#attention or like going out of my way to get peoples attention and yet

[gaysindistress]

To add onto this; PLEASE FOR THE LOVE OF GOD AND POTATOES, INTERACT.

INTERACT WITH YOUR FAVE FICS AND AUTHORS.

LEAVE COMMENTS.

REBLOG.

SPAM WRITERS WITH LOVE AND SUPPORT.

You can write content but you can’t make writing content. I can write pages of informative content for work while on the other hand, it takes me weeks to create fics. There is an art form to creative writing and I think that is where the misunderstanding is.

My most popular fic is a mafia au for Bucky Barnes.

A mafia au for a marvel character.

One of the most popular au’s known to man for one of the most popular mcu characters and it is still one I get notes for daily. I know it’s not the most original concept but the reason why I continue to get notes almost two years later is because of me.

The way I write is completely different from any other writer and the same goes for every single writer out there. I’m apart of a wonderful writing community, @bucks-and-noble , with several other Bucky writers who’ve also written mafia au’s yet each fic is vastly different.

This idea that fics (and writing as a whole) are consumable products is wrong. It’s fundamentally and morally incorrect. Writers are not factories who can produce hours of work for you to consume in minutes. It will take time and precious time it is as all of us have lives outside of Tumblr.

Going back to my originally point, if you want your fave writers to stay here and continue to create these masterpieces, interaction is how you do this.

Please tell the artist what you love about their work. Stop and stare but tell us how you feel about our work.

I don’t think people fully understands that while I sincerely appreciate the likes and reblogs, written feedback is important too! I have no way of knowing what is or isn’t working if people don’t tell me (politely) what they think.

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve deleted this app and sworn off writing because I’m being treated like a computer. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve sat and stared at my computer and the post button because I’m so afraid of a fic flopping. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve written something I’m so excited about and not posted it because I know that it won’t get the attention it deserves.

But I also cant tell you how many times I’ve sobbed reading comments after months of only likes and empty reblogs and decided to keep writing.

Interaction is only a small step in getting back a community of appreciation and respect but it is an important one.

ok, because i just saw a terrible take, i feel compelled to say that there is no "fic market" to "oversaturate" in fandom. good gravy.

[daisymbin]

do you like me? - yoon jeonghan

warnings: as usual, alcohol as it is part of the drunken series , use of "she"

pairings: yoon jeonghan x reader

genre: friends to lovers, tiny bit of fluff, jealous jeonghan

wc: 2.2k

a/n: i cant believe its 2.2k wc, i was only aiming for 1000 minimum LOL. also im sorry yall, I feel like this fic didn't show more of 'drunk jeonghan' but I tried my best so I hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoyed writing this one! also I miss yoon jeonghan :(

drunken confessions masterlist

check out my masterlist!

jeonghan had always been playful with you. his teasing was a daily occurrence, a steady rhythm in the chaos of your shared lives. whether it was his shameless compliments, sly smiles, or that way he always seemed to invade your personal space, it was his favorite game; to make you blush, to get you stumbling over your words. he was drawn to the way you’d turn red, to your quiet flustered reactions. for him, each shy smile, every averted gaze was a little victory, he savoured each & every one of them.

but today was different.

you’d bitten off more than you could handle, volunteering to organize tonight's dinner without realizing the work it entailed. you thought it was easy; I mean, its just dinner right? but you forgot the part where its for 14 people. part of you wanted to ask jeonghan for help, he was resourceful, organized, and probably the best person for the job. yet, just the thought of sitting with him, of his teasing comments while he leaned close to look over the details, made you anxious. you could already imagine his smirk, the inevitable, ��oh, so you do need me,”  that would tumble from his lips. the thought alone had your cheeks heating up, so instead, you turned to seungcheol.

“hey, cheol,” you called, catching his attention. “could you… help. me with tonight's dinner planning? i’m a little overwhelmed.”

seungcheol looked at you with an easy smile. “of course. what do you have in mind so far?”

you settled beside him, going over the checklist you’d made. seungcheol was focused, nodding along, giving practical suggestions. his presence always easy and comforting for you.

meanwhile, jeonghan had wandered into the room just in time to see you sidle up to seungcheol. his eyes narrowed slightly, taking in how close the two of you were, your heads bent together, deep in conversation. you laughed at something seungcheol said, and jeonghan felt his chest tighten. he was used to your flustered, shy reactions, but this was different. with seungcheol, you looked comfortable, relaxed: in a way you never were around him.

the more he watched, the more that flicker of irritation grew, a quiet jealousy simmering just beneath the surface. he didn’t realize he’d been clenching his fists until he caught seungcheol looking at you with that friendly smile, his hand resting casually on the back of your chair. something inside him snapped.

walking over, jeonghan put on his usual casual smile, but there was a tightness to it. “am i interrupting something?” he asked, his voice light but with a sharpness that made you and seungcheol look up.

seungcheol raised an eyebrow, not missing the tension in jeonghan’s expression. “just helping out with the dinner tonight,” he said, meeting jeonghan’s gaze evenly. “she needed some help.”

jeonghan’s gaze flickered to you, his brow furrowing slightly. “really? you needed help?” he echoed, the emphasis on ‘you’ just sharp enough to make your cheeks flush. he turned back to seungcheol, his voice dropping. “you must be really busy to spare the time, huh?”

seungcheol gave a small chuckle, clearly unfazed. “never too busy for a friend,” he replied, his tone pointed, as if daring jeonghan to say something else.

jeonghan’s jaw tightened, and he forced a thin smile. “that’s good,” he said, his voice deceptively soft. “after all, friends should help each other, right?”

he moved closer, positioning himself between you and seungcheol, and leaned over to glance at your notes. “you could’ve asked me, you know,” he murmured, his tone a mix of annoyance and something sharper. “i thought you knew i’d make time for you.”

you looked down, feeling the heat rise in your cheeks. “i… i just thought you might be busy,” you lied, not daring to meet his gaze.

“busy?” jeonghan echoed, a faint smirk tugging at the corner of his mouth, though there was no humor in it. “funny. because it looks like you had plenty of time to find seungcheol.” he let out a low chuckle, but it lacked his usual warmth, sounding more like he was biting back something he didn’t want to say.

seungcheol raised an eyebrow, crossing his arms as he watched the exchange. “jeonghan, if you wanted to help, all you had to do was say so,” he said, his voice calm but pointed. “i don’t mind stepping aside.” seungcheol; knowing jeonghan's crush on you, was annoyed that jeonghan saw him as a threat.

jeonghan’s gaze hardened for a split second, and he gave a stiff shrug. “no, don’t worry. wouldn’t want to step on anyone’s toes,” he replied, a hint of sarcasm slipping into his voice. he turned back to you, his expression softer but still tinged with frustration. “but angel, just next time, maybe try asking me first?”

he glanced at seungcheol, a flash of irritation crossing his face as he noticed the small smile on seungcheol’s lips. 

dinner 

dinner that night started lightheartedly enough, filled with jokes, the clinking of glasses, and shared laughter. you were seated across from jeonghan, who seemed quieter than usual, eyes not quite meeting yours. the earlier tension from the day still lingered like an invisible thread between you.

as the evening went on, seungcheol seemed to gravitate towards you, his hand resting casually on your shoulder as he laughed at one of your jokes. every now and then, he’d lean in close to say something only you could hear, his warmth pressing into your side. it was the kind of natural, friendly touch that seungcheol was known for, but tonight, under jeonghan’s watchful gaze, it felt heavier.

jeonghan’s eyes darkened each time seungcheol’s fingers brushed yours or his arm draped over the back of your chair. his usual playful smirk was replaced by a tight line, the humor in his eyes dulled with an emotion he didn’t bother hiding anymore. the casual sips of wine he’d been taking turned into longer, more frequent gulps, his hand clenching the stem of the glass as if it were the only thing anchoring him.

“you’re really good at making everyone laugh, you know that?” seungcheol said with a grin, giving your shoulder a gentle squeeze. you giggled, warmth flooding your cheeks at the compliment, oblivious to the way jeonghan’s jaw clenched from across the table.

“cheol, i think its just you, no one else thinks that." you said as you hit seungcheol's chest playfully. & by "no one else" you really only meant jeonghan because he's sitting there, not a hint of humour on his face. but your gesture towards seungcheol & the added alcohol in his system, heightening his senses only made jeonghan’s frustration spike. the easy way you interacted with seungcheol, so comfortable, without a hint of the nervousness you usually had around him. it felt like salt in an open wound.

jeonghan finally set his glass down with a sharp clink, drawing everyone’s attention. his smile was there, but it didn’t reach his eyes. “seungcheol, you’re really good at making everyone feel special, don't you?” the question was laced with a bitter edge, masked just enough to pass as playful to anyone who wasn’t paying attention.

seungcheol raised an eyebrow, sensing the tension but choosing to play along. “well, someone’s gotta keep the mood up, right?” he chuckled, his arm going back to rest on your shoulder. the familiarity in his posture made jeonghan’s blood simmer.

“right,” jeonghan said, his voice deceptively light as he pushed back his chair and stood up, the scrape of wood against the floor sending a jolt through you. he rounded the table, stopping just behind your chair, his hand landing on the back of it with a grip that made you glance up at him in surprise.

“mind if i steal her for a second?” jeonghan’s tone was polite, but the look he shot seungcheol was anything but.

seungcheol’s eyes narrowed slightly before he let out a short laugh, leaning back and lifting his hands in mock surrender. “by all means,” he said, but the knowing glint in his eyes spoke volumes.

jeonghan leaned down, his face close to yours, voice low enough that only you could hear. “we need to talk,” he murmured, and the way his fingers brushed against your shoulder sent a shiver down your spine.

“o-okay,” you managed to say, your heart thudding in your chest as jeonghan’s gaze bore into yours, filled with an intensity that left no room for argument.

the room around you seemed to hold its breath, the chatter and laughter fading as jeonghan’s jealousy, simmering all night, finally bubbled to the surface.

jeonghan stepped closer, the intensity in his gaze weighing heavily on you. the lighthearted banter that usually flowed so easily between you was replaced by a thick tension that felt almost suffocating. you could feel your heart race, unsure of what was coming, but dreading it all the same.

“i need to get this off my chest. it’s been eating at me all day.” he said, his voice low and shaky,

you swallowed hard, the unease swirling in your stomach. “what is it?”

“do you like seungcheol?” 

“what? no, he's just a close friend.” your voice loud and clear.

“good. i don’t want to see you with anyone else,” he confessed, the liquid courage had him spilling words out in a rush, as if he couldn’t hold them back any longer. “not seungcheol, not anyone. it kills me to watch you laugh with him, to see you so at ease when you’re with him.” his eyes glassy.

you opened your mouth to respond, but he cut you off, frustration lining his features. “do you have any idea how much it hurts? every time you go to him instead of me, every time you ask him for help instead of me? it feels like you’re choosing him over me, and i can’t stand it!”

the heat of his words struck you like a slap, and you recoiled slightly, your heart aching at the rawness of his confession. “jeonghan, it’s not like that. i didn’t mean-”

“but it is!” he interrupted, his voice rising with emotion. “why is it so easy with him for you? you say he’s just a friend but when you need help, he’s the first one you think of? when we were sitting round the table for dinner, you just had to sit beside him? i’ve tried to brush it off, to act like it doesn’t bother me, but it does. i like you. like. a lot. i really really like you. and seeing you with him makes me feel like i’m losing you, which is stupid because you were never mine to begin with but it feels like you’ll never see me as anything more than just a friend. and it tears me apart. it just. hurts. do you even think of me? do you even think about me?” 

his voice cracked on the last words, the vulnerability laid bare in front of you. your chest felt heavy as you took in the pain etched across his face. “jeonghan, i-”

“no,” he said, shaking his head, anguish flooding his expression. “you don’t have to say anything if you don’t feel the same way. i just… needed you to know how i feel. i’ve been holding this in for so long, and it’s exhausting. i can’t keep pretending that it doesn’t matter to me when it does.”

your heart raced as you processed his confession. you could see the hurt in his eyes, the fear of rejection bubbling beneath the surface. “i… i do care about you,” you finally managed, your voice trembling. “but i was scared to admit it, we’re so…different.” jeonghan’s eyes softened for just a moment, but the hurt was still there, lingering. “then what do we do now?” he asked, the vulnerability seeping back in, but now mixed with an edge of despair. “because watching you be happy with someone else… i don’t think i can handle that anymore. so tell me, do you…do you like me?”

his question brought silence, it hung between you, thick with tension and jeonghan's raw vulnerability that shows his uncertainty, but within it was a glimmer of hope because jeonghan knows what you answer is when you locked eyes, he saw the way you looked at him. the world around you faded away, leaving just the two of you in a moment that felt both terrifying and exhilarating.

whatever was in the magic somaek as mingyu called it when he handed it to you was definitely working, because out of all the times jeonghan teased you to no end & his endless friendly flirting that left you shy & red, this has got to be the one time you really ought to be running away with the way he's looking at you. so tell me, why is it that when jeonghan pulls you closer by your waist and looks into your eyes as if asking for permission for god knows what, why do you nod your head twice with great certainty? & when jeonghan smiles so wide, bringing his left hand up to your neck to pull your body flush against his own and kisses you on your lips, why do you kiss him back?

[juyeoz]

BABY I — PARK JONGSEONG

Having a crush on Park Jay, your school’s student president, was quite hard. Especially when he was the centre of attention for many girls. However, who would’ve known he was pinning after you this whole time?

PAIRING — friend!jay x fem!reader (ft. sunoo from enhypen and hanni from newjeans)

CONTAINS — fluff, slight angst, somewhat crack, friends to lovers, mutual pinning to an extent, not proofread, mentions of being stood up, and y/n is kind of introverted.

WORDCOUNT — 3591 words

NOTE — first note on this account!!! just wanted to say baby i by ariana grande inspired this it’s SOOO good pls listen on repeat when reading!

Park Jay was the student president of your school. He was helpful, trustworthy, smart, athletic, and nice to everyone who came into his vicinity. 

Obviously, you weren’t the only one who loved these aspects of him. He was well known amongst the male population of your school, but that didn’t mean the girls weren’t head over heels for him too.

Which only meant more competition for you. 

In your eyes, Jay was out of your league. He was way more outgoing than you would ever be, keeping many friends at his side, whilst you kept a small group of friends throughout your four years of highschool. 

“Hello? (Name), what were you going to say?” A voice questioned, bringing you out of your cluttered thoughts.

Your eyebrows perked up in surprise, completely forgetting who you were currently standing before—Park Jay. 

He slightly shook his head as a sign for you to continue your sentence. 

“Uh…” You muttered with your eyes looking everywhere but him. 

“What is it? There’s a meeting soon. I can’t wait for long.” Jay spoke again. His words seemed harsh, but his voice was soft.

“Right, sorry. Nevermind what I was going to say, it’s okay.” You reassured him with an apologetic smile. 

Great, another moment added to your ‘Book of Failures’.

Jay was confused, yet he smiled back at you and left in silence. You hated how perfect his smile was. Everything was perfect about him. There wasn’t one thing you didn’t like about him, however, you were pretty sure that spoke for everyone as well.

He was a perfect guy and you were, well, ordinary. You preferred to keep to yourself and stay away from any judgement, with an exception, of course.

Your best friend, Pham Hanni. She was someone you met during elementary school and someone you would forever trust.

“Let me guess, you failed again?” Hanni questioned from the desk beside you. You sighed at her words as your head hit the surface of your desk.

“I very much did.” You groaned out while Hanni smiled. A hand gently made its way to the crown of your head, caressing the area softly. 

“It will be fine! Everyone gets flustered when doing something like this.” She reassured you, but it wasn’t of any help.

“Do you think I could ever confess? I mean, do you know how many people like him? There’s at least a 1 in 600 chance of him reciprocating whatever my heart feels when I’m around him.”

“Well, you guys are close, right?” Hanni asked, but only received silence in return. 

“Right…?” She said once more.

Silence. 

“(Name), don’t tell me you two barely know each other!”

“No, of course not! We are, well, I don’t know. Could you even call us friends?” You asked, a groan escaping your lips shortly after.

“I mean, what are some of your interactions with each other?” 

“After the project we did together in English class, he would say hi to me in the halls, ask me for help in class, and offer me snacks here and there. However, that is it.”

“I’d say that’s between acquaintances and friends? Right?” Hanni pulled the lollipop she snacked on out of her mouth and pointed it at you.

“That is still a lot though! Probably more than anyone has ever had. I think you might have a chance.”

“Or are you just saying that to make me feel satisfied?” You asked while looking over at her.

“No, seriously! But if your words keep getting tongue tied, I don’t think you’ll have a chance anytime soon.” 

Your brows furrowed at her words as you landed a soft hit to her shoulder.

“Careful, my lollipop! I don’t want to drop it.” She exclaimed, her eyes widening at the treat in her hold. You rolled your eyes at this reaction of hers, it was common from her. You were pretty much used to it.

Your eyes glanced over to the doorway as one of your classmates walked in. Hanni looked at your sudden flustered state in confusion and turned around. 

There was no other reason for you to react this way. Park Jay, the boy you had a crush on, was currently walking through the doorway with his younger friend, Kim Sunoo, beside him. 

“You’re so obvious about it.” Hanni said, turning around to face you again and placing the lollipop in her mouth once more.

“I am not! There’s no way he knows.” You said with your face toward Hanni but your eyes on Jay.

He looked over at your seat—a common routine of his—and waved towards you with his signature smile present on his face. After a brief moment of hesitation, you waved back at him as a small smile broke through your flustered condition.

Hanni looked at you, then at Jay as Sunoo did the same. The two boys made their way to their seats up front and began talking once again.

However, the conversation was completely different than the one they were previously having.

“Seriously, are you going to tell her how you feel?” Sunoo questioned as Jay shushed him. 

“Of course not. Do you think she would even like me back? You’re funny.” Jay said while taking his seat.

“Jay, so many people like you.”

“That’s the point. What if she thinks I’m a player?” The boy asked while reaching into his backpack to grab his notebook.

“I doubt she would. There are a ton of options for you at school, but you decided to pin after a girl who you worked on a project with for two weeks. Two weeks.” 

“And those were the best days of my life. Seriously, I didn’t know someone like her existed in our school until this year. I don’t know how I survived until senior year without her presence.”

“Gross! You sound so in love—”

“Shut up! You’re so loud.” Jay whisper-shouted while covering Sunoo’s lips with both of his hands. 

“I’m sorry. Anyway, please think about it. It hurts to see you interact with her continuously just to not confess whatever you’re feeling.” Sunoo said while removing Jay’s hands from his face. 

“Whatever.” Jay mumbled as their teacher walked in. He would be lying if he said he didn’t believe that Sunoo was right. However, he was too nervous to ruin what you two already had.

The keys jangled in the doorknob’s keyhole as you struggled to unlock the art classroom. It wasn’t normal for classrooms to be locked, not at all, but this one was abandoned. 

Nobody used it anymore except for you. It was your quiet place. A place you went to ease your mind and located on the second floor. So, there was quite a process getting there. 

Giving out keys to abandoned classrooms was forbidden at your school. It was an unspoken rule that all teachers followed. However, your homeroom teacher trusted you. You were an excellent student in her eyes and that was enough for her to make up her mind.

The door clicked shut behind you and you made your way to the isolated desk you always sat at. All you had to do was get some classwork done. It wasn’t anything major, but the library would have been too loud at this time.

After all, it was lunchtime.

The sun shone through the thin material curtains, making your figure cast a shadow over your work. Usually, you sat here because it was the closest desk to the window. You gained a great view at the soccer field.

The one Jay always played on. 

Every time you came here, you constantly had to fight the urge to glance over at them. A little glance always went a long way, leaving you distracted for the rest of the hour. 

Giving in, your pencil movement came to a stop as you looked out the window from your seat. As usual, there were boys playing soccer in the summer heat, however, Jay wasn’t there. 

For a moment, you thought you saw wrong and took a closer look. Yet, you still couldn’t find him. 

You were too distracted to even hear the click of the door opening. Too distracted to even hear the footsteps that made its way to you. But you weren’t distracted enough to miss the sound of a desk being placed beside you. 

“What are you doing here?” You asked in a somewhat low voice. 

It was Jay. The boy you were previously looking for.

“Resting. You?” He replied while laying his head on his arms all while facing you. You avoided eye contact with him as usual. His gaze was too flustering for you. You couldn’t handle it.

“I’m studying.” You said and looked at your blank notebook page. You could feel his gaze still on you. It felt like it could see through you at any given moment. Once again, it was too much for you to handle. 

You needed to get rid of him quickly.

“You can’t be in here. It’s off limits.” You said, still not looking at the poor boy.

“Then why are you here? It’s an abandoned classroom and yet you’re here.” Jay said back. He wasn’t wrong. To be honest, he never was.

“Our teacher gave me permission. I work here often.” You explained as your pencil began to move, writing absolutely nothing but scribbles.

“Me too.” He said, leaving you confused. You looked over at him with a puzzled expression which only left him with a smile. 

“Your eyes are pretty.” Jay said and left your unsaid question unanswered.

His words only made you look away once more as your puzzled expression was replaced with a flustered one.

“What did you mean by your previous words?” You asked, discarding his compliment. 

“Which one? Your eyes are pretty? I mean, they truly are—”

“The other ones.” You interrupted, cutting him off. 

“Oh, Mrs. Jang lets me use this classroom to cool off my head when I get overwhelmed. I was shocked that it was already unlocked when I came. I didn’t know you used it too.”

“We never run into each other.” 

“I see,” he sighed and nuzzled his face further into his arms. 

You could still feel his gaze on you as silence fell upon you both. You were confused. Why did he compliment you? Did he like you back or was he only teasing you? Did he do this with every girl he saw or were you his only exception? 

Which one was it?

“Why do you keep doing that?” Jay’s voice pushed through your thoughts, startling you.

“Doing what?” You asked, still avoiding eye contact with him.

“That,” he began. “You don’t look at me when you talk to me. Do you hate the sight of my face or something?” 

“Of course not!” You exclaimed, catching both of you off guard. 

“I mean, I’m just shy.” 

“For sure.” He teased you.

Silence filled the classroom once more as you tried to do your work. Heavy emphasis on the word tried. 

He was still looking at you. You knew he was and he knew you knew too. 

“(Name).” Jay called. 

The way your name rolled off of his tongue was too much for you. You hated the sound of it. It was a precise pronunciation with a slight ring to it.

You swallowed thickly and nodded at his call, giving him the signal to proceed.

“Do you like me?”

“And then what?!” Hanni exclaimed, waiting for the rest of the story to leave your lips.

“What do you mean?” You asked. Your words only left Hanni feeling dumb.

“Was that it?” She asked as part of her hoped you would say no. However, to her dismay, you nodded your head.

“(Name)? He literally asked if you liked him and you didn’t even reply?!” She said in a loud tone. Luckily, you two were at your house so it was fine for her to be this way. There was nobody to overhear your conversation anyway.

“You blew it. You blew it!” 

She was in distress. After waiting for this moment to happen, she felt like her world officially ended. 

“I freaked out, okay? The bell went right after that!” You said in an attempt to defend yourself. 

“Let me guess. You used the excuse of being late when returning the classroom key and ran out in a haste.” 

“Spot on.” You said with a groan.

“Did I really mess up?” You asked. 

“Is that even a question? Seriously, I don’t know what I’m going to do with you.” Her face went dull as she sighed. You were definitely a handful to take care of. 

“Wait, I have an idea.” She suddenly said and her face brightened up immediately. You looked over at her with a frown. 

“Do you have his number?” Hanni questioned. Hesitantly, you nodded at her words. You only got his number because of the English project you two had to do and would text occasionally, but out of the blue was not the best option.

“Absolutely not! That’s too far.” You said while shaking your head at the idea you had of her possible plan.

“Chillax, it’s not too far at all. It’s better than leaving his somewhat confession hanging in the air.” 

She had a point.

“Fine. What are you going to say?” You asked while giving her your phone. You were nervous for whatever tricks she was planning on pulling, but you handed her your phone regardless.

“You’ll see.” Hanni said and began typing away.

For a while your room went quiet. The only sounds heard were Hanni’s fingers tapping against your phone screen and the wind outside of your window.

“Here.” She said after three minutes and handed you your device. You looked at her, taking note of how she bit back her smile. 

You were scared to see what she did, but you weren’t even able to due to the sudden incoming call. 

“What the hell, Hanni?!” You exclaimed as she only smiled. She ushered for you to answer the call as you did exactly that—after leaving your room, of course.

“Hey.” His voice was soft as usual on the other line. It made your heart beat faster, making you feel stupid.

“Hello,” you greeted back, waiting for him to say whatever he called for.

“Is it true?” 

“Is what true?” You asked. 

What the hell did Hanni even text him for him to ask this?

“You liking me. Is it true?” He sounded desperate. He wanted to know immediately. 

You hesitated on replying. Would it mess everything up, or what? His question back in the art classroom wasn’t something that sounded like he was looking for reciprocating feelings. If you said yes, where would that response take you?

“Yes, it is.” You replied in a somewhat whisper. Jay exhaled harshly, leaving you confused. Did you mess up? Why did he sigh so harshly? What did Hanni put you through? 

You turned around in a rush to open the door. You were nervous. You didn’t want to hear what came after his sigh. Not at all.

You were about to hand the phone back to Hanni, but was brought to an abrupt stop.

“Good.” Jay said. 

“Let’s talk about this in person tomorrow. I don’t want things to escalate on call, okay?” 

You hesitated in replying to his suggestion. Was that a good okay or a bad okay? Was he planning to reject you harshly? Was your friendship over?

“Is that okay with you, (Name)?” His voice once again pierced through your thoughts, bringing you back to reality.

“Yes. That’s okay with me.” You replied and you two said your goodbye before hanging up.

“So?” Hanni asked, waiting for you to explain what happened.

“I don’t know.” Was all you could say before flopping forward onto your bed with a racing heart.

Jay, on the other hand, paced back and forth in his room. You liked him and that was great! However, he didn’t want to ask you out over the phone. That wasn’t romantic at all.

How should he go about this? Should he confess in the morning before class or at lunch in the art classroom again? Should he bring flowers? Of course he should. Many people loved them.

But wait, were you allergic to them? Maybe not if you helped out the garden club leader Yang Jungwon that one day, right? He remembered the moment vividly. 

It was the time he confirmed his feelings for you. The way you smiled at the boy and listened attentively when he explained things to you. Honestly, that should’ve been him, but he had his moments during the English project.

Part of him even thought you liked Jungwon and not him. That was the only reason why he asked you the question at lunch yesterday. Even if the garden club incident happened last month, it still managed to bug him everyday.

At this point, his frequent questions wouldn’t get answered. His best option was to sleep. He could think of everything tomorrow morning. Before heading to sleep he sent you a quick message, letting you know where to meet him the next day. 

Near the garden, fifteen minutes after eight a.m. Easy and possibly romantic.

However, when the next morning came, you stood alone near the garden, fifteen minutes after eight a.m. And Jay was nowhere in sight.

You checked your phone constantly, hoping he sent you a text, letting you know of the change of plans. To your dismay, there was nothing. It was absolutely a ghost town on your phone and also five minutes left until the bell went. 

Were you just stood up by your crush? Most likely. You felt embarrassed. You were completely right about Jay not liking you back, nevertheless, you let Hanni’s words get to your head. Was it her fault? Absolutely not, but you wondered. What if you never gave her your phone at that time? Would you and Jay still be just friends?

A hand grabbed your wrist, halting your movements. You didn’t even get far from the spot you stood at. It was so sudden and scary and their grip never faltered.

You turned around and were, luckily, met with an out of breath Jay. The boy who you had a crush on and who you thought stood you up.

“I’m sorry.” He said while letting go of your wrist and standing up.

“I woke up late, I didn’t mean to leave you standing there alone. I swear of it.” He explained as you listened, avoiding eye contact. 

“It’s fine. What did you want to say?” You asked.

“First off, please look at me when I say all of this.” He pleaded, causing you to slowly look over at him.

“Okay. I really didn’t mean to leave you waiting. I had my alarm set and everything, yet I still slept past it. I couldn’t sleep all night because of this. I was nervous.” 

You remained silent, in which he took as a sign to continue.

“When I saw you text me the other day, I was thrilled. I thought I ruined everything by asking you if you liked me during lunch. Seriously, the way you ran out so suddenly left me worried.” 

“I’m sorry. I was flustered.” You apologised and he shook his head.

“It’s okay. I’m glad I found out you truly did like me though.” He said as a slight smile made its way to his face.

“Do you like me back?” You asked, genuinely. He didn’t say he did. You weren’t sure if he did either.

“What?” He questioned back.

“Do you like me back?” You repeated, hoping it would get through him this time.

“Of course I do. Why wouldn’t I?” He was dumbfounded that you even asked him that. Was it not obvious by his many interactions with you compared to others? 

“Please, don’t say it like that.” You muttered and avoided eye contact with him again. 

“Why not? Does it make you flustered?” 

“Yes, it does.” Your voice was quiet and made Jay’s smile grow bigger.

“I’ve liked you for a while now, (Name). Ever since the English project actually. Those were the best days of my life.” 

“Not even being promoted to student president?” You questioned as your heart beat increased drastically. 

“Not even close.” He said back.

You remained silent at his confession and played with the dirt below your shoes. 

“So, what do you say?” He asked. 

“What do you mean?” 

“Can I be your boyfriend?” He asked again.

“Enough of that!” You exclaimed, softly hitting his shoulder.

“What am I doing wrong?” He was confused. He didn’t even do anything this time. It was a genuine question. 

“Can I, (Name)?” 

He did it again. The way he said your name only left you even more flustered as you let out a mumbled ‘yes.’ 

He could barely hear what you said and only picked up the ‘s’ sound at the end of your word. The boy before you smiled. 

He was glad you said yes. 

“I’m glad.” He voiced out and engulfed you into a hug which you reciprocated. 

The bell finally went once you two began to hug. Those were the longest five minutes in your life, but they were definitely worth it. Hanni and Sunoo were most likely going to have a field day with this new information. 

You could say, they were the ones who made this all happen with their constant pushing, right?

Yeah, most definitely.

© JUYEOZ

ENHYPEN PERM TAGLIST — @miumura @macapunoz @kxppachu

[woso-dreamzzz]

Chook's Halloween

Kewis x Child!Reader

Summary: The thirteenth of my Halloween-centric fics

"Looking good, Sam!" Erin whistles," Indiana Jones!"

Sam rolls her eyes. "Don't say that with Chook around. She won't be very happy."

"Huh? Why?"

"Because I'm not Indiana Jones."

"Yes, you are. You're all-" Erin makes a vague gesture "-Sexy."

Sam laughs. "Well don't let Kristie hear you say that."

"If you're not Indiana Jones then who are you?"

"Owen Grady."

"Who?"

"Owen Grady."

"Who's that? Your neighbour?"

"No," Sam replies, rolling her eyes," The guy from Jurassic World."

Clarity dawns in Erin's eyes. "Oh, so this is a Chook costume."

"Yeah," Sam admits," It's a Chook costume. She was very excited. Kristie's meant to be Claire, Helen's Maisie."

"And Chook's a dinosaur?"

Sam sighs. "And Chook's a dinosaur."

The door to the gym swings open again and someone shrieks.

You trot in, arms lifted up like a dinosaur.

"Well," Erin says," That's certainly-"

"Blue!" You say, pulling up your velociraptor mask to reveal your face," I'm Blue, Erin! From Jurassic World! Rawr!"

Your excitement is palpable as you run around the gym in my dinosaur costume.

"Should I know who Blue is?" Erin asks as she watches you sneak up behind Millie to scare her.

"It's the velociraptor from Jurassic World," Sam explains," The one that doesn't die."

"They die?"

"Yeah but don't bring it up to Chook. It makes her cry."

Halloween is always hit or miss for you.

You either enjoy it so much you're bursting from happiness or you're too scared to even watch some Halloween movies with your mothers and spend your time curled up with Helen and your toys.

Sam doesn't want this ruined for you even if it's just an accidental comment on Erin's part.

"Mom!" You call and Sam turns to give you some attention.

"Yes, Chook?"

"Mom, look! I'm a dinosaur! Rawr!"

"Wow," Sam says in mock shock," You really scared me there, Chook."

"Don't worry, Mom," You say, patting her side," I'm not actually a real dinosaur. It's just a mask. See." You pull your mask up so Sam can see your face. "It's still me."

Sam looks down at you with a fond smile, lightly ruffling your hair and tugging at the tail at the back of your costume. "Well I'm glad it's still you Chook. I'd hate to have to explain to Mommy that we've got a little dinosaur now and not a little girl."

"Don't worry," You tell her," I'm not old enough for be a full dinosaur yet. Maybe next year though."

Sam laughs, sliding your mask back over your face. "Maybe next year."

Training is lots of fun with everyone so impressed by your dinosaur costume and the staff even give you lots of sweeties even though you didn't Trick-or-Treat them.

"Mommy!" You call as Sam unlocks the apartment door," Mommy, we're back!"

Kristie pops her head around the wall. "Oh, wow, Chook, looking good."

"Silly, Mommy," You rebuke her, giggling as she flutters kisses over your face," You saw me this morning."

"And I can't think you're still looking good? Maybe you're the silly one Chook."

"You're not dressed yet," You look at Kristie through narrowed eyes," You have to dress up, Mommy. It's a family costume. It can't just be me, Mom and Helen."

Kristie laughs. "There's plenty of time. We've still got to eat dinner before we go trick or treating."

You huff, blowing out all of your air noisily. "But that's ages away!"

Kristie ruffles your hair, taking your mask from you to put on the side. "Well little dinosaurs like you can't go out trick or treating without being fully fed. You might eat everyone!"

"Silly, Mommy. I'm not big enough to eat people yet."

"I don't look the way she said 'yet'," Sam snickers to Kristie before addressing you," Well, you won't get big enough to do that if you don't eat. Mommy's cooked us some dino nuggies."

You narrow your eyes in thought, darting them between Sam and Kristie.

"Triceratops nuggies?"

"Uh-huh."

You nod. "Good because they're herbivores. Carnivores like me eat herbivores!"

[faithful-grigori]

“#im reaaaally happy with this one hehe i had fun putting the stuff from different things shes had/worn,,#i feel like ppl overlook the massive identity crisis & the accompanying depression & internal conflict rise is going through during the gam, #like shes trying to figure out who she is seperate from her idol image (which she constantly still clings to despite her insistance that sh, #s done with it bc she does still crave that recognition and attention she got from that position. she literally breaks down crying when her, #manager tells her kanami has taken her acting role and is more-or-less set to take her spot now), #and then she also struggles with finding what she wants to do with herself now that she doesnt have showbiz to worry about, #i think she kinda unintentionally uses the investigation as an anchor for her to hold onto, #something to keep her busy in the absence of the hustling idol life, #and then she also like. again she keeps clinging to the idol image and the associated bubbly-ness and bold flirtation, #because thats the ''her'' ppl liked, #i dont think the way she acts during the game is ENTIRELY an act theres definitely a lot of her true self in it too, #but she does have a lot of moments where she leans more heavily into the bubbly & flirty cutie act, #her sl shows that for all that she wanted to retire from showbiz she isnt really ready just yet, #bc she did actually enjoy being an idol. she did enjoy being able to reach out to people in this way & to finally have ppl like & accept he, #the problem is she doesnt know who ''she'' is at this point, #im rambling but u get my point. yeah. yeah, #rise..............”

Who's the "real" me?

+ some references for the Rise-related things I included <3

[yanderefarm]

Emil and Nephite me underrated loves

How do you think they’d both react to like extreme dirty talk outside of the bedroom? Like whispering filthy things into their ears when they’re supposed to be doing something (ie, Emil attending to kingly duties and Nephite helping at the church)

Also can I be 🐙 anon?

cw;; public sex, dirty talk, religion, omegaverse

this is so funny I've talked to you several times already now but i hadn't done this request yet. the same is true for mousey.

"you look so good tonight."

you allow emil to lead your body through the dance, your attention far more focused on the way his cravat made his chest pop. he can clearly tell you're distracted but he just smirks instead of commenting on your lingering eye.

"i appreciate that. you look exquisite yourself."

he turns you both as the other couples do so, the dance is light and relatively easy. your hand takes the opportunity to grip his muscles firmly, earning a choked breath from your husband.

"oh oops. is that where i grabbed you last night?"

his smile widened devilishly, a smile that made normal people tremble.

"yes, i believe so."

"what were we doing again..."

you heard his breath hitch.

"riiiight~" you squeezed the bruise again. "i was fucking you stupid."

"... dear."

he says it like a warning but you know it's empty.

"you looked so pretty and slutty with drool and cum dripping down your stupid face."

"(y/n)."

"your outfit would look even better stained in my cum too wouldn't it?"

his ears were burning and his golden hair fell further into his eyes like it was naturally trying to hide his embarrassment.

"can't wait til this stupid party is over... you're gonna gag on my cock like you love."

"please."

his dancing slowed as it became harder to move.

"please?"

".... i need you."

"we're at a party."

"i don't care."

you smiled and leaned your head against his chest. "I'll be nice and fuck your face after this dance. dirty slut."

that song seemed to last forever.

———

god, this cult event is so boring. nephite, your beautiful wife, is completely enraptured by the elder's words. and of course he had to pick the seats at the front so you had no hope of sneaking out. you let out another sigh, the third in as many minutes, before laying your head on your wife's shoulder.

"honey... I'm trying to pay attention."

he whispered like a scolding parent. you leaned your head the other way a pout on your lips. you heard the elder say something like "you need to let him come inside."

"that's what she said." you whispered to your wife with a little smile.

"what she said?? honey, im trying to listen."

he brushed you off again but instead of getting dejected you decided to tease him. make him regret picking the front row seats.

"y'know... like she wants him to cum inside~"

you watched your wife's cheeks burn a bright pink but he folded his lips pressing them tight against his teeth. oh he was gonna try to ignore you.

"y'know like last night... you begged for me to cum inside~"

your hand traveled from behind his back to brush across his thigh. you could see him jump his blush spreading further.

"you like it when he cums inside huh? filthy boy~"

"stop-"

he squeaked loud enough to draw some eyes to you two but you quickly pulled away from him and acted like you weren't even near him. luckily the deaf old man on the stage didn't notice. once the eyes wandered back to being bored you closed in around your wife again.

"don't be noisy... you want them to know you're being a perv in this sacred place?"

"y-you-! you're-you're the one being a p-perv!"

people looked at him again this time you pulled him closer to your chest and gave them a look to say you were sorry he was being noisy.

"c'mon, honey. be quiet or i won't cum inside when we're done."

you watched the dichotomy between his face looking at you incredulously and his thighs rubbing together.

"we could leave early... we could go to the bathroom. wanna sit here with my cum trailing down your thighs? your neck all marked and messy... your poor c-"

"please. please. (y/n), please."

you could see tears forming in his eyes as his face was completely red.

"please what?"

"wanna go home."

you smiled, proud of yourself.

[leahssmile]

— just focus on me

pairing: lia walti x reader

summary: reader is anxious about filming a video for Arsenal, luckily your girlfriend is there to help!

notes: short wally fic, sorry if this one's a little choppy and for the awkward ending, it was written in between flares up over a few days! ♡

nevertheless I hope it's enjoyed and thank you to everyone who's interacted with my blog so far, I hope to get more writngs out for ya'll and maybe take requests soon! :)

You dreaded media day.

Not because of the busy schedule or constant moving like most people, no, you hated the cameras themselves.

Ever since you were a little kid you’ve been camera shy. Your mother often joked that she had no clear photos or videos of you, but you just couldn't help it.

The thought of being in front of a camera made your already bad anxiety spike, of messing up and it being forever captured made you almost feel sick.

It's not like you had stage fright or anything, you could get on a field in front of a crowd of thousands and play fine, it was just the cameras that made you feel bad.

At least with interviews before and after games you could wiggle your way out of them, convince a teammate that they had more to say and would be better to talk to.

But media day was mandatory for everyone, including you.

Today you had managed to participate in the required photos, done with plenty of teammates around to focus on instead of the anxiety growing in you.

But after a quick lunch break you’d been cornered by one of the media people, asked to join in on one of the silly game videos to post on the team's social media, and not really given any option besides yes.

It was just a quick trivia video, questions about who had played in however many games, who had the most goals, nothing series.

And yet as you hover a few feet from the media people as they set up the cameras, you feel the anxiety start to gnaw at your insides.

The unfounded fear of forgetting every fact about your teammates, or even more unlikely, insulting one of them by forgetting the exact number of caps they had, making you squirm as you wait for you to be called over.

You tuck yourself into a chair out of the way, too busy trying to calm yourself to notice your girlfriend, Lia, approach you. “How's it going?”

You jump when she speaks, quickly turning to look up at her, offering a badly concealed nervous grin. “Great! Just waiting to film a quick video.”

Lia knows you well enough to know that something’s bothering you, and a glance from the cameras being set up to your bouncing knee tells her what she needs to know.

Your aversion to cameras has been well known to the Swiss footballer even before you two had started dating, but she never judged you for it, it was just a part of you and she had always tried her best to comfort and reassure you the best she could.

This time isn't any different, and she takes a seat beside you, reaching over to take one of your fidgeting hands.

“What kind of video?” She knows the best way to calm you is to ask simple questions, they usually redirect your train of thought from your worry.

“Um. A trivia one? Like, ‘who has played for Arsenal the longest’ and stuff like that.” Lia nods, “You're very attentive, I think you'll do great.” She offers softly.

It's true, your attentiveness is the thing that leads to your anxiety, noticing the small details, the blinking lights, the shifts of people's expressions, they all get to your head.

But you suppose it is also helpful for the video ahead of you. Now that you think of it, you do know quite a lot about your teammates.

You let out a soft breath, “Yeah. But the cameras…” You trail, and Lia takes a moment to look around.

Her own schedule was pretty much over, having taken most of her videos and pictures earlier in the day, and she'd really just been wandering around talking to her other teammates for a bit.

She was all for staying to make you comfortable. “Look, I'll be right behind the camera, just focus on me, okay?” She points to a spot far enough to not bother any of the media people, but close enough to stay in your eyesight.

You ponder the offer briefly before finally nodding, if anything could ease your anxiety it was Lia.

“Okay, I'll give it a try.” You say and she smiles, leaning over to hug you and press a quick kiss to your cheek. “You got this.” She reminds you as you stand, the media people having turned to wait for you to come join them.

You position yourself in front of the camera, following the directions of the media person as your eyes wander over her shoulders, looking for Lia.

Your eyes finally find hers, and she offers reassuring thumbs up and a smile that you return before taking a breath and turning to the camera, giving a nod to the media person as she holds up the first card with a question written across it.

[cheqorb]

More Between Us.

You’ve always been just friends, but they can’t ignore how their heart races whenever you’re near.

FEAT. Isagi, Bachira

NOTES. probably my most tooth-rotting post yet! annnd I totally forgot I had this in my drafts Bring this duo back to me though pleasj

ISAGI is easygoing, and mild-mannered by nature (though perhaps his rivals disagree on that). It’s literally harder to not be friends with him. Your relationship was equally good, nothing particularly special and not abysmal. The type of friends who might talk on the way to class if you spot each other, but never go out of their way to do so either.

If asked, you wouldn’t even say best friends; he’s too busy with his teammates, and you have your own friend group.

See, Isagi enjoys thinking about stuff in a logical sense, using reason and evidence to support his ‘theory’. Both in real life and in football.

So before he even comes to the conclusion of a crush, firstly, there’s the small details he picks up about you.

Your eyes shift colour slightly if the sun hits them right. But, he reckons that happens with everyone’s eyes. Your eyes crinkle upwards when you smile, and maybe even dimples form on your cheeks as you do so. He likes seeing people smile, and yours is… in a way, cuter than anyone else’s? If he had to rank smiles, he’d put yours near the top. All hypothetical, obviously!

He’s always been observant, even as a kid, so Isagi figured he was just feeling a little more insightful as of late but it doesn’t stop there.

Suddenly, Isagi finds himself unconsciously lingering in places he knows you'll be. He tells himself it's just coincidence, but deep down, he has a feeling that he’s seeking you out more often.

Practicing with his team becomes a lot more strategic, with him making sure he's near your usual route home (not in a stalker way, at least, he hopes not), and just on time so that he can ‘bump into you’ and walk together.

And he lives in the complete opposite direction, so, while you don’t mind his presence, you find it a little odd.

Isagi begins to remember every little thing you mention, even the small stuff, like your favorite snack or the song you've been listening to on repeat. Next thing you know, he’s casually surprising you with them, acting like it’s no big deal but loves it when you get visibly excited about it.

He fumbles with his words a little more around you now, overthinking simple things that never used to bother him. It’s not like he’s shy (actually one of the best communicators out of everyone), he just doesn’t want to mess up or make you think he’s weird!

If he says something that could be interpreted as mildly creepy, he’s actually the first one to call it out and apologise over and over again. Beats himself up about it at home, even if you thought it was mildly funny that he knew what you were doing last week Tuesday at around 5:06PM…

When his teammates joke about him having a crush, he laughs it off, but there’s always a little pink in his cheeks that he hopes you don’t notice.

He'll start texting you first more often, just to share something funny or ask for your opinion on something trivial. It’s an excuse, really, just to have another reason to talk to you.

Also catches himself smiling whenever he sees a notification from you pop up on his phone, and his heart does a little flip when he reads your replies, no matter how mundane they are. Literally a “hey, I’m bored. Wanna hang out” is enough for him to lose sleep over it.

When you two do eventually go to said hang out, he pays extra attention to you: whether it's making sure you’re comfortable, or that you’ve got enough to eat, he’s always subtly looking out for you.

Despite all these signs, Isagi convinces himself it’s better this way — giving you small hints for you to understand rather than straight-up confessing. If you notice them and accept, great! If you notice and don’t accept, that’s fine too, he hopes you can remain friends though!

If you’re completely oblivious, well… he’ll muster up the courage to say it outright.

You and BACHIRA are like two peas in a pod together! Where there’s one, the other’s probably lurking nearby somewhere. Every second of every day seems to be spent with each other (and to anybody with common sense, you two already look like you’re dating).

When the crush starts, he thinks about you more than he already did, if that were even possible. Every little thing you do seems to make his heart race, but he sorta brushes it off as just excitement from being with his best friend.

Kind of a trickier situation than Isagi’s one this way though, because now you’re so close, Bachira doesn’t even feel that different about you. He might not even realise it’s romantic until his mother points it out in the midst of another one of his rambling sessions. About you, that is.

I won’t sugarcoat it; he’s nervous if anything. You’re one of the few friends he has and genuinely seem to care and like about him and if he ruins your friendship over his feelings, he’d be devastated.

But he’s back to his usual self and gains a little confidence after some encouragement from others!

Bachira’s clinginess ramps up a notch, but it’s so typical of him that you might not even notice. He’s constantly draping an arm around you, leaning on you, or just being in your personal space as much as possible.

Willing to share anything and everything with you. For example, if it’s snacks he’s got, he’s always picking out the best pieces just for you and handing them over with a cute smile.

Bachira finds himself staring at you a lot more now. Sometimes you’ll catch him and he’ll just laugh it off with a playful comment, but on the inside, his mind is racing with thoughts he can’t quite put into words.

When you talk, he listens with full attention, his usual playful demeanor softening into something more tender. He hangs onto your every word like it’s the most important thing he’s ever heard — and you could literally be talking about a bug you saw on the sidewalk this morning.

If you ever need anything, Bachira’s the first one to jump in and help, no questions asked. He’d go out of his way just to make you smile, even if it means a truckload of extra effort on his part.

Sometimes, he hints at deeper feelings in his usual roundabout way — in little jokes that might just have a hint of truth behind them. But he always plays it off as just that, a joke.

If you’re feeling down, he’s the first to notice, offering comfort in the form of goofy antics or just sitting with you in silence if that’s what you want.

If you ever confront him directly and ask if he feels something more than just being friends, Bachira might just spill everything in a rush of words; unable to keep his feelings hidden any longer. But until then, he’s content simply being by your side, even if it means he isn’t being entirely honest to himself.

[icarusredwings]

"Shh... shh It's alright.."

Logan's eyes flutter open, hearing the raspy voice. Like he's been crying. Sitting up, he watches as his husband was once again in the corner of their bedroom, rocking and patting his babydoll, sitting next to her wooden crib that Shop Class had made for him, Fordge's great niece Cherri to be exact. Sweet kid. Wade ruffled up her ears every morning, despite her groans to stop, she would giggle and become upset if he didn't.

God those kids loved him.. but it seemed recently this specifc kid, Their plastic kid at that- had his attention most evening's.

"Wade..?" He whispers, but he's ignored. This isn't uncommon. Usually, during these episodes, it was best to let him go. To let him rock the baby until she 'stopped crying' or until HE stopped crying.

"Yeah, I know sometimes things might not always make sense to you right now. But hey, what daddy always tell you? Straighten up, little soldier. Stiffen up that upper lip. What’chu crying about? You got me.. daddy won't let no one hurt'cha... Promise" He whispers, giving their daughter a small kiss on the scalp, holding her so gently and yet so firm, afraid of hurting her by squeezing and or dropping her.

The way he sat cross legged and stared at their daughter, Logan could almost see his cogs turning.

Was that so hard for his own father to do? To protect him? Not hurt him? Love him?

"Shhh... shhh..Now, hush little baby don’t you cry everythings gonna be alright. Stiffen that upper lip up little lady I told ya, Daddy’s here to hold ya through the night."

Was that... Eminem??...

Of course Wade of all people would since Eminem to his infant...

He whispers, rocking back and forth with closed eyes, holding her tightly, patting her as he went on.

"I know mommy’s not here right now, and we don’t know why. We feel how we feel inside. I might seem a little crazy, pretty baby, but I promise mama's gon' be alright."

Look- Logan was old. But he wasn't that old. Wade had changed the lyrics. Just slightly enough to still match beat, but it meant so much, telling the baby doll that her 'feelings' mattered even if irrational, telling her that he was insane, and promising her everything was going to be alright.

You may not think so, but this was progress. Moments like these were looked down upon, and while people might not realize it, this sort of play IS a form of regression and was just as good as a coping mechanism as him playing with horses was, the only difference was he was playing with dolls. By comforting Evelyn, he was sootheing himself. It was much easier to tell someone else it was okay rather then yourself.

He was tricking his brain. Subconsciously forcing himself to believe things would be fine. The only part that he wasn't sure of was 'Evelyn's' need for a mommy. Was this Wade missing his own mother.. or was this missing Vanessa and what they could have had? V was still around. They saw her once a week at the very least. Still went on dates, Still hung out afterward (if you get my drift) The only thing really different was that the 'baby machine' was no longer in business. Having shut down a while ago. She had (at least- if Logan understood correctly) Had a partial hysterectomy so her painful periods would stop.

"And daddy’s gonna buy you a mocking bird. Imma give you the world, I’ma buy a diamond ring for you. Imma sing for you, I’ll do anything for you to see you smile." He sang quietly, giving her sweet hugs, soft kisses, and the patting became lighter, more off beat and calm.

It wasn't that Wade would be a "Bad" father but he could barley take care of himself. Anyone who knew him- actually knew him- knows Wade wouldn't ever be able to hurt a baby. Not on purpose anyway, but with how his mind was, it wasn't a good idea. Kids? Sure. A baby? No.. And it's not like Ness didn't talk to him about it beforehand, letting him know that she was keeping her eggs but they would never be able to have a baby unless someone agreed to be a surrogate. He wasn't mad. No, not at all. He understood perfectly.... a bit too perfectly.

Logan, being the person who he is though, could smell him crying in the shower later that day. He couldn't imagine being in those shoes.. to be told the person you were planning on having little kits with- Er I mean kids with- wouldn't be able to carry them anymore.

"And if that mockingbird don’t sing and the ring don’t shine, Imma break that birdies neck! I’ll go back to the jeweler who sold it to ya and make him eat every karat, dont fuck with dad.. hah....you like that? Yeah?... Daddy's little psycho.." He smiles, seeming to have finally 'calmed' Evelyn enough for her to stop 'crying'.

Deep down, Evelyn scared him. Wade behaved as if she truly was telling him things at times. At first, he thought it was just his own voices playing tricks on him. And then he thought it was lingering elements of a bad dream, a random little girls voice running through a nightmare.

Wade went into detail about each dream, talking about it for days afterward, describing how his darling girl was reaching out for him, calling for her daddy with open arms. From the sounds of it, she wasn't an infant, though. Fluxuating ages but the ones where she begs him not to leave well... leaves him like this. In shambles, crying on the floor at 2 in the morning.

"You comin' to bed, papa bear?" He teases.

Glancing up, Wade sighs, the kind of relief in which he could finally lay Eve back in her cradle, giving it a good push before coming to crawl under the sheets. "Comin' mama bear."

[aspergerasparagus]

Oh no I did again, more toxic yaoi but this time there's a lot more of it cos I finally finished it after like a week. Woops.

Anyway Frankie discovers a new way to make money and the contestant is suffering once again. Enjoy.

Also on Ao3

Preparations for the new season had been progressing well, although it would still take them longer for this season given that certain cast members had been disposed of and their replacements were taking some time to be completed. In the meantime to keep the fans engaged and excited for the show's return Frankie had had a rather genius idea, if he said so himself. Well not entirely, Lucky had been the one to inadvertently mention it while making himself dinner. The human had mentioned that with all the cameras everywhere he was starting to feel like he was in one of those content houses he had seen online. This had of course led to Frankie badgering Lucky for the next few hours, demanding all the details especially after he accidentally mentioned the revenue such things were generating. Of course his contestant had adamantly refused to let Frankie stream him 24/7, kicking off about how it was “an invasion into their privacy”, wasn’t he aware the rabbit was already watching his every movement… Regardless Frankie had begrudgingly come to an agreement with Lucky, only being allowed to stream him during certain hours and not without telling him they were live. While this could have cut into the possible profits, it did also reduce the risk of someone slipping up while keeping the fans hungry for more.

So for the next week, Frankie would stick to his word and the new livestream would go on for a couple of hours each day, slowly gaining a following with people clamouring to see more of their adored winner. Of course while Lucky was the star, Frankie was always close by, always there to come up with ideas with what his little cash cow could do that day to earn them some additional funds and to moderate if Lucky started to act up. 

It was during their last livestream that Frankie finally noticed that there had been a gradual shift in the chat’s tone. Originally he hadn’t paid it much attention, leaving it mostly to Lucky to keep an eye on and engage when necessary. But as the days went on he slowly started to take more of an interest. It seemed that while there was still a good majority of people here just to see Lucky try and speedrun the parkour courses or make a fool out of himself, there was also a much larger subsection who seemed to be there not just for him. Frankie had found himself being mentioned more and more in the chat logs, which he assumed was due to his charisma and unusual appearance, but when reading through them later that night he realised it wasn’t just himself being mentioned, it was both of them within the same messages. A lot of research and googling terms later (seriously what did toxic yaoi mean?) finally led Frankie to the conclusion that a fairly substantial number of the viewers were only there to see Frankie and Lucky interact with one another. It seemed they were becoming the hot new “couple” and from Frankie had researched, couples streams made even more money.

The following day as always Frankie cheerfully made his way over to Lucky’s room, not even attempting to knock before he barged his way into the room. 

“Wakey, wakey my lucky contestant we have a new day of content to film and we are going to need to get started early as I have an extra exciting day for us!” Lucky just groaned and clamped the pillow tighter over his head in a feeble attempt to block out his intruder's chipper voice. Letting out a small snort of amusement, Frankie effortlessly yanked the pillow away before pulling the man out of his bed by his collar, earning him an earful. “Now, now none of that Lucky. I need you up and ready and looking your best for today’s stream. This is going to be the biggest one yet.” The man gave him a curious look from behind the mask (Frankie made him sleep in it, just in case), before finally yanking his shirt free from the rabbit’s grip.

“What’s so special about this one? Wait if you’re starting the next season early I swear I’ll push you into one of those grinder myself!” Frankie just waved his hand to dismiss his golden goose’s concerns as the man bristled next to him.

“Of course I’m not! We’re nowhere near that stage yet, do you know how hard it is to make a replacement for Henry. Urgh the investors are still pissed off about that one… Nethertheless I promise this will be a nice and easy stream. So you can wipe that scowl off your face and get dressed, I’ll even get breakfast ready for you~” Humming to himself Frankie saw himself out while Lucky just stared after him, a small shiver going down their spine. 

Frankie had been busying himself in the small kitchen he had set up when Lucky finally joined him. The man seemed on edge as he sat in the chair furthest away from the rabbit, their body stiff and ready to jump to action. His little contestant had good instincts, even if he didn’t know what Frankie had instore for him today he still knew him too well to not suspect something. Frankie purred softly as he grinned widened, that’s why Lucky was his number one contestant, the show's only winner. His special little human. Plating up the food he set it down in front of the man, who looked at it like it was poisoned. 

“Don’t look at it like that, it’s just normal food I swear. I’d offer to taste it for you but we both know that wouldn’t do much.” The sickly sweet tone didn’t reassure the Contestant  who hesitantly poked at it before slowly placing a forkful into their mouth, correctly assuming Frankie wouldn’t temper with the food, at least not without the cameras rolling. Smirking to himself, Frankie took a seat next to the man, resting his head in his hands as he took in the human, earning him a sour look.

“You’re being far too nice today.”

“Can’t I be nice to my biggest money maker?”

“Absolutely not, it’s you were talking about Mr murder parkour game host. I’m not stupid enough to think you’ve just turned over a new leaf. You’re up to something and I’m going to take a shot that it’s not going to be good for me.” Frankie could only chuckle and sit back as Lucky spat out his accusations. He was right of course, which only tickled the rabbit even more.

“Perhaps, but I assure you you won’t get injured, intentionally anyway.” Dropping the announcer voice, Frankie leaned in closer to Lucky who froze instinctively, his voice lowering as he murmured against their ear. “Who knows, you might even enjoy today’s stream. I know I will~”

Lucky bolted out of their chair like it had been electrified, causing it to clatter to the floor with a metallic clang as he pressed himself against the wall behind them. His body was shaking as he kept his eyes locked with the rabbit’s as they just let out a cruel chuckle, pleased with the reaction.

“Jumpy today aren’t we? Well I won’t torment you any more… for now at least. So eat up and I’ll see you when you’re done, Lucky.” Dusting himself off, Frankie left the man cowering against the wall shooting daggers at him the whole time until he was out of sight. Frankie could feel the pep in his step as he headed back towards his office to make sure everything had been set up as he had asked. He wanted everything to go as planned but given how suspicious and high-strung his contestant was being, he was sure he’d have to resort to his plan B. Frankie couldn’t stop the sneer that spread across his lips at that idea. He had hoped it would end up that way. Not only would it give the viewers something truly special to watch but he couldn’t deny it was getting him worked-up just thinking about it. Stopping at the entrance to his office he gripped the handle and took a deep breath, trying to calm himself down. There would be time for this later, for now he had to focus before Lucky eventually worked up the nerve to show his face and begin the stream of their lives.

It took Lucky less time than Frankie had expected for them to appear at his door. He really needed to stop underestimating just how impressive his star could be. Taking his usual seat, the man crossed his arms, huffing slightly, like a child annoyed with their parents for some perceived injustice, as he fixed the rabbit’s stare.

“Go on then. It’s not like I’ll be able to get out of this, but if you try anything Frankie I swear-”

“Oh hush, you’ll be fine Lucky. I promise. It might not even be that long of a stream in the end if you behave and follow the script.” Frankie could see their eyes narrow behind their mask, even less trusting of the creature now. Nonetheless he finally heard them sigh as they flopped back into the chair, resigning themselves to the whims of their showrunner.

“Fine. What have you got instore for me today? Speedruns? Parkour demonstration? Oh please don’t let it be another cooking tutorial that went so bad last time-” Chuckling Frankie held his hand up silencing the man.

“No, nothing like that this time. Thankfully. Today’s stream as mentioned will be a little… different. I’ll explain everything to you, and our audience, at the time. So come along, and no I am not telling you anything before you start making demands. Like I said you’ll find out in due time~” The smooth voice he put on did nothing to ease the contestant who, after hesitating for a moment, followed after him, mumbling under their breath about how bad he knew this was going to turn out. Of course Frankie could correct him, but honestly he was getting a kick out of keeping his little Lucky in the dark.

Typically Frankie did most of their broadcasts within the more centralised areas of the facility or within the lobby areas. Good lighting and “safer” areas where Lucky could show off his skills. But for today’s broadcast he had a slightly different idea, given he was sure he knew how the reveal was going to play out and it would save on time when the inevitable happened. Leading his contestant towards Frankie’s Frosted Peak, he noticed out of the corner of their eye how the man began to stiffen as he realised their destination. Typically Lucky avoided this area of the facility, most likely due to the possibility of a certain someone releasing the slime onto him but he did occasionally venture there if Frankie was in tow. Well he wouldn’t have to worry about the fear of drowning this time, something much worse would be chasing him this time if Frankie played his cards right. 

Reaching their destination the rabbit beckoned this superstar inside and positioned him just by the check-in line before clicking his fingers. At the sound a couple of drones whirled to life and drifted up into the air, slowly beginning to circle the pair, the cameras attached to them swivelling to fix themselves on their targets. Frankie saw Lucky’s eyes darting between the drones, a look of confusion coming over him. Of course these were a new product the rabbit had been able to purchase with the funds his little money maker had been able to so generously generate for him, and of course he’d gotten the best money could buy (well within reason, the investors were keeping a closer eye on his spending habits recently). Clearing his throat, Frankie took centre stage as the lights on the drones flickered to life and the familiar sound of the other cameras turning on echoed around the room. The chat screens soon began to flood with a wall of text, endless streams of messages that passed by so quickly it was almost impossible to read one before another immediately took its place. 

“Welcome ladies and gentlemen to a new stream! I’m sure you are all excited to see what we have planned for you today and I assure you today will be a very special episode. As you might have seen on our social media pages we have been planning a special little gift for our most devoted followers. You know who you are, I’ve seen the comments~” The teasing tone caused the chat to burst into a frenzy of messages, while Lucky just glared at the back of the rabbit’s head. He knew something was wrong and was about to voice his grievances before Frankie spoke up once more.

“So as a thank you from the both of us, we have a treat instore for you. First off a certain chat filter has been removed temporarily, you know the one I mean, and secondly your favourite host and his lucky little rabbit will be putting on a show for you, all you have to do is choose what show that will be~” Clicking his fingers again, the screen behind them on the Peak blinked on revealing a poll of some sorts. Frankie could only smirk as he saw Lucky squinting from behind his mask to try and read it before he froze, realisation dawning on him. Making his way over to his favourite contestant, a soft purr escaped the rabbit as he leant down to whisper in the man’s ear, his voice almost feverish.

“I told you this was going to be a special show, Lucky. Aren’t you excited? I am positively ecstatic myself. I wonder what option they’ll choose? You know which one I’m hoping for, don't you my little rabbit~” Lucky could only stare ahead, eyes transfixed on the screen as the votes began to pour in by the thousands, the words atop it, flickering menacingly back at him.

Choose our first date activity!

“W-what the hell is this about? What’s going on Frankie?” His voice faltered slightly as he forced the words out of his throat, still unable to process what exactly was happening. Letting out a soft chuckle, the rabbit nuzzled his cheek lightly causing Lucky to jump away from him, eyes wide with confusion before quickly a wave of anger spread over them.

“This is what all those bloody streams were for weren’t they?! Just some fucking excuse to make me play out your twisted little fantasies! How didn’t I see it before!” Frankie could only grin wider as Lucky finally began to put the pieces together. While he’d give the man credit, he was smart enough to be able to read the rabbit pretty well, it seemed he was fairly blind to the actions being carried out around him. Never realising the narrative arc being acted out around him by Frankie until it had to be spelled out for him on a giant screen with thousands pouring in to vote on his fate. Honestly Frankie would be disappointed if this wasn’t so satisfying to watch play out in real time.

Finally composing himself, Lucky rounded on the announcer, grabbing him by the bow tie and dragging him down to eye level. Frankie could feel the man trembling with rage (and embarrassment) as he glowered up at him

“Stop the fucking vote!”

“Oh? You don’t want our fans to help choose the perfect first date for us? Are you getting all shy again my little rabbit~?” The fake sincerity in his voice only made the man’s grip tighten on his tie. He’d never managed to piss off his little contestant like this before. Such pure, unfiltered animosity and resentment radiated off the tiny little human, it was practically suffocating and it was all directed solely at him. Frankie was completely intoxicated and loving every moment of it. 

Arousal probably wouldn’t have been the correct word to use to describe how he felt right now, given that he wasn’t technically able to feel something like that given his state of being, but he was sure this was a very close facsimile of it. Perhaps euphoria or delirium could also be used to aid in its description. Regardless, Frankie’s plan was playing out even better than he could have ever imagined and his little Lucky was playing his role perfectly. Now to see just how well the man could keep it up seeing as they were barely even halfway through the first act.

“I said stop the fucking vote!” 

“I can’t. These people paid good money to watch us go on a cute date and they’ll get that. Neither of us can afford to make the big men upstairs mad at us now can we?” Hissing like an angry cat, Lucky lurked away from the rabbit, a look of pure resentment in his eyes.

“Bastard…” Frankie could only giggle before he turned his attention to the chat screens, to see what they thought of their little lovers tiff. They were eating it up. The chat had now worked itself into a frenzy as messages spilled in by the second, all clamouring to demand more. Suggestions on how Frankie should deal with his “naughty little bunbun”, people questioning how this was going to play, people chanting to get their choice to the top of the poll and a variety of other messages, all echoing the same fanatic energy as the rest of the chat. Now to give them a real show.

“But perhaps there is another way if you are really so set on not playing with me Lucky…” The man stopped his pacing to stare the rabbit down. It was clear that he wasn’t remotely close to trusting another word that came out of the monstrosities' mouth but if it meant getting out of his current situation he would at least consider listening. 

“The people need a show. They have all paid good money to be here, so we need to put on something that they’ve never seen before and that fits in with our clients… tastes. So I propose a little wager, nothing bad I swear. You won’t get hurt and if you win, no date. How does that sound Lucky?” The man just held the rabbit’s gaze and he let that offer process. There was the possibility that Lucky would refuse. Just say fuck it and go on the “date” regardless of what it would turn out to be and that would be that. But Frankie knew his little rabbit too well now, better then maybe he knew himself. He knew what he’d choose, that is why he’d planned this out. Why he’d even brought him to the Peak to begin with. He was playing right into his hand without even realising. This wasn’t for the viewers or the money anymore, this was just for Frankie’s entertainment now.

“... What do you propose?” 

“A little game. Very simple; you win, no date.”

“And if I lose, I have to go on the date?”

“Correct. You’ll also need to play along regardless of what is chosen. Give the people what they want.” Lucky fell silent again before finally sighing and resigning himself to his fate.

“What game do you have in mind? I’m guessing us being here isn’t a coincidence.” Frankie felt a shiver run down his spine as he turned to face the cameras once more.

“So observant my golden goose! I suggest we play a simple game of “tag”. You try to get away from me while I chase you. Manage to get to the top before I can catch you and you’ll win. I’ll even give you a head start~” The chat was lapping this up, the messages quickly devolving into mindless key smashing over the idea of them seeing the two objects of obsession playing out a common trope in their fantasies (Frankie was all too aware of the type of things that were being written about them regarding situations similar to this). Meanwhile Lucky just eyed the climb behind him. He’d done it before, he could easily do it again. Frankie was sure there he was thinking that there was a strong possibility he could beat him, hell Frankie (the actual one), couldn’t catch him. What chance could this little rabbit who spent all his time watching tv screens and narrating possibly do?

“Fine, but I get a 30 second head start.”

“10.”

“20. And no slime.” Frankie could only purr as Lucky went to take his place at the starting line, not giving the rabbit a chance to argue. 

“You can be so demanding my cheeky little rabbit~” Beckoning the drones, they followed after him and soon took up position, one coming to rest just beside the contestant while the other hovered just over Frankie’s shoulder. 

“Now chat, remember to root for who you want to win and let’s see if our only winner can beat the Peak once more!” Dropping the voice he chuckled softly. “May the best player win Lucky but I’ll warn you, don’t go easy on me. I’m not going to let you get away from me with what’s on the line.” Frankie saw them shiver before they snapped their head back around to focus on the course in front of them. Clicking his fingers the chat moved to the large screen on the peak, pushing the voting poll to the side so they could witness how the viewers were chanting for them.

“Okay, so on my mark! Ready, steady, run rabbit run~”

Lucky was off the starting line like a bolt, the drone shooting after him to make sure it didn’t miss a single shot. He was fast, faster then he was during the 57th season. All the training he’d been doing since he’d “agreed” to stay on was certainly starting to show itself off now. He was effortlessly vaulting himself over the obstacles set up in his path and sliding under others. However while Frankie was admiring his contestant he was also keeping a countdown in his head, counting down the seconds until he could go after his prey prize. The moment he hit 20 he coiled his legs up before launching himself up the first ledge of the course completely negating anything before it. Easily flipping himself up he looked up to see Lucky just ahead of him getting ready to deal with the rotating platform, the man risked looking over his shoulder after he heard the rabbit land and Frankie saw their eyes snap wide as he realised what the rabbit was up to.

“Fucking cheating bastard…”

While Lucky was used to the other Frankie simply chasing him down like a mindless beast, he was a lot more cunning, able to more freely utilise the benefits this body of his provided him. And he intended to utilise everything he had to put on a good show. Charging ahead after his fleeing contestant it didn’t take long till he was on their heel, getting close enough he could have grabbed them had they not suddenly swerved to the side, sending him off balance and threatening to topple over. Taking his momentary stumble Lucky quickly launched themselves to the next level, leaving Frankie to try and correct himself before pulling himself up after them. But Frankie didn’t care. This was so much fun! Chasing after his contestant like a scared little rabbit was definitely something he could get used to (he could finally understand the appeal the other Frankie saw in it), and he was thankful it would play out for longer. It also seemed that he wasn’t the only one enjoying this. He knew Lucky would deny it but he’d seen it when they’d dodged him. The spark in his eyes. He was enjoying this too and that only got the rabbit more worked up. The thrill of the chase infecting both of them and ensuring that both would give it their absolute all.

Higher and higher the two climbed, neither letting the other get a chance in. The chat screamed out for them, chanting their names over and over as they continued their game of cat and mouse. It was looking too close to decide who would come out on top as Lucky rounded the final bend and sprinted ahead towards the peak. Frankie was loving every minute but alas all good things had to come to an end and he had no intention of letting his contestant beat him. There was too much at stake after all~ Lining up he saw Lucky sneak a glance towards the peak, just a few meters and he’d be the winner. And that distraction was all Frankie needed. Lowering himself to all fours (undignified he knew) he launched himself forward tackling the man who only had the chance to yelp before they both crashed into a pile just a couple of meters short of the finish line. 

Without missing a beat Frankie pinned the man flat on his back, hands gripping his wrists as they struggled under him but it was no use, Frankie had caught his prey and he wasn’t letting him get away now. They both remained silent for a moment except for the contestant's laboured pants filling the air as he tried to catch his breath, eyes locked on each other. The chat must be losing their collective mind right now. Finally Frankie leant down, mere inches from Lucky’s face as the man just held his gaze. His voice was low as he spoke, a small quiver to it as he had yet to come down from the high of the chase.

“I caught you my little rabbit~” Unable to keep his composure at the suggestive tone, Lucky finally looked away earning him a chuckle from the rabbit on top of him. Given the small muted noise they’d made it seemed he’d embarrassed them. Cute.

“Fine, fine you won. Now get off me already! We don’t need to be giving anyone any more ideas…”

“Oh trust me, this is nothing compared to what I’ve seen them write about us~” The man could only flash him a look of confusion and concern at that comment but that was enough about that for now. Nuzzling his cheek Frankie finally lifted himself off the contestant, offering them a hand as they went to climb to their own feet. After debating for a moment he hesitantly took it only to cry out as Frankie threw him up into his arms, and while carrying him bridal style (for the fans), leapt off the peak earning him a number of curses as Lucky grabbed at him. 

Once safely back on the ground, and after having to dodge a kick to his face, the rabbit took up his position, making sure the chat was clearly visible.

“And there we have it folks! A race like you’ve never seen before here at Frankie’s Parkour Palace! Wasn’t that exciting? I know I enjoyed myself wholeheartedly throughout the whole thing~” The chat burst into life once more, clamouring to scream their praises, complimenting the contestant on how well they did and a lot of the chat becoming a little more descriptive as they went over how Frankie caught his bunbun and how they had wanted to see how it could have played out. Frankie could only smirk as Lucky went red behind their mask as he continued to read the chat. What till he saw the fanart Lucky had found of the both of them. Clearing his head he reached over and pulled the man to his side, slipping a hand onto his shoulder.

“However seeing as I was the winner it’s time to see what date option, you the chat, has voted on. I can hardly contain myself to see what option you have all voted on, and I’m sure Lucky is just as intrigued to see what you have in store for him! Now to final votes!”

Clicking his fingers once more the screen moved to show the votes, slowly moving up from the fewest to the final viewers choice. Frankie could feel Lucky stiffen under his hand, their hands gripping his costume for comfort as he awaited his fate, hardly able to breath. As the list slowly rose up, Frankie could only pull Lucky closer to himself until it finally reached the top voted option:

Winner: Dancing

“Ooooh so chat wants us to have our first dance together as our date~ It’s a little early for that but I’m sure it’ll be good practice for the future.” He had expected an elbow in the side for the comment but Lucky continued to stare straight ahead, eyes focused solely on the results.

“Anyway, we’ll be back in an hour and have everything set up for you then. So as a little bonus for being such a good audience, I would like you to choose the song. Remember to choose something appropriate that fits my little rabbit the best. I’ll let you in on a little secret to help you choose, my little superstar actually has some moves. Let's see if we can get him a tune he can show off to~” Now that got Lucky to rip his gaze away to look up at the host, alarm in his eyes as he processed what they had said.

“W-wait how… how do you know-” Holding a gloved finger up to his lips, Frankie hushed them softly.

“So we’ll see you in a little bit and get voting!” With that the feed cut off as the drones returned to Frankie, the chat feed still displaying as they debated about what song they should choose. Meanwhile, Lucky just stood there before violently ripping himself away from the creature, his eyes filled with fear as he stumbled back.

“How? How did you know that?!” Feigning ignorance Frankie just cocked his head to the side, like a confused pet who couldn’t understand their owner's request.

“Know what, Lucky~?”

“You know damn well what I mean you bastard! Did… did you rig the vote?!” Frankie couldn’t keep the innocent act up as he suddenly cackled and gave his contestant a cruel grin. 

“You didn’t think I wouldn’t know everything about you did you? A show like this means we have to run background checks on all contestants. Very thorough background checks. I know everything about you my Lucky. Where you lived, where you worked, where you went to school… who your parents were.” The last part made the man bristle up like an angry cat but the fear in his eyes reassured Frankie that he wasn’t going to lash out like last time.

“Your father was a dance teacher and in turn, when you were younger, he taught you too. Of course you never pursued a career in it, glad you didn’t by the way or you’d never have ended up here, but I am aware you did win some awards in your younger years. I just wanted to put those skills of yours to use is all~” As he talked, his voice dropping once more, he made his way over to Lucky who could only cower away like a little rabbit, fear gripping him like it never had before. He looked so small and fragile now as Fankie casted him in his shadow. So unlike him.

“Don’t act scared Lucky, I won’t do anything. All we’re going to do is dance and that’ll be it. Just a normal first date~” Frankie was sure that would have been the end of it, until something ignited in his little rabbit's eyes and without a chance to react they reared their head back and slammed it into his causing him to yelp this time as their forehead connected with his nose. Stumbling back in shock he clutched his face as Lucky held his ground, glowering at him, a small trickle of blood leaking from the crack in their mask. The rabbit remained silent for a moment, processing what had just happened before his smile grew wide. 

“Now that’s more like it Lucky~! That’s what I want! I hope you bring that passion to our dance! I can barely stand the wait now~!” This was the contestant he wanted. The one who had braved the show, who beat all the odds and even him in the end. The one who even when terrified held his own and refused to back down. His golden goose, his little rabbit, his “Lucky” contestant. His everything.

After being coerced into finally letting the rabbit treat his wounds (who knew headbutting something mostly comprised of metal would do more damage to them than the rabbit), Lucky now sat sulking on the side of his bed, nursing his bandaged head. He was still pissed off at Frankie given that whenever he looked at him the man just shot him a sour look but it didn’t seem there’d be any more violent outburst for the day. Hopefully.

“So seeing as this is an important stream, I acquired you some new clothing as while stylish and practical that suit isn’t going to cut it. You have to dress up for a date after all~” The man just rolled his eyes and pouted but Frankie was sure he was somewhat eager to see the new threads he got, seeing as the suits are all he’d worn for the last few months. Something different would make a nice change and probably keep him well behaved. Picking up the package he’s brought back with him as he’d gotten the first aid kit he handed it over, the other man taking it cautiously. After inspecting it he quickly began to tear through the wrapping before pulling out the suit jacket, shirt and pants that had been inside. 

“Oh wow. I’ve never had something this nice before.” 

“I suppose not but you deserve something nice for our date. Plus it was in the budget so I coughed up a bit more. I want you looking your best for your fans.” Rolling his eyes he gently laid the suit down on his bed, treating it with the utmost care as the rabbit just smirked watching him. It might be the first time the man’s worn a suit before in his life bar for interviews, but it did tickle him to see that even though it was a gift from Frankie, he still treated it so gently.

“Well gone on, try it on. It should fit given as I had it made for you using your measurements. I need to make sure you’ll look presentable.”

“R-right, right- wait, how do you know my measurements? Oh you know what, never mind. I don’t think I want to know right now.” Groaning he went for the zipper only to hesitate as Frankie continued to watch him showing no signs of leaving.

“Frankie, I’m not changing with you watching.”

“You’ve done it before during the first time you were here. It’s not like I haven’t seen it all before.”

“Frankie get the fuck out before I headbutt you a second time.” The rabbit could only giggle, heading out to give his little rabbit some privacy. Such a shy little thing.

After a few minutes, Lucky finally stepped out. He seemed almost shy as he opened the door, presenting himself to Frankie, like a child trying something on for their parents to gauge their approval. Frankie’s eyes lit up immediately as he came over to inspect his contestant, circling around them as he checked it all fitted correctly.

“Well look at you, someone does clean up well don’t they~”

“Shut up. I feel stupid.”

“Well you don’t look it. Someone might even say you look handsome or is the word hot nowadays~” Grimacing beneath the mask, Lucky shooed the rabbit away as he chuckled to himself.

“Please never say that again. Honestly though, do I look okay? I don’t want to embarrass myself more than I already have today.” Taking a step back, Frankie ran his eyes over the man as he twirled around on the spot for him. He could certainly turn a few heads in this get up, good thing Frankie was the only one around to admire him.

“You look good Lucky, I’m being honest. You know I wouldn’t lie to you without reason.” Humming the man patted the front of the suit before nodding.

“Okay, if you say so. Shall we get this over with then.”

“Lucky, remember what you promised. You need to play along and act like you’re having a good time. So wipe that sour look off your face. I’ve also thought of the perfect place that can act as our dance hall for the evening!” Offering up his arm to his date, Frankie beckoned the man and with a groan he obediently took it, allowing himself to be led into the unknown.

Frankie hadn’t been lying when he had said he’d thought of the perfect place to turn into a dance floor. Considering most of the facility was covered in parkour equipment (or bodies) there had been only one clear choice, Hexa-Havoc. Dropping down into the arena, Frankie let Lucky down as the man inspected the area, a nervous look in their eyes. He hadn’t been here since he’d won and from the way he’d started to pick at his jacket, it didn’t seem he was particularly pleased.

“This was your idea? How are we supposed to do this on a floor that’s constantly falling?” Frankie just shook his head as he went over to a hidden control panel in the wall, starting to fiddle with the settings.

“The floor only starts to fall when the game’s started up, I’m not going to do that so I assure you it’s stable. Don’t trust me, run around and check it for yourself.” Finally getting the right settings down, he slammed it closed and made his way over to his date for tonight, the man turning to meet his gaze.

“You ready?”

“It’s not like I have a choice. But to warn you in advance it’s been awhile since I’ve you know…” Frankie dismissed him with a wave of his hand.

“I’m sure it’ll be fine, besides I’ll be leading so you’ll have nothing to worry about. Just follow my instructions like you always do and we’ll have our viewers melting in our hands in no time.” Speaking of viewers, it was time. Clicking his fingers like last time, the drones suddenly descended from the darkness above before the screens lit up, chat suddenly coming to life as the feed started up once more. Seemed they’d been anxiously waiting for the return of their favourite couple and seeing as one had undergone a drastic costume change since they were more than eager now. The screens filled with excited messages at the sight of their winner and how good he’d look on the rabbit’s arm.

“Welcome back dear viewers! I see you’ve been craving our return but as promised here we are, back to entertain you once more with a very special bonus so lovingly picked by you, our viewers. Now without further ado, let us get this date underway and be kind to your sweet contestant, he’s a little shy. It’s our first date after all and I want it to be memorable~” Frankie couldn’t help but look over at his golden goose as he spoke, the man tutting and averting his eyes, but the embarrassment was clear. “Now let’s get down to business and see what song was chosen, it’ll be a surprise to all of us so let’s hope it was a good one.” Spinning on his heel, Frankie made his way over to Lucky and with all the charm of a fine gentleman bowed and offered up his hand to his date.

“Now then, may I have this dance my little rabbit~”

The lights in the room suddenly dimmed, the flooring changing from the technicoloured patchwork of colours to a soft blue, coating them and everything in the light. Lucky hesitated , his hand floating between them both before music suddenly started up from the unseen speakers that surrounded them.

Open the curtains

Lights on

Don't miss a moment

Of this experiment

Oh, the book is strange

Like clockwork orange

Keep your eyes buttered till the end.

Snatching his hand, Frankie pulled him close to his chest, Lucky instinctively grabbing at his shoulder with his free hand. Throwing him a dirty look, Frankie could only smirk as he slipped a hand around his contestant’s waist and started to lead their dance. Of course Lucky was slow off the mark, fumbling slightly with his steps, trying to keep up with the rabbit best he could. Pressing him closer Frankie took charge and soon they were matching one another perfectly, as if they’d choreographed this from the beginning.

Cut it off, cut down your loss

All that stubborn loyalty is gonna get you killed

In a world built on convenient theories

For the puppets on TV

There is comfort in the strings

If you're gonna control me

At least make it interesting theatrically

Frankie led his contestant around the floor, spinning and swinging him around with ease. Locking eyes with one another, the rabbit was surprised to see Lucky smirk before he spun himself into his arms, his back to his chest. Taken aback the rabbit could only freeze up, now this was a side he hadn’t seen before. But it was only a momentary lapse, Frankie letting out a purr as he slipped his hands back around his little rabbit.

“Keep up, Frankie.”

“Oh, I will don’t worry~”

Down, down, and down I go

I tell myself I'm a tough girl

Down, down, and down I go

I could never, ever, ever touch the soil

Slipping away, the drones turned their attention to Lucky as he took centre stage. He was getting into it now as he showed off just what he was capable of. He was so controlled in his movements, moving between each action almost without having to think. He made it look effortless. Frankie could only watch as his little rabbit became the highlight of the show, just like he had last time. His superstar was at it again.

My heart goes right

My head goes left

And end up on your bed

Huh

Coming up behind him, Frankie snaked an arm around him, wriggling an eyebrow at the last line which earned him an eye roll. Worth a try. Taking his hand once more, they continued their dance across the floor, so in sync it must be a sight to behold for the viewers. Not that Frankie was really paying attention to them. He’d see the takings at the end, right now his Lucky had his undivided attention.

Sure I'll be your marionette

Here, tug on my thread

Spread me open for dolly pink, snow white artificial beauty

Maybe we're all cold machines

Stuffed in the human skin

With human sins

Sewed up by the gods of city

“Hold on.” Frankie’s voice surprised Lucky who only just managed to wrap his arms around the rabbit in time as he extended to his actual height, easily lifting the man off the floor as he swung him around. He could hear the other man cursing him out as he refused to put him back down, but he didn’t seem to be too mad, given how he heard him a small snort of laughter slip out.

Cut it out, you've already lost

All that precious bravery is gonna get you hurt

In a world that feeds on the minority

May that self-centred belief lead you to peace

If you're gonna replace me

At least have the audacity to kill me thoroughly

As Frankie lowered him down, Lucky hesitated as he caught the last couple of lines. Locking eyes, Frankie could see the words hitting a little too close to home, his money maker starting to remember where he was, what he’d gotten himself into. Quickly sweeping in he took his hand, continuing their dance. This little game of theirs was his and his alone to control and it would only end when he decided it was time.

You gave me strength

Hopeful curiosity

Maybe there are still happy answers left for my discovery

What's the colour of the electric sheep you see?

And if you love me

Can you love your everything too, for me?

Coming to the end of their dance, Frankie pulled the contestant closer to himself as their movements began to slow before he finally dipped them as the music faded out. Leaving them alone with the sound of Lucky’s heavy breathing and his heart hammering away in his chest. He could feel their hands trembling slightly as they held onto his neck for support, realisation about their situation truly coming into clarity for the first time as the monster and man faced one another. Frankie let out a soft growl as he gently lifted Lucky’s chin, forcing them to crane their neck up so they were practically touching now.

“What do you think we are now, Lucky? A prisoner and their warden? Business partners? Lovers?”

“There is nothing here but vitriolic flirting.” Frankie could only chuckle at his answer, he wouldn’t expect less from the first winner of the show. Truly there was no one else like them. Leaning up he placed a “kiss” against their masked forehead.

“I’d be hurt, but you seem to know me too well my little rabbit~ I wouldn’t want it any other way. So let’s continue this dance until the end, I promise you I’ll be the one to end it. No one else deserves that honour except me.”

“...I know, I wouldn’t expect anything less.” His voice was so small as he spoke, almost sad knowing how he would meet his end. Some would have found comfort in the fact that it wouldn’t be the other Frankie but he could be just as bad if he wanted to be.

Releasing his chin Frankie trailed his hand down Lucky’s neck before suddenly tightening his grip around it, not enough to do anything, just enough to make his point. He felt the man swallow nervously beneath his hand but he didn’t break eye contact, holding his own once more.

“You know, when the time comes around I promise I’ll make you a spectacle. Your end will be deserving of all that you’ve done for me and the show. It’ll be unlike anything we’ve ever seen before!” Frankie was getting worked up just thinking how’d he do it. It had to be spectacular and go down in history, but he still had plenty of time to figure out the details. He wasn’t in a rush to get rid of his cash cow just yet. 

“How considerate of you, but remember Frankie, you’ll still have to catch me first. And I’m not going to let it happen again.” Frankie barely had time to register the sucker punch that was swung at him, only just managing to block it, releasing Lucky’s neck in the process. The rabbit couldn’t say he was surprised by the action but still a little shocked at how close his little rabbit had gotten to landing another hit on him so soon. Such tenacity. 

“Oh, keep this up and I might have to punish you~” Lucky just shook his head before releasing his grip on the rabbit’s neck, letting himself go limp and slipping out of their grip.

“I assure you being here with you is enough punishment but if you do, don’t get it from those guys. You should see what they’ve been saying...” He motioned to the screen behind him, Frankie finally acknowledging his viewers as he glanced at the chat. Oh, oh yeah they were losing their minds once more and with the filter removed they were being a little bit more descriptive and graphic then previously. It seemed the dance and their little interaction afterwards had gotten them into a frenzy. Demanding more and for Frankie to take things further, but they’d have to wait till next time. Frankie wasn’t going to get anything more out of Lucky tonight, except maybe a kick in the teeth.

“Well chat I hope you got everything you wanted and more with this stream! Also let’s give our little superstar a round of applause, even I was surprised just at how well he could move but we’ve all seen him on the courses so we shouldn’t expect anything less. Now until next time, I hope to see you soon!” With that feed cut off, leaving Frankie and Lucky alone. His little golden goose had his back to him, lost in thought no doubt about. He’d had a busy day so Frankie would cut him some slack. Slinking over he gently nuzzled their cheek, snapping them back to reality as they shooed him away.

“How about some dinner? My treat. I even have some wine so I can “wine and dine” you properly.” Lucky still seemed a little distracted but quickly shook his head clearing his thoughts. Not wanting to dwell too much on the rabbit’s promise any longer.

“Yeah alright, I could definitely go for a drink right about now. So what do you have in mind for food?”

“Well we could always try making something togethe-”

“Hell no you stupid rabbit! I’ve already had a stressful enough day as it is, don’t joke about something like that! You just cook me something seeing as this is all your doing. I deserve to take it easy for once.” Frankie could only laugh as Lucky put his foot down, the man pouting at him from behind his mask.

“So demanding, alright I’ll see what I can do. And I’m going to count this as our second date you realise. So will I be coming home with you after this?” 

“You’re lucky I don’t turn hexa-havoc back on and see how long you can survive it.” Snortin Frankie held out an arm letting Lucky (begrudgingly) to climb on as the rabbit began to scale his way back out of the stage. Overall Frankie had to say that everything had gone better than he could have expected, he couldn’t wait to see the taking from today~ It had to have been their best show to date! Looking down at Lucky, clutched in his arm, he couldn’t help but smirk. He couldn’t wait to see what his “Lucky” contestant would do when the time came for their final show. Frankie knew he wouldn’t disappoint him regardless of what the outcome would be. That’s just who he was. His contestant, his everything.

[mxlti-fand0m-imaginess]

Hell Is A Teenage Girl - Prologue

series summary: Y/n is finally a part of the most popular clique in school, something she’s always wanted. The only catch is they’re total airheaded bitches, making her dream life not everything she had dreamt it would be. But when new girl Hazel Callahan finds her way into y/n’s life, everything changes.

chapter summary: Brittany has made it her mission to make Annie’s life miserable, and she’s forcing y/n to help. Hazel watches the chaos unfold in the cafeteria and decides that everyone at this school is just as horrible as everyone at her last one. Well, everyone except y/n.

warnings: bullying, crying, language, jeff and tim talk about girls in a really disgusting way

word count: 1.3k

a/n: fem!reader, ik this chapter is kinda short but i wanted to stop teasing this series and finally put some of it out! i’ll try to make the next one longer, but i can’t necessarily guarantee that. i hope you enjoy!!!

******

Dear Diary,

Brittany told me that she teaches people real life. She said real life sucks losers dry. If you wanna fuck with the eagles, you have to learn to fly. I said so you teach people how to spread their wings and fly. She said yes. I said you’re beautiful.

Sitting on the bleachers in the gym, y/n scribbled her thoughts down in her diary. Being a part of the most popular clique in school surely had its perks, but it’d be a lot more enjoyable if her friends weren’t such uptight bitches. Stella Rebecca and Isabel weren’t so bad, sometimes y/n could actually stand being around them. Brittany was the problem. The queen of Rockbridge Falls. She was a mythic bitch.

“Come on, y/n!” Stella Rebecca said, startling y/n.

“Geez, what’s your problem?”

Stella Rebecca sighed. “Don’t blame me, blame Brittany. She told me to haul your ass to the caf pronto.”

Isabel nodded. “She said she needs to talk to you.”

Y/n sighed, closing her diary and slipping it into her bag. “What is it this time?”

Isabel smiled. “Brittany found out Annie has a crush on Tim. She’s going to destroy her.”

Huffing, y/n followed Stella Rebecca and Isabel to the cafeteria, a pit forming in her stomach. Because of her insanely high IQ, she had the unique ability to be able to copy anyone’s handwriting exactly, a talent she always found useless. Brittany, however, just loved to use that to her advantage; whether that be making y/n write her an absence note, or in this case using it to utterly humiliate someone.

Brittany grinned, her bright red lipstick accentuating her already perfect smile, as she saw Isabel and Stella Rebecca approaching, y/n in tow.

“There you are, I’ve been waiting.”

Y/n forced a smile. “Hey Brittany.”

“I got my hands on a paper of Tim Phunk’s. I need you to forge a hot and horny, yet realistic note in Tim’s handwriting and we’ll slip it onto Annie’s lunch tray,” Brittany said, grinning wickedly.

”Shit, Brittany. I don’t have anything against Annie, she’s one of the sweetest people I’ve ever met.”

Brittany huffed impatiently, crossing her arms over her chest. “Well it’s not like you have anything for her either. Just do it, it’s going to be hilarious.”

”I’ll think about it.”

”Don’t think.”

Y/n glanced over at Annie, cheerfully chatting to Sylvie in the lunch line, blissfully unaware of the plot being formed against her. Brittany held out a pen and a piece of paper, and y/n reaches for it almost involuntarily, having been practically brainwashed to do Brittany’s bidding.

Brittany grinned, her smile not quite reaching her eyes. “Good choice. I’ll tell you what to write. Y/n needs something to write on. Isabel, bend over.”

Sighing to herself, Isabel turned around and bent over, presenting her back to y/n to write on. Y/n placed the paper on Isabel’s outstretched back, waiting for Brittany to dictate what she wanted her to write.

~

”Think she’ll ever talk to me?” Josie wondered aloud, her gaze fixed upon Isabel.

PJ scoffed. “Who? Isabel? Not a chance. No way in hell are you getting the attention of someone as popular as her.”

Josie sighed, turning to look at PJ. “As if you have any better of a chance.”

PJ smirked cockily. “Are you forgetting that I went out with Brittany?”

“Yeah, on one date. And then she never talked to you again,” Josie said with a laugh.

“She still could, you never know. At least I have more of a chance than you.”

Josie chuckled to herself, turning her attention back to Isabel. “Whatever you wanna tell yourself.”

“What are they even doing? Why is y/n writing on Isabel’s back? There’s a table right there,” PJ grumbled.

Josie paid closer attention, noticing how Brittany kept glancing back at Annie and laughing, and frowned. Of fucking course. For the past few months, Annie had been Brittany’s main target because for some reason she had decided to utterly destroy her. Now Josie wasn’t exactly friends with Annie, the two barely saying a word to each other outside of class, but she still cared about her. Annie was one of the nicest people she’d ever met, definitely not someone who deserved being targeted so heavily. Though she had never said a word to her, Josie hoped that Isabel wasn’t as enthusiastic about this plan as Brittany was.

”Probably another plan to humiliate Annie. I wish Brittany would grow up and finally stop making everyone miserable.”

PJ huffed in annoyance, slapping Josie’s arm with the back of her hand. “Hey! Don’t talk about her like that. She’s perfect just the way she is.”

~

Hazel sat in the corner of the cafeteria, picking at her lunch with disinterest. Not even one week at her new school and she could already see through everyone here. The popular kids and the so-called “losers”, this whole social hierarchy bullshit, she’d seen it at every other high school she’d been to and it was always the same. A small group of painfully fake assholes running the school and making the lives of everyone around them miserable. She was fucking tired of it.

Watching in mild amusement over the stupidity of the whole thing, Hazel watched as one of the cheerleaders, Stella something?, took a folded up piece of paper and snuck it onto another girl's, Amy’s?, lunchtray. The girl didn’t even seem to notice, continuing to walk with her friend, engaged in a cheerful discussion.

Rushing over to her two cheerleader friends, and someone else?, Hazel watched as they laughed, their eyes locked onto the girl. Well, the cheerleaders laughed. The fourth girl with them, however, didn’t even seem amused. No longer bothering to pay attention to the situation at hand, Hazel found her eyes drawn to her. She was pretty cute. Extremely cute, in fact. Plus, she didn’t seem to be getting off on this crude display of bullying. No, she was different.

Hazel couldn’t help but want to know more about her.

~

Jeff and Tim sat together, staring at y/n and the cheerleaders, gleefully talking about them to each other in the most crude manner, not seeming to give a thought to the fact that they were real people and not just some dolls they could fuck.

“I wanna set Brittany on my johnson and start spinning her like a fucking pinwheel,” Tim said, staring directly at her.

“Hell yes. It’d be so fucking hot to be in a y/n-Brittany sandwich. Punch it in!” Jeff said, a smile on his face as he held his fist out towards his best friend.

Tim slammed his fist against Jeff’s, not processing his words until a moment later. “Wait. Dude, aren’t you still dating Isabel?”

Jeff shrugged. “So? She doesn’t have to know I think her friends are hot.”

Tim sighed, shaking his head. “Bro, she barely took you back the last time you cheated on her. Just be careful to make sure she never finds out.”

”Relax, she won’t.”

Annie approached the table, a nervous smile on her face and a slightly crumpled note held in her shaky hand. “Hey Tim…”

~

Hazel��s gaze was pulled away from the girl when she heard a horrendous, barking laughter. Turning to the table it came from, she saw… Annie! that was her name!, Annie standing in front of two jocks, one of them holding the note she was given, as they laughed in her face, the cheerleaders soon joining in. Annie’s face dropped, tears welling in her eyes as she bolted out of the cafeteria, a girl with long blonde hair wearing a beanie running after her.

Everyone kept laughing, everyone except for the pretty girl that caught her eye. She really was different. But everyone else at this godforsaken school, they were exactly like she thought they’d be. Cold-blooded monsters. Something needed to be done about them. And Hazel was going to be the one to do it.

tags: @hazelvrr @ohnomywenis @fictionalgap @ihyperfixatetoomuch @usuck @mxqdii @girlsarecool @thestarkinternship @bluerazberrystarz @riverrivrio @cannibalsclass @lesbodietcoke @dangladam

join my taglist!

[goose-on-the-loose]

The Darkest Hour - Styracosaurs in a Wildfire Paleoart Process Breakdown

It’s been a long time since I’ve shared my art on this account (at some point years ago I just forgot to), but I thought that this might be a great opportunity to start posting my art again! This is my first attempt at paleoart, and I think it’s worthy of sharing. It’s for my showcase at my art school, so there were time restraints that stopped me from adding elements that I would’ve liked, but ultimately I’m quite satisfied with it.

For any budding paleoartist (or anybody really) who’d like to see my process, I put it all below the read more! @a-dinosaur-a-day (hope you don’t mind me @/ing you, i originally meant for this post to be an ask but it got too long haha)

I started off knowing that I wanted to depict some kind of ornithischian for a number of reasons. Two of the biggest reasons were that 1) I simply like them more than theropods and sauropods and 2) My senior showcase is all about showing animals in ways that the viewer hasn’t seen them before, and most people don’t really think about ornithischians except for if they’re being preyed on by a theropod.

I then narrowed my choices further by looking at different formations and what species they have. I looked up what formations parasaurolophus was in (since it’s one of my fav dinosaurs and I was thinking of making it my subject) and I saw the dinosaur park formation. Looking at the different species found there and the type of environment they lived in, I knew this formation was going to be my choice. 

I couldn’t narrow it down to one species yet, so I decided to think of some scenarios ornithischians might find themselves in first. I thought, “Oooh, what about some dinosaurs escaping from a wildfire?”, since the storyline could easily be conveyed, the lighting would be interesting, and I could get creative with the composition (flames and burning debris can create arcs to guide the viewer’s eye).

I did some very quick simple thumbnails and sketches to get the feeling and flow of the lines. I saw some paleoart by Marzio Mereggia and I remembered one of his parasaurolophus pieces that I really liked. I also looked at the composition of the fire scene from Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron for inspiration. (the tiger doodle had nothing to do with it, i just wanted to draw a tiger) The shapes and silhouettes of these species weren’t really clicking for me, so I looked back on the list and saw styracosaurus. I looked at some paleoart and realized that the silhouette and shapes of their frill and horns could really draw the viewer’s attention.

So, I drew the top thumbnails and showed them to my teacher. He liked all of them, but especially liked the middle one, so I drew a larger version of it, making sure to elevate the best parts and communicate the story. I like to use highlighters when thumb-nailing because it helps me break down the background, middleground, and foreground while also giving attention to the focal points. I was satisfied with this layout, so I drew an even larger version of it that would be the same size as the piece of wood I would be painting on.

I wanted to add more dimension so I changed the placement a bit. I don’t have much to say on this one, except for the final project has less background detail because each piece in our showcase has to be finished within a certain amount of time, this is also why the adult styracosaurus doesn’t have scale detail. I would’ve liked to add it, but I have to be realistic with my time.

I then drew the sketch on the piece of wood, and then my teacher cut the excess wood off.

Painted the background and also changed the shape of the face horn to be more accurate. I believe that styracosaurus’ horns changed with age and each individual’s grew in their own slightly different way. I do regret not pushing the dark ground colors further back.

Started trying to figure out the colors in class here.

Did this all the next day, took about 6-7 hours. 3 during class and the rest in my dorm. I changed/added to the rest of the face colors later, but the beak stays the same. I still really like the way I painted the beak.

This was after 3 more hours of class time. I changed the face horn color and made the frill horns match it. I also started focusing more on highlights and shadows. This is the last photo I took during the process.

With the final version, you can see that I warmed up the highlights to match the fire and I dulled them out too (adding yellow to purple desaturates it). I also went over the background again, making the colors more vivid and adding a glow to the fire. Ngl I do regret not adding that glow to the fire on the trees, but oh well. Live and learn ig.

[ashtavula]

Royalty AU Pt 4: A Meeting With Kalim

Gender Neutral Housewardens x Reader

Word Count: 2424

Start Here

You pace up and down the parlor room as you wait for your guests to arrive. Today, you’ll be meeting with the esteemed Kalim Al-Asim and his vizier, Jamil Viper. You roll the word around on your tongue. Vizier. You’d never heard it until recently, but to your understanding, it simply meant that Jamil was an advisor to Kalim. 

You’re pulled out of your thoughts by your steward, Trein. He warns you that Kalim and Jamil are at the gates, and to be prepared for them. His stern features are pinched. “And they’ve brought a veritable mountain of what seems to be gifts for you.” Trein gives a disapproving sniff. “Don’t let mere baubles sway your judgment of his character.”

With that said, the older gentleman leaves. You suck in a breath, and you force yourself to sit down on a couch and wait. Just as you’re starting to get antsy again, Trein reappears and announces their arrival to you. 

The first thing that you notice is the bright smile plastered on the face of the white haired man that bounces into the room. The next thing is that his body is covered in gold. Stacked bracelets and anklets clink together as he moves, and you can see a jeweled necklace. A heavy set of earrings sways, and his fingers are adorned with gold rings. Even his clothing is adorned with gold thread. In the back of your mind, you think that this man wears more jewelry than you do. 

Even his vizier wears jewelry, though he wears less of it, and his is more plain, for lack of a better term. The man is attractive, with his narrow eyes and silky hair. But what stands out to you is the thick ring of gold that encircles his throat. It’s a gold choker, but it reminds you of a collar. You also notice the way his eyes appraise you and your surroundings. In a strange way, it reminds you of how Azul sized you up when you first met him.

Before you can open your mouth to greet them properly, Kalim’s smiling visage bounds up to you. “Hello, Your Highness! I’m Kalim AL-Asim, heir apparent to the Al-Asim Trading Company. And this is my trusted vizier, Jamil Viper.” His hands clasp yours, which surprises you. You weren’t expecting him to touch you so casually. “I’m really happy to be able to finally meet you!”

“Uh…I’m happy to meet you too,” you murmur. You turn your gaze towards Jamil, and you incline your head. “It’s a pleasure to meet you as well, vizier.”

Jamil’s eyes widen slightly, like he wasn’t expecting you to speak to him. He quickly dips into a low bow. “The pleasure is mine, Your Highness. But there’s no need to address a mere servant like myself. I am simply here to assist Master Kalim.”

Kalim shakes his head, still smiling. “It’s fine, Jamil! We’re not in the Scalding Sands, so it’s fine if you talk.”

You can see Jamil’s eye twitch. It looks like he’s about to scold Kalim, but he doesn’t do so. Instead, he lowers his head with a quiet murmur of, “As you wish…”

Kalim’s words stick out to you, and your eyes return to him. “Are servants not supposed to be addressed in your country?”

“Well, most people just don’t pay attention to them. Jamil’s from a low caste, and people from a higher caste usually won’t bother to talk to them unless it’s necessary. But I think that that’s wrong! Jamil and I might be from different castes, but he’s still my friend!” Kalim’s grip on your hands tightens slightly, and he fixes you with a hopeful look. “So, please treat us the same way, okay?”

“Kalim!” Jamil’s face twists into an expression that you can only label as irritation. “Please don’t make such bold requests of Their Highness!” Jamil bows to you yet again. “Please disregard that, Your Highness. Just treat me like any other servant.”

You don’t miss the way that Kalim pouts, nor the way that Jamil grits his teeth. You decide to change the subject. “I was told that you’d brought things for me?”

Kalim takes the bait. He brightens up again, and he lets go of your hands. “Oh yeah! Jamil, help me bring them in!”

Jamil is already heading out the door before Kalim finishes his sentence. Turns out that Trein is correct. Kalim has brought you more gifts than you can count. There are bolts of colorful silk, boxes of jewelry, and spices that you’ve never even heard of before. It’s overwhelming, and Kalim tells you about everything with great enthusiasm. Jamil silently presents each item to you as Kalim points them out.

By the end of it, you’re adorned in almost as much jewelry as Kalim, and you have a length of silk wrapped around your shoulders like a shawl. They’ve all been placed on your frame before you could even express your opinions on the gifts. You can’t help but wonder just how much money all of this costs. 

Kalim carefully slides yet another gold bangle onto your wrist, and he smiles. “I really wanted to bring you a tiger, or a parrot, but Jamil said that would’ve been too much.”

You look at Jamil, hoping that the look in your eyes is enough to convey your gratitude towards him for stopping that particular piece of insanity. With the way the corner of his lip twitches, you think he understands. You turn your attention back to Kalim, and you smile. “Kalim, how would you like to eat lunch out in the gardens? The flowers are all in bloom right now.”

Kalim answers your question with the same unwavering enthusiasm he’s shown for everything. “That sounds great! What do you think, Jamil?”

Jamil nods. “Your suggestion is most excellent, Your Highness. I trust that your gardens are well guarded?”

Well, that’s a strange question to ask. But you nod. “Yes, there are regular guard patrols. And a pair of guards will be stationed close by as we eat.”

This seems to put Jamil at ease, and he quietly bids you to lead the way. Kalim takes hold of your hand, and Jamil trails after you two as you walk. You take a moment to inform Trein of your intentions, and the steward assures you that lunch will be served shortly. With that done, you guide the two men out to your castle’s sprawling gardens.

Kalim seems impressed by the variety of flowers being grown. He asks questions, and openly asks Jamil if it’d be possible to grow some of the plants in the Scalding Sands. Soon, the three of you are sitting down under the shade of a gazebo while your servants carry in trays of food and drink. As Kalim is served, you notice that Jamil is quick to take small bites or sips of anything that the merchant is given. Kalim doesn’t seem to notice, continuing to happily chatter away. 

“What’s Jamil doing,” you ask.

“Oh, he’s just testing things for poison,” Kalim replies cheerfully, like it’s the most casual thing in the world. Jamil takes a sip from a glass of lemonade, and places it in front of Kalim after a few moments. Kalim only drinks from it after that's been done.

Jamil notices your frown, and elaborates for you. “Please don’t be offended, Your Highness. It’s not that we don’t trust your servants. I just need to verify everything that Master Kalim eats and drinks, to be on the safe side. In our home country, poison is the weapon of choice. And everyone there knows that Master Kalim is currently visiting your castle.”

Your frown deepens, but you suppose you can understand Jamil’s caution. The things you consume here at the castle have already been tested for such things, but you can see why Jamil and Kalim would want to take extra steps to insure their own safety. “It’s alright. Please do whatever you think is necessary.”

They both thank you. You wait patiently for Jamil to test everything before you tuck into your own plate. The kitchen chefs have made one of your favorites today, and you smile as you take a bite.

“Is this one of your favorites?”

The question takes you by surprise, and you look at Kalim. “...It is. How did you know?”

Kalim laughs. “It was pretty obvious! You looked so happy when you saw it being brought out, and you smiled when you took your first bite.” Kalim takes a bite of the food, and he lets out a pleased hum. “I can see why you like it so much. It’s delicious.”

A faint blush colors your cheeks at his words. You hadn’t expected him to notice your joy. “What sort of things do you like to eat? I’ll see if I can get the chefs to prepare it for you next time.”

“Hm, I really like coconut juice, but I don’t know if your servants can get it here. Don’t worry about it! I’d rather try the sorts of things you like while I’m here.”

As Kalim turns his attention back to his plate, Jamil leans over to whisper to you. “I can send a kitchen servant over with some recipes and supplies if you wish.”

You nod, and whisper a thank you. Jamil seems to be more than capable. It’s easy to see why Kalim trusts the man with his life. Once again, you can tell that he’s not quite used to people expressing gratitude towards him. He turns his face away from you, and he lets out a quiet cough. 

As you continue to eat your lunch, Kalim proves to be wonderful company. He’s attentive, sweet, and endlessly happy about everything. You find yourself being swayed by his infectious energy. In the time it takes you to have a meal, you find yourself laughing more than you have in the past week. Kalim just has a way of making you forget about your stress. So far, he seems like an excellent candidate for your hand in marriage.

However, the sight of the bracelets on your arm gives you pause. He had given you a lot of very expensive gifts without batting an eye at the price. If Kalim was used to spending money like it grew on trees, then he might be a drain on the royal coffers. You sneak a peek at Jamil. The man appears to be trustworthy, but it seems like Kalim heavily relies on him. Jamil might be an excellent advisor, but would that continue to hold true in your kingdom? Or would the two of them falter when faced with the stresses of moving to a foreign country?

As you ponder this, your brow furrows. Jamil notices, and he turns to Kalim. All it takes is a few well-placed words to distract the man, and Kalim looks away from the two of you. Jamil shifts in his seat, and he makes eye contact with you. 

“Kalim would be a wonderful husband.”

Your head feels fuzzy, and you forget what you were thinking about earlier. Yes, Kalim would be a wonderful husband, wouldn’t he?

“You should choose to marry Kalim.”

It’s hard to think about anything other than the words that Jamil is hissing to you. Marrying Kalim does sound nice. After all, it’d be so easy to choose him. He’s right there. All you’d have to do is tell him, and he’d be yours.

Jamil looks away, and your head clears. Yes, Kalim is an excellent choice. But you shake your head slightly. You still have to meet your other candidates. You can’t make a choice before then.

Kalim’s voice brings you out of your thoughts. “I’m sorry, what did you say Kalim?”

“I asked if we could take a walk around the garden after we eat. Jamil said that your castle was given a Taif rosebush for your birthday last year. I’d like to see them.”

You nod. “Yes, they were a gift from your Sultan. I’d be happy to show you.”

You get up, and the two men follow you down the path. The Taif roses were planted in a place that you’d frequently pass through, as they were a gift for you. Kalim gasps when he sees the thriving bush. Their sweet scent fills the air, and Kalim leaves your side to rush up to the blooms. “Wow! You’ve taken really good care of them!”

“Thank the gardener,” you say. “He’s the one who takes care of them.”

“Okay. Where is he?”

“Kalim…” Jamil sighs.

You reassure him. “I’ll make sure he knows, Kalim. Don’t worry.”

Kalim nods, and he turns to the flowers again. His warm hand finds yours. “Your Highness, can I ask you something?”

“Of course.”

His grip tightens. Kalim keeps his eyes on the roses. “Can we be friends if you don’t pick me? I don’t really have any friends besides Jamil. And I really liked spending time with you today.”

Those soft, earnest words make your heart hurt. You know what it’s like to not have any friends because of your status. You also remember what you were told about Kalim’s family. His own siblings frequently try to poison him. It can’t be easy to trust people after such experiences. You squeeze his hand. “Of course we can be friends, Kalim. I’d like that.”

Kalim’s hand slips out of yours, and he throws his arms around you. He gives you a tight hug. “Thank you,” he whispers. When he pulls away, the smile on his face is nearly blinding.

Out of the corner of your eye, you think you can see Jamil’s face soften slightly. But when you turn your head to look properly, his expression has evened out again.

Later, when the two of them leave, you retire to your bedroom to rest before dinner. As you lean back in your chair, your thoughts turn back to the pair. Particularly Kalim. It’s strange, but there’s a little thought in the back of your mind that’s telling you that Kalim should be the one you marry. 

You frown, and shake your head, trying to rid yourself of the thought. You’re not sure where it came from, or why the thought is so persistent. Maybe it’s just because you enjoyed his company so much.

There’s a knock on your door, and Trein enters your room.

“Pardon the intrusion, Your Highness, but you have a visitor…”

[ultralightpoe]

Scary Stories To Tell In The Dark -Tyler Owens

Authors Note: Part 14 of the Halloween event! How exciting!!!! Also I used to own all the scary story books and my sister and I used to compete to scare each other.

Warnings: None

Word Count: 672

Requests: OPEN

~2024 Halloween Event Masterlist

[Thank you for the gif @motionpicturesource ]

ENJOY!

The room smelled like nothing but old cardboard boxes and dust, and for a moment Tyler could have sworn an actual tornado had hit the house based on the wreck provided from said old cardboard boxes. 

“What in god's name?” He mutters, boot moving out to lightly kick one of the boxes out of his path as he continues his way through the house. The stuff strewn within them left a bit of a trail and he followed it like it was the yellow brick road, and soon enough he found his oz huddled over yet another box as she tore through it. 

“What ya’ doin’?” He asks with a slight hesitation, flipping the rim of his hat through his fingers before setting it on the kitchen counter as your head snaps up to where he stands. 

“Thank gosh you are here.” You snap out, struggling to stand with the round stomach, until he moves forward to offer you a helping hand up and pat some of the dust off you himself. “I can’t find the book.”

“The book?” He repeats, feeling like a bird mocking it’s owner. 

“MY BOOK!” You snap, waving your hands. “I had it when I was a kid and we used to read it every halloween.”

“A halloween book?”

“Yes! You turn off the lights and only have the one flashlight so my siblings and I would pass the book around to take turns reading the stories and you had to try and scare each other.” You explain, waddling around to open yet another box. “Scary stories to tell in the dark.”

“I’m just now hearing about this book now…why?”

“Because the baby!” You sigh, pointing to your stomach like it was obvious. “I am gonna read it to the baby.”

“You’re gonna read a scary story book to our unborn baby?”

“Gonna get them started early.” You huff. “Mama ain’t gonna raise no bitch.” 

He can’t stop the laugh that escapes him, moving forward to help you start searching. “Alright mama, let’s get this search going.”

-

It took 4 hours and a trip to the bookstore to buy a new copy once you both realized your childhood one was completely warped. 

Once you managed to get comfortable on the couch with all the lights turned off while holding one flashlight as he laid against the pillows waiting for the spectacle to start. 

“You have no clue what you are in for.”

“Darlin’ I chase storms for a living.” He huffs out, kicking his boots off. “You can try but you can’t scare me.”

“We’ll see about that.”

-

He wakes up to pitch black, a wave of panic filling him as he feels around to recognize where he was. It takes him a moment to realize that you both had fallen asleep on the couch, and when he feels your ankle he knows you're safe by him which eases him a bit but he still can’t fight the tight feeling in his stomach. 

There was a small creak from somewhere in the house that bothered him. 

Creaakk. THUMP. Creaaaaak. Thump. 

Over and over, almost sounding like it was getting closer. It sent him standing quickly, reaching for a weapon to defend you both with if it came to it. 

Creak, thump. It was for sure getting closer. 

So he stood his ground, waiting for the threat to come only it never did. So he began making his way to it. 

It took him 3 minutes before he found the cause, the dog door on the back door was being pulled back and forth from the wind since it hadn’t been locked. 

A small chuckle tore from his lips as he dropped the half assed weapon he grabbed and moved to lock it. 

“Tyler?” You croak from the hall, drawing his attention. “You okay?”

“Yep, just fine.” He chuckles, shuffling forward to meet you. “Just protecting us from people looking for their thumb.”

“Hah ha. So funny.” You huff, letting him lead you up the stairs to bed.

-

[Thank you for the gif @makinggifsolson ]

[yanderes-galore]

Yandere strawhats hcs with a reader who won’t succumb to stockholm syndrome who’s fighting to get back home to her island. ( if that’s to much maybe just Nami and Luffy please if that’s ok with you ? )

I decided to do separate HCs/reactions as I wasn't sure exactly what you wanted? Hope you enjoy ^^; I wanted to do a section for Usopp, Zoro, and Sanji... but you probably meant the entire crew so I stuck to the two you said.

Sorry these are short! I focused on reactions

Yandere! Nami + Luffy with Darling resisting

Pairing: Romantic/Platonic

Possible Trigger Warnings: Female Darling, Obsession, Manipulation, Clingy behavior, Stockholm syndrome, Isolation, Overprotective behavior, Kidnapping, Delusional behavior, Forced companionship/relationship.

Monkey D. Luffy

Luffy probably doesn't even do Stockholm Syndrome on purpose.

Let alone really know about it much (To my knowledge?)?

I mean... He wishes you'd stop fighting, yes.

Although he prefers to see you stop fighting him like you're willingly complying to his care.

In reality, he's accidentally broken you mentally.

He definitely doesn't understand what he did.

Although if he did, there would be some guilt.

Like I've stated in previous Luffy works, he's oblivious to his actions.

No matter how invasive.

He doesn't get why you fight him.

You keep saying you didn't want to come with them, that you didn't want to travel.

You keep saying you miss home.

Yet Luffy doesn't know why?

Wasn't life on your island boring?

When his crew stayed there for a couple days, you seemed to get along fine with him.

But now you're all upset?

Luffy may even think you're sick, bringing you to Chopper to have you checked.

In reality, you aren't the sick one.

It's either just Luffy... or the entire crew.

Luffy breaks you due to being oblivious, dragging you along with him on adventures as you slowly lose hope.

He's just so clingy and insists on you staying at the ship.

He always wants your attention, often claiming the rest of the crew care about you.

So why do you keep running off?

Luffy has had shipmates run off on him.

More often than you'd think, actually....

He may just think you have some sort of issue he needs to help resolve like the rest!

You're trying to run and find help on an island, maybe some way to home.

Only for Luffy to be around looking for you, claiming to others you're just a bit... sick.

He isn't entirely lying.

Luffy just thinks you want to go home because you're ill and need rest on the boat.

Completely ignoring the fact he dragged you on the ship to make you a new member of the crew... against your better judgment.

Luffy refuses to acknowledge your feelings on the matter most of the time, making you upset.

Why would he?

He's showing you adventure and companionship!

He wants you to be there as he becomes King of The Pirates!

He can't seem to let you go and just doesn't understand your escape attempts.

Eventually, unfortunately, you may end up succumbing at some point.

Soon you'll realize it's fruitless, that Luffy will never see reason.

Especially when he tells you, a runway woman, that you're a pirate just like him!

Which only turns people away or makes you targeted.

Fighting just becomes... tiring.

The moment you give in and help the crew, giving up and maybe even helping Luffy out of danger...

That's when he gives a wide grin, finally realizing you're no longer sick!

He praises you, all excited.

In a way you even begin to love and care for him in your own way once it's forced into you.

Now you can adventure with the crew properly... and he'll NEVER leave your side!

Nami

Nami is someone who's more aware of Stockholm syndrome.

Although at first I feel she'd be against it.

She understands your want to escape, especially if the whole crew is obsessive.

In fact, it reminds her of her own past at times.

Not EXACTLY of course, but the want to escape and feeling imprisoned?

She understands that.

That would be why she's hesitant about it or is very sympathetic.

I imagine if the whole crew was obsessive over this one woman, Nami would at first seem comforting.

She's sympathetic and caring, even if you keep trying to escape.

Although your attempts REALLY get on her nerves.

Nami is shown to view the crew as family.

Which means she views you as family.

While she isn't oblivious to what her actions will accomplish, she can't bring herself to let you go.

She tries hard to make you feel welcome and cared for on the ship.

You're both women so surely you should feel better now that you have female company, right.

Unfortunately, no, you still run away whenever you can.

You keep trying to ask others for help, claiming the Strawhats are kidnappers.

Yet, Nami knows how to swing the odds in her favor with words.

She's used to manipulating people.

So Nami may just retrieve you by saying you're overwhelmed, that you two are close and you're always like this.

She does it all with a smile even if she's laying, dragging you back to the crew as she scolds you.

Nami is both the most understanding yet also strict with you.

Her biggest fear is her family being torn apart since the lost her family once already.

Which drives her to force you by her side and even coddle you at times.

She tries to show vulnerability towards you, she tries to show you she loves you.

Yet you keep trying to leave.

Eventually Nami may convince you against fleeing by locking you in the boat, probably in the sleeping quarters.

She can be tolerant...but she can also be easily annoyed.

You plead with her to let you go home, that you miss your home!

Yet Nami seems like the type of yandere to just grin while she pulls you closer with a sigh...

Then she tells you the ship and the crew on it are your home and family.

This is where you belong.

This is where you need to be.

Then she'll just hug you, mumbling about how you need to move on from the past.

It's heartbreaking, you thought Nami would help you get out of this situation.

Unfortunately, she doesn't...

Which makes you lose hope since she seems the most... rational.

Eventually, when you break down due to feeling hopeless and isolated...

Nami's there to comfort you.

She tells you over and over again she cares... she loves you...

You can trust her, she's family.

While you don't want to... she and the rest of the crew is all you have...

This makes you give up... and maybe even love her in return...

Which makes her adore you even more now that you've given in.

[balkanradfem]

So I got a lot of backlash on my substance commentary, and this surprised me, because I didn't think people were going to read that at all. I was looking trough the comments and found a lot of anger, and some of it didn't feel like the regular misogyny, people were genuienly upset. I didn't find any arguments that debunk what I said, so I didn't feel the need to engage, but I understood that people really liked this movie, and it meant something to them, they needed to defend it even if they had no arguments to do so. I thought about it for a while, and watched the 'Final Girl Studios' commentary on youtube, which confirmed my own thoughts.

I was able to criticize this movie the way I did, because I was not the target audience. Rather, I'm as far from target audience as it's possible to be. And I perceived the theme wrong. This movie wasn't really trying to make social commentary or depict the evil of the beauty industry, it was merely – a representation of it. And people felt represented by it. Seeing a woman struggle with self hatred about her appearance, about aging, about eating food, or even appearing in public due to how she would be perceived, that is a common struggle of girls and women, and women felt represented by it. Even the part of the movie where the protagonist is depicted as vain and shamed for struggling, was just representation, that's how it feels.

I somehow evaded the femininity struggle, eating struggle, age struggle and the appearing in public struggle, because I could opt out, my survival never depended on it. My job never depended on it. I could just go 'I'm ugly and I'm going to do physical labour and its fine' as a child and never tried to adjust my appearance to fit social standards. Which now feels like a privilege, because despite believing myself ugly, I didn't have to sink into a hell of eating disorders or equate my appearance with my value, I could just not care. So seeing women struggling with that hell hole just made me horrified, when for a woman who goes trough all of this on a daily basis, this is just her normal, this is representation.

So sorry to all the people I made angry with my criticism! I came from a place of ignorance of what your experience is like, and looking at it from outside, it looks horrifying, inhumane, and like a torture to me. I didn't experience it from the inside, so I could only see what the movie failed to do – focus on the root of the problem and explore why things are the way they are. We're not there yet.

If we're coming from a place where the struggle with eating disorders, aging, and beauty standards for women is invisible, then visible representation of it is the next step, the only direction we could go to. To me this felt like not good enough, but we can only take steps forwards, we can't take leaps. I think once we do make this struggle visible enough, we can take the next step and look at who benefits, why is beauty industry like this, who made it, who wants it to continue, who profits off of it, who is getting off to it, who are women dying to try to please, why are women even subjected to the option of 'aging out of a job'.

And also, a way out of it! One reason the movie hit me wrong is because of how deliberate and planned it is; once the protagonist is trapped in changing her body to the beauty standards, there is no turning back for her. It's always going to turn out the way it does. She has to keep going until she is turned into something considered 'less human' by the social perception, and then die. But it never shows a way out of it, a way for it to stop, a way for her humanity to be reclaimed, for beauty standards to no longer matter. I think for this, human warmth is needed, representation of normal and unaltered womens bodies is needed, humanity given to bodies that are altered, positive representation of food is needed, positive representation of women's human needs, social needs, needs for attention, all these being fulfilled in a way that never brings any harm to her. But for that, we couldn't make a horror movie. It would have to be a warm movie about making women feel human again.

And I also think it's okay for me to want more, to think that we deserve more than just representation of suffering, of being dehumanized. It's okay for me to criticize a movie for failing to engage with the root of the problem! I am a radfem and this is my job. I think we deserve to see more than hopeless suffering of women, I think a movie could be both representative of suffering, and engage with the cause of it. Can you imagine if a movie like this made a paralel with a woman whose body was never altered, who had no makeup, and was perfectly happy and unbothered? Can you imagine if we even got a saw unaltered woman's body in a movie? Can you remember ever seeing that? We have the right to demand it! We should be represented in more than suffering. Our body is more than a horror movie.

Did anyone watch the horror movie 'The Substance'? I've seen it because someone recommended it to me, and I saw one of the three directors was female, but now I just have few thousands words of criticism and upset about it. Click if you want to read it. Tw for themes of women abused in tv industry and the fear of aging out of their jobs.

So, the substance is about a woman aging out of her role in television where she runs a fitness program, and she is distraught to realize she's going to get replaced. Sadly she blames her own aging process about it! She gets in an accident, and then a male nurse gives her an usb showcasing 'the substance', a serum that makes a younger version of you come out of your body.

She takes it, and her body opens up to let out a younger version, a different acctress, come out and look at herself in the mirror. I was already upset by this point about the depiction of a woman losing her job for aging and hating herself, and not the industry and the males in it, but now I was in disbelief. It was funny that they wanted me to believe another woman exited from her back and didn't break her spine in the process, whatever, but now she was in a new body, and immediately went 'yas slay look how hot I am' Excuse me what?

I thought, at least one part of the horror would be feeling off and alien if forced to switch consciousness to another body, a body that is unfamiliar, that you didn't grow with, it would be traumatizing. No matter how much more 'socially likeable' a new body was, I can't imagine looking at my own hands and legs and having them look completely different, and being okay about it. It would cause a crisis in anyone, your identity would be in shambles. You couldn't get used to it, you'd have trouble looking at the mirror at all, and would forget it and constantly be reminded of it when seeing glimpses of your own hands, and it would shock and disturb you every time. How would you talk to your friends and family now? How would you deal with people you loved who couldn't recognize you? It would be mentally scarring.

If she had one single friend to talk about this, the entire premise would fall apart because it would become obvious that this is stupid and shouldn't be done.

Watching on it turned out they cut this woman out from any social context of her life. She had no friends, no family, not even any acquaintances. The only person who ever talked to her was one(1) single ex classmate, and other than that, she seemed to have zero people in her life who even knew she existed. But there's nobody like that. Yes, you can be socially isolated, but hardly to the point where nobody in the world knows you exist. If you go outside people memorize you. She didn't have anyone who knew her. She was supposed to be a popular figure on tv. But she didn't exist. This woman had no past, no existence in anyone's world, no connections to other people whatsoever. It made her less of a believable character to me. Nobody can exist completely out of social context of their life. We didn't get an explanation of why she has no family, or friends or acquaintances, or past loves, or anything like that. It was almost like she was now so irrelevant due to her age that the world just cut her out, which is scary but also ridiculous, she looked young!!

Another glaring flaw in the movie was that... the older woman in the movie was so clearly more attractive than the younger. They tried to shoot her face in harsh lightning and highlight whatever they thought was wrong with her body, but she just looked excellent under any kind of standards. What do you mean this teenager is 'hotter' than the original protagonist. She looks 17, she looks like she shouldn't be allowed outside after dark. The idea of her being filmed by older males gave me nausea, get that child away from them. I had to skip most of the scenes with her because it looked like child pornography. They had her wearing breast prostetics to make her look adult and put her in clothing no woman alive would find appealing or comfortable to wear, it was painful, uncomfortable and horrifying.

The entire existence of the younger woman was dehumanizing. She didn't eat. She didn't watch tv. She didn't do anything human. She was a male idea of a 'hot young girl', who only existed to look like what males think is appealing, dance on stage, and get male approval. That's it, we never see her exhausted, sad, commiserating how difficult it is to be around males who objectify you all day, we never see her complain about sexualizing and so obviously ignored sexual harassment she was put trough – the movie acted like sexual harassment didn't exist. Males around her appeared to only care about how much money she could make them and even though that was disgusting too, I don't believe for a second that a woman in that scenario doesn't get extensively sexually harassed. But the movie skipped over that. Like it just didn't matter. She doesn't have mental health issues because she's an attractive female child on television. She isn't human to them.

The younger woman had to switch bodies with her original counterpart weekly, and at first I found these little moments soothing, because the older woman was clearly showing signs of pain, hunger, exhaustion, irritation, depression. I thought 'oh, there's the humanity I was missing!' and was just happy to see her eat something. But then, to my horror, these little moments of humanity were ... demonized. The fact that she was eating was a flaw and a failure in the movie. She was depicted as addicted to food, jealous, bitter, angry and like giving in to any human urge for entertainment and rest was her 'wasting her life'. I was chilled by this notion, because I realized that's how males see female needs in real life. A waste.

Another thing I found upsetting was the amount of completely naked scenes the acctresses had to go trough, because I can't imagine anyone feeling okay and comfortable with being filmed like that. It felt invasive and uncomfortable for me to see. I knew it was done like this for male satisfaction, it wasn't catered to me. It disturbs me to think they felt comfortable looking at that. Female discomfort is a source of pleasure to them.

The movie progresses in the protagonist taking more and more time being in the younger body, resulting in the older body deterioration. She ends up feeling like she's two people, which is logical at least; you would feel like you're someone else if you're a different body, it at least displayed that little bit of 'you are your body' consequences. The male nurse who gave her the substance starts stalking her, and talking to her in public, and I found this part interesting. The male tried to get her to relate to him, said things like '7 days is long' and 'has she started eating at you already', and to me it became obvious that the male nurse knew exactly what this was going to do to her, and did it anyway. Because he felt lonely and wanted a female companion who also switches bodies. He picked her out and victimized her because he wanted company who also suffered and struggled with the same problem, he spread the misery for his own benefit. I thought we were going to look at that? I thought we would unpack that for a second? Male selfishness and bringing misery into female's life for their selfish purposes? But movie said no and we never see him again.

The younger version seems to forget she ever had any more age, and recklessly parties and does public events not caring that her counterpart is getting destroyed, until at the end, they both end up in some kind of monstrous shape, which okay, the extra teeth were fun, add extra teeth on women yes. But she is ultimately killed when appearing in on a social event looking like that. The ending just shows her dreaming about being famous and cheered on by the crowd, and it looks almost like the movie thinks her endless greed for glory and fame did this to her. Like this is her own fault, she destroyed the body she had in pursuit of eternal approval and gratification of a cheering crowd. I was looking at this like, who was this made for? Nothing about this clicks, is this for people obsessed with their own fame? Is this just a made up idea of what the world looks like for women who are trying to be famous? Because it wasn't clicking with any reality I was aware of.

We've listened to women going trough fame and popularity, and we know what these stories entail. First half of it is being introduced to it too young, forced into it by their parents or guardians, being overworked, missing on childhoods and schooling and family time, not getting enough sleep or rest, being pushed into substance abuse just to get trough the day. And then, endless sexualizing, endless situations where they're in the presence of predators and unprotected. The industry ruthlessly rejecting their personality and forcing them to mold into whatever the public wants, or the producer wants, having their identity crashing with the public opinion of them. Lack of privacy, lack of safety being outside, getting harassed and crowded on the street, not being allowed to live a normal life. Having body issues due to being forced to focus on how you look, because you're under constant scrutiny and now your job depends on how your body looks like, developing mental disorders due to lack of control over your life, and due to control you have to have over your every action. Having your opinions and wants dismissed because your word doesn't count in the industry when you're a woman, being forced to hide what people have done to you in private, often suffering sexual abuse and being forced to keep quiet if you want to keep your job. Breakdowns, suicidal thoughts, both fearing to lose relevancy and wanting out of the industry for your mental health, but it's all you've known and you don't know how to function otherwise. Getting jaded, realizing your own value drops with age, learning to despise everyone who took advantage of you and dropped you the second you weren't making them enough money. Being sick and tired of males talking down to you and dismissing your humanity. Not knowing where to turn for understanding and safety, because the charade has to keep on going in order for the industry to go on.

This is what I would expect a woman in the industry to have learned after being put trough all that, and instead the main character was so void of any backstory, any real experiences, any thoughts or criticism about it, any anger or bitterness about the abuse she'd have suffered in there, and was sorely upset about her lack of job security and that she was no longer looking like a commercial. She would have learned from this, that this is an inherently insecure job industry, it's not worth being in it, but she doesn't seem to learn this. She isn't even angry they hired someone else without telling her. All of her anger was directed towards herself. And the movie was not challenging it. It was saying 'yes, it is your own fault, both for aging, and for wanting not to age. Look what you did.'

And by the end of the movie, she was just the same as the beginning, still just longing for the fame and cheers. She is a character who is not allowed to learn from her experiences, in fact seems to have no experiences, even of the things that happened to her in the movie. She cared for nothing but male validation. She only seemed to care about the younger body for the sake of this validation. Even at the very end when she was killed by the same males who she gave everything to impress for, she wasn't mad at them. She just wanted more validation from them.

And I'm watching this thinking, this must be whats inside of a male brain. He did that because thats how he would act in this situation. Males are incapable of learning from experience, so they assume women are too. Males think that having a body of a young female in their posession would resolve all of their needs and desires, so they think for a woman that would work too, in fact that she would destroy herself to get there. The creepy male fantasy of what a woman would do. It was done to validate their dumb opinions.

One thing I was surprised with was the road not taken in this movie, because it had a lot of potential symbolism! The younger woman exiting the woman's body, was reminiscent of birth. When I noticed it's a different acctress, I thought maybe we were making a parallel of mothers and daughters. Because it's a thing that happens sometimes; women with daughters will look at the daughter and feel she is a prettier, younger version of themselves. It reminds them of their own potential when they were just children, before their lives got decided by marriage and male ownership. And when daughters start receiving male attention, due to the flock of predators always creeping by, mothers will sometimes forget that this is a child bonded and dependant on them, who is now in danger, and instead get jealous, and want that attention for themselves. They'll try to vicariously live trough their daughters, get themselves into the spotlight, or win attention of the males attracted to the child. It's a horrifying event each time, I was reminded by it while watching the movie, seeing how angry the woman was at the younger counterpart for partying, being on tv, being in the spotlight that was now unreachable for her. But the movie ignored this cruel reality as well.

The movie's conclusion is just 'this is somehow the woman's fault', while trying to be a movie about the pressure of the tv industry on women to not age. The pressure is real and experienced by all women, so the movie could have been about analyzing the source of it, showing us the other side of it, how dehumanizing and cruel the males are benefiting from this, how it makes absolutely no sense to cater to them or to care about what they think of female age and appearance. It could have been about male selfishness, greed, pedophilia and predatory nature, it could have pointed us in the horrifying direction of women sacrificing so much of their health and life only for males to have financial benefit and sexual gratification from it. It could have depicted how hard work of women is unappreciated and only rewarded with further abuse.

Instead it focused on pulling women inside out to make horror of their bodies, and depicted teenagers as the ultimate goals for anyone. I think that's where I experienced the most horror, seeing the younger version being dehumanized and depicted as a sexual dream, her every private action looking like a commercial, making her into a reduced non-human robot that only acts the way males think women should. And the woman who actually looked like an adult, was not allowed to learn, criticize, or long for anything except male validation, another fantasy that is as far removed from reality as possible.