came up to brush a random stray curl away from Penelope’s forehead, tucking it behind her ear. He let his hang linger on her jaw for just a moment, before realizing what he was doing and quickly bringing his hand down and into the front pocket of his jeans. He couldn’t fathom why  he had just done that, but something inside of him had snapped with the new information Penelope had thrown at him. Something about her helping his daughter with her hair soothed a deep ache within his chest that he hadn’t realized was there before.

“Don’t let me hold ya’ up,” Joel mumbled darkly, his eyes looking everywhere but at Penelope as he made a beeline for the back of the truck without another word.

What the fuck was that, Penelope thought, trying to catch her breath as she stood rooted to her spot beside her truck. What. The. Fuck.

The next day found Penelope sitting at  her kitchen table, across from her dad, staring down at her reflection in her mug of tea as she gave him a moment to process what she had just told him.

Unlike Joel, her dad had received the edited version of her story; she’d gotten shot while doing a training exercise, she’d sued for negligence, and then the police department had paid her out through a very hefty settlement– and that was that.

He doesn’t need to know that it was probably not an accident, Penelope kept telling herself.

“Why don’t you just take a few months off work,” her father said after a moment, “catch  your bearings and all that. You work too hard.”

Penelope sighed. She had thought about that. With what money she currently had in her savings, she had calculated that she’d be able to live comfortably off that for the next 3 months, but now with the added settlement money, she could probably finesse not working for the next year or so and still be comfortable.

“I don’t know,” she said after a moment, “I can’t picture myself not working,  you know? I’m just used to always doing something.”

“I know sweetheart,” her father cooed, reaching over the table to place a hand on her wrist, “but maybe it’s time you just… take a break.”

Penelope looked at her father. She’d been playing around with that idea for the past week now, but she just couldn’t. She needed to work.

“If it's any consolation,” she said with a faint smile, “I don’t start work until July. That’s when my doctor says I’m cleared to go back to work.”

Her father rolled his eyes.

“Two month’s aint shit,” he quipped, leaning back on his chair and crossing his arms. “You got fuckin’ shot!”

“I know… but– I’ve been outta commision since like the end of March,” Penelope groaned, “4 months off work is good enough, at least for me.”

“I guess,” her dad sighed, rolling his eyes.

“I’m not even gonna be working too hard– it’s a desk job,” Penelope pushed, “it’s a good schedule; 3 days a week, 12 hour shifts– I’ll be off Friday through Monday, so perpetual 4-day weekends…”

Her father didn’t look impressed, but eventually he conceded and grumbled out, “We’re going camping before the summer ends. No RV, or none of that bullshit “glamping”-- I’m talking about real camping. Tents on the dirt and sleeping-bags and shitting in a hole in the ground…”

Penelope grinned. She was just as outdoorsy as her father, but she hated camping. She needed access to a toilet, a shower, a bed, electricity– she just couldn’t do it. Her dad however, loved the kind of camping that took you out into the middle of the woods with no cellphone reception.

If sleeping on the ground and shitting behind a tree would get him off her back, she’d do it.

“Can I at least bring a–”

“I don’t wanna hear it!

Penelope sighed, but as she looked at her dad, she couldn’t help but to smile widely.

They’d be okay.

[o-sunny-day]

THE AMAZING DIGITAL CIRCUS EPISODE 4 DISCUSSION NOTES!!!!

TALK TO ME ABOUT THE AMAZING DIGITAL CIRCUS!!! IM BEGGING YOU!!!!

Spoilers ahead :D so many spoilers :D

IVE GOT THOUGHTS!!! That can most conveniently be organized in sections of character analysis… Some Jax and Ragatha are in there too but these are the MAIN ones I have the most thoughts on/thoughts that revolve around them but still include other characters. LETS GO!!!

CAINE!

Allow me to indulge in my PERSONAL favorite thing first before being more general- im getting these out of the way first cause theyre less THIS EPISODE and more how this episode adds to the rest of his character and omg i love him sm….

I loved when Zooble and Jax talked about Caine. I love when Caine specifically is talked about. Cause like- people's opinions of him. I care about a lot. itll ALWAYS be interesting, cause hes THE GUY. THE MAN. THE DUDE THAT PUTS THEM THROUGH ALL THE SHIT THEY HATE AND MAY OR MAY NOT HAVE “REAL” FEELINGS. He’s a really unsuspecting goofy character at a glance who (telling from ep 3) like actually KINDA cares?? Cant tell if it’s for more selfish reasons or what, but he’s clearly PROGRAMMED to care about his guests, so he does.

And some people (zooble) are kinda SCARED OF HIM and FOR GOOD REASON???? Like yeah no shit, Jax. Caine has the power to do ANYTHING including killing you…torturing you for all eternity. fun stuff like that!

But he won't! cause hes not programmed for that. So he wont.

Also side note: Caine said in the last episode “Zooble! look at this cool bee I drew!” and on his desk he just has a shitton doodles of bees. This is all he does in his free time.

Second more important side note: Caine glitching out at the end feels important, but also feels like just a comedic moment. and idk what to make of that. LOCKING IT IN MY HEAD EITHER WAY CAUSE IT CAUGHT ME OFF GUARD ON THE FIRST VIEWING SO MUCH 😭

LAST THOUGHT: I would LOVE for him to gain sentience cause I have a sneaking suspicion he doesn’t right now telling from how he’s literally PART of the circus they’re in… HM… Cause telling from Gummigoo it IS POSSIBLE for AI to gain sentience…. Foreshadowing perchance… OH YEAH, GUMMIGOO!!!

GUMMIGOO!

HE TOTALLY RECOGNIZED POMNI AROUND THE END OF THEIR INTERACTION. his face changed when she said that none of this is real in front of him, HE KNOWS. SHE KNOWS. but they also understand Caine wont let him stay. Kinda like a Sans (kill me) moment of “ik none of this matters, but since it wont last, I’ll at least be happy doing it!”

Something I love about the writing also…This being a very rushed adventure that Caine didn't get to spend a lot of time on explains WHYYYYY GUMMIGOO IS IN THIS. LIKE THIS WASN’T JUST FOR THE PLOT IT ACTUALLY MAKES SENSE???? all of the NPCs in it are unfinished or redos. He didn't have time to make new ones. ***I JUST LOVE THAT THAT'S SO SMART***

GANGLE.

i'm obsessed

Her taking off that smile mask and actually smiling with her real face KILLED ME. shes learning to be her authentic self and I love it

Jax constantly breaking her happy mask, making her reveal her true sad face feels like the equivalent of bullying the quiet kid like- she's always just pretending to be happy/okay, but then him harassing her makes her “break character “ (EH??? EH??? BREAK??????? CHARACTER????????? MASK?????????WHAT??????)

But Gangle going crazy I think is a sortaaaa “metaphor” (there's a better word but I cant think of it) for how pretending to be someone your not can make you the person you hate. Like she was kinda abusive in this episode… People who are awful people were all victims once, technically- not ALL ofc cause nothing is black and white n all that, but you get me-

IN GENERAL…

i think the motif of this episode was pretending to be someone you're not, for whatever reason you have. Not just for Gangle! For Jax, its to entertain himself, keep em sane. And for Gangle, its for everyone else. But for RAGATHA…I feel its both. She wants to feel useful/helpful for herself for selfish reasons BUT she also just wants to be useful/helpful for everyone else for kind, caring reasons. I already got that vibe before this episode, but Gangle talking about how she cant tell when Ragatha is being genuine or not makes me very confident this is the case

I thought Gangle was gonna abstract in that last bit of the episode, and im like 99% sure that was intentional. I love that a lot… I love how this show is written, abstracting was introduced right away, so now its a looming threat across all these characters youve grown to love, appreciate, and relate too

Idk what Gangle getting hit by the truck was a reference to, but part of my brain rot theorizing in me wants to say this digital world is basically Hell and thats how she ���died” before getting here. Doesnt make any godamn sense and the truck thing totally has other explainations I JUST CANT THINK OF ANY!!! PUTTEM IN THE COMMENTS BELOW AND DONT FORGET TO HIT THAT BEL- *gets shot*

[sturniolo04]

could you do a fic where chris’s daughter helps chris do nick and matt’s room and everyone loves chris’s daughter and chris’s daughter got the change to come on stage (single dad chris)

A/n:  ofc! I absolutely love these requests I have coming in, you guys are amazing!! I hope you love it! And remember to leave requests in my inbox! If you don’t like the pre added name in my works you can simply put in your own or don’t read it, it up to you :)-Charli

dividers: @issysh3ll

Chris was finally back in Boston to film one of his few surprises for the upcoming tour he was doing with his brothers. For this surprise since he decided to basically redo both of their rooms entirely to bring along his daughter madison, his little helper.

"mads what kind of stuff should we put in uncle Matt and Nick's room"

chris asks as she is sitting in the back seat of the car as they head to the store to get some much needed accessories.

"uh lots and lots of unicorns"

she giggles out slightly distracted witht he scenery they drove past in boston on the way. Chris chuckles loving the idea.

"okay unicorns anything else"

chris trails off as she nods her head.

"i-i ithink we should do squishmellows as well"

she exclaims clapping her hands as chris pulls into thr parking lot looking for a parking spot.

"okay any specific ones you think"

chris asks geuiniely curious.

"um not sure i have to see them all"

she shrugs out as chris finally parks getting out of the car coming and opening her to pick her up.

"well how about this you get to pick out the squishmellows you think we should use fter you look at them all"

chris chuckles as she nods her head agreeing to the terms.

The whole surprise of redecorating the rooms was not a very long process since not only did chris have madison helping but also he had is mom, dad, and Nate helping out as well.

Tonight was finally the night he was going to reveal what he did to their rooms.

"hey philedlphia"

nick exclaims into the microphone getting a huge cheering response from the crowd as they are all standing on the stage for the show tonight.

"im so excited for the show"

chris chuckles into the mic knowing this was his show he was revealing his surprise and matt and nick had no clue what they were in for.

They had made it through the show up to the point of now it was time to reveal the surprise and chris was beyond nervous for their reactions.

"okay lets see whos surprise we are revealing today"

matt chuckles into the micf as they all direct their attention to the counting down screen to then reveal that chris' surprise was the one they were revealing tonight causing the crowd to scream in excitement.

"oh boy im scared"

nick squeals as chris beging to get up to retrieve the hint which was to no surprise a pink unicorn.

"what the fuck"

matt chuckloes seeign the unicorn first. Nick lets his jaw drop at the hint.

"okay guesses'

chris trails off excited.

"i immediately thought of madison it has to be something you and madison did there is no way"

nick guesses putting his hands up in defense.

"okay good guess matt"

chris trails off lookig at matt.

"dude i dont know you went to a cranival with her and won a random unicorn stuffed animal for your daughter"

matt shrugs as chris chuckles at the guess.

"okay okay good guesses for sure let see what it actually is"

chris announces as the projector begins to play the video surprise immediately popping up with him and Madison in the screen.

"say hi"

chris chuckles in the video as madison waves her hand into the camera.

"you want to tell them what we are doing today"

chris asks madison as she nods her head

"we painted and put unicorns in uncle matt and uncle nicks room"

madison giggles.

"yeah we did"

chris chuckles rasding his hand for his daughter to high five which she willing does. Matt and Nick's jaw drop as the screen finally shows their newly decorated rooms. The crwod screams in collective shock.

"so nick you have a little extra love touch in your room"

chris chuckles in the video panning the camera to madison with her hands covered in the pink paint and then the random handprint on the wall next to the floor length mirror. The corwd laughs at madison.

"i think it looks cute dad"

madison giggles standing up not knowing what to do with her hands looking up at chris.

"so cute mads"

chris chuckles.

"wow just wow my room is pink now everytime i go home"

nick chuckles as the vidoe finally ended.

"yep it is"

chris chuckles.

"i think the only reason you decided to do this surprise is becuase you knew i wasnt going to change any of that anytime soon dude"

matt chuckles and groans out because it was true. Chris laughs at that simply factual statement.

"well i think it is only right you say thank you to madison since she helped me out with this"

chris trails off looking behind the couch to see if she was going to walk out on stage.

"no way shes here"

matt chuckles as she sprints out on stage as the crowd cheers at her appearance.

"oh my god madison give me a hug"

nick squeals as she giggles running over to nick him picking her up.

"do you like your rooms"

madison asks matt and nick.

"i love it mads only because you did it"

matt chuckles reaching over to tickle her a little causing her to giggle.

"good"

madison states.

"i really like the handprint you left too"

nick chuckles as he points the mic to her.

"yeah i like it too but dad wouldnt let me do it to uncle matts room which was stupid so i felt bad so i put one of my blue butterfly hairclips in your room so you have a piece of me too"

she rambles out causing the corwd to 'aw' at her response.

"oh my gosh youre so sweet"

matt melts putting his hand over his chest out of pure love for her.

"yeah but i will have to get more paint though to put the handprint because i wanted to do that but-"

she stops mid sentene giving chris a deadly side eye as the crowd, nick, and matt laugh.

"okay wow you were going to make a mess mads"

chris defends as she shakes her head in disagreement and begins to roll her eyes folding her arms over her chest.

Tagslist🗂️

@mintsturniolo @spicymuffins03 @dirtylittleheart333

@stayingstromboli @wh0resstuff @ksturnz @chaoswithus @emely9274 @ivysturnss @sturniolo-szn2 @lezleeferguson-120 @courta13 @chrepsi @lyingonchris

@tezzzzzzzz @babytomatoes21 @zenithsturniolo

[ulyaafoxx]

He is due for a redraw(and a slight redesign in the outfit...) because this is super old, but this is the lil guy in my pfp! why are people seeing this but not the redesign. go look in the reposts he's been redrawn-

He is from my version of underfell :] there is also a flufftale and fluffswap I just haven't drawn them- and ofc they have the rest of their universes too! I have a lot of aus I've made over the years. I've never drawn most, I think FF!Sans (pls help me come up with a nickname for him-) was only the second one I've ever drawn. I wanted to draw some stuff for my Tumblr page redo (I've entirely redone the large page, go check that out) and went "who better than this guy?" I am very passionate about him :]

[coff33andb00ks]

Recipe for the Perfect Christmas 11/12

One part small town girl coming home from the big city. One part handsome stranger. Five parts lifelong friends (don't forget to include their partners). One part stubborn father. A dash of Christmas spirit. Part: Eleven of Twelve Pairing: Oscar Piastri x ofc (with appearances from Mark Webber. Lando Norris, Carlos Sainz, Esteban Ocon, Pato O'Ward, and George Russell) wc: 5,210 warnings: smut soundtrack: spotify ⋆❆⋆ apple music nav: One | Two | Three | Four | Five | Six | Seven | Eight | Nine | Ten | Eleven | Twelve a/n: final part tomorrow!! (i will be posting an epilogue on Christmas Eve) Also this part is later than I wanted to post, but we'll blame work

Oscar wasn't sure if Mark was happier to see him or Penny when they arrived at his house. He was greeted with a grin and a slap to his shoulder, while Penny's arrival was enthused over so greatly the dog nearly went spastic. Following them into the house, he watched his dog walk close to Mark's side until they reached the living room, where she sat by the couch until the man sat down. She then hopped up to lie next to him, wagging tail slowing as she settled her head on his thigh and gazed up at him adoringly.

"Some days I think she likes you more than she likes me," he commented, glancing over his shoulder to the staircase.

"She only likes me because I spoil her," Mark chuckled. "She loves you."

He was about to ask if Natalie was ready but stopped himself. He wasn't a kid going on his first date. It wasn't a date. After their walk the day before she had invited him to go with her to dinner with her friends. As friends. To talk more.

Not a date.

"Natalie will be down in a couple minutes."

"No rush." He finally moved to sit on the other couch, eyes moving to the tree placed in front of the window.

"How are Max and Eve liking the house?"

Oscar grinned. "They're loving it. Eve said it took Lucas a while to settle down and get to sleep the other night, but they're settling in. There's still a lot of stuff to get from the apartment, but I'll be doing that this week."

"And what are you gonna do after the holiday?" Mark stopped rubbing Penny when she closed her eyes and sighed.

"I haven't decided yet." So many things hinged on the answer. Mr. Wright had given him ideas that he wasn't sure yet he could pursue. He knew that Max and Eve wouldn't kick him out the day after Christmas, and Eve had even approached asking him about redoing the basement into a guest suite. He knew she didn't want him to leave town, because she had went on to talk about how Max would be working extra hard at the bakery to make sure things there went alright, and she would be going between the bakery and home dealing with the kids and doing the online work she would be starting after the first of the year. She hadn't come right out and said she wanted him to stay and help as they got adjusted to their new life, but he wasn't stupid.

"I hope you stick around. The town's better for having you."

Oscar smiled and murmured a quick thanks. "When is your surgery?"

"The fifth. I go in the night before."

The older man looked down at Penny and Oscar could feel his fear. "I'm sure it'll be fine, Mark."

"I'm praying it will be." He sighed, suddenly looking twenty years older. He looked up, and the fear and worries faded away as he smiled.

At the same instant Oscar heard a whisper of movement. He knew it was Natalie coming down the stairs and rose to his feet, turning just as she stepped off the bottom step. His breath caught when he saw the brilliance of her smile and he let his gaze dip to take in the green and gold sweater she wore over a pair of leggings. Raising his eyes to hers, he smiled slowly. She walked into the living room, the tiny bells of her earrings jangling with each step, and the sound reminded him of her giggles.

"You look great," he said, wishing he'd done more than jeans and an old sweater. He'd never been one for dressing up. It had nearly taken an act of God and Eve threatening him with injury to get into a tuxedo for their wedding.

"So do you." The bells tinkled again as she went to the kitchen. She returned a moment later carrying a covered casserole dish, bells tinkling as she leaned to kiss Mark on the cheek. "We're just going to dinner. Do you need anything before we go?"

"Nope. You two have fun."

"There's roast beef and vegetables from lunch. Do you want me to warm it—"

"I can warm up my plate." Mark shook his head. "Go on. Have a good time. Me and Penny are gonna eat and watch some movies."

"What are you going to watch?" she asked, leaning to give Penny a loving head rub.

"White Christmas, Elf, Home Alone, and I think we'll top it off with Snoopy."

"How long do you expect me to be gone?" she laughed.

"No telling with you two."

Choking on an embarrassed laugh, Oscar turned away before either of them could see his burning cheeks. Natalie was groaning and telling her father not to be disgusting. After an amused goodbye, he headed into the foyer, getting her coat and holding it for her to slip her arms into.

"I'm sorry about Dad," she said once they were in his truck, the casserole dish in her lap. "He's just a little crazy. And he's not stupid, so he figured out what happened when I stayed that night. Plus he likes to tease."

"I don't mind it," Oscar assured her. "At least he's not coming after my throat."

"No, he's not like that. Especially if he likes you. And we both know he likes you."

Her hand found his and squeezed after he turned onto Main Street.

"I like you, too," she said softly.

"I was gonna say the same thing."

"But really we keep you around for Penny."

Laughing, he made slowed to make another turn. "Yeah, I figured."

"You could just sell her to us," she teased.

"Sorry, we're a package deal."

"Buy one, get one free?" Her thumb smoothed over his after their fingers twined.

"Something like that."

"My friends like you, too," she announced as the street turned into a country road.

"Yeah?" Oscar smiled. He considered them his friends now, too. Stopping in the road when he saw a deer up ahead, he saw it was starting to snow. He waited until the deer finally moved into the woods before continuing on the way. "Max and Eve like you."

She sighed. "I wanted to hate them. But I already liked them, so…"

"I know." He squeezed her hand. "Oh and the kids adore you."

"I give them cookies, of course they do."

"Oh I think it's a little more than that," he said, slowing as they approached the driveway of the farm. Or was it a ranch? He didn't know what they called their spread of land. He did know that he liked the split-rail fence corners on either side of the end of the driveway, each of them adorned with twinkling lights. The sign announcing the Ocon Riding Academy was embellished by a strand of lights as well. Cruising up the drive, he saw lights wrapped around the top rails of the fencing on either side, ending in spirals of multicolored lights around two towering evergreen trees.

"You know Hannah and Michael love you?" she asked after he'd parked beside Carlos's car.

Looking at her in the glow of the lights decorating the yard in front of the house, Oscar grinned. "Yeah. Why?"

"I think I have a lot in common with them," she commented. She gave his hand a squeeze before opening her door and jumping down.

It wasn't until they climbed the steps to the front porch, which wrapped around both sides of the house and merged into the large back deck, that it hit him what she had said. Catching her hand, he spun her to face him. "Did you mean that?"

The lights reflected in her eyes, turning them to sparkling amber. Her mouth opened then her bottom lip was caught by her teeth. "I think so? Yes. No? I don't know. I just know—"

"What are you guys doing standing on the porch in the cold?" Pato asked, flinging the front door wide open.

"Oh my god, would you give us a minute?" Natalie groaned, whipping her head to look at the man.

He snorted, pushing the door closed. "Fine, fine, get frostbite."

"Where was I?" she sighed, turning back to Oscar.

"Getting frostbite, apparently," he quipped. Rewarded by a disgruntled laugh, he gave her hand a squeeze. "You just know…?"

"I never felt like this with anyone before. It's a little bit like the stomachache I used to get when I ate too many cookies, and I feel like I do when I'm riding with someone and they go over a hill? You know, a little exhilarated? I can't explain it. Because at the same time it's as though I just wrapped myself in a warm blanket. I like it, though. I think. I want to explore it." She frowned. "But—"

"Do you remember what you said about going to church?" he asked softly. "About how it felt like a good talk and a warm meal?"

"Yeah."

"That's what you make me feel." He tried to think of another way to describe it. "Comfortable. And a little exhilarated, too."

She blinked up at him, lips pulling into a smile. "Like your favorite jeans and an old sweater?"

"Yeah," he whispered. He grinned, because she got it. "Just like that."

"What is it, though?"

"It's…" He stroked the back of her hand with his thumb. "It's us. And I want to explore it."

"I want to, too."

"And I want y'all to come in already," a voice said from behind her.

Oscar froze, having been leaning to kiss her. Glancing over her shoulder, he saw Pato leaning in the open door, grinning. With a sigh, he tugged on Natalie's hand before she could grumble at her friend again, and stole a quick kiss before guiding her to the door.

"About damn time," Pato drawled.

"Like you and Amira never have to talk?" Natalie snorted.

"We move and talk at the same time. Makes life so much easier." Once they were inside, he nudged the door shut. "Take your coats off, stay a while. They're here!"

Oscar grinned as the announcement was met with a cheer.

"Okay!" Susie hollered from the direction of the kitchen. "Come peel the potatoes!"

"Which one of us?" Pato yelled back.

"I don't care!"

"I'll go," Natalie laughed, handing her coat to Pato.

Esteban came from the living room, grinning, rolling his eyes when Pato pushed Natalie's coat at him.

"No kids?" Oscar asked once Natalie disappeared into the back of the house.

Esteban slung her coat on the hall tree and motioned for Oscar to put his up, too. "They're with my folks. They like getting all the grandkids together for a couple nights before Christmas."

"That's sweet." Oscar followed him into the great room, with its large couches, big-screen TV, and a comfortable lived-in feel. There were a few toys scattered on the rug near the fireplace, a laptop on the coffee table, and the evidence of homemade ornaments in the works. Blankets were readily available on the couch, and as he flopped down next to George he watched Esteban scoop the toys up and toss them into the toybox in the corner.

"You and Natalie are good now?" Esteban asked, dropping into one corner of the couch.

"I think so."

"So she's not gonna take the job in Atlanta?" Carlos asked.

Oscar felt his brows pinch together. "Atlanta?"

"Yes… You know, big city in Georgia?"

"I know what it is, asshole." He rolled his eyes. "What job?"

George made a face. "Weren't supposed to tell him," he murmured, taking a sip of his drink.

"Ah, damn." Carlos's eyes widened and he licked his lips. Cleared his throat and began drumming his fingers on his thighs. "You didn't hear it from me."

"Is it a writing job?"

"Hey, you want a drink? A beer? Tea?" Esteban asked, hopping to his feet. "How about some apple cider?"

"I'm fine." Oscar noticed neither of the men were looking him in the eye and sighed. "What's the job?"

"I don't know anything," Pato said, holding up his hands. "Just that Amira had an emergency girls' meeting this morning."

"That was about Maddie," George announced. "She wasn't feeling well."

"Is she feeling better now?" Esteban asked.

"Not sure, I don't think Lils has heard from her since this morning."

"Surely Lando would let us know if something was wrong," Pato commented.

"It was about the job, too." Carlos shrugged when everyone looked at him. "Sasha told me about it when she got home. But I don't know anything."

Pato rolled his eyes. "You literally just asked about it though?"

"I know nothing!" Carlos insisted. "Just that she applied. And that she got the offer this morning. I don't know what the job is or even if she's gonna take it."

Esteban sighed, sitting back down. "It's a writing job."

Oscar nodded, forcing himself to settle back on the couch. He wasn't going to go confront her, because that would probably lead to another argument. He didn't want that to happen. But he did want to know if it was true she'd gotten a job in Atlanta. He wanted to know if she would take it and leave the town and her father again. He needed to know why she hadn't told him.

"I know," Esteban said suddenly, clapping his hands against his thighs and jumping to his feet. "Let me take you out to the barn and show you the new stall doors."

"When did you get them?" Standing, Oscar followed him out of the great room and reached for his coat.

"Uh… "A month ago."

"Then I've already seen them." Oscar dropped his hands.

Esteban smoothed a hand over his face. "I thought you'd wanna get some fresh air."

Oscar made a face. "I'm fine."

"You aren't mad?"

"Not mad. Just…" He shrugged, because he didn't know what his emotions were. Disappointment? Sadness? Worry? A molten mixture of all three?

"Oscar, do you want something to drink?"

He turned and saw Susie walking towards him, smiling warmly. Returning the smile, he slipped his hands into the pockets of his jeans. "Hey Susie."

"We got coffee, tea, cocoa…" She paused, glancing towards the ceiling. "Soda, water, milk, orange juice."

"Apple cider," Esteban told her.

"That's gone."

"Already?"

"It's not my fault it's your son's favorite drink."

"I thought your son's favorite drink was cocoa."

"Only when there's cookies."

"He drank cocoa at breakfast and there weren't cookies."

Slipping away while the couple continued to debate their son's favorite beverage, Oscar headed towards the kitchen. Bing Crosby was crooning softly from the Bluetooth speaker on the counter, and he paused in the doorway, greeting the women with a quick wave. They all waved in return, but his gaze was already on Natalie

She was humming along to the song playing, her back to him, one foot lightly bouncing against the floor.

Maybe she would take the job. Maybe she would leave, probably not until after her father recovered from his surgery. Maybe she planned to tell him. Maybe not. Sighing, he crossed over to her, clearing his throat so she would know he was approaching, slipping his arms around her in a gentle hug.

"Bored with guy talk already?" she asked, dropping a peeled potato into the bowl in front of her.

"Can I ask something?" he murmured, aware of the pressing silence around them as Bing Crosby continued to sing about days being merry and bright.

She set the peeler down and turned in his arms. When she saw his face, she looked concerned. Her brow puckered and she sighed. "I was going to tell you tonight."

"Are you taking the job?"

"I don't know yet." She swallowed anxiously. "I have until next week to let them know."

"Do you need to talk to Mark about it?"

She shook her head. "I need to figure some things out."

"If you—" He sighed and leaned to press a kiss to her forehead. He hated seeing her looking so worried. "If you need help figuring those things out, I'm here, okay?"

"You're not gonna yell at me for not telling you right away?"

"That's your job."

The silence was broken by a choked laugh.

Natalie's jaw dropped and she slapped his arm. "That was below the belt."

"Are you even wearing a belt?"

"Stop," she groaned. "You're not mad?"

"I'm not mad," he promised, pulling her close for a quick kiss, cheeks burning when he heard a chorus of 'aww'. "C'mon, I'll help you with the potatoes."

After a leisurely dinner filled with laughter, Natalie watched Oscar push up his sleeves to help with the dishes. Trailing into the great room with the other women, she crowded close when Sasha asked for input on which lingerie she should surprise Carlos with for Christmas. When the men began filtering in Lilli got up to go start a pot of hot cocoa. There was a beat of silence then Esteban mentioned going to check on the horses one more time for the night and Natalie slid her hand into Oscar's when he said he'd tag along. She smiled as she slipped on her coat as the entire group decided to go as well, Lilli calling out to wait for her.

The stable smelled as it always did, of hay and leather and manure and horse. The foal, now officially named Chicory, was curious and adventurous enough to come to the door, her mother hovering nearby. Natalie made sure to give each horse the same amount of attention. She nodded in approval over the improvements and upgrades that Susie pointed out, stepping into the tack room to view the new saddle that Esteban had gotten as an early Christmas present.

"It's beautiful," she murmured, admiring the tooled leather of the Western style saddle.

"It was supposed to be a surprise. But someone was nosy."

"Someone couldn't keep her mouth shut," Esteban said from the doorway. Grinning when both women looked at him, he pulled off his work gloves. "Everybody's settled for the night, Mama."

"Oh, I want to go say goodbye to my goddaughter," Natalie said, skipping out of the tack room.

"Goddaughter?" Oscar laughed, and she noticed bits of alfalfa hay clinging to his sleeves. "I'm picturing you in a tux holding a cigar and talking about family."

"Hey, darling," she cooed after swinging open the top of the half-door. The foal's ears turned and then she was crossing the stall, snuffling the air with interest. "I'd never hold a cigar, but I'd probably wear a tux."

"You could pull it off," he said, reaching to rub the foal's head once she was within reach.

"That's your job," she quipped. Enjoying his burst of laughter, she gently smoothed the foal's forelock, reaching with her other hand to stroke Bonny's face. "Such beautiful girls."

"I'm going back in to finish the hot cocoa," Lilli said from behind her.

"We'll help," Sasha offered.

"Esteban's going to the shed to get the snow shovel in case it snows all night, so can you make sure you close and latch the doors?" Susie asked.

"Of course," Natalie promised.

"Talk to him," Susie whispered in her ear while reaching to give Bonny one last rub.

Drawing a breath to reply, Natalie sighed when she heard boots on the concrete flooring. Seconds later she heard the gentle creak of the barn door being pushed to.

"Do you want a horse of your own someday?" Oscar asked softly.

"I don't know. They're so much work. And they cost a lot of money to take care of," she said. Until their venture into riding lessons and occasional boarding, her friends had gone into the red nearly every month. "They're gorgeous and wonderful, but I think I'm better off just having some I can visit. Plus I don't ride very well. Do you?"

"I can ride okay. But I don't know that I'd want to own any."

"Lucky for us we've got Estie and Susie to come visit whenever we want."

"Yeah, we do," he agreed with a grin.

"I don't have friends in Atlanda," she announced. "With horses or otherwise."

"Okay?" He turned to face her, eyebrows lifting.

"I have a couple contacts, but that's it."

"When I moved out here I only knew Max and Eve. I know that's different." He glanced at Bonny and Chicory, who were moving off to the far corner. "But I didn't know anyone else. I couldn't have found it on a map."

"Well, I can find Atlanta," she conceded. "But I know nothing about the place. Katie, who I talked to this morning? She said she would be happy to help me find an apartment in a good neighborhood. I don't even know the neighborhoods."

"What's the job?"

"Staff writer for a fashion magazine." She named it, and knew he had never heard of it when he merely nodded.

"Do you like fashion?"

"I couldn't tell you the difference between Louboutin and Louis Vuitton," she admitted with a sigh.

He stepped back when she did, reaching to close the door. After latching it, he plucked a bit of hay from his sleeve. "Does it pay well?"

"It's decent. I did a couple of those cost of living calculators online. If I take it, I won't be living paycheck to paycheck, but I won't exactly be living in the lap of luxury." She reached to brush the hay from his sleeves. "The benefits are okay. Nothing to write home about, though."

"Do you want to take it?"

"I don't know," she whispered, hands stilling on his shoulders. "Should I?"

"I can't make that decision for you, Natalie."

"Dad doesn't want me to. He didn't say that, of course. He said I had to do what I think is best. But I know he wants me to stay here. Or at least, close by."

"Of course he does. He'll miss you."

"I'll miss him. If I go," she added.

"He's worried about the surgery." Oscar sighed when she frowned, lifting one hand to smooth back her hair. "He didn't say so, but I could tell he's scared when I asked him about it earlier."

"He hates hospitals. And doctor's offices. Really, he hates anything that isn't home, church, or the bakery."

Oscar chuckled softly. "I can understand that."

"Tell me not to go," she whispered after several seconds passed by. They were still standing in front of Bonny and Chicory's stall, her hands were still on his shoulders, and his palm was still on her cheek.

"I can't tell you that," he sighed.

"Can you tell me anything?"

"I guess I can tell you I don't want you to go. But I probably shouldn't, since I don't know that—"

"Don't," she murmured, not wanting to be reminded that he might be leaving town soon. She couldn't bring herself to admit that was one of the reasons why she was undecided about Atlanta. Was she the reason he couldn't decide whether he wanted to stay in town or not? Was he waiting for her to make some declaration? She wasn't ready for that. Whatever was growing between them was still new to her. She was enjoying it, but the looming question about both their futures had her scared to proclaim anything more than she'd already said.

"Natalie—"

"Kiss me? Please, Oscar." If he kissed her, she could focus on that, on how warm the feel of his lips made her, on how her knees forgot what they were supposed to do and her stomach soared. Instead of all the confusion she was currently dealing with that she didn't want. Grateful when his fingers slid into her hair and his head lowered, she gasped as their lips met. She hadn't expected the tenderness, or the way her breath was snatched from her lungs, or how his sudden exhale through his nose would be hot against her cheek. Opening her mouth, she gave a tiny whine when his tongue dipped inside.

She sank into the kiss and into him, hands creeping up to the collar of his coat. Her fingers brushed his neck and he moved closer, until she could barely smell the horses anymore. Needing to feel the warmth of him, she slipped her hands into the front of his coat, palms flattening over his chest. It wasn't until she slid them lower, to the narrowing of his waist, that she felt his hands moving beneath her coat, too.

Breaking the kiss on a gasp, she stared up at him, heart thudding in her chest. His tongue darted over his lips as though to catch another taste of her and she curled her fingers in the sides of his shirt. "Oscar…"

"Here?" he whispered doubtfully, his hands sweeping up and guiding her coat down her shoulders.

Suddenly, she vividly remembered Susie giving her a tour of the barn soon after it had been built. They had been standing in nearly the exact same spot when her friend had pointed at the end stall and casually commented that she and Esteban had made love in there as soon as the last screw had been tightened. Dragging her tongue over her lips, she nodded, grabbing the front of his coat and walking backwards. She didn't doubt that there were very few spots in the barn that her friends hadn't made love in, but she didn't know about any of them except that stall. Her back met the opposite wall and she giggled, feeling just a little daring and a little silly and more than a little in of the exhilaration she'd mentioned earlier. Just before his lips descended on hers again, she inhaled the scent of leather. His kiss was slow and sensual and made her delirious. Shaking her coat free, she worked to push his off, wrapping her arms around him as soon as it hit the floor. As slow as his kiss was, his hands were lightning-fast, cupping her cheeks then trailing down her sides then slipping beneath her sweater. His fingers were cool against her skin and she squirmed closer to him, one hand slipping between them to stroke the growing bulge in the front of his jeans.

Oscar's fingers stayed on her skin until they were warmed, and his lips remained over hers while he grasped her waist and lifted her against him. He pulled back slightly, hands slipping to the waistband of her leggings. When she nodded eagerly, he grinned.

They fumbled, desperation growing when she had to lower her legs to the floor and unzip her boots to step out of them. Eagerness increased as he dragged her leggings and panties down, stooping long enough to brush kisses over her thighs. Need caused her fingers to be uncooperative and she growled in frustration, finally wrenching his belt free of the buckle. It wasn't romantic, she thought vaguely as he brought her legs around him. The wall was cold but his body radiated heat and she clung to him, muffling her cry against his mouth when he entered her. It was frantic and almost savage, his moans loud and hot in her ear, his fingers digging into her hips. She clawed at his back, whining, and it occurred to her that even like this – unromantic, hard, and fast – it was still better than any she'd ever had.

He groaned, one hand slamming against the wall. Pinning her between him and the unforgiving surface, he tipped his head, offering a breathless kiss that made her see stars. "Stay with me," he whispered, forehead resting against hers.

She dragged one hand up and curled her fingers in his hair. "Oscar…"

"Don't go," he breathed. "I need you."

"I need you, too," she gasped, squeezing her eyes shut. In an instant it became needier. Sloppier. She came suddenly, his name a shriek muffled against his shoulder, legs and arms locking around him as his body grew tense. They trembled simultaneously and the force of it drew a long, keen moan from bot of them.

He held her up against the wall for several long moments, his grip on her thigh easing. When he kissed her again it was loving and sweet and brought tears to her eyes. Several moments passed with her staring into his eyes, and then several more before she finally uncurled her legs from his waist and lowered her feet to the floor. Breathless, she accepted his help in stepping into her leggings, her trembling hands reaching to pull them up. Silent as he refastened his jeans, she put on her boots then grabbed their coats, shaking the bits of hay from them.

Hand in his, she walked out of the barn with him, remembering at the last second to switch off the main lights. The cold was a shock to her and she shivered, leaning against him, while he closed the doors and fastened the latch. They ran across the yard and into the house, bursting into the kitchen with matching giggles. Leaning against the door to close it, she grinned up at him. His scent was embedded in her nose but she could just smell cocoa and pulled away from his kiss when heavy bootsteps sounded.

"Did you close the barn?"

"Yep," she chirped, stepping forward to get herself a cup of cocoa. Oscar's hand was still clasping hers and he stumbled slightly, causing her to giggle again when his arm looped around her waist to steady them both.

"You might want to double-check it," Oscar told Esteban.

Lilli cleared her throat, expression suspicious, but she said nothing while serving mugs of her homemade hot cocoa. There was a companionable silence as they all sipped appreciatively, Oscar and Natalie still in their coats. Amira smiled knowingly when Natalie leaned against the counter.

Natalie looked at her, raising one eyebrow in confusion. Her friend's smile grew and she reached over, tapping the sleeve of her coat. Glancing down, it finally registered that the coat was inside out. She had the urge to laugh and gave in, not embarrassed at having been caught.

Carlos chuckled, leaning to retrieve his phone when it began chiming with an incoming FaceTime. "It's Lando," he told them all, accepting. "Hey, how's—"

"Ssshh!" Lando's silencing hiss caused them all to freeze.

Carloss's eyes widened, then he was grinning, shifting and turning his phone so they could all see.

"Meet Eloise and Evelyn," Maddie said, a sleepy but radiant smile on her face. Lando lowered his phone, and everyone saw the two bundles tucked against her chest.

"Ohmigod!"

"Congratulations!"

"So beautiful!"

"How are you feeling, Mama?"

"Exhausted," Maddie said. "But so happy. We love y'all."

"Love you!"

Lando's face reappeared, his expression almost delirious. He practically babbled about the labor and delivery, dropping his phone the instant one of the twins began to fret.

Natalie wiped her eyes and when she looked up she found Oscar looking at her, one corner of his mouth lifted in a smile.

And she knew what her choice was going to be.

[brookshusband]

gave my selfship self-insert/oc a devil fruit that gives them wings forgetting I don't know how the fuck to draw functional bird wings let alone ones attached to a humanoid body (for the hybrid form) so I'm just sat Infront of my drawing tablet redoing the same fucking thing over and over again while I slowly lose my mind designing this stupid creature but I'm too attached to the idea to give up and try smth else 😓😓

Erm anyways yap abt my oc (?) (idk the line between my selfinserts and OCS is very thin) as a temporary distraction under the cut!!! (Wowie)

I really don't know what I'll name this character yet but I'm heavily considering just calling them krossy like I am since I not only suck at choosing names but I'm also making them for my Brook selfship and I could totally make the ship name Krossbones

ik there was a whole thing in Alabasta about devil fruits with flying powers being super rare and how there's only 5 that have ever been discovered so I'm leaning on the "ever been discovered" part of that really heavily so don't execute me COUGH.

Anywayys originally I was going to just give him a Rainbow Lorikeet motif as a reference to part of his backstory (backstory that's also a reference to me bc ofc it is) but at some point that just turned into me giving him a Devil fruit, or more specifically the Bird-Bird Fruit, Model: Lorikeet (in Japanese I believe it would be written as トリトリの実 モデル“ゴシキセイガイインコ” But please do correct me if I'm wrong, my Japanese is EXTREMELY rusty)

He's transmasc like me but unlike me actually has top surgery (living the dream)

I don't want to get too into backstory stuff yet because it's still being written and can get a bit personal at points but for a very basic overview of his devil fruit backstory

He was raised in either the east or south blue (I haven't quite decided, east is definitely easier to write because we have more information on it but it also doesn't feel as interesting to me) by an elderly parental figure that was not blood related to him (I'm basing this caretaker off a real person from my childhood) not sure what their gender will be yet but I'm leaning more towards them being a woman for some reason despite the real person they're based on being a man.

This caretaker is a retired pirate from the Grandline and the original user of the Bird-Bird Fruit, Model: Lorikeet though my character doesn't know about his parental figure's history as a pirate or their devil fruit ability, having never seen them use it.

They're getting up there in years and one night simply die in their sleep. It's sudden but painless, from natural causes. But their (basically adopted child) doesn't find them until later, that morning he had decided to surprise his caretaker with breakfast, going out the front to pick berries he stumbles upon a strange fruit on one of the trees, placing it in the basket with the rest of the berries and heading inside. He cuts a small piece off the fruit and gives it a try only to immediately discard it (it tastes absolutely disgusting) continuing to prepare breakfast before he catches a look at his reflection in the mirror and panics, having very little control over his new zoan abilities. (and not even knowing what they are in the first place) he stops what he's doing and rushes to his caretakers room for help, Finding them hours after they had already passed.

I don't have a lot for when he gets older yet other than some small things about his dynamic with brook (that I'm having a lot of fun with so far) but I think this is enough for one post lmao

[the-ninja-legacy-whip]

random thing but I just realized the thingy says “Inquire The Legacy” and I found that hilarious for literally no reason

also,

Soooooo. Are you planning on rewriting the entirety of Ninjago?

(I’d completely fw that btw bc you have an insane amount of dedication and that’s actually just beautiful and amazing and I also love your writing)

:D

I do have plans to go all the way up to Crystalized (with some extra things added or swapped in the process), strictly only because I desperately wanna redo Crystalized. Otherwise I was originally going to end after S10. …And here we are now still in S2 :’D

But my short-term goals are to finish TLotGNL (as it was the ‘original’ story I wanted to write in the first place) and then get to S4 (because it’s my favorite and a lot of plot setup ends nicely there~) And then we’ll see how much steam I actually have left in me lmao

If I do anything with DR, it won’t exactly be a rewrite, just a story taking placing during it, and it would mostly focus around Jesse and his daughter. There’s not really much I would change plotwise but ofc I have thoughts regardless -_-)9

(…it’s also already a work in progress I just keep changing stuff about it with every new season haha)

[mera-k1]

Hi! I was going through your masterlist and wondered if you could redo your Paralive & amount of kids post but with Hypnosis Mic ? Thank you!

hi, nonnie!! ofc, i can! hope you enjoyed this little thing i whipped up~ (-saburo)

ichiro -> as a family man, i can definitely see him wanting kids. it's up to you how many but he definitely wants at least 2 if you're also okay with it!

jiro -> he hasn't really thought about it honestly. if you were to ask he'd shrug and say he's not sure yet. too early for him to decide!

samatoki -> it's up to you. he understands if you don't want kids and doesn't pressure you but he's also up for it if you want a kid. 1 is good for him unless you want another!

jyuto -> just 1 is fine with him. he'd like to have a kid at some point but will wait for you to be ready for that responsibility as well.

rio -> girl dad or boy day rio... hard choice... i can see him being both but he's okay to settle for just 1 kid if that's what you prefer! 2 at the most!

ramuda -> how would that work with his million clones...? in any case, i do think he'd enjoy having 1 kid, a daughter is what he'd hope for!

gentaro -> he's on the fence. if you ask him, he'll oblige but he doesn't want one just yet. he'd rather wait a while longer before settling down with a kid.

dice -> at the moment, no. his life's a little too crazy for him to want to bring a kid into the mix at the moment. plus, he hasn't really given it much thought...

jakurai -> he's willing to bring a child into the world even while it still pains him that his adoptive son is still unable to wake up... but he would enjoy having a child with you!

hifumi -> on the fence. on one hand, he'd love to have a mini you or mini him running around the house! on the other hand, he does feel like he's not ready to settle down for that just yet.

doppo -> he's got too much on his plate already... it might stress him out even more to have a child and while he does like the idea of having one, he's just not ready for that stress on top of his job stress...

sasara -> 1 or 2! he doesn't mind having a kid or two and they'll be hearing his jokes since the day they come home...

rosho -> 1 is fine with him! he doesn't mind being a girl dad if you have a daughter and he doesn't mind being a boy dad if you have a son!

rei -> he's already got 3 so... hmm... you could maybe convince him for 1 more... i'm heavily debating this within my own mind though

kuko -> he's not really allowed to do that stuff... but he still does. boy dad kuko or girl dad kuko... he could be both. i think he'd be happy with 1-2 kids no matter their genders!

jyushi -> girl dad jyushi!! he'd be happy just to have 1 kid, especially if it was a little girl

hitoya -> he'll ponder it for a while before agreeing to have 1 or 2. he already has jyushi and kuko after all...

[kalisseo]

do mali and moc have lore? :0 like sibling lore

my ugly son moc who I neglect I need to think about him

anyway. i don't think so..? I mean idk what could count as lore, since they didn't really experiment any major events until the major events of the redo au timeline, mali being 17 and moc 15

they just have a 2 year age gap, and mali is older, so it's not like she remembers much about life without him 😭 but I always wanted them to be like some kind of duo, but I can't think about any siblings duo to use as a reference rn

ofc like every sibling they have problems sometimes and even get mad at each other every now and then but it has never been anything that stained their relationship, and a lot of the time they hang around together because they have friends in common and because they do enjoy each other's company

i have this idea that moc had to repeat a school year, so his parents were mad at him, and mali was a bit worried but still she didn't scold him and told him to ask her if he needed help

also maybe this isn't lore but I don't care. so I'm gonna talk about what they think about each other ❤️❤️

moc thinks his sister is fun and has a good heart, he also agrees that she can be a bit mean without reason to people who don't deserve it, but he just lets her be, he thinks she should stop worrying too much about everything

mali thinks that his brother is too laid back, too relaxed, and that he should start worrying about stuff like his future or his little knowledge about history

[vonlycaonwife]

Finally got my ass in gear to play the main update content so here's my unorganized random thoughts as I play through the stories. Spoilers warnings ofc

Huh, Anby's thing is a lot more straightforward than I thought. For some reason I thought that was the main thing and not a side thing. Weird.

HOLY FUCK ORGAN HARVESTING???? Jesus this is some super fucked up shit. Girl A best girl tho she the cutest.

Haven't played Trigger's story yet at this point but she's kind of meh to me? At least from what I've she's got a nice design but personality isn't too outstanding. But I highly expected I played something out of order because Phaethon knows them I WAS TRYING TO AVOID THAT I THOUGHT THE ANBY SHIT CAME FIRST FUCK-

Well...off to the tv event battles for more Mockingbird funds so next thoughts will be when doing Trigger's story (I'm saving Hugo for last I'm not ready to simp for another phantom thief don't alter my brain like Ren and Akechi please I beg)

~~~~

Oh it answered my previous question right away, so the two knew Trigger during the beginning of their opening of Random Play. Wow okay, I do not mind that at all. Though still feels a bit like a "let's just dump it here in the timeline" but maybe going through the story more will change my mind.

Okay I kind of see how she'll appeal to other's, I do like how she acts. Though I can't say I'm someone who'll really remember her later down the line unless she shows up in another update (no offense to Trigger fans really, I have a habit of forgetting characters a lot that don't have a lot going for me. And I don't mean in terms of simping.). But I do want to give her a massive hug, girl deserves one.

Bro istg if the sniper shoots the family members I'm gonna cry DON'T DO THAT TO MY GIRL THAT WOULD BE WAY TOO CRUEL VULTURE DON'T YOU FUCKING DARE- what oh...huh, did not expect that...Wait that makes me confused now. So she's taking revenge on her own comrades? But then why target Trig- oh right survivor blaming....trying to wrap my head around this- am I just dumb????

Oh. Okay I am dumb LMAO, that makes way more sense. I really should've gotten that way quicker than I did wtf me. AJ establishing their smooth brain in action lol.

Okay she's not that bad actually. Almost cried but I do feel for her a ton, and I'm sure several family members I have can relate to her story a lot. She's good in my books, I like her.

Alright, now to do the tv event shit and then...We'll do the last one (lord save me)

~~~

Brief note on Trigger's tv event, I don't like it. I'm sure aiming is way easier on pc but on mobile it SUCKS. I'm so shocked I've been getting S ranks so far even with how stiff the aiming feels

~~~

Bro I don't know if I can do this, I'm just staring at the screen dkfjhdlcfh. BUT I HAVE TO I WANT TO KNOW THE HUSBAND BACKSTORY GOD AAAAAAAGH

...why is this hoe yapping nonsense can I kick him out Wise please-

...THE FUCK BRO WHY ARE YOU GONNA DROP SO MUCH CASH HUH???? TAKE YOUR MONEY SOMEWHERE ELSE HISSSS

I AGREE WISE HE SUS AS FUCK WE SHOULD KICK HIM IN THE BA- Okay I'm gonna calm myself down, I will not be swayed by some vamp looking twink.

.....Does this rich dude accuse everyone of being Mockingbird? I mean it's funny when the actual one is right next to us but...dude you're reaching so high you missed the hoop.

The white flashes confused me for a moment but uugh, if I could fail this interaction I would've had to redo this convo. I suck at confrontation even in games lol.

HUGO IS NOT SLICK LMAO this mfer really being obvious to Proxy

Ofc the whole bringer shit got the hush treatment- EVERYONE SHUT UP THE HUSBAND IS TEXTING ME. HE'S COMING OVER EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

Oh wait what that's who the Master is? Makes sense in all honesty. OH SHIT HE KNOWS WAIT-

Ohhhhh this actually explains why they don't go in that's neat! And my god eye implants, sorry I'm cringing because I'm squeamish to eye stuff.

Aww the four of them spoke up for Phaethon I love that, smooches all of them.

Okay I know this whole thing is leading up to playable Phaethon but honestly personally I liked that they weren't playable? Made them feel less self inserty compared to Genshin and HSR for some reason, but eh that could just be a me thing.

UGH HE'S BACK, and now he's making me do his dirty work? And I thought he was a gentleman hmph! .....Can I punch him yet-

...Oh don't tell me he has parent issues, don't do this to me IT'S ALWAYS THE PARENT ISSUES ONES THAT GET ME- .......it's mommy issues OFC ITS MOMMY ISSUES I'M SO FUCKED

FUCK HUSBAND IS BACK AND I HAVE TO LIE TO HIM NOOOOOOOOOOOO. Oh god he smelled him HE SMELLED THE TWINK HE'S GONNA FIGURE IT OUT PLS DON'T BE MAD LYCAON

OH HI VIVIAN, WEIRD ENTRANCE BUT YOU'RE PRETTY SO I'LL LET IT SLIDE (please be kind to me so I don't have to swipe for Hugo and his engine in the future pls girlie I want your aesthetic please please please-)

FUCK NOT THE JACKASS, HE'S GONNA MAKE EVERYTHING GO TO SHIT- actually I wished he tried something so I could see Lycaon get protective....hehehehe I love my husband~

Oh I did that bid with flying colors LMAO, stubbornness wins-JESUS CHRIST VIVIAN WTF A BILLION?????? UM......d-do you need a dog? I can be a good boy- I mean what-

Wait that's a reference to Lycaon's trailer isn't it? I love that

And just like that I'm giving the girl the side eye...Lord Phaethon? Really? Please please please don't be a bait character.

Oh this game has got me thinking with the bid against Hartman-FUCK I LOST ANYWAYS FUCK THIS GUY YOU MADE ME USE ACTUAL BRAIN CELLS YOU POS-

Ah....I guess it's time for the real show to begin, NOW I GET TO KICK HIS ASS RIGHT???? RIGHT????? YASSSSSSSS

WOOOOOOOOO OH MY GOD THE CUTSCENE THE ANIMATION, LYCAON WAS GETTING FERAL HE WAS BARING HIS FANGS OH MY GOD I'M GONNA SCREAM INTO A PILLOW AAAAAAAAAAAA GOD THE GIRLIES WERE FIGHTING THEY WERE FIGHTING AND MY GOD HIM PINNING HUGO AGAINST THE WALL????? WHY COULDN'T THAT HAD BEEN ME, IT SHOULD'VE BEEN ME NOT HIM MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

...OH HELL NO THAT BITCH MENTIONED MY HUSBAND'S INJURIES, IM GONNA KILL HIM- oh goodie the game lets me with a boss HEHE. Though boo for running away like a coward, though I do appreciate the fact that was in game and not another prerender cutscene

WAIT EVERYBODY SHUT UP FLASHBACK WITH YOUNG LYCAON AAAA-

Oh the voice direction for young Lycaon is different (from my memory, in jp, he had almost the same voice with the same deepness within the previous flashback. Here it's more higher and more boyish.) Not a bad change, I like it!

Ohhhhhh so this is how the breakup happened, huh. Thought it was more violent but maybe we haven't seen the full fallout. Also this is definitely a "victim of abuse goes too far in his quest for vengeance" vibes, like if his family was a total abusive nightmare (def some kind of affair shit going on too what with the half sister mentioned, or the second mom was the second wife and also abusive as well? Just throwing shit at the wall) I don't blame him fully but...yeah he's going down the route of taking it too far

WDYM THERE'S MORE WHAT, I started this at 11am...it's 3:30pm at the time of writing this sentence LORD SAVE ME

Geez we really getting into some cult shit with what happened to Bringer, I'm convinced he may have saw the origin of the Hollows or something to that affect.

OH HI VIVIAN (again). Huh? Wdym you have history with the cult thing? I genuinely just thought you were Hugo's half sibling (yes I know he said he forgot but this could be a thing where she isn't showing her face around and by the end she joins him??? I'm trying here, I'm still convinced they're related they have similar eyes and vamp traits.).

OKAY WHY IS SHE AN ACTUAL MC SIMP CHARACTER???? MY DARLING??? GIRLIE POP TRUST ME YOU CAN DO BETTER (sorry Phaethon but yeah...) -........oh she doesn't know. Okay. Don't let her ever find out (or do because I have a weird sadistic joy in seeing people get devasted in realizing something they idolized isn't what it is lmao).

Oh she is with Hugo...throwing the sister shit out, me being an idiot again lmao.

Oh thank god I did play in the right order HAH, but also Vivian??? You good girl? Did you just get a ptsd episode? You need anything?

.....SIENNAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA NOOOOOO, omg Mira that poor girl.

Omg Vivian can see the future? That's so cool, but also I feel so bad for her. MOVE OVER HUGO I'M TAKING HER AND PROTECTING HER NOW

....EW EW EW EW EW EW EW EW EW EW EW EW EW NONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONO I DON'T WANNA PLAY AS HIM YET I DONT WANNA I DONT WANNAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

holy shit I've been at this nonstop for five hours help me. I desperately need a break so I'm stopping here for now. I'll reblog this with my finishing thoughts and rambles at a later time.

[ganondoodle]

Hello! I hope you are doing well. I have been following your concepts on [cursed bird app] for a while now and find your stance on the totk rewrite intruiging. Since twitter ofc is never a good place to elaborate on anything lmao, I figured I would ask on here after finding out about your tumblr.

You are welcome to take as much time as you need for this, but I was very curious to hear more about why you feel totk 'fails as a sequel' in terms of writing. I can agree that the whole zonai thing did come out of left field a little, and I never did like the whole "zelda is once again separated from you for 90% of the game," bit (bc c'mon Nintendo again? Really??) but I was curious about what else you found dissatisfaction in and sought to redo

If your plan though is to do so gradually as you go with the new rewrite concepts you piece together and post, that is fine too. I just get more curious about your opinion bc you always seem to have a *lot* you want to say outside of just tag ramblings xD

Thank you for your time, ik this is a rather long ask, but your view is very vast and different, and I wish to understand the development of it more as I find it on my timeline

Thank you for this ask!

i have talked alot about the things i dislike about totk, all my general talking (not just about totk tho) is tagged with "ganondoodles talks" and all my longer rants should be tagged with "ganondoodles rants" (tho that tag is new idk if i remembered to put it everywhere) so i think it might be easier if you searched for these on my blog bc thats were all my ramblings go and, with no ill intent, have talked about it so much already i kinda dont want to spend hours writing out something that just ends up repeating myself really

somethign i can say that the main thing on why it fails as a sequel to me is .. bc its not .. a sequel really, it reuses map and models but doesnt elaborate on anything from botw (the zonau were barely even a thing in botw and now in totk their stuff looks way different and they have been here all along actually(tm) ) the shiekah stuff is basically erased despite it having been so build into the world of botw (and you could have just .. explored them more bc theres lots of cool stuff to do with them still), characters act weirdly off, stuff that was seemingly build up and was a perfect slide into a sequel either gets ignored or just straight up erased, themes dont match up at all and more

it just feels like they tested the glue mechanic for 3 years and everything else was an afterthought, i felt empty at the end, in a bad way, it felt like the game was actively mocking me for caring so much about botw at times and totk actively hurts botw too imo (with some reveals etc)

they should have just called it an alternative dimension thing like majora and half my complaints could be dismissed, but its not so im super frustrated bc i love botw a ton

if there are more specific questions you are free to ask about it again of course! this is not meant to sound dismissive but me typing out stuff can take a long time and im behind on so much work already qnq

also all development both visual and writing concepts for my rewrite are tagged with "ganondoodles rewrites totk" so you can find everything with that too :D