#but it’d be the type of thing where everyone’s like Ian that guy is such an asshole

[mickeym4ndy]

doctor/grey’s anatomy AU where Mickey is the Alex Karev type and is an asshole to everyone at first but then unexpectedly becomes a brilliant pediatric surgeon and you see how caring he is beneath his tough exterior and he is still a bit of an asshole to everyone besides his patients (and Ian)

[lilac-hecox]

Shaymien at a fair/carnival? I just think it’d be cute to read about them going around playing carnival games, going on the rides and eating the classic fair foods together. It could just be them going as friends at first and then it sort of turns into a date? Up to you!

Shayne/Ian - Carnival

--

"Point out which one you want," Shayne says, flexing his muscles in an overexaggerated way, "and I'll win it for you." He waggles his eyebrows at Ian.

Ian snorts out a laugh, he has a small fond smile playing at the corners of his mouth. His clear blue eyes scan the row of dumb, cheap, stuffed animal prizes strung across the top of the tent. He nods towards a weird looking elephant with huge floppy ears and a crooked trunk.

"That guy," Ian says.

Shayne smiles, slaps down a five dollar bill on the counter, and waits for the carnie to hand him three baseballs, the leather worn around his fingers from other people's countless attempts at the game.

"One elephant coming right up!" Shayne says, lining himself up with the metal bottles stacked in a triangular formation. Shayne knows these types of games are usually rigged, usually unwinnable, but he's also seen those videos that show you tips on beating the 'unbeatable' games.

Shayne lobs the first baseball and it is too far off to the right, missing the bottles entirely. Ian is quiet next to him, but Shayne can tell he wants to make a joke, that the only reason he isn't is to spare Shayne's feelings and the fact, that, you know, the two of them are on a date right now or whatever, and Ian Hecox has the tact to know not to rag on his date.

Shayne throws the second ball, right for the lower corner, that's the trick the pros all say, aim there and not the middle. The ball collides with the bottles and they fall away from each other as Shayne successfully topples the triangular formation.

He glances at Ian with a satisfied grin and Ian raises his eyebrows, smiles in amusement.

"Consider me impressed," Ian says.

The carnie is less than thrilled when he comes to ask Shayne what he wants for his prize. Shayne points to the weird little elephant toy.

"We want the elephant."

The carnie is back seconds later with the floppy eared, trunk too big, elephant that Ian had pointed out. He hands it off to Shayne, and Shayne holds it in the air triumphantly as he and Ian walk away from the tent and down the row of bright and noisy games, the barkers calling out from their own tents, beckoning them to try their games of chance.

Shayne stops a moment later, under the glow of the yellow hazy tent lights and offers up the elephant.

"Your elephant, sir," Shayne says.

Ian laughs. He isn't really the sentimental type, he has no real use for this dumb and ugly stuffed elephant, but he still takes it from Shayne, tucking it safely under his arm.

"Thanks Shayne, you're my hero or whatever," Ian says with a smirk, but his eyes seem to sparkle under the lights from the tent.

This date had been Shayne's idea. The LA carnival was not exactly Ian's ideal date, but Shayne had asked and by some miracle Ian had agreed and here they were. This was their third date. The first one had been something of a group date with other Smosh members, something where the lines had blurred between friendship and flirtation, something that led to the two of them staying in the restaurant long after everyone else had left and talking for what felt like hours, realizing that something was there between the two of them.

The second date was a long drive in one of Ian's fancy ass rich guy cars and then a picnic just off of a secluded hiking trail that Ian liked. Now this, the carnival on a Thursday night, Ian with his stuffed elephant and Shayne desperate to do anything to see Ian smile.

It was getting later, the sky a thick purple that would soon fade to black. They probably wouldn't stay too much longer, but there is one more thing Shayne would love to do with Ian, if Ian will oblige him.

Shayne reaches out and takes Ian's hand, causes Ian to look into his eyes.

"Can we ride the Ferris wheel together?" Shayne asks.

"God," Ian says with a laugh, "Alright, alright. I guess it isn't an authentic carnival experience without the Ferris wheel."

Shayne feels himself fall a little more, every day, like it is the easiest thing in the world for him now. Maybe all along he's always loved Ian and that love is shifting into something powerful, something strong.

The two of them walk to the Ferris wheel. Considering it is a Thursday night the line isn't too long. They stand shoulder-to-shoulder. There are couples in front and behind them, all waiting to ride the Ferris wheel.

"This was really nice," Ian says, "I'm having a good time with you."

The words from Ian mean a lot because he isn't one to be overly mushy, Shayne has learned this, has learned to read between the lines with Ian.

Shayne reaches between them and takes Ian's hand, squeezes it softly.

"I'm having the best time with you."

"And our son." Ian says, holding up the elephant.

"Wow, third date and we're already raising a kid together," Shayne jokes.

Before more can be said it is their turn, the carnies lining up their empty carriage. They sit together, pressed warmly next to each other. Shayne puts his arm around Ian's shoulder.

The wheel turns and begins leading them upwards, lifting them into the night sky. The two of them can see the lit neon carnival grounds, the bustle of people walking around, the light row of tents where Shayne had won the elephant.

Shadows and glittering lights cling to Ian, reflect in his glasses, making him look ethereal, a vision. Shayne's heart clenches in his chest. The hand on his shoulder brushes the back of Ian's neck, and Ian turns to look at him as they reach the peak of the Ferris wheel, stopped at the very top.

"Would it be cliche to kiss you right now?" Shayne whispers, as if speaking too loudly would break the moment.

Ian's eyes are soft, "Yeah, but do it anyway."

Shayne nods, leans in, and presses his lips to Ian's. Their first kiss. Ian tastes like overpriced lemonade and the sugary sweetness of a funnel cake. Ian's hand spreads open along Shayne's jaw as their lips move together softly.

--

Weeks later, when Shayne is coming over to Ian's for dinner and to watch some weird ass movie that Ian will not stop talking about, Shayne walks into the living room and spots it. The weirdo elephant that Shayne won for Ian that night at the carnival is tucked on to a shelf next to some books and other odds and ends. Shayne had expected Ian to toss it off the top of the Ferris wheel after their kiss, to give it away at the office, the last thing he expected was for Ian to designate a home for the weird little guy amongst his possessions.

The thought of it being there, of Ian wanting it there, it makes Shayne smile.

[clingymickey]

Hiiii

Prison AU + Making up after a fight <3

Hii Drish, the loml!! I added Jealous!Mickey, Idk why but I've been into jealous bfs content lately. I wanted to make this a fun one but my brain said nope and created this.

Ian had to keep Mickey away from stabbing every guy who looks at Ian funny in prison.

Not that he didn’t find it hot but sometimes Mickey got carried away with it by a lot. There was this one time where Mickey saw a guy accidentally touch Ian’s arms while they were playing basketball, and all Mickey saw was red. Ian had to call back up to drag Mickey before he sent that guy to someplace more far away than an infirmary.

“What the fuck Mickey he just tried to take the ball from me?”

“Yeah more like balls, you didn’t see the way he was looking at you alright”

“Whatever, just don’t kill everyone who looks at me, otherwise there’s no point to this prison then.”

And yeah Mickey didn’t ‘kill’ anyone else until…

Until he saw Ian hanging out with some strong tanned brunette someone who sort of comes under Ian’s type. Mickey didn’t try to react though, he assured Ian and himself that he wouldn’t get jealous with every guy Ian meets.

But then he started seeing this dude everywhere with Ian - except for their prison cell, that was the only place it’d be just them. He was there in the infirmary, the courtyard, everywhere. You can’t blame the man for getting jealous over a guy like that. “Uhh, so who was that?” Mickey says as Ian steps into their cell, coming back from the cafeteria, getting ready for lights out. “Who?” Ian responds back, removing his yellow jumper, revealing those amazingly built arms of his - that’s slightly distracting Mickey from the topic on his mind.

“You know the guy who spends all of his time with you” he says sounding a bit irritated

“You?” Ian says with his eyebrows raised, having no clue where Mickey’s going with this. “No,” Mickey says, rolling his eyes. “The guy with the brown hair, muscular and shit”

“Ohh Herc”

Oh great and his name was Herc, life could not be better.

“Herc, the fuck kinda name is that” Mickey says with disgust, like just saying his name was vile. “I don’t know, it’s what everyone calls him” a pause “Why you asking?”

“Nothing nothing, just…” Mickey starts, then looks at Ian seeing his wide eyes staring at him and then just figures to let it go. He doesn't want to start anything, it’s probably just his insecurity getting the best of him anyway. “Nevermind, it’s nothing.”

Now Ian’s never gonna let it go.

“No, tell me. What’s up?” Ian asks, insisting it more than ever, now Mickey feels as though he should have never brought it up, and for some reason his brain tells his mouth to just tell Ian that he’s jealous.

“Just that guy, the way he’s with you all the time and everything, like there’s not a single time he’s not by your side and-” “God, Mickey, that's what this was about. I told you not to worry about me alright” “But-”

“I need to sleep now, I have work at the infirmary early in the morning tomorrow” Ian says, starting to climb to his bunk - well more like take one step because of his long-ass limbs.

Now Mickey feels bad, why couldn’t he just leave stuff alone. ****

Sometime after the lights went out Mickey could hear some shuffling from above him, followed by creaking coming from the ladder. Instantly he found long arms wrapping around his torso. “Hey, you awake?” Ian whispers to Mickey’s neck, even though Ian knows he is.

“Yeah” Mickey turns around so he can face Ian and see him - well more like his silhouette.

They both just lie there for some time, with each other wrapped around their arms. Ian breaks the silence first. “I’m sorry,” a kiss to Mickey's forehead, “Don’t like it when we argue, especially over these things.”

“Nah, I’m sorry, shouldn't have started it anyway. I just…” he pauses “I don’t want to lose you, Ian, at least not again.”

“You never lost me, always found your way back to me.” Ian lets out, and what he said is true, whether it was the first time they broke up or Mexico even, they always found their way back to each other. “Herc’s not even gonna get in our way, nobody’s gonna get in our way now. Plus I only like one guy here, he’s on the short side but that’s fine cause then it’s easier to wrap him in my force field”

That earns a huffy laugh from Mickey, who gets into Ian's force field a little more. He lifts his head up slightly to give Ian a kiss to the lips. “I love you” he says, voice coming out all breathy. “Mm, love you too.” Another peck to the lips. “And next time you feel this way just talk to me about it or maybe show them who I belong to” “Ohh okay. Maybe I should have just gone with that in the first place”

“Maybe” Kiss.

They spend the whole night having a lazy make-out session and if Ian gets to infirmary late tomorrow morning that’s nobody’s business but his own.

[dreamylyfe-x]

you know i'm rewatching the gallavich wedding planning and i can't help but feel like i don't know who this is, but it ain't mickey! them writing him to be all specific about colors and sh*t, like where's the real mickey from s4 who was annoyed with that guy listing beer types? i get they wanted to do that dumb gag but they should've used someone else for it. i mean ian's the one who was always meticulous about details, they showed that from the beginning. i don't know i just found it so weird

Aw, yeah. I get that reaction -- I think it’s pretty widely shared. And I suspect that storyline did come from someone pitching “it’d be funny if Mickey was a groomzilla.” Which is an idea I find annoying. Because I find the whole bridezilla thing annoying. 

But... I kinda love it, to be honest. 

I really like the idea that Mickey has an aesthetic and some artistic tendencies. We know he draws. I think there’s some indication in canon that Mickey is creative -- both in problem solving and in, let’s say, his sartorial choices. Mickey seems to act on things a lot. He’s not buying those hoodies without sleeves. He is creating hoodies without sleeves.  

Ian IS meticulous... or at least, he’s organized. He’s also given to executing a plan that isn’t necessarily of his own devising. He is drawn to uniforms and he seeks out knowledge he can apply to systems and processes. He seems to have an appreciation for creativity and art, but he isn’t particularly creative himself. 

So of the two of them, I think Mickey is actually much more likely to observe the details and to have opinions about them. That’s still a long way away from having a meltdown about gold chiavari chairs with white cushions. I do realize this. And I remember how that scene came out as a sneak peek the week before and I was... concerned. But when I saw it in context, I honestly liked it. Not so much the scene itself, but the story of that episode. It’s pretty much the only ep that season where Mickey’s concerns are foregrounded over Ian’s and, though (as always) I would have liked MORE of it, I like that we got this one episode about what the wedding mean to Mickey. 

So here are the top reasons why I like and buy this story. 

1. Right off the top, I don’t think Mickey objecting to being given a list of beers indicates he’s not going to care about what chairs are at his wedding. Putting aside that he’s lived an additional five or so years since then, Mickey doesn’t get annoyed in that scene because he thinks it’s dumb to know a lot about beer -- He’s annoyed that Ryan has asked him a question he can’t answer. I’ve always thought of that as a class issue -- He has never been in much of a position to CARE about what he drinks, and he drinks mass-produced pilsners because that’s what everyone in Southside drinks, because it’s cheap. He might love a winter wheat. He has no goddamn idea, because he isn’t living a life where you get to concern yourself with whether or not you’re into IPAs or lagers. Mickey DOES like beer. I was surprised and delighted when he recently ordered a stout at The Alibi, because it does indicate that his life has changed enough that he gets to know a bit more about beer. That at some point, he had the time and inclination to alter his tastes. He might have a different answer for Ryan now.

2. That Mickey wants things. Just... I don’t know. Mickey wanting anything other than food, shelter and Ian gets me so much. Mickey attending to his hierarchy of needs legitimately makes me teary. For people who grow up like Mickey -- asking for things can be a very big deal. So the fact that he just decides he’s going to make a wedding happen -- and a wedding with nice flowers and chairs that will reflect the light (because, we find out, that’s why he wants the gold) and a singer who will perform Livin’ on a Prayer -- is a big deal. And as many have cited before me, it makes sense that Mickey wants a better wedding with Ian than the one he had with Svetlana. But what we also find out, when we get the moment with the vows, is that Mickey takes the whole thing very seriously. He delivers those vows with complete commitment and deep sincerity. So I understand why he wants that space to carry the weight of what is happening. 

3. Mickey doesn’t break the chair because it’s not gold. He breaks the chair because every single person he’s encountered that day is a fucking dick. And they’re being a dick about his wedding. Something he’s happy about, and something he wants to celebrate. And, honestly, he’s not asking for much. He’d be annoyed, but most likely not violent, if his father hadn’t aimed a gun his face and some random old lady hadn’t refused him as a client because he’s gay. Brooks -- who tries to gaslight and act like the chairs are the chairs that were asked for when he knows damn well they are not -- is taking the wrath for a number of other people. But to me, the most important line in that scene is “why does everything always have to suck?”

4. Another thing about this is... back when Mickey responds to Ryan’s multiple choice beer question with “how ‘bout beer?” Ryan covers the awkward moment by making a joke about his own sexuality. The implication being that relating to beer with the kind of detail traditionally reserved for wine, is not masculine. And the thing is, Ryan is making a joke at his own expense, but he’s also acknowledging something that has always been true for Mickey. That Mickey has to make sure he never, ever displays any of these qualities Ryan so casually exhibits. Whether it’s natural for him or not, Mickey has to avoid anything that can be read to be a stereotype. He has to be hyper masculine, both because he’s from House that Toxic Masculinity built, but also because HE knows, even when he won’t acknowledge it, that he’s gay. So when we see Mickey openly talking about what flowers and chairs he wants at the wedding, he’s letting out something that could very well have always been there, but that he never, ever would have expressed back in seasons 1 through 4. Mickey doesn’t kiss Ian for two whole seasons because he’s so messed up about his sexuality. I 100% buy that, at that same time, he isn’t acknowledging having opinions about home decor. 

5. I like it when Mickey defies our expectations. I’m find with him discovering or revealing new facets or abilities or interests -- what I don’t like is when they have him do something that seems more like a regression. The show lampshades that this is something of a surprise, for Mickey to want a wedding, by having Ian be absolutely baffled by it for most of the episode. But they also participate in the end. There’s an indication that Mickey and Ian plan the eventual wedding together, though I imagine Mickey’s stronger opinions took the day in most cases. And the gesture at the end of that episode -- a romantic gesture just as surprising from Ian as anything Mickey does in that episode, really -- validates Mickey in a way I think is pretty beautiful. Like... he gets to be a guy who wants someone to sing Livin’ on a Prayer to him while he holds his boyfriend’s fiancé’s hand. He wasn't allowed to be that guy for years. I like that he gets there. 

So. We might not agree on this, but I really like that you drew a parallel between that scene and the party scene at Ryan’s because I hadn’t though of that before and I think it’s a very interesting one. I also enjoyed thinking so much about this on the day that we mark their one year anniversary! Because holy fuck. Gallavich is married! 

[sourmendes]

The girl in the painting

When Shawn gets given a painting for his birthday he thinks nothing of it, but look closely and nothing is as what it seems.

Creepy, is the first word that comes to Shawn’s mind when he looks at the painting, who in their right mind would ever give him a painting as creepy as this?

Oh right, his mother, who assumed that he should have something a little more ‘antique’

“But mum, I already have antique things, what makes you think I need anything else that’s twice as old?” Shawn argues pushing the painting back into his mothers arms

“Because having your grandmother’s photos of her as a girl doesn’t count as antique, you need something more grand and besides it’s your birthday, you deserve something beautiful in your dull condo” Karen replies, shoving the painting into Shawn’s arms “Your father will come over later to put the painting up” And with that Shawn was left with a painting in his arms

Sure enough, a few hours later and in came Manny with a screw and some holders

“Dad?” Shawn asks, taking a sip of his tea

“What is it son?” Manny replies concentrating on getting the painting up

“What is your honest opinion on the painting”

“Well I think it’s very nice of your mother to get you something like this” Manny mumbles 

“If you like it so much why don’t you have it” Shawn says

“Because it’s your birthday gift”

Week one

Shawn was successful in ignoring the painting, I mean he was a busy man, constantly in and out of recording his new album, he never had time to make second glances or stop for a few minutes, he was on his toes 24/7 and quite frankly it was exhausting him.

It was only when he was eating leftovers that his mother would bring him throughout the day that he finally had a look at the painting.

“Creepy” Shawn shivers, quick to look away from the painting and continue stuffing his mouth with the sausage, mashed potato and peas.

Week 2

Only twice in that week did Shawn ever look at the painting, he still didn’t understand why his mother would get him something as creepy as this. When he called his mother she simply said it stood out to her.

“Not helpful” He said after hanging up

Week 3

Shawn was having some mates over to watch the hockey match, it didn’t take them long to notice the painting 

“Nice painting man, you jack off to it sometimes?” Brian jokes

“Ew gross” Shawn’s face shrivels up in disgust 

“I think it’s kinda cool” Connor comments

“Course you would” Ian rolls his eyes

“What’s that supposed to mean?!” Connor exclaims, snapping his eyes to Ian

“Of course you’d like a painting as old as this” Ian replies

“Your just jealous that you can’t appreciate the small things in life” Connor say turning his attention to the screen

“Oh I’ll show you-”

“Guys!” Shawn eventually says snapping them out of their small argument “Let’s just watch the game”

The boys mumble something incoherent and continue watching the match

“I think it’s a very interesting painting, you should find out more about it’s backstory” Teddy says 

“Not you as well!” Shawn groans, turning the TV off

“Hey! I was watching that” Brian complains

“I was too but everyone seems to be more interested in the painting so go on, what is so good about this creepy ass ugly painting” Shawn grunts.

The room was silent, apart from the indistinct chatter from next door

“So, no one else is going to comment on the painting?” They all nod and he lets out a deep breath “Good”

Week 4

Shawn listened to Teddy’s advice, it’d been nagging him for a while so he typed the artist name in his computer and what came up was very interesting

He first found that the artist although had a male name was actually female, she would paint portraits for Royalty and was pretty famous due to being acquaintance with Queen Victoria.

She was only of the few painters that painted her with her ladies and Shawn was astounded, one of the ladies catching his eye

It was her, the girl in the painting.

How could he have not noticed how gorgeous she was, the way she posed seemed improper for the 1800s but definitely made her stand out, the way her perfectly curled hair framed her face, her expression showed seriousness and importance.

In his eyes, she became insatiable, every free second he had was filled with him looking at the painting with adoration.

Week 5

Shawn knew that the connection he had with the painting was affecting his normal life and that at some point he’d have to move on.

But he just couldn’t, no matter how much research he did, he just couldn’t find out who she was.

That was, until a website popped up

Queen Victoria’s Ladies from her Coronation’s names released

Shawn was over the moon, now he could finally figure out the name of the girl who clouded his mind and being

Week 6

After a lot of digging he found out her name was Y/n L/N, and that she was 14 at the time of the painting, and the youngest.

An English Lady and very popular with the Royal Family, whom she dined with on many occasions.

He wanted to figure out more, but only found out that she was 20 in the painting he had on his wall.

In 1843, she went missing, presumed dead, they held a funeral service and moved on with their life.

Shawn was distraught that the young woman passed away at such a young age.

He spent hours looking at the painting, wishing to figure something, anything out.

But nothing, he seemed to have research everything about her.

Week 7

Something had been happening with the painting, Shawn couldn’t put his finger on what it was exactly, but knew that something was different.

On the first night, he heard banging coming from the hallway and when he went to check, there was nobody there.

Maybe his mind is playing tricks on him.

The second night, the same thing happened, except, when he went to check the painting was on the floor, confused he picked it up and carefully placed it back on the hooks

Night three had to be the creepiest, the first two nights repeated and also added a woman calling his name. Shawn was too scared to look, but nevertheless, did, the painting was on the floor, the sounds stopped instantly at his footsteps

Week 8

Shawn didn’t know what to do with the painting, he knew that everything that was happening must’ve had a reason behind it.

The sounds from the painting only continued throughout the day and night and it was starting to worry Shawn.

Week 9

This was when everything changed, for better or for worse.

Shawn woke up as per usual, the night was quiet and he thought that everything was normal, but when he walked through the hallway, he noticed the girl was not in the painting

“What the-” Shawn mutters, doing a double take

“You good sir” Shawn snapped his head in the direction of the sound, his mouth drying and his heartbeat increasing “Where am I?” You ask, your nightgown not giving you the warmth you desire and your hair perfectly curled and flowing down your back

“Y-your in my house” Shawn exclaimed, to scared to blink in case it was a dream

“Would you stop looking at me like that?” You hiss “You look like you’ve seen a ghost”

Part Two?

[thedrowsydoormouse]

@anangelamuse-castiel-spnfam asked and I shall deliver!

1. Who was the last person you held hands with?

My boyfriend. He took me to the mall for dinner and shopping after my therapy!

2. Are you outgoing or shy?

Very shy but once you get to know me I’m a ball of chaotic energy!

3. Who are you looking forward to seeing?

Right now no one.

4. Are you easy to get along with?

I like to think I am.

5. If you were drunk would the person you like take care of you?

I would say my friend, Penny, but she’d probably be even more drunk than I am! So I think my friend, Daisy, or my boyfriend because they both have a background in medicine and would know what to do!

6. What kind of people are you attracted to? 

Cool people. And people who are unafraid to be nerdy about things they love!

7. Do you think you’ll be in a relationship two months from now?

I should hope so! Or else something went seriously wrong!

8. Who from the opposite gender is on your mind?

I keep mentioning my boyfriend but that’s only because he’s sitting right next to me and just stole a slice of pizza off my plate!

9. Does talking about sex make you uncomfortable?

Usually no! I’m very pro sex and pro discussing sex so it hopefully becomes less taboo and we can get some proper sex education.

10. Who was the last person you had a deep conversation with?

My therapist. And I immediately broke the tension with a joke that made her laugh so hard she cried!

11. What does the most recent text that you sent say?

 “I’m done.” I was waiting for my ride to pick me up from the hair salon!

12. What are your 5 favorite songs right now?

Monster by dodie, My Kinda Lover by Billy Squire, Hallelujah by Pentatonix, Rolling in the Deep by Gretta Van Fleet, Bottom of the River by Delta Rae

13. Do you like it when people play with your hair?

It depends on the person.

14. Do you believe in luck and miracles?

Luck yes. Miracles no.

15. What good thing happened this summer?

Technically it happened during summer (even though it happened in September but it was still Summer so it counts) but I met my boyfriend!

16. Would you kiss the last person you kissed again?

100% yes! 

17. Do you think there is life on other planets?

There has to be. It’d be weird if there wasn’t. It may not be life like we know it but there is some form of life out there.

18. Do you still talk to your first crush?

No.

19. Do you like bubble baths?

I only take bubble baths!

20. Do you like your neighbors?

I hardly know enough about them to form an opinion.

21. What are you bad habits?

How much time we got?

22. Where would you like to travel?

I would love to go back to New York and to the Japanese Disney parks!

23. Do you have trust issues?

Yes.

24. Favorite part of your daily routine?

Food. Beautiful amazing food!

25. What part of your body are you most uncomfortable with?

My back. I have two weird scar type things on it that look nasty and I try to hide.

26. What do you do when you wake up?

Check the time an see if I can go back to sleep.

27. Do you wish your skin was lighter or darker?

Any lighter and I would literally glow and any darker and I wouldn’t be able to pull off the goth look so effortlessly so I’d say I’m pretty happy with my skin!

28. Who are you most comfortable around?

My close friends.

29. Have any of your ex’s told you they regret breaking up?

Several of them have tried getting back together after we broke up only to find I had already moved on.

30. Do you ever want to get married?

I am married.

31. If your hair long enough for a pony tail?

It’s down to about my waist so it’s be weird if I couldn’t pull it into a pony tail! The comfort of it, though, is a whole other issue!

32. Which celebrities would you have a threesome with?

Margot Robbie and Brian Dietzen.

33. Spell your name with your chin.

No.

34. Do you play sports? What sports?

*laughs until I’m crying*

35. Would you rather live without TV or music?

TV. I need music to survive!

36. Have you ever liked someone and never told them?

All the time.

37. What do you say during awkward silences?

I usually crack a joke.

38. Describe your dream girl/guy?

Smart, funny, amazing in bed!

39. What are your favorite stores to shop in?

They’re pretty much all online!

40. What do you want to do after high school?

I’m already out of high school.

41. Do you believe everyone deserves a second chance?

Not everyone.

42. If your being extremely quiet what does it mean?

I’m distracted, people keep talking over me, or somethings seriously wrong.

43. Do you smile at strangers?

If it’s a kid or an old woman, yes. But never men.

44. Trip to outer space or bottom of the ocean?

Space. The ocean is terrifying.

45. What makes you get out of bed in the morning?

Food. Or having to pee.

46. What are you paranoid about?

A lot of shit! I’m a nervous, panic-y mother fucker!

47. Have you ever been high?

Yes.

48. Have you ever been drunk?

Yes.

49. Have you done anything recently that you hope nobody finds out about?

Yes.

50. What was the colour of the last hoodie you wore?

Black.

51. Ever wished you were someone else?

Nope! I love myself way too much!

52. One thing you wish you could change about yourself?

Nothing!

53. Favourite makeup brand?

I’ve been wearing a lot of Blackmoon, Milk, and Lime Crime lately.

54. Favourite store?

Total Wines.

55. Favourite blog?

Mine!

56. Favourite colour?

Deep red.

57. Favourite food?

Sushi!

58. Last thing you ate?

I’m currently eating pizza! That is if my boyfriend stops stealing my slices!

59. First thing you ate this morning? 

I actually didn’t get a chace to eat until dinner when I had a BBQ chicken salad.

60. Ever won a competition? For what?

Nope.

61. Been suspended/expelled? For what?

I was suspended in middle school for writing a burn book.

62. Been arrested? For what?

Nope!

63. Ever been in love?

Yes! 

64. Tell us the story of your first kiss?

I was a junior in high school and I was talking with one of my friends during Winter Formal and neither of us had ever been kissed so I just said “then kiss me” so she did and we spent the rest of the night making out.

65. Are you hungry right now?

I’m eating right now.

66. Do you like your tumblr friends more than your real friends?

Yes.

67. Facebook or Twitter?

Neither.

68. Twitter or Tumblr?

Tumblr.

69. Are you watching tv right now?

I’m listening to music.

70. Names of your bestfriends?

I have too many to list. I’d literally be here all night.

71. Craving something? What?

Pumpkin spice.

72. What colour are your towels?

I have a ton of towels and none of them match because I’m a human dumpster fire.

72. How many pillows do you sleep with?

As many as possible.

73. Do you sleep with stuffed animals?

Yes.

74. How many stuffed animals do you think you have?

I have no clue.

75. Favourite animal?

Cats.

76. What colour is your underwear?

Black.

77. Chocolate or Vanilla?

Chocolate.

78. Favourite ice cream flavour?

Dublin Mudslide from Ben & Jerry’s.

79. What colour shirt are you wearing?

Hot Pink.

80. What colour pants?

Teal.

81. Favourite tv show?

I can’t pick just one!

82. Favourite movie?

See above!

83. Mean Girls or Mean Girls 2?

The first one!

84. Mean Girls or 21 Jump Street?

Mean Girls!

85. Favourite character from Mean Girls?

Janice Ian!

86. Favourite character from Finding Nemo?

Bruce!

87. First person you talked to today?

My mom.

88. Last person you talked to today?

Not sure yet.

89. Name a person you hate?

Trump.

90. Name a person you love?

My boyfriend.

91. Is there anyone you want to punch in the face right now?

See #89. 92. In a fight with someone?

Usually.

93. How many sweatpants do you have?

I lost count.

94. How many sweaters/hoodies do you have?

I love being comfy.

95. Last movie you watched?

Spaceballs.

96. Favourite actress?

Margot Robbie.

97. Favourite actor?

Does John Mullaney count.

98. Do you tan a lot?

Never.

99. Have any pets?

A chubby puppy named Zorro!

100. How are you feeling?

Pretty good!

101. Do you type fast?

Sometimes, depending on how long my nails are.

102. Do you regret anything from your past?

Yes and no.

103. Can you spell well?

Sort of.

104. Do you miss anyone from your past?

Not really.

105. Ever been to a bonfire party?

No.

106. Ever broken someone’s heart?

Yes.

107. Have you ever been on a horse?

Yes.

108. What should you be doing?

Nothing.

109. Is something irritating you right now?How long this is taking.

110. Have you ever liked someone so much it hurt?

Yes.

111. Do you have trust issues?

You’ve already asked this.

112. Who was the last person you cried in front of?

My friend, Sabrina.

113. What was your childhood nickname?

I hate them so I’m not putting them.

114. Have you ever been out of your province/state?

Yes.

115. Do you play the Wii?

Not anymore.

116. Are you listening to music right now?

Yes.

117. Do you like chicken noodle soup?

Yes.

118. Do you like Chinese food?

Yes.

119. Favourite book?

I don’t really read that much anymore.

120. Are you afraid of the dark?

No.

121. Are you mean?

I can be.

122. Is cheating ever okay?

Only if you really didn’t have time to study and you don’t get caught. (Hint: hide the cheat sheet between you’re thighs or up your skirt so that way if you do get caught you can pin it on the teacher being a perv.)

123. Can you keep white shoes clean?

I’ve never owned any so I have no clue.

124. Do you believe in love at first sight?

Yes.

125. Do you believe in true love?

Yes.

126. Are you currently bored?

Yes.

127. What makes you happy?

Food.

128. Would you change your name?

Yes.

129. What your zodiac sign?

Sagittarius.

130. Do you like subway?

No.

131. Your bestfriend of the opposite sex likes you, what do you do?

I mean i hope they like me or else my marriage is about to get very awkward!

132. Who’s the last person you had a deep conversation with?

You asked this one already.

133. Favourite lyrics right now?

Tell me again about how it hurts Being awfully loud for an introvert 

  134. Can you count to one million?

I’ve never tried nor had the time to try.

135. Dumbest lie you ever told?

It’s my dad’s signature.

136. Do you sleep with your doors open or closed?

Open just a crack.

137. How tall are you?

6′

138. Curly or Straight hair?

Mine is curly and I prefer curls.

139. Brunette or Blonde?

It depends on the person.

140. Summer or Winter?

Winter.

141. Night or Day?

Night.

142. Favourite month?

October.

143. Are you a vegetarian?

No but almost.

144. Dark, milk or white chocolate?

Milk.

145. Tea or Coffee?

Tea.

146. Was today a good day?

Yes.

147. Mars or Snickers?

Neither.

148. What’s your favourite quote?

“Fuck it.” - Me 149. Do you believe in ghosts?

This is the 3rd repeat question.

150. Get the closest book next to you, open it to page 42, what’s the first line on that page?

The only book I have near me is super tiny and doesn’t have 42 pages.

[shinobicyrus]

The Not-Date

A belated birthday gift for my good friend @homebeccer. I probably failed attempting three different fics until finally ended up doing one that’s pretty much a continuation of last year’s fic with her OC Phuong. Happy Birthday Becs!

Tucker waffled for three days trying to think of someplace for Phuong and him to have lunch. 

The Nasty Burger always worked when he hung out with Danny and Sam- but Phuong was someone her barely knew. The idea of taking her to some trashy burger joint that had been demolished and rebuilt more times than there were Spider-Man reboots just felt...juvenile.

Not that any of his other options were any better. Restaurants were too formal, and a more casual cafe just screamed “lunch date.” Which is not what this was. At all. 

He’d done his best to be as clear as could be on that. Anything resembling a date was so beyond Tucker’s ability to handle. The last thing he needed was to send mixed signals with the wrong lunch setting.

(Hell, the last thing anybody needed was prolonged exposure to the smoldering, irradiated wreck that was Tucker’s Foley love life.)

Which still left him with...absolutely no idea where they should go. 

God, all this drama over Lunch. There was no word in English or Esperanto that could accurately express just how painfully pathetic Tucker was being, right now. Maybe the Germans had a word for it. This seemed like something they’d have covered. 

Nah, screw that. Confidence was the name of the game. He’s totally got this. He fights ghosts on a semi-weekly basis, has gone through inter-dimension portals, hacked a robot-ghost assassin, and briefly ruled a whole kingdom as a power-crazed tyrannical ghost-pharaoh...

Actually...scratch that last one. No need to revisit that. Teenager stuff, everyone goes through that phase.

The point was, Tucker was a grown man with a tech job, an apartment, alimony payments, and goddamn time travel experience.  He could handle a totally platonic lunch with a minimum of panic texts to Valerie. Sure, Ms. Hunts Her Prospective Love Interests may be in the eternal four-way-tie of scariest ladies he knows, but at least she’s safer than the alternative. There was desperate, and then there was desperate.

Sam would have broken his feeble protests on the not-date status of the lunch on the peak of a single raised eyebrow while balancing little James on her hip. Danielle would insist on being his wingman, Jazz would be a post-doc shark smelling ‘unresolved issues’ in the water, and Danny-

Danny would try to be supportive.

Valerie listened to his plight with the same patient silence she probably used for lying in wait with an ecto-rifle and suggested a practical, easy solution.  

The answer was, of course, Meatheads. Which Tucker of all people should have figured out sooner- because Meatheads. You ordered at the register, but after you sat down and they brought the food to your table. Perfect middle ground. 

Yeah, Tucker was counting this as a win. The bar was set ludicrously low. 

He goes early because it was easier than sitting in his apartment refreshing traffic conditions on his phone trying to math-out arrival times and debate how early is early before it’s back into descriptive German adjectives levels of pathetic again. Ordered some fries to settle the nervous queasiness, which didn’t really help because cajun seasoning is delicious but the very opposite of calming.

He didn’t think anything much over Phuong being five minutes late. She was new in town, and even with GPS going to new places was a hassle.

By the time she was fifteen minutes late he was guzzling his second ill-advised mixed fountain drink abomination and jittering his leg, constantly looking from his phone to the door as though she could slip in between the ticks of seconds. Jeez, get a grip, Foley. So she was fashionably late. Watch, she was going step through that day any second and you’re gonna feel like such fixating tool Vlad will probably swoop in and sue you for copyright infringement.

Twenty minutes he- he doesn’t even know. She’d text if she was running late, right? Even if she’d come to her senses and the ‘OMG You Saved My Life From A Ghost’ gratitude finally wore off she’d still...like...tell him.

She didn’t come off as someone who would bail without warning. All that time in her apartment, Tucker thought he’d gotten a pretty good indication what kind of person she was. Witty but hiding it behind that poker face. Tough too- most people would be screeching and next to useless when that ecto-heap of a ghost crawled out of her sink. Tucker had plenty of experience with tough, kickass women, but hers was an...ordinary, down to earth strength. The kind you built for yourself by hand, brick by brick. 

Sturdy. Decent. If she had something to say, she’d say it properly to Tucker’s face.

Half and hour late and no word. Checking his phone for the umpteenth time revealed it’d been a fully thirty-three seconds since he last checked. The couple a few tables behind him chatted quietly in a language that wasn’t English. Re-reading the last text conversation with her; they’d said 1:00, right? Yeah, and it was definitely today.

God, he was such a self-absorbed idiot. Phuong wouldn’t just blow him off- not without good reason. Plenty of perfectly normal reasons; in Amity, plenty of not-so-normal ones, too. Maybe he should call? Or send a text to see if she was okay? Then again, one text would probably lead another and then Phuong would quickly get an alarming amount of babbling text spam in her phone.

No, he should still send one. Just one. He typed up a quick, casual message that he immediately deleted, re-wrote to satisfy a criteria he couldn’t even be sure of, and by the time he had wasted yet another five minutes weighing tone (casual but maybe it’s too casual like he doesn’t care I mean the last one was waaaaay too desperate like wow stalker much?) and almost didn’t notice when Phuong barreled through the front door. 

She was panting like a marathon runner. Clothes wrinkled, hair wild and windblown. Tuck stared dumbly at her, so she was the one who spotted him and immediately made a beeline for his table, practically collapsing into the opposite chair and still breathing hard. 

“I’m...” she gasped out, wiping a sheen of sweat on her forehead. “Am so sorry. There was a- I don’t even know.” She gestured wildly, flailing and failing to charade it. “I was just. Walking. Here. On time. And there was this...this noise. And then this thing- person. I...I knew her, but. No, there was an...explosion first?”

Tucker spied the rest of the tables in his periphery. They were getting a few looks, but besides the sudden hushed indecipherable chatter from the two behind them, it would take more than a slightly disheveled woman to grab someone’s attention in Amity.

“That...would explain the uh...you know you have a bit of glass in your hair?” Tucker reached over and carefully plucked a glimmering little chunk of marble-sized glass and wrapped it carefully in his napkin. 

She felt around her abused-looking hair. ”Crap! Is there any more?” She looked down at her the state of her shirt. “Shit, I look like a mess.”

Tucker slid his pop over to her. “Here, take a drink of this and just...breathe a little.”

She obediently took the cup, popped off the lid and guzzled straight from it rather than the straw. Tucker watched with almost morbid fascination while she keep chugging, throat working steadily, until she finally slammed it back down on the table like something much stiffer. An echo of leftover, half-melted ice settled hollowly. “I hate soda,” she said.

Blasphemy. Tucker had concocted - nay, perfected- that mixed drink formula himself, and the Illinoisan in him demanded she call it pop, dammit. Still, priories. “That’s fine. Let the hate flow through you. Feel better?”

She was surprised by the belch she replied with, looked sheepish, and nodded instead. 

“So.” Tucker folded his hands on the tabletop. ”Explosion?”

Phuong’s brow furrowed, like she was trying to remember something but second-guessed herself. “I...I think Ember McLain tried to kill me.”

“Ah.”

The caffeine seemed to have righted  her head. She narrowed her eyes at him, suspicious. “You don’t seem even a little surprised.”

“I mean, I’m a little more informed than most because of the Fentons- but yeah, we were kind of due for an Ember tantrum. She has this on-again/off-again thing with another ghost and when they go off-again, she tends to go off.”

“Like blowing up a hipster record store some people minding their own business might be walking past?”

“She’s pretty much the reason you won’t find a Hot Topic in city limits.” Seeing his opportunity, Tucker propped up his hands under his chin and grinned at her. “That doesn’t explain how you recognized her, though.”

“I...refuse to answer that questions on the grounds that it might incriminate me.”

“I didn’t know Ember’s albums were popular outside of Amity.”

“She was a world phenomenon- everybody knows her name!” Phuong burst out with what Tucker suspected was a lingering residue of musical thrall that had probably been implanted there since she was a teenager. Damn, talk about getting music stuck in your head.

“I’m only surprised you were into something so...mainstream.”

“So I’m not as picky with my music as I am with my movies. No one goes around singing lines from Hitchcock movies because they get stuck in your head.”

“Well, at least you survived an assassination attempt from your teenage-rebellion phase.”

“Only because some...some...super hero, I guess? He was literally wearing this black spandex.”

Years of training kept the grin off Tucker’s face. “Snow white hair? Glowing green eyes?”

“Yeah, that was the guy.”

“Congrats, you just got your first rescue from Danny Phantom. You’re practically an Amity...ite? Amityvill...ian? What would that be?”

Right there, Phuong looked like she had officially reached the tail end of her suspension of disbelief. “Danny...Phantom? You can’t be serious. What is he, some ghost superhero?”

“Pretty much. Keeps most of the meaner ghosts from getting too out of hand. Blowing up a shop was a little more extreme than usual- most the time it’s some floating boxes and a ‘Bewaaare’! Y’know. Wednesday stuff.”

By this point, Phuong’s fingers were carding through her already frazzled hair. “Of course there’s a ghost superhero. Why wouldn’t there be a ghost superhero. I find one nice apartment over the border with decent rent and now I’m getting blown up and there’s superheroes.” She looked up him, eyes screaming for sanity. “Please tell me he’s the only one. That’s there’s not like...a pack of super-friends or something I need to be on the lookout for.”

Their neighbors’ indecipherable conversation had picked up again- which Tucker found distracting. It was weird too- he couldn’t understand it, but he could almost swear he had heard it before. Japanese? Korean? Hindi? No...

Wait.

“Well, there’s...a couple,” he admitted, trying not to enjoy the bang as Phuong’s head met the table. “There’s the Red Huntress- she flies around on a rocket board in this red and black armor. Usually stays out of the limelight- not nearly as active in the media as Danny Phantom. Then there’s...well. I guess who could call her Phantom’s side-kick. Invisobelle.”

Two tables behind, a chair scraping and some muffled words. Tucker kept his face schooled. 

“Invisobelle.” Phuong sighed. “That’s just awful.” 

He shrugged. “Like I said, she’s just Phantom’s sidekick. Not nearly as popular or as active as him.”

Before Phuong could say anything else, her very discontented stomach gurgled a noisy protest. 

“I,” she announced, “am so hungry I would murder the cow myself if it was faster, and I don’t care how many calories it is or what my mom would say about it because I have goddamn earned it.” She cocked her thumb back towards the line at the register. “I’m going to go up to order. Have you eaten yet?”

He tried not to sound guilty. “Just some fries?”

“Okay, tell me what you want and I’ll do it for the both of us. And I’m paying. Don’t think I haven’t forgotten.”

“I know better than to argue with you about it,” Tucker said.

“Good man.”

After she left with both of their orders, Tucker waited until she was well out of earshot before standing up and approaching the couple two tables behind theirs. 

They both stiffened at his approach. One of them hunched behind an open copy of the Amity Park Angle that was three days old.

Dammit, he freaking knew he was hearing ghost-speak.

Danielle, as incognito as she could manage in aviators and a My Little Pony(TM) beanie gasped unconvincingly.

“Whoooaa, Tucker? You’re here too? No waaaayy! Only in small towns, huh?”

“Yeah, I’m completely buying this.” He pulled down the newspaper to uncover Wulf wearing a baseball cap over his flattened ears and sporting a pair of novelty shades that would be comically large on anyone but a literal giant wolfman’s long nose.

“Uh...Amiko Tuck! Kio surprizo!”

“Already tried that one, dude,” Elle warned him in a sotto whisper.

A distant, out-of-body perspective yanked him violently from solid ground so he could examine the situation from above just to confirm that yes, this really was his life and was something he had no choice but to deal with. An ache bloomed behind Tucker’s eyes- the start of a bad headache like his brain was punishing him for putting it through this. Fair enough. Taking off his glasses let Tucker both massage the pain out of his temples and make it much easier to not look at them.

“You two. Can turn. Invisible.” He hissed through the pain. “Why the hell-”

“They won’t let you buy food here if you’re not visible.” Danielle explained. “Company policy.”

Wulf picked up a large burger from a tray already littered with the wrappers of past conquest and munched on it demonstratively, like Tucker was still buying the cover story.

“And what, no one minded having a giant wolf-ghost-man just...hanging around the restaurant?”

Wulf swallowed the last of his burger and shrugged. “Ĝi estas Amity.”

Danielle nodded. “Yeah, nobody minded. Wulfy-Wulf even got a few phone numbers. He’s a total player.”

Tucker’s head canted, straining to process this new information. Wulf titled down his gunglasses and winked. 

“I. Well. Okay then. That’s just brings up a whole lot of other questions I’m not sure I want answers to.”

“Estas la oreloj,” Wulf tipped his cap like an old-timey gentleman and wiggled his ears, suspiciously similar to how a puppy might. “Ĉiuj amas la orelojn.”

“No. Stop that. No making me wanna pet you instead of yelling at the both you properly about violating my privacy like this.”

“We’re not spying on you, Tuck!” Danielle insisted. “We came here to be supportive!”

“Jee, ni estas ĉi tie por vi, Amiko Tucker.”

“Oh. You were here to support me. While hiding behind last week’s Angle.”

Dani hid her cringe behind an awkward smile. “We were here for you in spirit?”

Wulf chortled. “Heh. Spirit.”

“I am so unfriending Valerie for this, the traitor.”

“Aw come on, Tuck it’s not like- we just wanted to make sure you were okay!”

“I know you two don’t get why-” Tucker cut off what he was going to say, breathed, and tried again. “I get it, I do, but I’m just having lunch with a friend, okay? I’m allowed to have those, aren’t I?”

“Well yeah, it’s just-” Danielle sent an appealing look Wulf’s way. “It hasn’t even been a year since you and-”

“Ni ne diras ŝian nomon,” Wulf growled. 

Danielle rolled her eyes. “Fine. Since you and Voldemistress finishing signing the paperwork.”

“Elle, I get it. Trust me, I do. I am nowhere near ready to even start thinking about dating. Phuong’s a- look she’s pretty cool, and she’s new here, so she needs a friend to give her the Amity Survival Training. This is absolutely not a-”

“Tucker?” Phuong asked behind him.

“Dankon pro la averto, Wulf,” Tucker hissed, and turned around. His face burned under her scrutiny. “Uh...hey Phuong! You’re back. You wouldn’t believe who else had the idea to eat here today? Small towns, right?”

“Oh sure, he can do it,” Danielle grumbled.

Phuong, looking as though she hadn’t even heard him, was gaping past Tucker at Wulf. “Who...are your...friends?” The last word she said with skepticism. 

Tucker spoke up quickly to cut off Dani. “Oh. Right. Uh...Phuong, this is Danielle- she’s the cousin of my best buddy Danny, and...this is my very good friend-”

“Wulf,” he stood up to his full height and took off his hat in a way that reminded Tucker of old movies, when gentlemen stood up when a lady was present. “Estas plezuro renkonti vin. Ajna amiko de Tucker estas amiko mia.”

He held out his hand...paw. Sans the claws, thank God. Phuong looked down at the massive furry hand. Looked up at the enormous, wide-shouldered wolf-man that had at least a foot on her, and accepted the handshake like it had challenged her. “Nice to meet you,” she said. Her hand was pitifully small in Wulf’s palm, but he shook it gently. 

Tucker clapped his hands together. “Greeeaaat, everyone’s introduced so glad hey didn’t you say you two had to rush, Elle?”

“Huh?” Dani was hard to read with those stupid aviators, but thank God she decided to not be a little troll for once. “Oh yeah. Come on, Wulf. I forgot we had to the do that thing in that place that wasn’t here.”

“Eh? Oh! Jee, tre okupata. Ni vere devas rapidi-”

“You don’t have lay it on that thick Team Jacob she can’t even understand you.”

Plastering on a big smile, Danielle hooked her arm into Wulf’s. “It was nice meeting you Phuong.”

“Likewise. Maybe I’ll see you two around.”

Peeking over her sunglasses, she leered at Tucker. “I’m sure you will.”

“Good-bye, Danielle.”

Snickering, Danielle pulled Wulf along with alarming ease, considering their size difference. In his free paw, he held up a few scraps of paper and napkins with scribbled numbers on them. “Kio pri-”

“Dude, not now. Lot’s of things have changed in the dating scene since you’ve been alive. There’s like...a rule about not calling people right away.”

“Oh. Mi ne havas telefonon.”

“Yeah, there you go. Like phones, that’s a big one.”

Phuong waited until they were out the door. “Well they were...interesting. Wulf, especially.”

Tucker scratched the back of his head. “Yeah he. Uh. Definitely makes an impression.”

“Oh, I definitely got a few of those,” Phuong pursed her lips, chewing on a thought. “How long-”

“Since I was fourteen.”

“You two must be very close, then.”

“About as close as two guys that have saved each others’ lives get. Or...un-lives, depending on who you mean.”

“Lot of that seems to be going around,” Phuong noted with a conspiratorial little smile. Like it was their in-joke. Tucker smiled back.

A server came up bearing a tray of burgers. “A bacon-ranch half-pounder with a side of fries?”

“Oh thank God,” Phuong seized her tray and sat back down at the table. 

The server looked around the surrounding tables. “Uh...what happened to the-”

“He left, sorry.” Tucker said.

“Aw dammit. I mean,” blushing, the server hastily shoved the tray with Tucker’s food at him. “Enjoy.” And scampered. 

Phuong was already tearing into her burger with gusto. Tucker, taken aback, lingered over his food. She noticed him watching her, and asked with a full mouth. “Wahf?”

“Nothing. Glad I picked the right place.” 

“Thowwy-” She swalloed. “Sorry again I was so late. I would have called but whatever weird guitar blasts Ember was doing cracked my phone. I swear I’m not usually this bad.” 

“Trust me, happens to everyone eventually.”

“While we’re on the subject,” Phuong pointed a fry in Tucker’s direction. “Any other major Amity hazards I should know about? Because at this point, I’m pretty much numb to ridiculous bullshit, so you might as well give it to me all at once.”

“It’s...quite the list,” Tucker warned her. 

“I just had a literal blast from my black-leather past that almost gave me tinnitus. I can handle it.” She opened up her arms like she was inviting a hit. “Come on, what else is there? Are dragons real too? Vampires? Wizards? Government conspiracies? Is this whole town sitting on top of a portal to hell, or something?”

Tucker didn’t answer for a long moment- mostly internally debating whether Clockwork could technically count as a wizard.

“I don’t like how quiet you’re being.” Phuong said. 

“How about this? You eat, I’ll talk.”

“So do you usually go out to lunch with chaperones, or was that a one-time thing?”

They walked side-by-side down the sidewalk, parting for any fellow pedestrian going the other way. Offering to walk her home was only right, after having a literal scare from a raging dead rockstar on the rebound.

They’d been walking in amiable silence- so the question caught him off guard. “Relax,” she said. “I thought it was kind of sweet.”

“Sweet?” 

“Well, I’m guessing by how much you were trying not to look embarrassed while you were introducing them that their being there wasn’t your idea.”

“No, it was definitely not.”

“Thought introducing me to your ghost-friend was a bit too soon?”

“More like either of them. Danielle had a...weird upbringing and Wulf is...”

“Very loyal, seems like. And nice. At least...I think  he was being nice? I paid attention in enough Spanish classes to get the gist of it.”

“I’m actually kind of impressed,” Tucker said. “You dealt with the whole three hundred pounds of fur and claws way quicker than...well...anyone not in our immediate friend circle or non-furries.”

“What can I say? I’m learning to roll with the Amity Weirdness. After getting caught in the middle of a Rocky Horror Show street fight, the giant shaggy dog-man was pretty...tame.”

The emphasis at the end there. Tucker shook his head in mock disappointment. “I saw what you did there, and you should be ashamed of yourself. Also, he’s technically a giant shaggy wolf-man. He’s very sensitive about it.”

“I’ll keep that in mind. And good side-stepping the topic, by the way. I almost didn’t notice.”

“Doing my best.” He shrugged away another rise of heat in his cheeks. It would be so easy for her to just ask, a few well-target words and Tucker knew he would unravel right in front of  her. It felt too much like his feet dangling over a precipice- a feeling he was disturbingly familiar with thanks to a best bro who could fly.

“I won’t ask about her.” Phuong reassured him, and Tucker could almost feel the phantom hand pressing down on his chest east. “But if your friends’ reaction to you going out to lunch with someone is to adorably fail at the covert part of a stakeout...”

“I didn’t take the divorce very well,” Tucker admitted. Understatement of the century. Take a nerd’s natural self-worth issues and throw in the colossal failure of a marriage crashing and burning, and of course clashing with someone who knew you well enough to say just the right things that would stick long after she left.

Phuong nodded to herself. “Y’know, if you ever want to talk about it with someone who wasn’t involved, even if you want to just vent-”

“I make it a rule to never talk about exes on a d-” Tucker stopped himself, wincing.

Of course Phuong noticed. “Never discuss exes on a what, Mr. Foley?” Her smile was just the right kind of smugly teasing, and- aw hell, this lady was so, so dangerous. “I thought this was just a nice, simple lunch between friends?”

“I-it is! I-I just. See, what I meant to say was-”

“And friends,” Phuong went on, as though she didn’t hear his pitiful stammering. “Are practically honor-bound to listen to another friend go on about bad exes and shitty breakups.

“And I,” she pointed at herself, “have had some truly awful exes. Seriously, you would’t believe.”

Oh, he could probably guess. “Bigots?”

“Just the three. I got pretty good at filtering out them out, especially the ones with a fetish. You?”

“Just two. Well...three, counting the homophobe. She thought our two month relationship would somehow trump a few years of friendship with Danielle and her girlfriend.”

Phuong snapped her fingers. “I knew it.” At Tucker’s questioning look, she said: “The aviators.”

“Ha. And that was her trying to be subtle.”

“Morbidly curious what she looks like going all-out, now.”

“She will probably hit on you just to see your reaction.”

“Being irresistible to all sexes is truly a curse,” Phuong replied smoothly. “Okay, my turn: stalkers?”

“Do hauntings count?”

Without skipping a beat: “Depends on what base you go to.”

Tucker choked. “What?”

“Well? Did I stutter? Come on, Foley, out with the dirty details. Was it like that unnecessary Ghost Buster’s scene with Dan Aykroyd?”

“...just second base. But I would like to state for the record that she looked way more alive when she was luring me in before the scary kill-murder banshee mode.”

“No judgments. I’ve dated my share of cold fish.” That poker-face delivery was so deadpan, Tucker couldn’t stop himself from laughing. “I take it you made it through scary kill-murder banshee mode unscathed or am I talking to a meat-loving ghost right now?”

“Don’t joke about that- they exist.” Tucker warned her. “And nah, nothing hurt permanently except my pride. Phantom showed up and saved my dumb ass.”

“Hmm. That’s two I owe him, now. Might need to start running a tally.”

“Good luck. He’s saved this town more times than I can count, and you are talking to an obsessive nerd here.”

“Have you ever thought about leaving?” Phuong asked him suddenly. “You said it yourself- this town is dangerous. Haven’t you ever thought you could just...move away? Get out of the spooky warzone and live a nice normal life?”

“Sure. My parent’s argued about it a lot when I was younger. They might still move away when Dad retires, but I...” He looked up at the city. The billboards for Mayor Masters’ re-election campaign, the ‘BEWARE’ posters warning about spectral overshadowing, the cackling ecto-pusses swimming past in the sky. “My other family is here. Danny and Sam, my godson, Danielle, Valerie- that’s her girlfriend, Wulf. I know I don’t matter that much. When you get right down to it, they could get along just fine without me.

“But...I’m not sure I could get along very fine without them.”

“I think,” Phuong touched the side of his arm. “You are forgetting that two of those people on that list were so worried about you getting yourself hurt again they put on hilariously terrible disguises and waited over an hour at a Meatheads...just to make sure you were okay.”

Tucker stopped walking. “Oh. I. Guess they did do that. Huh.”

Phuong waited a few heartbeats to let Tucker process this new revelation that his friends cared, and gave his arm a squeeze before letting go. "Does that mean there’s a chance we can have another lunch next week? I still feel bad about making you wait so long.”

“Really, it’s fine. I’m just glad you got through your first real ghost fight unhurt and not running for the hills.”

“Thanks, I think I- wait. That ghost in my apartment doesn’t count as a real ghost fight?”

“Nah, that was just pest control. It doesn’t get serious until the ghosts name themselves and start monologuing. But I wouldn’t object to an encore lunch. And no chaperones next time- honest.”

“Great. A week should give me time to replace my phone,” she took it out, thicker, older, but still serviceable if it wasn’t for the giant crack in its screen. “There wouldn’t happen to be ghost-attack insurance I can get on my next model, is there?”

Tucker’s mouth jumped ahead without his consent. “I can fix that.”

“You. Really?” 

“Yeah, for sure. May I?” She handed the phone to him, to examine. “Oh yeah, I’ve seen way worse than this. Just replace the screen, check to make sure none of the guts got jostled, an Ember-class screen protector; easy fix.”

“How much?”

“You just fed a bored tech geek with a project, consider it already paid for.”

“You’re...” She shook her head in disbelief. “Amazing. How soon can you-”

“Tomorrow afternoon, at the earliest. I can deliver it to your place, if you’d rather not wait.”

“You already know where I live, and I am a phone-addicted millennial getting psychosomatic hives from cell-separation. The sooner the better.”

“Consider it done,” Tucker pocketed it. “Tomorrow, then.”

“It’s a date.”

[dsmadmin]

#NightOut

Written by @TaylorMason_DSM & @HickOperator

Warning adult themes and triggers. Non-Consensual Sex.

Ian: -Ian had met a few people from Blackwater and had got along pretty well with Tayler when they met. They'd been missing each other playing phone tag for weeks but the day had finally come they were on the same page so Ian got a babysitter for CJ and had driven over to the Broken Spoke bar off Highway 115. Getting out he went in a grabbed a seat at the bar waiting for Tayler to show.-

:::::::::::::::

Taylor: He'd been trying to get together with Ian for a while. He hopped out of his Camaro and headed for the door and walked in then started to look for Ian, already he wanted to bang that sweet ass of his, with or without his consent. It'd been a while since he'd preyed upon a man.*

::::::::::::::::::::

Ian: -Sipping his beer he saw Tayler walk in and he waved, turning back to the bartender and asked her to bring another beer. As Tayler got closer he smiled.- Hey man, glad you could make it. -Put's out his hand to shake Tayler's.-

::::::::::::::::::::

Taylor: *Tayler extended his hand then grasped Ian's hand, smiling* It's good to see you. *Although he didn't give up his real reason for getting together. That would come much later.* How've you been>* He asked taking a seat next to him.* It's been a while.

:::::::::::::::::

Ian: -Firm shake he smiled in earnest. He hadn't made any friends yet and all he knew were his family.- Yeah it has, sorry been busy as hell. Glad you could make it. Heard you finished up a hunt not long ago what was it?

::::::::::::::::

Taylor: *Tayler's earnest smile hid his true intention as he listened to what Ian was saying then answered* Well. there was this band of djinn that was literally posing as a band doing gigs in local places. Just about anyone who went backstage became dinner for them.

::::::::::::::::

Ian: -Eyes size of silver dollars. He’d seen some combat but he’d never really hunted so he was floored.- Damn. You handled that alone?

:::::::::::::::::::::

Taylor: Oh hell no, I had a few backups. Took 'em down one by one, after we cornered them all, literally. They had no where to go. *Tayler said non-chalantly then took a chug off his beer* In the end, we got the job done. Don't worry. you'll hinting before you know it.

:::::::::::::::::

Ian: Hope s. At this point my twin makes me look like a baby. She’s awesome, stepped up and kicking ass. -Orders a shot and downs it.- Much rather be hunting than sitting behind a desk. Can I ask you something?

::::::::::::::::::

Taylor: *Tayler smiled reassuringly* Don't even let that bother you. Not everyone is ready at the same time. You'll get your shot. In fact. I heard this from the top brass, that your time is coming soon. But you neverheard that from me. *Grins* Sure, go ahead ad ask away.

:::::::::::::::::::::

Ian: You’ve known my Dad, well one of my dads along time right? Is Colt always so damn intense? Like I talk to him and fuck he’s like a brick wall.

:::::::::::::::::

Taylor: *Tayler took a swig of his beer and ordered a shot of tequila and thought for a moment* Well. he's always been intense. A brick wall not so much. He's been beat up pretty good by* He paused to make sure he used the right words* life. Just remember to cut him some slack. Hopefully he won't be such a brick wall to ya.

:::::::::::::::::::::

Ian: -Thoughtful he listened.- I think I get what you mean. -Shrugs.- Some things happened. Not my proudest moment, guess I just felt like rebelling. Do you know the guy he’s with now? Ethan? Surprised the hell out of me, Dad was singing and smiling like really smiling. I’m not sure what to think. And.. I’m worried about him. He did something to save my son. I’m still trying to figure things out. -Glances over at Tayler hoping he could shed some light on things.-

:::::::::::::::::

Taylor: *Tayler listened carefully as his shot was set down in front of him, which he picked up as soon as possible and downed it then replied as a matter of factly* As far as Ethan goes, let your dad have his happiness. Ethan's a great guy and they're a perfect match. *He paused* Maybe the longer they're together, the more that brick wall will crumble. Be gratful your dad has someone like Ethan, not everyone does. *He hoped that made sense and order them both a shot*

::::::::::::::::::::

Ian: -Tayler seemed to be holding back or something but Ian was buzzing right about now and he downed his shot.- The guys hot, like I’m not even gay and I’m like /dayum/. Anyway. What about you man? Wife with Ty junior’s running round causing trouble?

::::::::::::::::::

Taylor: * Tayler's shots arrived and he passed one to Ian. Ian's question brought back memories of many girls who wanted to land him and rope him into marriage but couldn't. Smiling at them he replied happily* I don't have any kids that I know of. And I've never been married. I'm not the marrying type.

::::::::::::::::::::

Ian: Probably a good policy to have. -Downing another shot.- Hunting isn’t really marriage friendly.-

::::::::::::::::::::::

Taylor: *Tayler agreed* No, it's really not. Then offered some advice* You better slow down on those shots, or I'll be putting you in the back of cab.

::::::::::::::::::::

Ian: Hey, I’m just trying to keep up with you.

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Taylor: *Grinning, he patted Ian;'s back lightly but in a manly way* Okay. you want to try to keep up with me?

:::::::::::::::::::

Ian: Hell yeah! Winchesters are supposed to badasses right? -laughs buzzed.-

::::::::::::::::::::::::

Taylor: *Tayler laughed a little* Yeah, they are. Ian's musk hit Tayler, and he shifted into predator mode as he ordered another round of shots not caring if Ian was Dean's kid anymore. That didn't matter, he was just another man to prey upon*

::::::::::::::::::::

Ian: -Drinking up Ian was having a good time with his Dad’s friend and it had been awhile since he let loose. Sitting on the barstool he swayed the whole place was moving.-

::::::::::::::::::::

Taylor: *Tayler noticed the sway in Iian knowing it wouldn't be long before he was hauling him off to his place Grinning, He ordered another round, their last before he took Ian to his bed and plowed him. And Tayler hope he fight back. One could get away with it behind closed doors given a little preperation. And Tayler had done just that* Having a god time kid?

::::::::::::::::::::::

Ian: Yeah, yeah. -Nods fading in and out. He laid his head on the bar top to help the spinning and because the alcohol was making him sleepy as hell.-

:::::::::::::::::::::::

Taylor: *The bartender was too busy or just didn't give a damn about Ian being overserved alcohol just then. None of the other customers minded either, which s why Tayler came here often to the Broken Spoke. Tayler downed both shots when they came and paid for them as he had been He slid his arm around Ian and said,* Come one, Ian. Time to go. *Starting to lift him* Let's go.

[ah-ga-seven]

Christian Yu x Reader: Let Me Explain - Chapter 6

Chapter 1: These Seoul Streets. | Chapter 2: Uninvited Guests | Chapter 3: Confrontation | Chapter 4: Who Wouldv’e Thought?| Chapter 5: Red Roses

Chapter 6: It’s Party Time

Word count: 5287 (I’m sorry lol)

Series type: Angst.

Warnings: Bad language and mentions of alcohol and consumption of it.

Additional Characters: DPR LIVE (Dabin) and mentions of other artists/fictional characters.

A/N: Thank you everyone for supporting the series the way you have, sadly all good things come to an end, this is part one to the finale. Please keep in mind English is not my first language therefore there might me some spelling/grammar mistakes

You can’t even explain how everything happened so fast. It’s been three days since that night, and it has also been three days since you’ve seen Christian face to face. You keep in contact through texts and calls and see him through late night face time sessions, but both of your schedules were too packed to actually meet up. Especially now that operation fake relationship is up and running.

After Christian attended that meeting at YG he had been so busy, being pushed around like the media puppet they made him to be. Christian explained that they wanted to get the important stuff out of the way first so that the public would keep paying attention to them, which was key for all of this to work. He told you it was temporary. That he’d be really busy for a week or two before things would slowly start to die down. It was exactly what you were afraid of. Every time he’d text you to ask you if you were okay with something you didn’t have a choice but to say yes. You had to. He was being considerate of your feelings throughout the whole thing, but you didn’t even put up a fight. Not even when he expected you to because you felt like you were secretly being watched by Hyung Suk. It made him question why you didn’t care anymore, but he didn’t have much time to think about you because he was kept busy. Christian was only trying to please and help everyone around him at the same time, neglecting his own work and relationships in the end. In some weird way you were relieved he was too busy to be with you. It made it easier to keep your secret. But you missed him. More than you expected to.

You could have predicted this. You could have said no when you had the chance. But now you’re glued stuck to a spot you couldn’t get out of because you were being blackmailed. You partially blamed yourself for this mess, thinking back to that night in the dance studio when you so childishly thought of this deal as a test for Christian’s loyalty to you. Would you have done differently if you could have? Absolutely. Can you now? Absolutely not. Not with all of these consequences. You weren’t only responsible for your own life if this video got out because of you, but also the lives of Christian, Dabin, Cream and the rest of the people affiliated with DPR. There was too much damage to be done with the truth. Damage that couldn’t be mended.

You nearly broke your brain overthinking the past couple of days and nights. You contemplated on whether to tell Christian or not, but you know you can’t. Not until you figure out a solution.

You had been coping with your emotions by shutting them out. Living on automatic pilot. It’s like you slowly tricked your mind not to care anymore, even though you do. More than anything.

You manage to smile at the Starbucks employee who handed you your two Americano’s. Saying a quick thank you. You hastily run to your car through the rain and put the coffees on the passengers’ seat. You drive to Dabin’s apartment. You hadn’t seen him since that night either. He texted you last night If you could come over at around 3 in the afternoon to listen to some of his new music. He loved to hear your opinions on his stuff because he knew you get to listen to new releases before most people, since you choreograph songs for many idols and solo artists. It unexpectedly made you an expert on new trends in kpop/khiphop.

You arrive at around 1:15 in the afternoon, you knew you were early. A little too early. But you were bored and way too happy to find some distraction with a good friend.

You ring his doorbell first, waiting for a good 30 seconds before you decide to bust out his spare key. He does it to you all the time, so you figure you could too. Maybe he isn’t home? Hence the 3 o clock time stamp you figured.

You clumsily enter, trying not to drop the coffee.

“Dabin?” you yell out kicking off your sneakers before you walk into his living room. No response.

You frown putting the coffees on his kitchen counter when you hear a door open. You turn around to see a half naked Dabin standing before his bedroom door, softly closing it behind him. You raise your eyebrows at him.

“Where’s your shirt? It’s 1 in the afternoon” you ask looking him up and down.

“Why…. are you here?” he asks wide eyed in a hushed tone.

“Uhm, you asked me to come?” you say crossing your arms.

“Yeah at three y/n. At three” he repeats, still talking in a hushed tone.

“Why does it matter, you’re always up at 10.” You say rolling your eyes. “And why are you whispering. Is Lori sleeping? Is Christian making you dog-sit again because he’s too busy?” you ask taking a sip of your coffee.

Dabin doesn’t say anything, he just stands there guarding the door to his bedroom when suddenly it clicked.

“Oh my god…Are you? Did you? Is someone here?” you stammer.

He closed his eyes nodding. He’s embarrassed, how cute.

Your eyes lit up, giving him a devilish smile “Can I meet her” you say enthusiastically.

“What!? Are you crazy!?” he says in that hushed tone again, frantically looking around for his shirt.

When you look around with him you see a trace of both male and female clothes paraded on the floor.

You snort trying to hold in your laughter when you see Dabin trying to collect both his clothes, and the clothes of the still unknown female.

“Is she still asleep?” you ask walking towards the couch to sit down.

He nods still trying to find something.

You adjust yourself on the couch, feeling something poke you, your hand searched for the culprit, pulling it out from under you. A bra.

“Were you looking for this?” you ask swinging it around in the air.

Dabin looks at you with his embarrassed/angry look and nearly jumps you trying to get the bra from your hand.

“Y/n I swear to god” he says pretending to slap your cheek. You just chuckle at him. Enjoying the fact that you got to tease him.

It has been too long since playful you took a step outside. You knew that coming here would result in a fun time, but you didn’t imagine it to be this type of fun.

“Who’s the lucky lady?” you ask taking another sip, crossing your legs making yourself more comfortable.

He sighs. “Remember Kang In Ah?”

“Kang In Ah, you had a crush on since middle school Kang In Ah?” you ask surprised.

“Yeah, I’ve been…seeing her” he says avoiding eye contact.

“Is that why you always leave early or bail on Christian and I lately?” you ask cocking your head to the side.

He just nods at you, combing his fingers through his hair.

You smile, genuinely happy for him. If anyone deserved to be in a loving relationship it was Dabin. You were especially happy because it was In Ah he was seeing, you always hit it off very well with her.

“Why didn’t you tell us? We could have hung out together.” You ask a little offended.

“I didn’t want to introduce her officially until things got serious, besides when do you or Christian have time anymore.”

Your smile drops hearing his name, and it didn’t go unnoticed. So much for your fun distraction.

You try to steer the conversation back into the casual direction. ‘Well…looking at the clothes on the floor I’d say things got pretty serious.” You say with a faint smile on your face, trying to conceal your true feelings once again.

“When is the last time you’ve seen him” Dabin asked sitting down next to you, you should have known those things don’t work on him. He knows you like the back of his hand.

You don’t respond biting your lip, looking to the floor.

He sighs. “You miss him, don’t you?” he asks fixing a piece of hair that was in front of your face.

You just nod, looking at Dabin. He gave you a warm smile, softy rubbing your back.

“Things will go back to normal in no time, you waited 2 years to actually be with him because both of you were too afraid to admit your feelings. Two more weeks won’t kill you right?” he says trying to make you feel better.

Oh Dabin. You know he means well.

“I guess.” You reply not knowing what else to say.

“At least you’ll see him tonight.” He says leaning back. “Maybe not in the way you want to but at least you’ll see him.”

Right. You almost forgot.  The first public appearance of the YuYu couple was tonight. Their couple name made you want to throw up, without exaggeration. Since everyone of DPR was going to be at the AOMG party tonight, so did you. It didn’t only mean you had to see Christian pretend to be in love with someone else, but it also meant that the chances of running into Hyung Suk quadrupled. You closed your eyes. You weren’t mentally ready for this.

“Hey” Dabin says squeezing your thigh. You look up to meet his eyes. “You don’t have to go If you don’t want to.”

Suddenly your mind flashes back to the letter Hyung Suk sent you.

If you, in any way or form talk Christian out of our little deal or form any type of threat, I will release the video online with a time stamp. Showing his disloyalty to Yura. Turning him into the bad guy. What a story that would be righ?

“No I have to go…It’d look to weird If I didn’t go. Especially since there will be a lot of people there who personally know Ian and me. Everyone thought something was going on between us, so if I’m not there I feel like I’ll make that more obvious” you say playing with your fingers.

Dabin pursed his lips together. “That’s damn smart of you to think off, but also very inconsiderate of your own feelings.”

“It’s not about me right now.” You say resting your face against your palm.

“Right, It’s about Yu-ra” Dabin says articulating Yura’s name extra strong, making you look up at him. He was mocking her.

“I still think her sudden change of heart is a little strange don’t you?” Dabin says looking at you, trying to read your facial expression.

“Well, I don’t know. I guess her whole story kind off makes sense?” you say not knowing where this is coming from.

“To me it kind off doesn’t.” he says.

“What do you mean?” you ask out of curiosity.

What is Dabin’s point of view to this exactly?

“I mean, even though things in her life are very unfortunate, she always manages to get what she wants.” He says shrugging.

You think about it for a second. She did admit she liked Christian.

Yura was being really nice to you. Maybe a little too nice? Would she have been nice to you if there was another way to solve her problems?

You shake the thoughts out of your head. You had enough to deal with as is.

“I don’t know Dabin. I really don’t. All I know is that Christian really wanted to help her out. He was the first one to notice that she was a descent human being.”

Dabin bites the inside of his cheek. “Whatever. I just hope it’ll be over soon so we can all get back to our regular grind. Christian has been so caught up in this whole fairy tale that he forgot to edit my latest video.”

You frown. “That’s so unlike him”

“Yeah, it’s also so unlike you to let this happen, but the day I figure out what’s going on in the both of your heads is the day world peace is declared I guess.”

You roll your eyes at Dabin. Getting up.

“Let’s do the whole music thing next time. I don’t think I could have picked worse timing.”

He jumps up smiling widely. “Finally! Something we agree on.” He says grabbing you by your shoulders, walking behind you to lead you to his front door.

He was desperately trying to get you out off here before Kang In Ah woke up.

“So, I’ll pick you up at 11.15 tonight”

“Eh okay” you agree as you were being rushed out of his apartment, quickly putting your shoes on.

He opened the door for you giving you a quick kiss on the cheek.

“Thanks for the coffee y/n, see you tonight!” he says giving you one of his boyish smiles again as you step out of his house.

“…See ya, and next time I want to meet her!” you yell a little louder hoping it’d wake her up as he was already closing the door.

Dabin stuck his face through the little opening, giving you an angry look before closing the door on you.

You chuckle. Shaking your head at him.

You check yourself out in the mirror one last time. Dabin was already downstairs, waiting for you in the car. You take a deep breath. “You’ve got this” you encourage yourself looking at your attire.

You were wearing a black off the shoulder tight fitted midi dress that complimented your figure. You had minimum jewelry on so the attention would be drawn to your glammed up make-up. You put on your heels and grab your jacket just in case the weather would turn on you.

You rush down the stairs knowing Dabin was waiting for you. As you open the door to the passengers seat you were greeted by a whistle.

“Daaaaaamn girl, where you going?” Dabin says smiling, looking at you.

He knew how anxious you were about tonight, so he couldn’t help but lighten the mood. You chuckle smacking his arm. “Shut up.”

“Don’t forget I’m right beside you okay? He says starting the car. You nod at his words, feeling somewhat ensured with Dabin’s presence. You really don’t know what you would have done without him.

You talk about this and that, mostly about Dabin’s new music or gossip in the industry. After about 35 minutes you arrive at the club.

You got out of the car, smoothing down your dress leaving your jacket in the car.

“Are you sure you won’t need that tonight?” Dabin asks referring to your jacket putting out his arm for you to loop yours through. You start walking to the club shaking your head. “I’ll be fine.”

Your heart was beating super fast when you entered. Both of you avoided the red carpet, not feeling up to it. Dabin let go of your arm to hold your hand, squeezing it for reassurance. “Smile” he says through his teeth.

You do as he says as the man of the evening approaches.

“Ayee DPR gang wassup!” Jay Park says coming in for a kiss on your cheek and one of those ‘bro hugs’ with Dabin.

“Where’s the man of the hour?” he asks looking at you.

“I guess he’ll be here soon” you answer acting innocent to your best ability.

“He’s all up in online news lately though, did you guys know?” Jay asks leaning on a pillar looking into your eyes.

Dabin chuckled. “Of course we did. He’s family” he answers putting his hand over your shoulder.

Jay’s attention diverted to Dabin, giving him a nod. “Is he bringing her?” he asked.

Jay isn’t stupid. He was asking all of the important questions because he knew something was iffy about the situation. Jay had always seen you as Christian’s girl.

“Yes” you reply. “He told me he would.” You try to keep your facial expressions neutral. If you seemed just the slightest bit nervous or put off, you know the questions wouldn’t stop.

“Well I’ll anticipate their grand entrance. So many reporters are lined up outside because they found out they were both on the list. It’s crazy.” Jay says sniffing. “The rest of your crew is on the left side of the VIP area. I’ll let the staff bring some bottles to your table” he smiles winking at you.

Dabin was the first one to thank Jay with another one of their bro hugs. You do the same, giving him a quick hug, walking towards your table. The club wasn’t that packed yet, but a lot of eyes turned to the both of you when you walked to the VIP area.

“If this is what tonight is going to be like than I don’t know if I can handle it” you say to Dabin sitting down.

“People are nosey as fuck.” Dabin says annoyed. “We just have to act like we don’t know much. Let Christian deal with it. He wanted to do this so badly.” You bite your lip, somewhat agreeing with him.

You’ve never had this many people say Hi to you, trying to make small talk. Of course it was always about Christian and Yura. Your head hurt from all the fake smiles and fake story’s, so you decided to order something a little stronger than your usual virgin cocktail. The alcohol loosened you up a bit, so you started talking to people how you normally would, trying to forget the problem at hand.

It was now half past twelve. The YuYu couple still hadn’t arrived and it was making you more and more anxious as time went by.

Dabin was chatting it up with some Show Me The Money 6 contestants while you were seated beside a few female artists from AOMG and Club Eskimo who were gossiping away with each other. You didn’t really pay attention to what they were saying, too consumed with your own thoughts to actually hear what was going on. Suddenly all of their heads turned to the entrance of the club. People were talking louder and pictures were being taken. You just knew that had to be them.

You close your eyes for a second. Mentally preparing yourself for what you were about to see.

You look at them as they entered. Yura was smiling from ear to ear. Happily showing off her arm candy. She was dressed to impress, that was for sure. Christian’s facial expression was neutral. He looked good, maybe a little too good. He led her through the entrance. greeting Jay. You watched them as they said their hello’s. Your heart was beating like crazy, your eyes searching for Hyung Suk but he wasn’t there. You guess the universe seemed to be on your side just a little bit tonight.

Jay pointed to your table, probably telling him that the rest of us were seated over here and that’s when you made eye contact with Christian. He looked at you, and kept staring. Your heart dropped and you immediately look away, getting up.

“Excuse me girls, I have to pee” you smile at them as they let you through.

You struggle walking through the crowd as everyone’s attention was fixated on Ian and Yura. The alcohol in your blood didn’t make it any easier for you either.

You almost trip at least twice before you make it to the ladies’ room.

You open the door, happy to see it empty. You stare at yourself in the mirror suppressing the urge to cry and run away.

All of this has become too much. You close your eyes, only seeing the way Christian looked at you once you locked eyes. It’s like he forgot you were going to be there. He hadn’t even texted or called today either.

He’s slowly slipping away from you, and there’s nothing you can do about it.

Without your knowledge a tear escapes from your eye. As you feel it go down your cheek you look up. Immediately wiping it away, trying not to ruin your make-up.

“It’s fine. You’re okay” you encourage yourself taking a deep shaky breath. “Let’s just find some distraction”

Dabin had been looking for you for the past half hour. He knew he couldn’t ask people if they had seen you. It’d be too obvious because you went messing the second Christian and Yura walked in.

After his second round through the club, Dabin decided to tell Ian.

“Bro.” Dabin says coming up closer to him. He paused when he saw that Yura was listening as well.

“Have you seen y/n? I locked eyes with her when I came in but when I looked back she disappeared.” Christian says worried.

“I was just about to tell you that I can’t find her either.” Dabin says frowning. “She won’t answer her phone when I call.”

Yura stayed quiet until Christian was about get up to leave and look for you. She grabbed his arm, pulling him back down on the seat again. He gave her a confused look and so did Dabin “Don’t you think it would look a little weird if you would leave me alone to look for someone else?” she says giving him a sheepish smile.

Dabin squinted his eyes at her. Of course she’d say that.

“This is y/n we’re talking about.” Dabin says. “You know, his actual girlfriend.” He gave her a blank look.

Yura’s eyes widened. “Don’t speak so loud!” she says shocked. Dabin saw the annoyance in her eyes, but Christian was a blind man when it comes to things like that.

Christian frowned at the both of them, not knowing what to do or say. “Let me call her.” He says.

Yura rolled her eyes while Dabin sat down beside him, putting his arm over Christian’s shoulder while leaning in so he could hear the phone.

                                            - your pov –

Your phone lit up “Christian?” you read out loud.

You lean your cheek on your palm contemplating on whether or not to answer the phone, but your alcohol controlled brain already pressed the ‘accept call’ icon.

“Y/n?” you hear his voice. It was muffled by the sound of the loud ass music on the background. But you could recognize his voice through anything.

“Y/n where are you?” he asked impatiently as you didn’t reply.

“At the club” you slur your words. Your elbow slipped off of the bar, losing the support you were giving your heavy head. You lose balance for a second but regain your composure, giggling at your own clumsiness.

“Are you drunk?” you hear his voice again.

“What? She never drinks” you hear Dabin this time.

“Dabinnie!” you say excited to hear his voice.

You hear rumbling on the other end of the line and raise your eyebrows.

“Y/n” you hear Dabin this time. “Where are you?”

“in the club” you answer again, a little annoyed this time. Why can’t they just leave you alone? For the first time in the past couple of days you feel fine.

“I get that you’re in the club, but where.” He says like an angry father.

You look around, inspecting your surroundings. “It’s like…open air? Jesus It’s cold up here.” You answer slurring your words again.

“She’s on the rooftop bar” you hear Dabin say to Christian.

“y/n don’t move; do you understand.” Dabin says in a stern tone.

You nod as if he’d be able to see it. “Aye-aye captain.” You giggle.

You hang up the phone, resting your head on your palm again.

                                                   - meanwhile –

Christian wanted to come with him but he told him no. Yura was constantly breathing down his neck and he didn’t know what your drunken state would do if you saw either of them. Dabin promised to call Christian once you were safe and out of the public’s eye.

Dabin rushed back to his car to grab your jacket before he went to get you. He opened the door to his passengers’ seat, lifting your jacket from the chair when suddenly a red card fell out of one of your pockets. He frowned, not thinking much of it as he quickly put it into his pocket, running back to the club to come and get you.

He ran up the stairs, seeing you chatting with the bartender. Dabin sighed walking up to you, putting your jacket over your shoulders. “Let’s go” he says removing your shot glass from your hand, returning the new bottle of Soju to the bartender. “She’s had enough” he says putting a 50,000 won bill on the table to pay for whatever you had consumed. The bartender nodded taking the money, giving him back the change.

“Dabin” you ask staring into his eyes. “Did they leave?” you ask trying to get up.

Dabin quickly got a hold of your upper arm, making sure you were stable enough to stand. Which you weren’t.

“No y/n they didn’t leave. You did.” he says trying to make you understand. He had never seen you like this before. It saddened him.

“Shit! Do you think people noticed?” you ask worried.

He just shook his head “No, y/n.” he answers. He only gave you short answers. He’ll talk to like an adult you when you’re sober.

“Come on.” He says linking arms with you to support you. You carefully walk down the stairs avoiding crowded places or people you may know. The both of you finally arrive at the hallway where back exit of the club was located.  You see Christian standing there. Waiting for you.

You squint your eyes, trying to make sure if it was really him.

“Babe are you okay? Why did you drink so much?” he asks putting you down on a random stool in the hallway, kneeling down in front of you.

“Who babe? Me babe?” you ask pointing at yourself with a fake confused expression on your face.

“Don’t be like this.” He says looking into your eyes.

“Where’s Yura?” you ask him, fixing a piece of his hair for him.

“Y/n come on.” Christian says a little tired of your childishness.

Dabin crosses his arms, waiting for things to kick off between the two of you.

“What? Don’t you think I have the right to feel this way?” you say stumbling over your own words a few times.

“No. You don’t. I have asked you a hundred times if you were okay with this, and you kept saying yes. You didn’t even care! And now you do?” he says angrily.

“I don’t have a fucking choice Ian!” you yell at him this time.

“Yes you did! What are you talking about!?” Christian says getting up.

“Guys calm down. If people hear us we’re in trouble.” Dabin says putting his hand on Christian’s shoulder. “Don’t take anything she says too serious right now okay. I’ll take her to my place and let her sleep it off.”

“I want to go to my own house” You say giving Dabin a look.

“You don’t get to want anything right now.” Dabin angrily says looking at you.

It was like they were both ganging up on you. Where Dabin was usually on your side with things like this, this time he was on Ian’s. You can’t really blame him though. Even you knew you were being unfair. You cross your arms and legs. Annoyed at the both of them.

Christian sighs after having calmed down a bit by Dabin’s words. He looks at you a little saddened.

“Just…sleep it off okay, we’ll talk tomorrow about all of this.” Christian says kneeling down in front of you again, putting his hand on your thigh, trying to comfort you.

You look at him. “I can’t talk to you about this” you say looking away again as if he was supposed to understand.

“What do you mean?” Christian asks a little hurt.

“I just can’t. I’m not allowed.” You say out loud, and immediately regret it. You curse at yourself and the alcohol for making you slip up.

Christian and Dabin both looked at each other, unable to understand what you were saying.

“I think it’s time to go.” Dabin says, helping you stand up.

“I have to stay here.” Christian says. “I’ll be at your place first thing in the morning.”

Dabin nods at Christian. “Thanks man” Christian says giving Dabin a hug.

You look at them, but when Christian looked at you, you look away.

He walked towards you, making you look at him with his thumb and index finger on your chin. “Try to sleep alright?” he says trying to get you to look into his eyes, but you wouldn’t.

He sighs, pulling you closer to him to kiss your forehead.

You look at him as he did, and look away again, not saying anything.

Dabin took you by the arm. “Let’s go.” he says pulling you away from Christian who was also reluctant to go back to Yura. He just stood there, watching you until you were out of sight. He sighed to himself. He walked back to his table to see Yura on her phone.

“I was just about to call you, how is y/n? What happened?” she asked worried.

Christian sat down beside her putting his arm over Yura’s shoulder. “Let’s not talk about it okay?”

Yura smiled at Christian, nodding at him.

The ride to Dabin’s home was silent. You fell asleep after 15 minutes of staring out the window, giving in to your heavy eyelids.

You made a fool out of yourself tonight, you knew you’d deeply regret your behavior tomorrow when you woke up. There’s a reason why you don’t drink.

Dabin carried your sleeping state into the house. He put you down on his bed, taking off your shoes and your earrings, putting the covers over you. He sighed looking at you. “You know better than this y/n” he says shaking his head.

He walked back to his living room, ready to get comfortable on the couch to go to sleep. He took his phone and money out of his pockets to put it on his coffee table when he suddenly feels that odd red piece of paper in his hands again.

He remembered how it fell from your jacket and put it back on the coffee table.

You woke up with a pounding head and a dry mouth. You groan at the throbbing pain in your head and turn over to lay on your stomach.

You open your eyes, looking at your surroundings. Why are you in Dabin’s bed? You look around again. You don’t see him.

You remove the covers off of yourself, seeing how you were still dressed in your dress from last night. Something clicked seeing your attire and suddenly all of your lost memories came rushing back.

You panic a little, not knowing if you did anything else that would get you in trouble.

You curse at yourself rubbing your forehead.

You walk out of Dabin’s room, into his light filled living room.

You squint your eyes at the attack of sunlight and walk to his kitchen for a glass of water.

“y/n?” you hear Dabin’s voice. You turn around slowly, feeling like you were about to get scolded like a child.

“What the fuck is this!?” he angrily says, throwing a red card down on his kitchen counter.

You stare at it. Unable to take your eyes off of it. You only needed a fraction of a second to understand what it was.

You close your eyes. Fuck.

Chapter 7 

[cherri-ice]

All the numbers

fuck you 

1. Who was the last person you held hands with?

uH MY CLOSE FRIEND LMAO? 2. Are you outgoing or shy?

lowkey both?? im more shy but if i know the person im incredibly outgoing 3. Who are you looking forward to seeing?

MY LOWKEY GF4. Are you easy to get along with?

oft no 5. If you were drunk would the person you like take care of you?

YEP6. What kind of people are you attracted to?

ppl who are kind !! also ppl who could either break me or love me 7. Do you think you’ll be in a relationship two months from now?

,, hopefully8. Who from the opposite gender is on your mind?

,,, can i say keaton henson bc his music makes me sob9. Does talking about sex make you uncomfortable?

no but depending w who lmao :””^10. Who was the last person you had a deep conversation with?

mm i think my friend from school abt shitty people ngl 11. What does the most recent text that you sent say?

”do you think it’d be a good idea for me to run and get tea right now”12. What are your 5 favorite songs right now?

ok jeez

1. cherry bomb - the runaways (wow, original)

2. all of sevdalizas songs ever

3. blood // water - grandson

4. charger - gorillaz

5. pools - glass animals

13. Do you like it when people play with your hair?

YESYEYSYESYEYSYES. fuck yes.14. Do you believe in luck and miracles?

mhm!!15. What good thing happened this summer?

err i mean, if u count summer as past summer then convincing my dang dad that i dont wanna stay at my shitty school lmao?? 16. Would you kiss the last person you kissed again?

depends on what kind of kiss !! but ye!!17. Do you think there is life on other planets?

pfft, absolutely 18. Do you still talk to your first crush?

,,, i dont think so tbh19. Do you like bubble baths?

HELL YE I DO20. Do you like your neighbors?

ngl i dont rly talk to them but they seem Nice21. What are your bad habits?

if i dont know someone all too well i tend to joke around w them?? idk its weird but i kinda get annoyed easy as well,, altho another bad habit is my flaky ass backing out of events sometimes22. Where would you like to travel?

i’d love to ,,, travel to scotland or france23. Do you have trust issues?

oh boy i do24. Favorite part of your daily routine?

going the hell to sleep again and wrapping myself up25. What part of your body are you most uncomfortable with?

every part w scars lmao26. What do you do when you wake up?

take my dang meds27. Do you wish your skin was lighter or darker?

,, idk?? i like my skin tbh but it could clear tf up28. Who are you most comfortable around?

my sister29. Have any of your ex’s told you they regret breaking up?

nope :””^ 30. Do you ever want to get married?

yes!!31. Is your hair long enough for a pony tail?

ye lmao32. Which celebrities would you have a threesome with?

,,, IM 16 LETS NOT GO HERE33. Spell your name with your chin.

aki34. Do you play sports? What sports?

i work out but i dont play sport lmao35. Would you rather live without TV or music?

without tv, music is my lifeblood36. Have you ever liked someone and never told them?

almost always37. What do you say during awkward silences?

i try to joke abt smth usually38. Describe your dream girl/guy?

someone who cares for me smh39. What are your favorite stores to shop in?

T2, I LOVE TEA,,, 40. What do you want to do after high school?

university or nap 41. Do you believe everyone deserves a second chance?

yes!! unless they’re super shitty42. If your being extremely quiet what does it mean?

i’m nervous, anxious or overthinking43. Do you smile at strangers?

i try to ??44. Trip to outer space or bottom of the ocean?

oo fuck outer space ty45. What makes you get out of bed in the morning?

,, honestly talking to lovely ppl46. What are you paranoid about?

people abandoning me or being completely alone and shut in and just,, closed away from the world47. Have you ever been high?

tba48. Have you ever been drunk?

not rly lmao i have a high tolerance 49. Have you done anything recently that you hope nobody finds out about?

,, UM,,, lowkey yes50. What was the colour of the last hoodie you wore?

olive51. Ever wished you were someone else?

before, yes. now? nah, i’m pretty good 52. One thing you wish you could change about yourself?

highkey wish i was less anxious 24/7

53. Favourite makeup brand?

NARS. nars. or kat von d altho i hate what she stands for

54. Favourite store?

T255. Favourite blog?

,, idk? 56. Favourite colour?

blue / green!!57. Favourite food? 

creme brulee58. Last thing you ate?

a rly good double cheese burger59. First thing you ate this morning?

croissant60. Ever won a competition? For what?

knowledge of novels for school!! or art wise, i’ve won a few comps inside our school61. Been suspended/expelled? For what?

nope62. Been arrested? For what?

nada63. Ever been in love? 

smh i fall in love,, way to easily64. Tell us the story of your first kiss?

,, jeez i hate the person who it was with, but it was underneath the harbour bridge after chocolate strawberries and a picnic,, she asked if she could kiss me and i said yes65. Are you hungry right now?

jfc not rly im super content tbh66. Do you like your tumblr friends more than your real friends?

no @official-akko is a binch (im kidding i love u)67. Facebook or Twitter?

fb68. Twitter or Tumblr?

tumblr69. Are you watching tv right now?

nope but i was watching law and order svu 70. Names of your bestfriends? 

beauty, my cat71. Craving something? What?

cuddling someone and gently lying my head on their chest 72. What colour are your towels?

white!!72. How many pillows do you sleep with?

3 binch73. Do you sleep with stuffed animals?

yes!!74. How many stuffed animals do you think you have?

on my bed is 2, but i think at least 5+ around 75. Favourite animal?

i love,, cats,,,, so fucking much 76. What colour is your underwear?

wouldn’t u like to know77. Chocolate or Vanilla?

vanilla78. Favourite ice cream flavour?

mm cookies and cream?79. What colour shirt are you wearing?

dark bluuee80. What colour pants?

grey81. Favourite tv show?

right now its between brooklyn 99 and stranger things82. Favourite movie?

i will never stop loving mulan or the princess diaries 83. Mean Girls or Mean Girls 2?

mean girls 84. Mean Girls or 21 Jump Street?

mean girls i guess 85. Favourite character from Mean Girls?

,, janis ian86. Favourite character from Finding Nemo?

uh the turtle smh87. First person you talked to today?

ash!! 88. Last person you talked to today?

rn, its niko89. Name a person you hate?

me90. Name a person you love?

ash91. Is there anyone you want to punch in the face right now?

GOD this one asshole from school i will actually brawl92. In a fight with someone?

not rly?? idk93. How many sweatpants do you have?

at least 494. How many sweaters/hoodies do you have?

5!!95. Last movie you watched?

legally blonde pfft96. Favourite actress?

i lowkey love madelaine petsch97. Favourite actor?

shrugs loudly98. Do you tan a lot?

no im pale af99. Have any pets?

a cat!!100. How are you feeling?

tired, coffee makes me tired101. Do you type fast?

yep!! i can touch-type too so i dont even have to look most of the time as well lmao102. Do you regret anything from your past?

waayyy too fuckin much regret over what ive done to myself 103. Can you spell well?

ye!!104. Do you miss anyone from your past?

,, my grandma :105. Ever been to a bonfire party?

nope lmao106. Ever broken someone’s heart?

,, i think i have,,, 107. Have you ever been on a horse?

yes!! i go horseriding at least four times during the year108. What should you be doing?

sleeping probably109. Is something irritating you right now?

i have a fuckin itch on my leG110. Have you ever liked someone so much it hurt?

yep,, oh boy 111. Do you have trust issues?

i already answered this lmao112. Who was the last person you cried in front of?

,, my sister because i wanted her to comfort m e shes v sweet113. What was your childhood nickname?

”leash”114. Have you ever been out of your province/state?

yes!!115. Do you play the Wii?

sometimes116. Are you listening to music right now?

i am, its glass animals :””^117. Do you like chicken noodle soup?

yes!!118. Do you like Chinese food?

eh, iffy but i dont mind it!119. Favourite book?

THE NAME OF THE WIND BY PATRICK ROTHFUSS120. Are you afraid of the dark?

only a lil121. Are you mean?

,, i think i am sometimes122. Is cheating ever okay?

never ever ever ever is it okay.123. Can you keep white shoes clean?

yes! if not i fuckin clean em wth124. Do you believe in love at first sight?

not rly? i think love is something you have to grow and share together, kind of like a garden plant? works gotta go into it for it to blossom 125. Do you believe in true love?

i believe in it!126. Are you currently bored?

,, yea lmao127. What makes you happy?

memes, reading and tea ngl128. Would you change your name?

birthname? ye, probably lmao129. What your zodiac sign?

cancer! im an emotional fucking crab130. Do you like subway?

ye!131. Your bestfriend of the opposite sex likes you, what do you do?

remind them im a lesbian132. Who’s the last person you had a deep conversation with?

binnch this is a past question133. Favourite lyrics right now?

”Our skinIn time would tellCan I hold on to our genesIn my lifeI could not failWhen I run out will you leave?”

134. Can you count to one million?

i can but i’d loose track i have attention issues pfft135. Dumbest lie you ever told?

”i was late because my cat threw up one on of my school uniforms and i had to change”136. Do you sleep with your doors open or closed?

closed, idk who can trust anyone that much to keep them open137. How tall are you?

5′7!138. Curly or Straight hair?

i have wavy hair if this is asking m e139. Brunette or Blonde?

blonde140. Summer or Winter?

winter141. Night or Day?

night142. Favourite month?

july bc its cold and my birth month143. Are you a vegetarian?

nooppe144. Dark, milk or white chocolate?

milk chocolate!145. Tea or Coffee?

tea146. Was today a good day?

meh, highs and lows 147. Mars or Snickers?

mars148. What’s your favourite quote?

either:a. “And what we learn about ourselves in those moments, where the trigger has been squeezed, is this: the past is not dead. There are things that wait for us, patiently, in the dark corridors of our lives. We think we have moved on, put them out of mind, left them to desiccate and shrivel and blow away; but we are wrong. They have been waiting there in the darkness, working out, practicing their most vicious blows, their sharp hard thoughtless punches into the gut, killing time until we came back that way.” from Trigger Warning (Short fictions and disturbances), neil gaiman

or

b. “Perhaps the greatest faculty our minds possess is the ability to cope with pain. Classic thinking teaches us of the four doors of the mind, which everyone moves through according to their need.First is the door of sleep. Sleep offers us a retreat from the world and all its pain. Sleep marks passing time, giving us distance from the things that have hurt us. When a person is wounded they will often fall unconscious. Similarly, someone who hears traumatic news will often swoon or faint. This is the mind's way of protecting itself from pain by stepping through the first door.Second is the door of forgetting. Some wounds are too deep to heal, or too deep to heal quickly. In addition, many memories are simply painful, and there is no healing to be done. The saying 'time heals all wounds' is false. Time heals most wounds. The rest are hidden behind this door.Third is the door of madness. There are times when the mind is dealt such a blow it hides itself in insanity. While this may not seem beneficial, it is. There are times when reality is nothing but pain, and to escape that pain the mind must leave reality behind. Last is the door of death. The final resort. Nothing can hurt us after we are dead, or so we have been told.” - The name of the wind, patrick rothfuss

149. Do you believe in ghosts?

yes!! i believe that ghosts exist lmao, or at least guiding spirits 150. Get the closest book next to you, open it to page 42, what’s the first line on that page?

“… but he left his doubts unspoken. Some old wounds never truly heal, and bleed again at the slightest word.” - Game of thrones lmao

[ninjazaku]

Windows to the Soul (Chapter 1)

A My Hero Academia OC Fanfiction

A melancholy layer of gray clouds loomed in the sky of Denver, Colorado. The city bristled with commerce and business as the afternoon rolled onward, the chill of the January air doing little more than giving people further reason to hurry about their business. In the northwest of the capitol city of the Centennial State was the suburb of Atlas; a relatively new community which was built between the second and third generation of Quirk users.  In a time before Quirks took over as the dominant population, Atlas was meant to serve as a community for families composed either entirely of, or predominantly of, Quirked people.

Nestled within this community was Aeternus High School. Once serving as a school for Quirked people only, the marble building’s cold surface and Pantheon-esque architecture reminded many of the days of civil unrest before Quirked humans had rights in the United States. A shrill bell pierced the frigid air and a swarm of teenagers dashed hurriedly into the world.

Among the stragglers that exited the building later that afternoon was two Freshman: Ian Allistair, bundled in several layers of insulated clothing, a large canvas satchel containing all his belongings slung over his shoulder. He towed behind him a translucent golden wagon (a construct of solid light, created by Ian’s Quirk: “Lightsmith”).

Inside the wagon was his best friend and godsister, Gabrielle De La Luna. Ian’s sister was nestled into the wagon with not a care in the world. Like Ian she was wrapped in several layers of warm clothing, with a large pair of striped cat ears poking out of holes cut into the top of her beanie, contrasted by her bright blue bangs that hung low on her forehead.

“Remind me again why I have to tow you home in a wagon, Gabbie?” Ian grumbled as he began their uphill walk home.

“Because I’m the big sister and you have to listen to what I say.” Gabbie replied with snark “And today I say that I’m too cold and too tired to walk. So, you get to pull me all the way home in one of your wonderfully warm creations.”

“You can turn into a cat! With fur!”

“Yes, but that requires effort. All I had to do to get you to do this was give you my best pout and say please.”

“I hate you, Gabbie.”

“I love you, too.”

  The two Quirked teens shook off the cold air as they entered the warmth of their home a few blocks away, in the heart of the Atlas suburb. As the two made their way through their home, discarding layers of coats, they found a customary note from Ian’s parents on the countertop in their kitchen noting when their family would be home from work. The two took a few minutes to raid their cabinets, with Cabbie making herself a bowl of a sugary chocolate cereal and Ian making himself a rather large sandwich containing a variety of meats, cheeses, etc.

The two rummaged through their bags and after roughly an hour of discussing Algebra, History, and other subjects, the two pulled out a single piece of paper from their respective bags; a permission slip for a fieldtrip to Japan so that the members of the Future Heroes of Colorado Club could participate in the UA entrance exam.

“Do you think we’re ready for this, Gabs?” Ian asked, his voice almost a whisper

Gabbie’s ears twitched atop her head as she heard her childhood nickname. She swallowed her mouthful of food as she began to speak.

“We’ve been raising money since last May. We’ve been preparing our Quirks since we were ten. I think we’ll be fine, Ian.”

“I know, I know. I’m just nervous. It’s UA, you know? All Might could be watching the exam for all we know.” Ian stuttered, fidgeting with a Rubik’s cube he pulled out of his bag.

“So, we’ll just have to knock his socks off too.” Gabbie retorted through another mouthful of cereal.

Ian scoffed and chuckled nervously. “I don’t get how you can be so nonchalant about this.”

“Ian.” Gabbie began, setting down her food and walking over to her brother on the other side of the room. “You and I have been dreaming of this for the past five years. As long as we have each other, nothing can stop us from becoming the best heroes the world’s ever seen.”

Ian looked into his sister’s brilliant green eyes, and watched as her sharp-toothed smirk spread across her face. Ian’s own ever-changing eyes shifted from a murky, nervous brown to a radiant blue color as he let out a deep sigh.

“You always know how to calm me down, Gabs.” Ian said with a soft smile.

“That’s what family is for.” Gabbie replied with a toothy grin.

  Later that night Ian’s parents, Kevin and Samantha Allistair sat at the dinner table with their child and godchild and ate dinner. Kevin was a tall, lean man. His hair was blond, fluffed up into what many would call a pompadour, despite his objections. His eyes were a deep forest green color, and on his palms, were two crystal-like growths related to his Quirk. Samantha was slightly shorter than her husband, her platinum hair coming down in wild curls to chin-length. Her eyes were ever-changing in color as her Quirk analyzed the light spectrum around her. As the family’s evening began winding down, the teens seized the opportunity in the quiet.

“So, we got our permission slips for the UA field trip today.” Ian murmured quietly.

Ian’s parents almost choked on their final bites of food, surprised at the sudden shift in the room’s tone.

“Have you guys raised enough funds already?” Samantha asked, coughing softly under her breath with one hand covering her mouth.

“Moms we’ve been raising money for a little under a year. Ian and I have been at every single fundraising weekend. The club has raised something what like, $20,000?”

“$20,562.37” Ian confirmed

“We have enough for the whole club to go. That’s 8 people. Round trip, 7 days. The exam is next month. February 26th.”

Kevin, Ian’s father sighed deeply. “We know. I guess we just…didn’t realize how quickly it’d crept up on us. You guys are growing up so fast.”

“Ew. Don’t get all mushy on us pops.” Gabbie teased, sticking out her tongue as she gathered the family’s dishes and placed them in their dishwasher. Kevin smiled and returned the teasing gesture.

“Have you called your parents, Gabbie?” Samantha asked.

Gabbie stopped in her tracks and stared through the window above it, her gaze blank as she looked out into the stars.

“I wanted to make sure you guys were going to be ok with this first. Didn’t want them fretting too.” Gabbie said nervously.

“Madre and Padre just worry about you Gab.”

“I know.” Gabbie said with a nod, taking a deep breath and whirling around with a nod. “So that begs the question. Are Ian and I going?”

Kevin and Samantha chuckled, ushering the two teenagers to come closer.

“We promised you guys could take the test a long time ago. We’ll sign it so you guys can get things ready with your club. But we should also have a sit down with your parents before the end of the week so that we can have a plan, Gabbie.”

Gabbie nodded and hugged her adoptive family close, Ian also getting wrapped into the group hug. The two soon were ushered off to their respective bedrooms to go to sleep and prepare for the next day.

As Gabbie lay down to sleep looked up at her ceiling and looked at a spot in her wall that had a different pattern than the wall around it. She ran her hand over the spot, feeling the smoothed-out texture of dried spackle and hastily applied paint. She could feel four distinct curves where the spackle had been carefully applied to hide deep gashes. Gashes that had had come from her claws, during one of her transformations when she was younger and less experienced with her Quirk.

Her hand recoiled away from the spot as she remembered Ian’s reaction the morning after her first full transformation; tired, defeated, and worried sick. She remembered their parents catering to her every whim the entire day. She remembered Ian shaking as he recounted the previous night’s events. She remembered her and Ian hugging each other close, and crying until neither of them could cry any more. She remembered the promise that they made to each other. But she also promised herself that she would never make her family worry like that again. That she would make them proud and become strong enough to overcome every hardship.

Across the hall Ian had finished closing all the blinds and locking his door, making sure that his room was sealed from all light sources. He took off his protective glasses and settled into his bed and looked up at the ceiling. He then reached over to a lamp on the nightstand next to his bed and turned it up ever so slightly. He watched as various types of light danced across his field of vision. He reached his hand up into the aurora and watched the infrared waves radiate from his fingers. As his head began to ache, he slowly reached over and turned off the light. He nursed the headache for a moment, rubbing his temples as he contemplated the coming weeks.Ian, like his sister, was thinking of the first time Gabbie used her Quirk to its full extent. He remembered it was also the night he discovered his quirk’s full power as well. Ian remembered hearing painful screaming from the room across the hall and how he ran to check on her, only to find her writing in pain as her bones popped out of place and she shifted into a feline shape.

He remembered a light shield popping up just in time to repel the now-feral creature that was inhabiting his sister’s mind away. He remembered how long it took both Gabbie’s parents and his own to restrain her. And he remembered staying up watching her the hole night and crying with her all day. The promise he made to himself that he would become a hero so that everyone he loved would be safe, always.

As the two went to sleep, though, it was the promise to each other, rather than their own goals, that held firm in their mind. They thought of their younger selves locking their pinkies together and swearing to never give up on each other, and to always love each other no matter what. As they drifted off to sleep they knew that no matter what hardships they would be enduring in the coming weeks, they had each other.

  Several days later, on Thursday, the two rushed out into the frigid air of a snowy day. Ian projected a large umbrella over their heads to shield them from more snow and provide a bit of warmth. They hurried home, their legs burning as they rushed their usually casual walk. As they opened the door, they began wiping the snow from their boots and tossing aside their jackets. The warm glow of Ian’s construct retracted and they suddenly noticed the occupancy of their living room.

Gabbie’s parents, Daniel and Claudia, were visiting. Daniel was a large, physically imposing man with several feline features including whiskers protruding from his face, large yellow eyes, and cat ears. Claudia was a small, curvy woman with hair down past her shoulders. Her eyes were soft and she had a kind smile.

“Mamá! Papá!” Gabbie yelled, running to her parents and embracing them. Ian walked behind her with a smile of his own as the family embraced.

“We missed you so much mija. You’ve grown even more since Christmas. You’re almost as tall as I am now.” Daniel said happily, holding his daughter close.

Gabbie groaned obnoxiously. “Papá! Not in front of Ian! You’ll only encourage him to be more affectionate!”

This prompted Daniel to charge over and pick Ian up in a bear hug, laughing a hearty laugh. “Oh, I haven’t forgot about him! How are you mijo? Keeping out of trouble?”

“You still think I’m the one that’s going to cause trouble, padre?” Ian joked with a soft chuckle

“How many times do I have to tell you, I’m not a priest!” Daniel growled playfully, rubbing his hair

Claudia, meanwhile, cupped her daughter’s face and looked into her eyes. “You look more beautiful every time we see you, Gabriella.”

Gabbie nuzzled her mother’s hand affectionately. “Thank you, mamá. I was fortunate enough to get your good looks.”

“I heard that!” Daniel objected as he continued wrestling with Ian. The two women giggled as Kevin and Samantha stepped out from the Kitchen, beaming at their family.

“Come on everyone” Kevin invited “Let’s sit.”

The adults sat opposite the two teens and set the permission slips on the table.

“So, straight to business?” Gabbie joked as she plopped into a chair, assuming a lounging posture as she tossed a leg up on one of the chairs in their living room.

“We’ve already talked it over, Gabriella” Claudia told her daughter. “We talked about this with Kevin and Samantha a long time ago, and told them that we wanted you to go to UA if you ever got the opportunity.”

Gabbie suddenly tilted her head. “Then what-?”

Kevin stopped his goddaughter. “Let them finish, Gabbie. You listen, too, Ian.”

Daniel fidgeted in his seat. “I know it’s been hard on you, mija. Having to be apart from us for the past few years. You understood and went with it, trusting us. Trusting your godparents, even though you didn’t know them well. And we couldn’t be prouder of the woman you’ve become.”

Daniel turned to his godson. “And we couldn’t be prouder of you, either, Ian. For becoming the brother Gabbie never had, and the son we didn’t know we needed. You’ve supported Gabriella when we couldn’t, when your parents couldn’t.”

Daniel wiped tears from his eyes with the pads on one of his large, fur-covered hands. “You and your parents are family to us and have done more for us than you could ever imagine, Ian. We wanted you to know that.”

“And you’ve done the same for us, Gabbie.” Samantha said, her voice quivering, and her eyes changing to a deep indigo color. “You took us by the hand and pulled us on an adventure we didn’t know we needed to go on. You’re a shining star we will always cherish. And this family knows what shining is all about.”

Ian began to tear up and when he got up to comfort his own godparents, they stopped him.

“That’s not the only reason we wanted to talk.” Claudia stopped Ian.

“Then what?” Ian asked.

The two couples looked at each other and nodded. They took a deep breath as Kevin began to speak.

“The four of us have been saving ever since you were children. We put a lot of money away for the sake of the two of you. It was for this very purpose.”

“We want you to go to UA next month.” Daniel said, firmly “We want you to win your way in. And when you do, there is enough money in the accounts we have put away for us to find a good apartment and stay there until your education is complete.”

“But…papa…how did you?...” Gabbie wondered allowed

“It’s been rough, mija. Sometimes we didn’t have much to put in there. We knew that a child of ours would develop a Quirk that could do great things, but we didn’t have the money to raise you and prepare your future. So that’s how we made this deal with Kevin and Samantha. This has been in the works for years. We should have explained this all a long time ago but---”

Gabbie put up a finger and stopped her father. “I get it. You’re right. You should have explained this, somehow. But I get it. Just…give me a minute.”

Gabbie took a deep breath. Ian took his sister’s hand and Gabbie stared at the floor for a minute or two, dumbstruck.

“Gab. Does this mean we’re gonna be Heroes?” Ian asked after a moment, squeezing his sister’s hand.

“Yeah, bro. Yeah it does!” Gabbie exclaimed, embracing his brother. As laughter erupted throughout the house, the entire family joined in on the group hug.

In the excitement of the moment, the two had failed to notice that the permission slips had been signed from the moment they walked in the door.

All that remained was for them to go to Japan and pass the exam.

[prettylittleliarsxxxx]

CHAPTER 6: LUCY GOOSEY

A few months after I moved to Los Angeles, I woke up to a call from my agent, Steve. I’d been sleeping in a lot at the time, and I’d slept in again that day. I groggily picked up the phone, still half asleep, and tried to decipher what my agent was saying.

It took me a second to realize he was telling me to hurry up and get out of bed: I’d gotten a last-minute callback for a new ABC Family pilot called Pretty Little Liars.

I’d been meeting with casting directors regularly since I’d moved from Pittsburgh. I’d gone out for bit parts in TV, but this was my first pilot, and I had no idea what to expect. There’s a difference between acting and auditioning, and I wasn’t sure I was a strong auditioner. I could talk to casting directors all day about the quirks of classical theater training, but when it came to actually selling my version of a character to them, I was still very new to the game.

Despite my self-doubt, my representation kept pushing to get me in the room with casting directors all over town. They seemed to believe in my acting abilities, or at least in my bone structure. Their enthusiasm helped keep me motivated.

I’d been in to audition for this pilot once already — for the part of Ezra Fitz, a young high school English teacher. It’d gone decently well but hadn’t been anything to write home about. Getting a callback came as a surprise. Steve gave me the breakdown for the Pretty Little Liars callback — he told me that I’d be reading across from Lucy Hale this time, the girl that had been cast as Ezra’s underage love interest.

Before he got off the phone, Steve said, “Ian, not quite sure how to put this, but look nice, okay? Nice shirt, nice pants, wash your face. Don’t mean to sound like your mom, but this one could be good for you.”

Unfortunately, I didn’t have much in the way of “nice” clothes. Student loans were hanging over my head like the sword of Damocles at the time, and buying new clothes seemed like a waste of money. I’d had to buy a suit earlier in the summer for a wedding, and had left all the tags on it so that I could return it after. About the only thing nice I owned was a blue button-down shirt. That morning it had pasta stains all over it from a raucous Italian dinner a few nights earlier, and I’d forgotten to do my laundry.

I rolled out of bed and surveyed my one-room apartment: all my possessions were strewn about within arm’s length. Dangling on a suspicious-looking metal pipe sticking out of the ceiling was a hanger with my only other clothing option: a green V-neck sweater that I’d had since high school.

The sweater was from Hollister, and it had the company’s seagull logo on the tag. I always liked that about it. It was like an inside joke between me and myself. Carrying that little bird everywhere with me always felt comforting, like a good luck charm.

Plus, it was also the only item of clothing I owned that didn’t have holes in it. I wore it everywhere.

I threw myself in the shower, considered shaving but didn’t have time, and tried to dry off as best I could. I didn’t have AC, and on warm days the apartment would heat up like an oven. It was early October, and I should have been enjoying something hot and pumpkin-spiced, but it was sweltering outside.

There wasn’t time to stand in front of the open refrigerator to cool off, which I did on a daily basis. I grabbed my trusty green sweater off the hangar and headed out to Warner Bros. studios in Burbank, where the audition was being held. Of course, my car didn’t have AC either, and I could feel the beads of sweat on my back joining together to form small rivulets. It was as gross as it sounds.

Right before I walked into the casting office, I pulled the green sweater on and prayed that nobody would ask me about my clothing choices.

I walked into the office, which was thankfully cooled to an appropriate temperature for long sleeves.

Then I glanced around the room and started to sweat again. The waiting area was filled with handsome model types. Guys who didn’t own knives because they did all of their slicing and dicing with their razor-sharp jawlines. I recognized a few of them from their stints as sexy werewolves and morally loose ad men from the 1960s. Not only were these actors all phenomenally good-looking, they all had booked serious jobs before.

The only work I had under my belt at the time was a bit part in an indie film and a smoothie commercial I’d done in college.

“Ian Harding?”

A young woman with a clipboard approached and checked off my name.

“You’ll be up in just a second.”

I’d been to this office once before to meet with casting directors right after I moved to Los Angeles, and I knew there was a bathroom down the hall. I had to get away from everyone for just a second, make sure none of the cold pizza I’d had for breakfast on the drive over was stuck in my teeth.

In the bathroom I looked at myself in the mirror and doused my face with water, careful not to let any droplets get on my festive sweater. I started running through my lines in my head.

When I first started auditioning, I’d listened to music — usually fast-paced metal or hip-hop —to psych myself up. But I realized after a few auditions that I was going in and practically screaming my lines. So, I tweaked my routine to be a bit more meditative. It’s been more effective so far than listening to Slipknot.

I closed my eyes, took a few slow and deliberate breaths, and, with my eyes closed, watched as my lines appeared in the dark space behind my eyelids.

The scene I was working on today involved me striking up a conversation with a woman at a bar in the middle of the afternoon. Cut to: we’re making out in the women’s restroom. It would end up being the scene that introduces my character in the first episode of the show.

The first time I read the pilot, I didn’t quite know what to make of Ezra, but I felt like he and I somehow clicked. I felt a warmth about the role, a sort of natural rapport. I didn’t want to go in and fuss with the part for this callback. I knew what I wanted to do with it.

From outside the bathroom I heard a door open and a female voice say something. Then a muffled chorus of heys and hellos from all the guys. I didn’t want to keep casting waiting on me, so I ran a hand through my hair and gave myself a final once-over in the mirror.

Back in the lobby, the guys were all talking quietly. I sat down in an empty chair.

One of the sexy werewolves turned to me:

“You just missed her. Lucy Hale just walked by. The girl they cast as Aria.”

Aria, the girl my character picks up at the bar. The entire room was buzzing about her.

“My friend did a short with her. He said she’s single.”

“Your friend’s wrong, man. She’s dating a guy from my cousin’s acting class.”

“Bullshit.”

“I’m serious!”

“She’s so hot.”

A door opened at the far end of the room, and the casting assistant with the clipboard poked her head around the corner.

“Ian? We’re ready for you.”

The sexy werewolf called after me to break a leg as I walked across the room.

The shades were all pulled down on the windows in the audition room, and it took a second for my eyes to adjust. The only source of light was a bright lamp mounted on a C-stand. There were half a dozen people seated behind a camera on one side of the room.

“Hey man, good to see you again,” a guy called out from behind the camera.

“Yeah you too, bud,” I replied, realizing that “bud” might have sounded a little too chummy.

There were familiar faces in the room, but new ones too. The woman to my left — I was pretty sure she was the writer of the show. Or the creator? Both?

The guy to her right — Bob, was it? He had seemed like a nice guy the last time I read for the part. I figured I would try and keep him laughing, maybe crack a joke about all the lookalikes waiting outside.

Gayle, the casting director, whom I’d met a few days prior, gave me a big smile. “Good to see you again, Ian,” she said. “Have a seat there and go ahead and slate whenever you’re ready.”

I sat down, a hand over my eyes to shade the glare of the light over the camera.

“Hi,” a voice chirped to my side.

I totally hadn’t seen her: right next to me, smiling expectantly, was Lucy Hale.

“Oh hey,” I said. “Didn’t see you there.”

“Hot out, isn’t it?” she teased, eyeing my sweater.

“I just like Christmas a lot,” came out of my mouth. That didn’t entirely make sense.

She grinned mischievously at me.

There was something about her that I recognized immediately, or recognized in her. We’d never met before, but there was something familiar, something comforting about Lucy. Perhaps the way she looked at me in that moment felt open, receptive. Like she was taking me in as opposed to merely appraising me.

It wasn’t cinematic: sparks didn’t fly, orchestral music didn’t well up as we gazed into each other’s eyes. It was a simpler moment. Quieter. Two people stuck in a whirlwind of expectation and excitement — we each somehow understood who the other was.

“I’m Ian, by the way,” I said, leaning forward to shake her hand.

“Lucy,” she said, a slight smile spreading across her face. “Whenever you’re ready,” Gayle said.

I sat, took a deep breath, and we began.

Lucy’s line went something like, “Oh, I love this song.”

I nodded. There wasn’t any music playing, but I nodded. I looked into Lucy’s eyes, and it suddenly dawned on me what the scene was about. It wasn’t a love scene at all. I didn’t need to kiss her, or have sex with her, or make her my wife.

I wanted to understand her. It was that simple. I wanted to know everything I possibly could about this woman.

Somebody coughed. I had a line to say.

“B-twenty-six!” I blurted out. It was the number of the song on the jukebox at the bar we were supposed to be sitting in.

Lucy’s eyes went wide in surprise. She hadn’t expected the line to come out like that — neither had I.

We were both surprised, and because we were both surprised, the moment was suddenly alive. Fresh. We were listening to each other, actually communicating. There was chemistry.

We read through the scene again, the second time the dialogue rolled out crisper than the first. I wanted to read through the scene once more. I was having too much fun.

But all too soon my time was up.

I looked around at the faces in the room. At the end of every audition, there’s a moment, usually no longer than the time it takes to look up from your script, when, for a fraction of a second, you see the next few years of your life align. When you start out as an actor, this is the moment you live for.

Marlene — that was her name! — the creator of the show, thanked me for coming in as she scribbled on the pages on her lap.

“Yup, good job,” Gayle said. I think she was smiling. Headshots were shuffled. Pens scratched paper. “Thank you!” I threw out to no one in particular.

I grabbed my keys and phone, which I had apparently set down on the floor at some point.

I turned back to Lucy.

“Thank you for everything,” I said.

“Oh! You too. Don’t die from heat exhaustion in that sweater,” she said.

I walked back out through the waiting room, waved to the werewolf and told him something like “go get ’em,” and headed for the parking lot. I waited until I got all the way outside before ripping off my sweat-drenched sweater.

On the way home, my phone buzzed. Vikram, my manager, was calling. I pulled over to take the call.

“How’d it go?” he asked.

“I really have no idea.”

“That can be good.”

“Yeah.”

I sat for a moment, mulling over the audition.

“This one was different,” I said.

Vikram waited for me to continue.

I put the phone on speaker and laid it on the dashboard, freeing my hands to gesture what my mouth couldn’t articulate.

“Lucy Hale was in the room. It was a chemistry read, right? I was surprised at how easy it was. It was like hanging out with an old friend. It was weird.”

“Ian, all of that sounds like a good thing.”

“Maybe you’re right,” I conceded.

“No, I am right, because they want you to go in for a network test.”

“You already knew!?” I yelled at the phone.

Vikram chuckled. “I wanted to know your thoughts first!”

Several more rounds of callbacks followed. And every round there were fewer and fewer of us in the waiting room. Lucy and I read together in front of different people in different rooms, and we got to hang out a little bit, too. We were becoming fast friends.

Finally, there were just two of us left trying out for the role of Ezra. Me and one other guy. He was Canadian. The pilot, and possibly the entire show, was going to be shot in Vancouver, so my agents had warned me that he was the financially responsible option for the studio.

On the day of the final producer session, I arrived early. I was sitting in my car in the parking lot, going over my lines with my eyes closed, when I heard a tap on the window. It was Lucy. She grinned and waved. I rolled down my window.

“Schmian!” she yelled. Lucy loves nicknames.

“Hey, Lucy Goosey.”

“How you feeling?” she asked. “Excited?”

“Nervous,” I said. “I’m feeling really, really nervous.”

“I know what you mean. Between you and me, I hope you get it. It’d be really fun to work together.”

We went inside, shook hands with the producers, and I auditioned my heart out one last time.

I was going to miss this. With all of the other actors I’d met in Los Angeles, acting had felt like work. I showed up and I did my job. With Lucy, it felt like two kids in a sandbox. We were constantly surprising one another.

After the audition, I felt a strange hollowness. It was my last audition for the show. There was nothing else I could do now. And I wasn’t ready for this all to end.

I wanted this role.

Back in my neighborhood, I was circling the block looking for a parking space, when my phone started to buzz again. It was Steve, my agent. I put the phone on speaker.

“Hey!” I said.

The voice on the phone was somber.

“Ian, hey,” he said. “This a good time?”

“What’s up?” I said.

“I’ve got bad news . . .”

I stopped the car in the middle of the street. It was over. It had been a nice fantasy, but I should have known better than to get my hopes up.

“Let’s hear it.”

“Yeah. It’s just — do you have any warm clothes?”

In the passenger seat next to me was the green sweater that I’d worn to that first callback. One of these days I was going to remember to get it washed.

“Yeah, I’ve got a sweater or two,” I said. “Why?”

“I hear that Canada is cold in November.”

“. . .”

“So you’ll need to pack some warm clothes since you’re going to be up there shooting for a month. You got the role, Ian. Knocked it out of the park. Congrats!”

“. . .”

“Ian, are you there?”

“Goddamnit, Steve!” I shouted. “My emotions are not a pipe for you to play upon!”

Steve chuckled and took my outburst for what it truly was: tremendous excitement.

After we got off the phone, I looked back over at the sweater with the seagull on its tag.

When I got my first paycheck, I went and got it dry-cleaned.

[lil-loucifer]

1-50 fool

1. Your first OC ever?

Not gonna lie, it was a fuckin Naruto OC I made when I was six

His name was Rei and he specialized in fire-based jutsu 

2. Do you have a personal favourite among your OCs?

Uhhhh, right now I think my favorite is Aurelio Morgenstern, since I’ve been spending a lot of time trying to develop him lately

3. Have you ever adopted a character or gotten a character from someone else?

Not really?

4. A character you rarely talk about?

Fuckin Enfer Incendie. A guy with an asshole french name that translates inaccurately into “Hell Fire”

He’s a demon who uses, you guessed it, fire-based powers.

5. If you could make only one of your OCs popular/known, who would it be? 

I can’t decide oh fuck but it’d probably be Enoch Branwen???

6. Two OCs of yours that look alike despite not being related?

A lot of my old OCs are white with dark hair because I wasn’t creative back then (Still have trouble with creative designs tbh)

7. Are your OCs part of any story or stories?

I sent a character in for an SYOC a while ago, but she stopped writing it…

8. Do you RP as any of your OCs? If you do, introduce one of your RP OCs here!

Sorta? I’ve been putting together an RP/suggestion blog using Aurelio Morgenstern as an RP character

He’s a demon hunter who lives in a relatively uneventful small town that’s still high in supernatural activity. There’s a local demon hunter community there, but he’s kinda shunned for fighting using the magic of a demon, Azazel. 

9. Would you ever be willing to give any of your OCs to someone else?

I mean, I’m 100% down to give Lucian Caelius Luminita to a friend of mine for her story, bc I have nothing to use him in. 

10. Introduce an OC with a complicated design? 

I… Totally suck at designing overcomplicated outfits, so my OCs normally wear simple clothes

11. Is there any OC of yours you could describe as a “sunshine”? 

Aria Hamilton (not related to Hamilton in any way, seriously) is the only upbeat character I’ve ever created.

12. Name an OC that isn’t yours but who you like a lot

A friend of mine and I have been developing this fuckin story for like, a month or so, about her character, Crystal Ruiz, being raised by one of my (sort-of) good parent OCs.

13. Do you have any troublemaker OCs? 

Wayland Smith is a huge crack-type character who unintentionally winds up causing catastrophic destruction in the most ridiculous ways that often come off as impossible and inhuman. What’s worse: This man cannot die and literally only exists for me to come up with ridiculous scenarios to have a good laugh.

I made him for The Sims Freeplay and he became the guy who pissed everyone off whenever I got a daily mission that required negative interactions.

14. Introduce an OC with a tragic backstory 

Wilk Argentum: part of an extraterrestrial race made to assimilate with the human ace to determine whether or not they were worth saving after their society collapsed following a major thermonuclear war. 

He got along with the remnants of society well, and went on several adventures with people who befriended him, but ultimately, he unwittingly fulfilled his primary programming by condemning the human race to death, despite it being the only thing he’d ever known.

15. Do you like to talk about your OCs with other people?

HELL FUCKING YEAH MAN ASK ME ABOUT ANYONE YOU SEE ON HERE I’MA ANSWER ANYTHING

16. Which one of your OCs would be the best at biology (school subject)? 

Faith Branwen, probably. 

17. Any OC OTPs? 

I got these new characters, part of a four-person superhero team I made up for DC Universe Online, and two of them; Wendigo (Power: nature-aligned magic and shapeshifting into man-eating creatures) and Morningstar (Power: Creation-based abilities) slowly develop from casual dating to really strong-ass feelings for each other

There’s also this guy, Dante, who I always wind up shipping with his ex, Michael, but I don’t know how I’d get them back together yet.

Also most of the characters I ship with my friends’ OCs have a special place in my heart, especially if we develop their relationships :3

18. Any OC crackships? 

Not really?

19. Introduce an OC that means a lot to you (and explain why)

Jack Winters was the first OC whose story I really shared with another friend, and we got super close from sharing the stories and eventually getting to know each other, and not just our OCs. Hey guys, shipping gets you places.

20. Do any of your OCs sing? If they sing, care to share more details (headcanon voice, what kind of songs they like etc)?

I only really have one OC with confirmed singing talent, and that is Alto Artrose, who is, ironically, a soprano. 

21. Your most artistic OC

Wilson Pendleton is basically Delson Rowe pre-superpowerification. 

22. Is there any OC of yours people tend to mischaracterize? If yes, how? 

A friend and I normally joke about Lucian Luminita being a much worse parent than we actually portray him in the story; mostly due to him being a single father, who is also a vampire, raising an angry werewolf child. 

23. Introduce OC that has changed from your first idea concerning what the character would be like?

Dante “Seraphim,” also known by his codename Lucifer, was originally going to be called Lucifer as his true name, and be a child of the personification of Death, being sent to ensure that people die when they are supposed to. And if they don’t, they get murdered by the Reaper’s Son. 

The idea was scrapped, but eventually revisited by several other OCs later. 

24. If you could meet one OC of yours, who would it be and why?

Aria Hamilton, because she’s the only one here who isn’t fucked up.

25. The OC that resembles you the most (same hobby, height, shared like/dislike for something etc?)

My fuckin Homestuck self-insert, Luke Napier. He’s basically me, but physically fit, attractive, and actually handles his responsibilities properly. 

26. Have you ever had to change your OC’s design or something else about them against your will? 

Nah, not really. 

27. Any OCs that were inspired by a certain song? 

Dante “Seraphim’s” story wound up being heavily influenced by the song “Take Me To Church,” with it’s whole ‘growing out of religion’ theme. 

28. Your most dangerous OC? 

Enoch Branwen, the “Atropos” of this Branwen Moirai. The Branwens preside over the mortality of gods; when an immortal’s time has passed, it is Enoch who is sent to dispatch them. She has killed numerous entities, and is responsible for the Fall of the Old Gods. 

29. Which one of your OCs would go investigate an abandoned house at night without telling anyone they’re going?

Aurelio Morgenstern, Wilson Pendleton, and Sora Williams; the problem children.

30. Which one of your OCs would most likely have a secret stuffed animal collection? 

Maybe Enoch’s girlfriend, who still doesn’t have a concrete name. 

31. Pick one OC of yours and explain what their tumblr blog would be like (what they reblog, layout, anything really)

Aurelio Morgenstern blogs about his activities as a demon hunter, not that anyone really listens.

32. Which one of your OCs would be the most suitable horror game protagonist and why? 

Ian (motherfucking) Grey. This kid’s story throws him into a killing field made for children with magical powers, where he eventually gets possessed by the Wormwood Star; an entity that throws his magical abilities into overdrive. 

Ian has a natural affinity for healing magic, and the Wormwood Star strengthens him to the point where he can heal from injuries almost instantly. The horror of his game isn’t the threat to your survival, it’s from all the pain you endure as you fight your way out of this hellhole. Your enemies can’t kill you, you can’t kill them. But they will hunt you and hunt you until your mind breaks and you can’t fight anymore. 

Basically, imagine Dark Souls with no weapons. 

33. Your shyest OC?

Can’t really say :c

34. Do you have any twin characters?

Dante “Seraphim” has a twin sister, Aria. Her codename is Lilith.

35. Any sibling characters? 

Aside from the “Seraphim” twins, the Branwens are one of my favorite sibling groups!

They’re like the moirai, but they decide when gods die. Faith, the eldest, predicts the lifespans and destinies of the gods when they’re created. Wolfgang, the middle child, watches over the world and ensures that all the gods and deities are doing their jobs, playing their roles, and having faith in the Branwens’ writings.

When a god steps out of line, or refuses to lie down and die, they send Enoch to do what must be done. 

36. Do you have OC pairs where the other part belongs to someone else (siblings, lovers, friends etc)? 

HELL YEAH I do. 

37. Introduce an OC who is not quite human 

Lucian Luminita is a vampire, the Branwen siblings are sorta-gods, Dante and Aria “Seraphim” are half-angel and half-demon, respectively, etc.

38. Which one of your OCs would be the best dancer? 

Enoch Branwen and Aria Hamilton. 

39. Introduce any character you want 

Lemme tell you about Become Death:

He’s an ally of that superhero team I mentioned earlier, with Wendigo and Morningstar. Obviously, “Become Death” isn’t his real name, but it’s a nickname that just stuck.

Death is an enigma. He doesn’t really know who he is, where he’s from. He just knows that his job is to punish the wicked. The evil. He takes no pleasure in killing, but it’s what he does best.

Before he died, Death was an infamous serial killer. He was brought back to life by an unknown entity for an unknown purpose, but now, he works in the dark to preserve the light. 

He also hasn’t been developed beyond the fact that he wears a fancy suit, and there’s a skull mask grafted onto his face. 

40. Any fond memories linked to your characters? Feel free to share!

Most of the fondest memories I have about OCs is just taking about them with my friends!! 

41. Has anyone drawn fanart of your OCs? If yes, maybe show a picture or two here (remember sources & permissions!)

Throwback to the time I commissioned my sister to draw my Persona 3 OC and he came out looking exactly like a fucking Haikyuu character with a gun (tw for suicidal imagery and guns)

42. Which one of your OCs would be the most interested in Greek gods? 

Uhhhh my fuckin Percy Jackson OCs

43. Do you have any certain type when you create your OCs? Do you tend to favour some certain traits or looks? It’s time to confess

Dark clothes and expensive fashion, friends. A lot of leather. 

Also punk rock. It’s good. 

44. Something you like about your OCs in general

They all have pretty unique concepts and stories, as far as I’m told.

45. A character you no longer use?

Luke Napier. Every incarnation of him has ben replaced with a “Jasper Morris.” 

46. Has anyone ever told you that you treat your OCs badly?

Nah, nobody’s seen me write a story ^_^ 

47. Has anyone ever (friendly) claimed any of your OCs as their child? 

I’m pretty sure @theninjabookworm101 has at one point during our friendship. 

48. OC who is a perfect cinnamon roll, too good for this world, too pure

Nobody is innocent

49. Which one of your OCs would most likely enjoy memes

Aria Hamilton, purely for the sake of poking fun at her crush

50. Give me the good ol’ OC talk here. Talk about anything you wantIf you want, you can tag your ask answers with #yetanotherOCmeme so I can check them out too `v´9

Hnnnnggghhhh alright so lemme tell you about this time I tried to do worldbuilding

So I made this fuckin steampunk-themed world once, right? And it’s still largely unfinished, and there’s only one real place that’s developed in any capacity and that’s the city of Durendal in the nation of Wayland. The Waylandian city is widely known for being amongst the most historical cities in the world. It was one of the most rapidly-advancing cities during the industrial revolution. It was in Durendal where most scholars and inventors joined together to create the first stable airship. It is in Durendal where the strongest council of magicians established its headquarter. It was in Durendal where the infamous Wick Rebellion was cut down by Royal Protector Daniel Maxim. And it is in Durendal where the Licht Sisters will face off against a conspiracy against the Grand Sovereign of Wayland itself. 

(That’s not really an OC thing, but hey, it’s the only story concept I have saved rn that I didn’t share from)

[ncvasmythex]

"i mean I should have figured this was coming but like really my full name if any of you call me by that I will never speak to you again okay?? Anyways I'm Nova Lee Smythe I was born the fourth of October in 1993 in London, England and my zodiac sign is a libra."

"My happy place is this small and quiet secluded place I found back home. It's this very secluded field, whenever I just needed to get away for a bit that's where I go, to sit and think for a bit. It's a good place for that, or even anywhere that has an adventure waiting that could also be my happy pace."

"In the past I worked for Topshop back at home for a bit as a cashier then I got into makeup so I moved on to M A C Cosmetics was always into makeup so helping people find their shade and so makeup was my true calling. Now I'm self employed and do small tutorials, am a beauty guru of the type. I did go to university studied arts ."



"I would like to say I am yeah. I don't like being down or anything like that so I think I'm quite lively, upbeat, and an energetic person, except in the morning I need coffee before I can even be human. I think my friends would agree with me on that but would say I'm adventurous, outgoing, and a bit scared. You have to ask them what they mean with that one."


"Cheating is the worst, I mean I can't say much on the topic but I definitely know it's the worst thing someone could do to their partner. I also don't understand the point of cheating like why do it, if you're unhappy leave the relations holding make the other feel like shut."


"Really? People want to know what I'm like in bed? Whatever, I don't think I'm vanilla in bed, no but I also don't think I'm kinky either. Sure I'd try anything once, except full blown fifty shades, would never try that. I don't even think I have at least three kinks, lip biting is definitely one, light bondage maybe? But then again I don't really think about things when I'm about to have sex or am having sex with someone."


"Honestly so far everything is really great. I've reconnected with some people I've really missed, saw some old faces I didn't think I was going to see again but like it was still good to see they were still alive and well. One of my friends back home actually sent it to me, thought I could do something like this and so I did applied and here I am. Quite honestly I don't know why my application stood out maybe because I'm quite the adventurer maybe, willing to try anything could also be a big thing? I think the one I've gotten along with the most is a three way tie between Odd, Ian, and Lailani I mean catching up with all three of them has been a blast for sure."


"Hmm I think maybe arriving, is that cheesy? no but like just walking along the beach and everything just getting to meet everyone and relax for a bit before the crazy I guess you could say. I always sort of feel pressured to look perfect yeah, I mean that's just me as a person though always been like that I suppose just wait till you guys get to know me more, I don't think there's a time I don't have my makeup off..."


"I'm really not the fighting type I mean I don't feel the need to fight with anyone yet, no one has given me a reason to want to fight with them-- well not yet anyways but like cameras or not I don't feel the need to fight. I think everyone has lied to one another for some reason or another, I mean everyone has their secrets they want to keep right? If I have lied to them it's for a good reason or another except for dalton I lied to him for all the wrong reasons but it was better that way. As for regrets not yet, I  mean I have regrets but not about signing up for the show, it's about some things that involve a person or two part of the show."

"Perks of being on the show? Hmmm I think definitely getting to wake up and looks out my window to see a beach. I mean that's pretty great if I say so myself, can't that's a sight I see often that and getting to meet new people that has to be a perk right? That's something I'll miss for sure when I leave. as for leaving yeah I'll definitely watch the show back relive some of the memories made."


"The first to leave I think might be Mylori I don't know she just gives me that vibe you know. The first to have a breakdown maybe Aelita but that's because she's just so fragile, I hope I'm wrong but it's what I think. The weakest maybe Avery or again Mylori it's the vibe I get off them. As for loving themselves the most would be weird if I say myself, yeah okay maybe Lailani only because girl has a reason to love herself like have you all seen her? If I was her I'd love myself. The one with a fake personality dalton, like show people who you really are under all those layers bro. I think Ian or Odd could win this for sure, they just have that kind of mindset that could get them to win."

"I don't know I think maybe like remember I'm a human so things you find out about me are like big mistakes I made because I didn't know better or anything. Same as everyone here were doing this because we think we can do it just don't go too hard on us."

"A cast holiday? Oh yeah I'm definitely down for it I mean it'd be great for sure I'm all for holidays."


[jossysara]

Out-of-Class Writing

January 29, 2020

No Means No

What if I told you today you’re gonna sell four phones and make-out with some creepy guy named Joe? Yea well believe it cause that’s exactly what happened today.

First part of my day went by quite well. I was running the electronic section by myself so all phone sells went through me. Surprisingly, I was able to sell four phones all in one day! Almost made it five. Chris was really proud and gave me a verbal congratulations in the group chat. All the support from every one just felt so good. Maybe I am a good sales person?

  I got home from work and was probably only there for thirty minutes when Joe walked into our apartment. No one was there except Maddi and Wyatt. Did he just let himself in? "Hey Joe," I said, still in my work clothes as I sat at my desk on my laptop. He invited himself in the room. "Hey Jocelyn," he replied. Maddi was in the room folding laundry so at least I wasn’t alone. We all made small talk for a little bit, but then Maddi and Wyatt left. It was just Joe and I now. No, I didn’t think anything was gonna happen, but even being around him alone made me uncomfortable. I remembered the day I reached out to him to hangout and he bailed on me cause he "doesn’t like to be alone with girls." When he said that, everyone knew he just meant he didn't like being around me alone. But now here we were…alone.

I had already made up my mind back when we first made out that that was a mistake and would never happen again. I’ve stuck by that every day I see his grimy, squished up face and his oily, bald patched hair. His personality is annoying and awkward, and he is literally the most unattractive person I know. Every time he speaks I wanna shoot myself. There is literally no alternate reality that I see myself with him. If I were forced into marriage with him, I’d kill myself. If we were the only people on earth and we had to repopulate the earth, I'd have sex with a cactus. 

As he stood there in my room, I felt like I was babysitting him. I didn't want him there, but I had to acknowledge is presence and pretend like I cared what he had to say. He said he came to our apartment to hide from the cops. Long story short, he ran away from the cops last week and is now getting hunted by them. So since no one else was home to take care of him, I was on babysitting duty.

We talked a little bit but ended up watching Youtube videos. He asked for some gum which I didn’t give much thought towards, and gave him some in one of my desk drawers. We both took turns choosing a funny video to show the other. We literally did this for an hour. I had homework to do. I actually had a whole list of things to do. This was a waste of time and I couldn’t do anything about it cause I had to be a good host and entertain the child. I wondered how I could get him out, but nothing useful came to mind. 

As we were watching the videos, he eventually got off my desk chair and came to sit on my bed. Obviously he just wanted to be comfy which makes sense right? I scooted so far from him that I was actually falling off the bed. It was very uncomfortable but at least I wasn’t close to him. He turned on this one annoying, long video that was supposed to be “funny” and two minutes in I was already bored. He asked me if I had went on any dates recently, and then I started to tell him about Brigham.

I paused the video as I explained how much I liked Brigham to Joe. I even showed Joe a paper I wrote last night laying out my plan for how I can get him to notice me and possibly like me. We then talked about Ian and the make out we had a few nights ago. Eventually, the conversation turned sexual. We talked about what turns us on, and what things Ian did that I liked and didn’t like. I explained how recessive I am when it comes to making out. "I like guys that kinda take control and are rough, you know? Like, dominant guys are so attractive," I told him. "I’m dominant! I'm so dominant!" Said Joe. It was like he was trying to sell himself to me. Like he was saying, "Make out with me! We'd be perfect together!" Low-key started to see where this was going. Once he said that,  I thought how perfect it’d be to make out with him cause we just seemed to be on the same page about a lot of stuff. That thought only lasted half a second till I reminded myself that he’s disgusting and I can do better. Reliving those painful memories of the last time we made out put me back on track. "Never again," I thought. "Never again."

We continued to talk further details about making out. We even talked about the time we made out. This was the first time we had ever had a conversation about it since it happened. Joe said things that low-key turned me on like talking about making out against a wall, or having a guy pick up the girl as she wraps her legs around his waste. With the right guy, those type of things would be so hot, but with Joe? I could never. Sometimes as we’d talk about stuff we’d use each other as an example. Like when I told him I liked it when guys rubbed my inner thighs, I did the same to him. I could tell he liked it.

One thing that he kept on mentioning was how hot it is when the guy pushes the girl on the bed and makes out with her. He used me as an example, except he didn’t kiss me. He got awfully close though. When he got off me, I said, "Dang I almost thought you were gonna kiss me." "Would you want me to?” He asked. Crap now I was in trouble. No roommates home, and just me and Joe on my bed. This was the perfect set up for a make out session to happen right now. But I already knew my answer. When he asked me, I shrugged. I didn’t want to verbally say “no”, and saying “yes” would definitely get me in trouble.

We started to talk about other stuff that turned us on. We were honestly running out of things to talk about. I just started to agree to everything he said cause I had nothing to add on. I felt like I told him everything. He kept turning the conversation back to pushing a girl down and making out with her. He did it again to me as if he needed to redeem his last attempt, except this time…he kissed me. Making out was not on my to-do list tonight especially with Joe of all people. I'll tell you what was on my to-do list tonight: homework. Was that happening? Definitely not. Instead I was pinned on a bed making out with the most disgusting guy I've ever met. No way were we doing this again. I need to stop him. He got up as he threw his glasses and hat on the floor. "Let's readjust" he said. NO. NO READJUSTING. He got up to move me over but I stopped him. “Hey maybe we shouldn’t do this.”

“Why not?” He was so pushy. Who knows if the cops were actually looking for him. He might've just come over to make out. To him, I was easy. No sir. 

"I just don't think it's a good idea," I said. He seemed disappointed but respected my wishes as he got off. "Okay, that's cool," he said. I tried to turn the conversation to other things that we could talk about like favorite movies or things we like about our professors. Those topics were no good as Joe just kept redirecting it to talking about sexy ways to make out. Boy was horny as f**k. He smiled as he said, "You know what else is really sexy?" He pulled my legs towards him so that they'd wrap around his waste. He got on top of me as we made out for another five seconds. To be honest, making out is so fun, and noncommittal make outs are sometimes the best. But. You see. I have a reputation to uphold, and making out with this guy was gonna ruin that. Not like I'd make out with him anyways though. This guy was the lowest of the low. I knew I couldn't live with myself if I went through with this. I stopped him before we could go further. "Sorry, I just don't think we should do this," I said again. He got up. "Why not?" Gosh didn't I already answer this before? "It's just that, the door is open so if my roommates come home they'll walk in on us and it'll be super awkward," I said. He got up and closed the door. "There ya go, problem solved." What have I done.

He came back over with a determined look in his eye. I felt like prey being hunted. How does one get out of something like this without being mean or awkward? At this point, I felt like I could've been mean. Good time to use pepper spray? What about kicking him in the nuts? Should I just run out the door and leave him in my room? What if I said I was on my period? I needed to get out of this. He came over, put my legs around him, got on top of me, and we made out for probably ten seconds. He was very forward, I'll give him that. This noodle like, pedophile looking dude was normally pretty reserved and friendly. This side of him was wow just, something else. 

He sucked on my neck, and the other horrifying images of the hickeys I had last time with this guy came back to me. That was the last straw. No! This is NOT happening. I stopped him. "Sorry I just REALLY don't want to do this right now." He got off me. Upset this time. He opened the door in a huff. "Fine, there you go. Happy?" Gosh sorry I didn't give in to your man whore wishes. He asked me why and this time I gave him a better answer. I said, "It's just cause the last time we made out, we got so distant. We never talked, and I wasn't sure why you were avoiding me. I just don't want that to happen again you know? That's why I think it'd be better if we stayed friends." He told me that wouldn't happen, but I knew he was just saying that. If we did what we didn't last time, that awkwardness would come back, my reputation ruined, and my roommates would judge me so hard. 

We sat on the bed uncomfortably, trying to figure out what to do. I begged in my mind that he'd find an excuse to go. He just sat there. "Want to watch a movie?" He asked. "Sure," I said. I turned on New Girl as we sat on my bed watching it. I sat as far from him as I could, while he laid in a perfectly open cuddle position. The first time we made out was when we were watching a movie in my room. This could just be another one of his ways to get me to give in. I said I needed to go to the bathroom. I texted my roommate and begged her to bail me out. I returned to my bed and sat with Joe as we continued to watch the show. Minutes later, my roommate Alisa came in and asked if Joe wanted to come with her to the boys. He said sure and followed her out. I was saved! I laid on my bed in relief. I thought to myself that we'd probably still be making out right now if I hadn't said no. This was my first time saying no to a guy and I've never been more proud of myself in my entire life...especially cause it was with Joe. 

I found out later that Alisa confronted him about kissing me, and Joe seemed embarrassed to talk about it (like he should). He told her he was just demonstrating something. The whole apartment of boys found out him and I kissed. Once Alisa came home, I told her the true story of what happened. Alisa told the boys, and my reputation was saved. Yea Joe you should feel embarrassed. 

What's interesting about Joe is that he puts on this stupid "I love women, women's rights, support women" act. Even when we were sitting there together, he kept saying, "I don't want to make you do something you don't want to do." Based on what happened that night, all of that is a bunch of bullsh*t. I'm just glad I took a stand and said enough. Hopefully he'll leave me alone. Let this be a lesson to all boys that Jocelyn Butterfield is not "easy" and ya'll should be careful cause she just bought some pepper spray. 

February 10, 2020

I Am WORST Roommate

So I've decided I'm never sharing a room with someone ever again. This whole college experience has been great and all, but when it comes to sharing a room with someone you don't exactly like, things get complicated. Now I will admit, at the beginning of the year, Maddi and I had a rough start. I take full responsibility on the problems that started between us in the beginning. I thought having a roommate meant you could share each others clothes and jewelry. Turns out that's not the case. I abused that power more than a few times to the point that Maddi was very frustrated with me and had to tell me twice to stop. She also was annoyed that I kept the bathroom light on and had too many alarms. One bad habit I took with me from Massachusetts is my inability to wake up to alarms. I have to set four or five to fully wake up. Also, on another occasion, I wore her sweatshirt cause it was cold one day and my blanket was held hostage by Brenden. I KNOW, I should've just worn my own sweatshirt. I don't know why but I didn't. TURNS OUT, that was her boyfriend's sweatshirt. She found out and called me out on that too. Yes I know that was weird and I felt bad for that. I felt bad for stealing her stuff and for all the alarms. I'm a bad roommate. I'm everyone's worst nightmare when they think of rooming with a stranger. 

Some weekends I'd sleepover at my friends cause I just hated being home. Sharing a room with her was that bad. On days where we had time to talk, we didn't connect on anything. Conversations were dull and I got the vibe that she just didn't care about me or my life. Luckily, our schedules are opposite so for the most part we don't see each other. She also spends the night at her parents house and her boyfriends house quite often. At least I get plenty of space. 

One day I found out that Maddi had asked Charley and Alisa to be her bridesmaids! Not gonna lie I was hurt. Yes, we had a rough start, but that was all in the past. She didn't even hangout with Charley that much. I was her ROOMMATE. Every time I see her I get the vibe that she hates me. It's gotten to the point that I'm relieved whenever she's not home. It just makes me happy to know I don't have to put a fake smile on a socialize when I'm in MY room. When I'm in my room, that's my time to rest and not talk to anyone. Antisocial? Maybe. Do I care? No. My room, my space. When that space is invaded however, I just get uncomfortable. I've been uncomfortable sharing a room since the beginning. It isn't the college dream that I originally imagined it to be. Despite our issues, we have 6 months left on our lease so unfortunately I'll be seeing more of her coming soon.

Starting with working 40 hours and also going to school full time, I've started to snore. I believe it has something to do with me being overly stressed and exhausted. Maddi is a light sleeper, so snoring is hard for her to deal with. She's been sleeping on the couch the past week. I feel bad because it's MY snoring that is causing her to not be able to sleep in her bed. I need to figure out how to stop this. I've decided that whenever she sleeps here I'm sleeping on the couch so that she can get a good nights rest. I have all the qualities of a terrible roommate, but at least I don't have the heart of one. 

I've struggled to understand how she feels about me. I say she doesn't like me, but could that be true? All signs point to yes. Moral of the story is: Don't share a room in college unless you know the person. 

February 12, 2020

Another Word For Perfect?

Went on a date with the most perfect guy. We met at my work of all places. After hitting it off so well, we exchanged numbers and planned to hangout soon. Today was our first date. We went to Chick-Fil-A and basically talked for an hour or so about life. I asked him about flight school, and he asked me what I wanted to do. I told him I wanted to be an interior designer. Honestly, I don't know what I want to be, but it sounds more attractive than a "movie director". He was intrigued by my answer and took out a pen and the receipt paper. "Okay then, draw a three story floor plan for a house in three minutes." Before I could even process what he just said, he started the timer. This was happening. I mimicked the same floor plan of my old Highland house. Even though it had been about three years since we moved, I still missed that house more than anything. Drawing it helped me remember the good times. I finished the floor plan with eight seconds left to spare. I insisted he'd do one next. No offense, Dillon, but mine was better.

Afterwards, we drove to the Provo airport. He wanted to show me around. As we drove, he played songs by John Williams and insisted I'd guess the songs from the movies they were from. I mostly got the ones from Star Wars and Harry Potter right. All the others I had no idea. I took out my TV show theme song playlist and made him play guess the theme. I learned very quickly that he didn't watch nearly as many shows as I did, so I only played the most well-known ones. It took up a lot of the time driving to the airport and it was fun. Finally, we arrived at a dirt road that wrapped around the airport. The road was completely isolated from all civilization and was so tiny I was afraid we'd fall off the trail at certain parts. It was dark outside, making it hard to see the dirt road. We eventually stopped at this one spot that gave us a clear view of the runway. He said this was the best spot to watch airplanes land and take off. I've been on a lot of dates, but I've never been on something like this before. It was cute, and honestly, kind of romantic. In the back of my mind, I thought this would be the perfect place to make out with someone. I wasn't sure if that was where this was going with Dillon, but I was open to the idea.

As we watched the planes take off and land, we continued to talk about life. We talked about our families and our passions. I found out he's really close to his family and is active in the gospel. He served a mission in Russia, and was in a 9 month relationship with this one girl. He also has about the same kiss count as me, which is 20! The more we talked, the more we realized how much we had in common. We began to talk about our bucket lists. I told him I wanted to fly an air balloon, swim with dolphins, and make out with some one in the pouring rain. He agreed on the last one. He told me he had a big bucket list, but one of the things on that list was to make out with someone while parked on this road while watching planes take off. I just stared at him and smiled. "Really?" I said. "Yea...so if you find someone let me know," he said. We both laughed. "Hm yeah I wonder," I said. Eventually we both stopped laughing and just had a moment of silence staring at each other. He came in and kissed me, which turned into a make out. Eventually we adjusted as you'd imagine. The best part about this make out though was that it was so innocent. He wasn't taking advantage of me or my body, it was just us kissing. The fact that I liked him and enjoyed being around him made it better. So many guys I've kissed in the past I haven't really had feelings for. When you have feelings for someone and you kiss them, that's a game changer. 

We made out for probably 30 minutes before we decided to head back. I was supposed to hangout with Maren tonight, but with it being 11:30 PM, she had already fallen asleep. I was fine sleeping at my apartment since my roommate wasn't home. We drove back and I asked him what the farthest he's gone. He said our make out was the farthest. That innocent make out?! I was surprised. It kinda made me feel shameful about how far I've gone. When he asked the same question back to me, I lied and told him what he probably wanted to hear. Maybe one day I'll tell him the truth. For a first date, you gotta be careful. A first date is like an interview. You see if you want to pursue this person long term, or decide that they aren't right for the job and find someone else. I liked him enough that I didn't want to screw up like that. He seemed like a good mormon boy with good values, and I respected that. I realized I used to be the same, but based on all the people I've surrounded myself with, I found that I've been falling away from the person I used to be. It was the first time in awhile that I realized I need to do better. He brings out the best in me and I know that if we kept dating, I'd keep getting better at working on myself. 

We both said we weren't looking for a relationship, but if we found the right person we'd be open to the idea. We also said that we both are working on ourselves. Something I really liked that he said was that he didn't feel like he's the man he wants to be when he meets his wife quite yet, and he wants to work on becoming that person. Wow okay so you're cute, have good values, have a career plan, funny, and a complete dork...where have you been all my life and how are you single? I know it's only been the first date, and if things suck in the future so be it. But for the first time since I started going to school in fall, I've found someone who checks off everything on my list in a husband. He's a great guy. I hope I don't screw this up. Stay tuned for part two because yes, we are going on a second date. 

February 17, 2020

I Almost Died Twice. 

This day started out like any other day, but in the end it was something I'll remember forever. I woke up and went to church, came home, and Charley drove me to work. Surprisingly sold two phone today despite it being the sabbath. Afterwards, I walked home and found out we were all going on a hike later tonight to the hot springs. I was glad I was able to come since my schedule has been busy lately. I knew I should probably stay back and do homework, but that didn't stop me. 

After much convincing, Everett finally decided to come with us. I got in Charley's car along with Alisa and Dallin. We drove about 40 minutes to the hike in Springville. It was really dark, and as we drove we joked about getting murdered. Dallin and I observed the beautiful stars in the sky. Once we had found a place to park, we met up with everyone else. Some of the guys had chosen to wear shorts for the hike. None of us were dressed very warmly, but Sidney said the hike was only thirty minutes long. We all started to head towards the trail, not prepared for the adventures that lied ahead. 

For the first bit of the hike, I walked at the front next to Dallin. I've liked him for quite some time, but he doesn't have to say anything for me to know things would never work out with us. He shows no interest. Still, I enjoy being around him and talking to him. We had a fun conversation, but eventually the trail got slimmer and I was forced to walk further back. We eventually started focusing more on the trail than whatever it was we were talking about. 

It wasn't cold, just very dark. Half of the group lit up their phones so they could see the trail. We had a rather large group consisting of exactly eleven people. Had it been smaller, I wouldn't have been as comfortable with hiking this late in the night. 

The further we went, the more difficult the trails had become. One of the guys named Gavin started labeling the difficult parts as level 1, 2, 3, etc... The trail itself wasn't difficult. It was the ice. We encountered many uphill trails that were covered in snow and ice which made it nearly impossible to walk up in a straight line. We all had our own creative way of getting through these obstacles. Some of us crawled up, others found weird passages that were off the trail, and others simply risked walking up and possibly slipping. Slipping wasn't an option. If one of us were to slide or trip off the trail, it was almost a straight 8-10 foot drop into the rushing cold river. The very thought of one of us falling made me nervous. 

On one occasion, we almost lost Zach Terry. He thought he had a grip as he walked up the trail on all fours, when all the sudden he started sliding. Half of his body was hanging off the edge of the cliff when one of the members of our group was able to save him. After that experience, we were much more cautious. Some of us wanted to go back, others encouraged us to press forward. That thirty minute walk Sidney had promised soon turned into two hours. 

Despite the difficulties we faced, we had a fun time. The obstacles were like a fun challenge and like Gavin said, they felt like levels. Every time we made it pass one difficult trail, we felt a sense of accomplishment and pride. We also put in a lot of team work to make sure every member of our group made it through safely. I could feel us growing closer as a group as we went through this. We never go on adventures like this. Most of the time we are at the boys apartment watching a show while half of them get drunk. This however, was a whole new experience. 

As we reached the two hour mark, the majority of the group voted we'd head back. We weren't finding the hot springs like we had hoped, and we were very far from our cars at this point. It began to snow pretty bad too. I felt bad for the people who wore shorts and crappy shoes. I wasn't prepared for this either, but at least I brought a windbreaker. 

After talking with the rest of the group, we decided it'd be better to head back. It was around 11:30 PM at this time and we all knew we weren't going to get to our cars till about 1:00 AM. The way back was much faster than the way there. We basically jogged the whole way. Whenever we encountered a difficult trail with lots of ice, we'd slide down it like a water slide! Our butts got so wet. On the way back, Gavin and I started to talk. We became pretty good friends as we tried not to fall off the cliff and die. 

We finally made it out of the canyon and got to our cars a little bit after 1:00 AM. We were all exhausted. Our clothes were wet, our feet hurt, and we were so cold. It was time to head back home.

The same people who rode in Charley's car got back in. Alisa took shot gun as always. I sat behind the drivers seat, and Dallin sat behind Alisa. Almost immediately after Charley started driving, Dallin and I dosed off. 

I was in and out of consciousness for the most part. I just rested my eyes, but I was aware of everything around me. It felt good to sit down and have the warm air conditioning blowing on my face and feet. I couldn't wait to get home and get in my pajamas. I still was wearing that swimsuit I never got to hot tub in. At this point I didn't mind. I just wanted to be in bed. 

We were getting pretty close to the apartment as we travel on I-15. Not many cars were on the road seeing how it was 1:30 AM on a Sunday night/Monday morning. Charley turned on her blinker as she began to merge from the third lane to the fourth lane. Just then she began to lose control of the car. At first it swerved to the left but she tried to correct it as she turned the steering wheel to the right. We were hydroplaning and there was nothing Charley could do to control it. The car spun right as it headed for the dividers.Charley let go of the steering wheel in hopes that we wouldn't flip. Going 80 MPH, we crashed into the cement wall on the right side of the road. Seconds before we hit the divider, I knew we were going to be fine. I just had a comforting feeling that everything would be alright.

We all sat there. Processing what had happened. The whiplash we had all experience hit me hard. I coughed weakly as I looked around to make sure everyone was alright. The airbags were deployed in the driver and passenger seat, as well as the right side of the car. "I'm alright," said Alisa. "I'm alright," said Charley. "I'm alright," said Dallin. "I'm alright," I said. 

What just happened. Everything had just happened so fast. The first thing I thought was "wow, this is my first car accident", and the second thing I thought was "thank goodness we didn't hit anyone else". In other circumstances, this wreck could've been much worse. What mattered most was that we were all okay. Charley was the most emotionally damaged out of all of us. She was freaking out and shaking like crazy. "Somebody call 911!" she said. I volunteered as I took out my phone. My first time calling 911. What a night. 

We were all shaken up. Dallin seemed fine. Alisa seemed a little shaken. The operator on the other line finally answered. "911 what's your emergency?" 

I told her we had gotten in a car wreck and that no other cars were involved. I told her we were fine. She asked where we were and I was unsure. I asked Alisa and Dallin. We were northbound on I-15 near one of the exits in Orem. Despite her instructions to stay in the car, we all got out to take a look at the damage. 

Everett ran towards us out of the breath. He seemed very concerned. "Are you guys okay? Sidney saw you guys crash in her rear view mirror." After we confirmed we were fine, he texted Sidney to ease her worry. Charley stared at the damage on her car. It was completely wrecked. She embraced Dallin and for a long moment, there was just silence. 

Eventually Sidney and Joe came running down. Sidney was crying as she embraced Charley. She and Joe asked if we were alright. Alisa noticed her ankle was sore and she walked with a bit of a limp, other than there didn't seem to be any other injuries. 

A semi truck pulled over and helped us marked the scene with glowing red traffic lights. He blocked our car as well so that no other cars could hit it. Thank goodness he showed up. Another truck pulled over to ask if we were ok. The guys attempted to push the car off the lane it was blocking but it was no use. I was shaking like crazy. I was still processing what had just happened. I looked over and saw Charley trying to hold it together. I went over to her and we hugged each other tightly. "I'm just glad we're all ok," she said with tears in her eyes. "This is all my fault I'm so sorry." 

The police showed up about five minutes after the crash. He asked Sidney, Joe and Everett to leave. After he confirmed that we were all okay, he instructed us to get back in the vehicle. Charley filled some information out for him, and we all wrote a witness statement. 

A tow truck pulled up, and we all sat in the front of the tow truck as it pulled up the wrecked car. They took us to a Maverick where we asked Sidney and Zach to pick us up. Once they had dropped us off, there was nothing any of us could say. Charley walked around the gas station mourning the loss of her car, Alisa was calling Zach and telling him what happened, and Dallin was buying chips. 

Us all standing there meant everything. We kept saying we were surprised none of us got more hurt. Charley said even though she's sad to have lost her car, she was just glad to not have lost any of us. 

Sidney pulled up and Dallin and I got in her car. As she drove, I was really nervous. I guess this is what you'd call post car accident PTSD. She told us about her side of the story when she saw us crash. The second she pulled over Everett was bolting to the car to make sure we were okay. Joe said a prayer. He said it's been so long since he've said a prayer and meant it. Sidney called 911 when everything had happened. What a crazy night. 

We finally got to the apartment completely exhausted. We parted ways and said goodnight. I barely made it to my apartment without falling over. My legs ached. 

The second I got inside I took a shower. Once I got out I heard Alisa and Charley come in. They sat in a bathtub of warm water wearing their swimsuits. I walked in and for the first time saw the damage the car accident had caused to them.

It wasn't that bad. Charley had a big seat belt burn across he chest and Alisa's ankle was swollen. We talked about the accident. We were all a bit shaken. Charley seemed to be handling this really well. They said they were going to go head over to the boys and asked me if I wanted to join. I was exhausted though. I said thanks but I'll pass. They understood as they were probably experiencing the same exhausted feeling I was. 

Laying in bed that night never felt so good. My warm PJ's on, my covers nice and warm, it just felt good to be off my feet. I almost immediately fell asleep. Fun fact, didn't snore at all that night! So I guess the only way to prevent snoring is to hike four hours and experience a traumatic car crash? Good to know. 

I recognized the hand of the Lord blessing all of us that night. I found out later that we had all said silent prayers to our Father in Heaven as we were on the hike as well as after the car crash. Heavenly Father protected us that night. He was watching over us and I know things could've been much worse without him their to protect us. God is real. This experience I will forever remember and thank my Father for continuing to bless me with safety and love. 

February 24, 2020

Do I Have Friends?

Lately I've been going through a small depressive faze. It basically just has to do with, well, everything socially going on in my life right now. My roommate and I don't get along, in fact, most of my roommates despise me. My best friend, Maren, ditched me on Valentine's Day cause she didn't feel like hanging out. I spent that day alone. I'm trying so hard to make friends in my classes with very little success. I also just realized that all the people I hangout with now are going to be gone next year. Maren and Valerie will be on missions, and Chelsey will either be performing on a cruise or moving to San Diego. Obviously I got to find new friends, but I feel so alone at the moment. I just feel like I'm getting older but not making any progress towards my goals. As for guys, I've been on a lot of dumb dates this year. Sometimes I feel like I'll never find someone that truly gets me. I appreciate the social environment UVU and my apartment housing offers, and I feel like I need to take advantage of that especially right now. I haven't been putting myself out there as much as I should be, which is why I'm probably so lonely. By the end of the spring semester, I want to at least have a few good friendships that I can keep going into my sophomore year. I know that as long as I'm patient, things will get better. They will. 

February 26, 2020

Where Should I Be?

Sometimes I wonder if where I am right now is where I'm supposed to be. A part of me wants to be in Massachusetts with my family, another part thinks I should go to BYU. If I could see the future and know what would happen long term in each place, it'd be so much easier to decided. Being at UVU, I even wonder if that was the right choice. I mostly just worry that where I am is not where my future husband is. I don't want to screw anything up based on my early decisions at college. These first few years are the most important to build friendships and possibly relationships. Hopefully where I am right now is where I need to be. 

[pheasantridgegc]

2018 Ryder Cup: The perfect player pairings for Paris

Now that the Ryder Cup teams are set, it’s time for captains Jim Furyk and Thomas Bjorn to finalize who will pair with whom?

There’s a lot that goes into finding the perfect pairings in these team events. Captains must consider playing styles, personalities and a variety of other factors. And while everyone would be interested to see a Tiger Woods-Phil Mickelson pairing, that’s probably not the most effective option for the U.S.

Now, we understand that both Ryder Cup teams have plenty of resources to help them formulate the perfect combinations. But just in case the captains are looking for some extra advice, here’s our recommendations on which players should pair up in Paris, and why.

Brentley Romine

U.S.

Jordan Spieth-Patrick Reed: This is probably the easiest decision that Furyk has to make. This duo is 4-1-2 in the past two Ryder Cups, so even though Spieth might want to switch things up and partner with, say, Justin Thomas or Rickie Fowler, it’s best if he keeps his partnership with Reed. They are just too good together.

Tiger Woods-Bryson DeChambeau: While everyone on the U.S. team would love to pair with Woods, it seems as if DeChambeau, a three-time winner this season, will get the honor. The two have developed some chemistry this year through practice rounds and such. If there is anyone on the team as competitive as Woods, it’s DeChambeau, who had an excellent match-play record as an amateur, winning the 2015 U.S. Amateur and playing well for his country at the Walker Cup, Palmer Cup and World Amateur Team Championship.

Dustin Johnson-Brooks Koepka: The two gym buddies didn’t pair up until the final team session at Hazeltine. They lost to Rory McIlroy and Thomas Pieters in four-ball, 3 and 1, but showed some promise as a pairing. Johnson hasn’t played particularly well in Ryder Cups. Maybe competing alongside Koepka will spark something.

Phil Mickelson-Tony Finau: This will be Mickelson’s 12th straight Ryder Cup and at 48 years old, he doesn’t appear to have many more left as a player. He’s never won overseas, so he’ll be as motivated as ever to finally check that box off. Pairing him with the young and powerful Finau makes a lot of sense. The two played together at the Northern Trust a few weeks ago and Mickelson raved about Finau’s potential. Mickelson is also coming off a strong performance two years ago at Hazeltine, where he went 2-1-1.

Rickie Fowler-Justin Thomas: This is Thomas’ first Ryder Cup, but he isn’t the typical rookie, ranked fourth in the world and the defending PGA Tour Player of the Year. It’s no secret that he and Fowler are close, and their chemistry should produce results, especially in foursomes. They are similar players, possessing all-around games and gaining the most shots with their irons and putter.

Bubba Watson-Webb Simpson: This pairing worked very well in 2012 at Medinah, where the two went 2-1. They lost their opening session in 2014 and Simpson didn’t play again until singles. But Simpson is having his best season since 2012 – by a mile – and Watson, who has won three times this season, has regained some momentum of late. They could surprise in Paris.

EUROPE

Henrik Stenson-Justin Rose: Played three of four sessions together in 2016 – each of them opposite Spieth and Reed – and went 1-2, though their 5-and-4 Friday afternoon four-ball victory was mighty impressive. Also, they went 3-0 together at Gleneagles. This pairing is as safe a bet as any.

Rory McIlroy-Jon Rahm: McIlroy has seemed to embrace the role of taking a rookie under his wing after going 3-0 with Thomas Pieters at Hazeltine. Rahm is similar to Pieters on the course and McIlroy could help Rahm channel that passion into points.

Paul Casey-Tommy Fleetwood: Both players had some fun with the story of Fleetwood wanting to buy Casey’s extra set of Nike irons. And while it doesn’t look like Casey will loan the set to Fleetwood in Paris like he had joked about doing, the two Englishmen would make a nice pairing. Both are great iron players and similar personality types.

Ian Poulter-Tyrrell Hatton: Poulter’s great 2012 Ryder Cup showing came when he paired with Rose and McIlroy. However, after an 0-1-1 team performance in 2014 and not qualifying in 2016, Poulter likely needs a fresh partner. How about the fiery Hatton? The two teamed up to break a world record in a European Tour social video last year, and I could see Poulter as a perfect Ryder Cup role model for the emotional Hatton.

Alex Noren-Thorbjorn Olesen: I initially had Noren and Molinari teaming up, but felt that Sergio Garcia needed Molinari the most. Noren is a guy who could play with anyone. You never have to question his work ethic and though he and Olesen are rookies, they aren’t strangers to big moments. They also have similar games – Noren is a better driver of the golf ball, but they are pretty equal in other facets. Both putt it well, too.

Sergio Garcia-Francesco Molinari: Many of Garcia’s recent partners – Lee Westwood, Luke Donald, Martin Kaymer and Rafa Cabrera Bello – did not qualify. And while he paired with McIlroy three times in 2014, it seems as if McIlroy will again be tasked with motivating a rookie. Assuming that, it makes most sense to pair the struggling Garcia with a consistent presence like Molinari, who is a strong tee-to-green guy and proven on the Ryder Cup stage.

Soon… pic.twitter.com/96URyLbUEo

— Ryder Cup Europe (@RyderCupEurope) September 16, 2018

Kevin Casey

U.S.

Jordan Spieth-Patrick Reed: What, I’m going to suggest breaking up this pair?? In seven Ryder Cup matches as a duo, Spieth and Reed have lost once – when the opposing team made nine birdies in 14 holes, no less. We know how electric and efficient this pairing is. No need to overthink this one.

Tiger Woods-Brooks Koepka: Look, I’m in no way against the TW-Bryson pairing that the vast majority are pointing toward (see above). Clearly the duo has rapport. But part of Woods’ surprisingly mediocre Ryder Cup record outside of singles is that it’s long been difficult to find him a comfortable partner. Partners being some form of intimidated or awestruck has played a role in that, in my opinion. DeChambeau would probably fall in the awestruck category. But Koepka wouldn’t. The evidence is right there from last month when Brooks was unfazed by a charging Tiger and won the PGA Championship. Koepka and Woods clearly have rapport as well (See: post-round greeting at the PGA) and man would their power, steely demeanors and games make up an intimidating pair for any European squad to come up against. This seems like a winning team on swagger alone.

Bryson DeChambeau-Webb Simpson: This would be a pairing that could sneak up on the Europeans and lull them into a false sense of security. Neither player flashes with booming drives, but both are incredibly efficient. I especially like them as a foursomes pairing, as DeChambeau is a supreme ball-striker and Simpson boasts an excellent short game.

Dustin Johnson-Justin Thomas: Yes, I’m breaking up “the gym buddies” pairing of DJ and Koepka. But I don’t see this as controversial in the least considering that pairing lost 3 and 1 (and it could’ve been easily worse) in their only Ryder Cup grouping. They did go 2-0 together at the Presidents Cup, but these two don’t have any semblance of the Spieth-Reed dominance in its results. Substituting Thomas in here keeps this as a fierce pairing of huge power hitters, so the intimidation is still real. Just have a feeling, too, that DJ and JT could mesh well as partners.

Phil Mickelson-Tony Finau: Who better to pair a Ryder Cup rookie bursting with talent than Lefty? Mickelson certainly knows what it’s like to be a hotshot young gun and has vast Ryder Cup experience, so he could serve as an extremely useful advisor in this pairing. I also think these two have like temperaments in that they like to think and play aggressive. They should fuel off each other, and with both in good form that is very dangerous for any opponent.

Bubba Watson-Rickie Fowler: You want Watson to feel comfortable, and he should with a friend and cool customer in Fowler. This group would have great chemistry, and if both are on form there may not be a team in this event that makes as many birdies.

EUROPE

Henrik Stenson-Justin Rose: That pairing that defeated Reed and Spieth with nine birdies in 14 holes? That would be Stenson and Rose, who demolished the pair 5 and 4 in that 2016 match. Overall, they are 4-2 together in the last two Ryder Cups and are as reliable a pair as any outside Spieth/Reed.

Rory McIlroy-Ian Poulter: This pairing has gone 1-0-1 in Ryder Cup competition. That win, if you recall, was the one that catalyzed the Miracle at Medinah in 2012, as Poulter birdied the final five holes in a Saturday afternoon four-ball match to give him and McIlroy a comeback 1-up win, cut the deficit to 10-6 and energize the Euros. McIlroy has really embraced playing the Ryder Cup with an outpouring of emotion and starred doing so in 2016. It’d be tough to find a more perfect pairing in that regard.

Paul Casey-Tommy Fleetwood: This would be similar to Stenson and Rose in the all-reliable mold. Fleetwood may be a rookie, but he has shown he can quickly get on track on big stages. Casey obviously has plenty of previous pedigree. This is not a duo you can fall asleep on for one second.

Jon Rahm-Tyrrell Hatton: This is probably my riskiest pairing choice, but it has high potential. These are both highly emotional young stars who could build off each others’ histrionics in the charged Ryder Cup atmosphere. Of course, there’s also the chance their incredible combination of emotion could lead to combustion. But it’s the Ryder Cup, go big or go home.

Alex Noren-Francesco Molinari: On the other side, this is the mellow pairing. Both players are stoic, like to play precise golf and tend to sneak under the radar. Together they make a dangerous and dangerously overlooked pairing.

Sergio Garcia-Thorbjorn Olesen: Remember when Garcia was a young up and comer who dominated in the Ryder Cup thanks in part to his incredible energy? Probably a good idea to pair the struggling Masters champion with someone who can bring back memories of that youthful exuberance. Rahm is a good candidate here then, but I like Olesen a little better. Rahm can get a little hard on himself, whereas Olesen can better provide that uplifting youthful energy that can help elevate Garcia. You also need someone in form here considering Garcia’s struggles, and Olesen is certainly that as he has four top-12 finishes in his last six starts.

SOURCE:  MSN

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