#c... can you do bleaching and dyeing at the same time...

[tremolo-legato-suckas]

god 🙏 grant me the grace 👼 not to get into english 🌍 pattern 🐝 piecing 🧩 because i'm fucking obssessed with rhys and his stupid adorable hexagon vest

[erimeows]

Dye

Saeyoung Choi is sick of having red hair. 

It’s three in the morning as the redhead stands in front of the mirror in his bathroom, golden eyes tired and body covered in nothing but a black tank-top and matching boxer shorts. He’s exhausted and should really be in bed considering that he has to take Saeran to therapy at eight, but his dreams have rendered him unable to sleep yet again. He drums his fingers against the edge of the marble that lines the counter, his eyes on the two boxes of bleach and the box of toner that are sat there. 

There’s a shower cap over his hair, that of which is soaking in a copious amount of coconut oil. It’s been that way for a few hours, just as the tutorial he googled at 12AM told him. As he follows the instructions on the first bottle of bleach to develop it before pulling out his phone and logging into the RFA chatroom. 

707 has entered the chatroom.

707: hey guys!

707: guess what

Yoosung☆: What is it Seven?

707: I’M DYEING MY HAIR

Jumin Han: Right now?

Yoosung☆: What color??

707: It’s a surprise!

707: d:

707: You’ll have to catch the glory of it in person next time you see me! I’m still working on it as we speak : D

ZEN: You have such a beautiful natural red that people would kill for and you’re over here dyeing it…

Seven feels his stomach drop at that, a little offended. He’s been wanting to dye his hair for years to escape the striking resemblance he has to his mother. After the new member joined the RFA and everything went to shit, leading to the discovery of Mint Eye and the retrieval of Saeran, things have calmed down somewhat. Saeran is back from the psychiatric ward he was placed in for a few months and is now living along with Seven and Vanderwood in Seven’s large home. The new member has settled into a comfortable romantic relationship with Jaehee (who deserves to be happy after all her years of servitude under Jumin) and helped the former assistant with her new coffee shop. Everything is peaceful and Seven has gotten a lot of closure regarding the situation (minus what has happened with V and Rika, who have been impossible for him to track down), and things are settling.

Seven is ready to escape the past somehow now that things have changed. What better way to do that than to change his classic look?

ZEN: Seven, I sure hope this is just one of your pranks. If not… RIP beautiful red hair T_T

Jumin Han: Seven.

And now Jumin’s there. 

Honestly, Seven didn’t expect for the older man to be online so late, but seeing his name pop up on the chat log makes him smile. While the rest of the RFA may see them as nothing more than friends, their relationship crossed into romantic territory a while ago and their one year anniversary is in less than two weeks. They’ve agreed that for both of their safety, it’s best to keep their relationship under wraps until everything settles down and Jumin inherits C&R from Chairman Han, but that doesn’t bother Seven too much. He’s used to keeping secrets, anyhow.

707: YES DADDY!?!??

ZEN: I suddenly feel very nauseous.

Yoosung☆: Same… ew. 

Jumin Han: Can I call you?

Seven’s heart skips a beat at that. 

707: Yes, daddy (;

Jumin Han: Don’t call me that here. You’re going to disturb the other members.

707: Fine, fine. Master it is, then!

707: Talk to you in a minute then, master Jumin (;

707 has left the chatroom.

Jumin Han has left the chatroom.

Yoosung☆: So are we just going to ignore all of that?

ZEN: For the sake of my sanity and mental health?

ZEN: Yeah

ZEN: We are going to ignore all of it.

Yoosung☆: Ight then ima dip.

Yoosung☆ has left the chatroom.

ZEN has left the chatroom. 

Seconds later, Seven’s phone starts to ring. He answers the call, sets it on speaker, and places the device face-up on the bathroom counter. Then, he puts on the gloves that came with the bleach and starts on his hair. Part of him thinks it’ll turn out great. The other part of him suspects that it’ll be ugly or botched enough for him to have to wear a wig over it, especially considering that his glasses are abandoned in his bedroom and he can hardly see anything.

“Jumin, why are you calling this early?” Seven asks and smiles when he hears Jumin’s low, sleepy voice on the other line.

“Is it early or is it late for you, Saeyoung? It sounds as if you’ve been awake all night,” Jumin subtly calls Seven out like he always does.

“You’re not wrong, but why are you awake?”

“Ah… I woke up on my own. I could sense that you were awake, waiting for me.”

Seven chuckles.

“I don’t know if that’s romantic or creepy.”

“Interpret it as you please, but did you mean what you said in the chatroom?”

“What, about calling you master?” Seven snarks with a quirked brow and starts to paint his hair with the bleach solution.

“No, about dyeing your hair.”

“Oh, yeah, no, I was a hundred percent serious! I’m actually doing it right now!”

“What color?”

“White.”

“...In one night? Won’t that damage it severely?”

Admittedly, Jumin has a point. Hair-bleaching is something you should go get done at a salon, and it’s also something you should only do once every few months to avoid damage to your hair. Bleaching it back to back comes with the risk of frying it off. Seven knows that. He just doesn’t care all that much.

“I don’t care if it does. Worst comes to worst, my hair starts falling out or turning brittle so I have to shave my head and wear a wig for a couple of months. I think I’ll live.”

“Alright, then…” Jumin trails off. There’s an awkward few seconds of silence that makes Seven wonder if the older man hung up until he looks down at the screen to see that the call is still going. Finally, Jumin speaks again. “Are you doing okay?”

“Hm? What do you mean?”

“You usually only make sudden, drastic changes to your physical appearance when you’re struggling mentally.”

Seven’s stomach drops at that- mostly because it’s true. He’s done crazy shit to his hair, pierced his own body, and gotten a variety of tattoos when under immense stress. Most of the time, he doesn’t regret any of it, but sometimes… Well, sometimes it’s gone terribly; an infected piercing here, an ugly tattoo there, the occasional hat-over-his-head-for-a-few-months. Still, he tries to deny it, because denying his problems is something that Seven is accustomed to.

“C’mon, Jumin! That’s ridiculous! When have I ever done that?”

“Well… Do you recall illegally buying a tattoo gun to tattoo your own chest a few years back?”

Seven flinches and thinks of touching his chest before realizing that his gloved hands are drenched in hair bleach. Still, he remembers it like yesterday- a shitty hand-done cross with crooked lines that he had to have covered up a few years later. The new piece is nice, the ugly cross turned into a cross-marked gravestone with flowers all over it to cover the bad line-work. Though he wouldn’t say it out loud, he wishes he’d never had any of it done in the first place.

“Yes, yes, I remember! Are you not going to let me live that down?”

“Considering that you cried and squeezed my hand so hard that you nearly broke the bones in it when I took you to go get a cover up done for it last year because of how badly it hurt? No, I’m not.”

“Okay, that was one time when I was like fifteen, and have you ever gotten a tattoo before? Yeah, I didn’t think so! Those bitches hurt!”

Seven can’t help but be defensive about it. After all, his least favorite thing in their relationship is when Jumin tries to scold and parent him like he’s a child. It’s embarrassing, especially coming from someone who didn’t have to grow up nearly as fast as he did- from someone who was handed a kind father and an entire empire from the very start instead of the shit hand that Seven got. And it’s true that Jumin is a responsible adult, much more responsible than Seven, but still. Seven is a prideful man who hates feeling like he’s being talked down to. 

“Alright, fine. How about the instance a couple years ago where you got snake bite piercings done on your tongue and complained afterwards because you couldn’t eat solid food for a week?”

Seven’s frustration quickly builds. Jumin won’t just drop the issue, nor will Jumin allow him so much as a moment to defend himself.

“That was-”

“And when you were eighteen and got gauges in your ears that you tried to upgrade too fast to the point where you had a gauge blowout?”

“Jumin, that’s different!” Seven exclaims.

“You still hide your ears with your hair because of that. Your earlobes are deformed around the holes because of it and they won’t close back. It’s serious,” Jumin continues, going on and on. Seven’s eyes flicker to the mirror and land on his ears, which are- as Jumin said- incredibly scarred and misshapen around the perimeter of his gauges. “And I know you haven’t changed since then, either. Right after we brought Saeran back, you went and pierced your own belly button and it still hasn’t fully healed. Remember when you had to take antibiotics for the infection that gave you?”

“I thought you said it looked good!”

“It does look good now that it’s not red and oozing with puss from a localized bacterial infection. I never said I didn’t like any of the things I’ve mentioned, just that they’ve been rash decisions made under intense stress that you’ve complained about or suffered because of later. I don’t want you going and dyeing your hair only to hate it or risk burning your scalp with bleach, but since you’ve already started the process, I suppose I can’t stop you… Saeyoung, you really need to go to a professional next time.”

“Really? You’re going to judge me for this?”

“I’m not judging you, I’m concerned. There’s a difference.”

“Fine, Jumin… If you’re going to be like that-”

“Saeyoung,” Jumin cuts him off once more, but this time, his tone is much softer. The tension seeps from Seven’s body as the ravenette tries to calm him down. “I’m not judging you. What you’re doing is an unhealthy coping mechanism of yours and I’m trying to make you aware of it so you don’t go and do it again. I’ll stop talking about it if it’s upsetting you so much, but please bring it up to your therapist at your next appointment and get her input.”

“Yeah, okay,” Seven replies. He’s sure it sounds sarcastic, because in all honesty, he didn’t want to hear any of the rants that Jumin just went on about his bad coping mechanisms. Part of getting closer to the RFA and maintaining close personal relationships is accepting concern from others, though, even if it’s expressed in a way that he doesn’t always like. “...Thank you for worrying.”

“What’s got you so stressed out?”

“Who said I’m stressed out?”

“Well, you’re up past three in the morning dyeing your hair. You know you can tell me, Saeyoung.”

Seven sighs and finishes covering his hair in the bleach, careful to cover it so the color develops properly. Then, he answers Jumin’s question while disposing of his gloves and sitting on the bathroom counter. 

“It’s Saeran… He was doing pretty good for a few week stint there, going on walks with me and coming out for meals, but he’s been getting bad again over the last couple days and I’m scared he’s going into a depressive episode. Any time I go to check on him he ignores me or tells me to go away.”

“Can you not just go into his room?”

And of course Jumin would say that because he doesn’t understand being mentally ill- at least not in the way that Saeran is. Since the younger man has moved in with Seven, it’s been a relief, but it’s also been difficult. Between making sure Saeran eats, drinks, showers, and goes to therapy, Seven is starting to crumble. On top of that, following RFA’s party, he hasn’t been able to track down V or RIka- so God knows what they’re up to. 

“Not really? It’s a fine balance, you know! That’s his safe space, I don’t want to invade it unless it’s a life or death situation,” Seven explains. He remembers clearing out his old work room and setting it up for Saeran before he came home from the psychiatric ward. It looks completely different with a brand new bed, a desk, a television, bookshelves, and curtains that weren’t there before. Unfortunately, even though Seven offered to take Saeran to buy decorations and help him personalize it, Saeran hasn’t taken him up on the offer. So, the room has remained incredibly bland and bleak. “I told him that the room I gave him is his to decorate and live in as he pleases and that I won’t go in there without his permission. Plus, he’s an adult… He’s capable of making his own decisions! I can’t infantalize him just because he’s struggling with his mental health. I mean, I’m almost as bad as he is, I just… He’s been through more, and he hasn’t had the chance to really live as his own person- as an adult- like I have.”

“I don’t think it’s fair to either of you for you to compare traumas. Don’t think like that.”

Suddenly, the conversation is far too tense and far more personal than it should be. Seven is at a point where he doesn’t really need to do anything but wait for a half hour to wash the bleach out of his hair, but he figures he can use it as an excuse to hang up on his overly-concerned boyfriend.

“You’re right. Well, I’m going to get off here and finish my hair! I’m pretty sure by the time it develops and everything, I’ll have to take Saeran to his weekly therapy session, so I’ve gotta haul ass.”

“Alright, then. I look forward to seeing how it turns out,” Jumin responds. Seven can hear his smile through the phone. “I love you, Saeyoung.”

“I love you, too… Jumin. Go back to bed and get some rest if you can.”

“I’ll try. Talk to you soon, then.”

Then, Jumin hangs up, leaving Seven with no one but himself and this bleached hair that he’s sure to regret.

Somehow, with enough bleach, a shit ton of toner, and probably a pound of coconut oil, Seven manages to get his hair bright white without making it fall out. Unfortunately, it leaves him with so little time that he can’t even spare half an hour to get a nap in. When he approaches Saeran’s door around 7AM, he’s exhausted and a little loopy.

He knocks, his fist lightly tapping the wood three times. No response. After a couple minutes, he knocks again. Still no response. 

“Saeran, are you awake?” Seven asks, to which Saeran snaps at him.

“What do you want?”

“We need to go to your therapy appointment! C’mon, let’s go- we’re gonna be late if we don’t leave in the next ten minutes!”

“I already texted my therapist,” Seven’s stomach drops at those words. It makes sense that Saeran wants to skip after the decline he’s had over the past few days. It’s frustrating. All he wants is for Saeran to feel better and it just can’t happen fast enough. “I’m not going today.” 

“What? Saeran, we talked about this! You can’t just skip therapy because you don’t feel like going- hell, the times you don’t want to go are the times you need to the most! You have to be consistent if you want to feel better,” The words are met with silence. Seven lets out a groan. Sometimes, he wishes Saeran would argue or scream or hit rather than just close himself off entirely. Part of him wants nothing more than for Saeran to take out all of the pent up sorrow and rage he’s been bottling up on him. But it doesn’t work like that, and neither does Saeran. The only thing that will make things better is time and effort, and Seven knows that. He has to be patient. “Okay, fine. Did you at least schedule a virtual appointment for today.”

“No.”

Seven frowns and holds his head in his hands. His long, shaky fingers tangle in his hair. The wavy locks are totally fried.

“Okay, did you take your meds?”

“No, now fuck off!”

“Wow, um… Sure, I guess! I’m going out for a bit,” Seven says and clears his throat. He’s embarrassed, uncomfortable, and confused. He’s tried to do everything right, but he can’t make Saeran happy by himself and it’s killing him. “Vanderwood’s here if you need anything, or if you don’t feel comfortable asking him, you can just call me. I love you!”

Seven receives no response. Dejected, he decides he’ll at least try to get out of the house. Maybe seeing Zen will lift his spirits…

~

Zen is working on a new movie, so Seven goes to see the actor on set whenever it’s time for his lunch break. How he gets in without clearance, none of them need to know. He knocks on the door of Zen’s large dressing room and barges in before he gets an answer. Zen, who is sitting at the vanity doing his makeup, spins around in his chair after nearly jabbing his eye out with an eyeliner pencil to face Seven with a pointed look.

“Zen!” Seven greets excitedly and stands in the doorway.

“Wow, Seven! I didn’t recognize you for a second there, uh,” Zen looks a little guilty, but that doesn’t stop him from saying the following words as he points to Seven’s hair. “Please tell me that’s a wig.”

“No, it’s not! I dyed it, remember?” Seven reminds him, just hoping that he forgot the conversation from the chatroom last night. Though, he suspects that Zen remembers and just hates how it looks. “C’mon, don’t tell me it’s that bad!”

“It’s not bad, per say… Just doesn’t work with your skin tone. I liked the red a lot better.”

At that, Seven sighs and tries to change the subject. So Zen doesn’t like his hair. With such a sudden change, and with Zen being so particular about beauty, it makes sense. So what? Surely, someone else will like it. Despite the awkward feelings of hurt and rejection that swirl around in the pit of his stomach, Seven plasters on a smile and asks Zen about his upcoming role. 

That night is LOLOL night with Yoosung. Seven almost forgets that it’s happening until he’s reminded with an ‘omw’ text from Yoosung half an hour before it’s supposed to start. He panics and thinks of just canceling it, citing some fake illness or emergency, but then he remembers that Yoosung is one of the few people who can actually get Saeran out of his room. So, he sends back a simple text saying ‘okay’, sets up snacks and drinks at the coffee table, gets his PC set up in the living room, and shoots Saeran a text to let him know that Yoosung will be there.

Right around eight, Yoosung shows up. Seven answers the door and excitedly greets his good friend while leaning against the doorway.

“Hey, Yoosung, you ready for LOLOL night? I’ve got Honey Buddha chips and PHD Pepper set up at the coffee table and-!”

“Seven, what’d you do to your hair?” Yoosung asks with wide violet eyes as he reaches forward and touches one of the dry, bright white strands.

“I dyed it last night, remember? Pretty snazzy, huh? What do you think?”

“No offense, but it looks pretty weird on you! Can’t say I ever expected you to go white,” Yoosung mutters and walks past Seven and into the living room. Seven shuts and locks the door behind them, then goes with Yoosung to the living room couch. The two men sit together with Yoosung still talking about Seven’s new look as he digs his own laptop out of his school backpack. “You even did your brows! You really gotta give us a warning, man, I thought I was having an aneurysm or something when I saw you with white hair!”

“...Huh,” Seven disguises a frown with a fake smile, nothing new. He expected Zen to dislike his new hair, but Yoosung, too? It makes him anxious. If those two have already reacted so badly (i.e. clearly being taken aback and not liking it, but trying to feign that it’s not terrible even though they clearly think it is), what will Jaehee, Jumin, and Saeran say when they see it? “Well, that aside, have you made any progress on that game event yet?”

“Oh, yeah, that reminds me! I…”

Yoosung opens his laptop to show Seven his progress on the event, excitedly rambling with a grin that Seven can’t help but find endearing- a grin that Saeran would find endearing, too, if he would’ve responded to Seven’s text and surfaced from his room instead of leaving the former agent on read. 

Seven opens his laptop as well, and with that, LOLOL night starts- even without Saeran.

~~

Saeran never does surface from his room for LOLOL night, much to Seven’s surprise. He figures that the younger man’s depression must be pretty bad right now, but at the very least, there’s signs that he’s alive (the occasional shuffling noise, leaving Seven’s texts on read, etc.), so Seven is relieved.

Still, he’s worried, and he misses his little brother’s face. With Yoosung’s presence not working to draw Saeran out, and with Seven’s attempts at texting Saeran or visiting his room working to draw Saeran out, he decides he’ll do the next best thing; lure Saeran out with ice cream and coffee. Having not seen the former assistant in a while anyway, Seven goes to Jaehee’s coffee shop. 

When Seven opens the front door, a bell rings. Jaehee, whose hair has grown out to her shoulders, rushes to the counter. Though there are plenty of people seated in the cafe who are enjoying their drinks and sweet treats, no one is in line, so Seven approaches the register to talk to her.

“Jaehee, how are ya?” He asks, but he doesn’t get an answer- instead, he gets a comment (or a few) about his newly dyed hair.

“Oh my, Seven… You’ve dyed your hair,” Jaehee reaches out with her perfectly manicured, coffee-brown finger nails. The paint on them is glossy and covered in a light sheen of glitter clear coat. It’s clear that she wants to touch Seven’s hair, but she doesn’t, probably realizing just how impolite it is. Jaehee allows her hands to fall to her side as she continues. “I saw that you’d mentioned it in the chat room the other night, but I honestly thought it was just one of your pranks. Is that permanent dye, or…?”

“It is,” Seven nods. “I guess you’re the only one who hasn’t seen it yet, huh?”

“It’s quite… Different,” Jaehee says with a forced smile, to which Seven gasps and exclaims-

“Oh, come on, Jaehee, don’t tell me you hate it too!”

“No, no, I think you did a good job,” Jaehee frantically rushes to correct herself, even if it’s already too late. It’s obvious that she doesn’t like it, just like Zen and Yoosung. “It’ll just take some getting used to. It works for you, really.”

“...Thanks,” “Can I just get a large caramel frappe, a pint of the homemade vanilla bean ice cream, and a medium iced mocha with a breakfast sandwich to go?”

“Of course,” Jaehee nods, but doesn’t ring anything up. She turns to make the drinks, grab the breakfast sandwich from the warmer, and remove a pint of her homemade ice cream from the small freezer behind the counter. She slides everything forward to Seven with the drinks in a carrier, a smile on her face. “Here you go.”

“How much? You forgot to ring me up.”

Jaehee shakes her head.

“It’s on the house. Tell Saeran and Vanderwood that I said hello.”

“Will do,” Seven grins back and takes the items, ready to head home to his brother and former handler with the treats. “See ya later!”

Upon arriving home, Seven labels the medium iced mocha and the paper wrapper that covers the breakfast sandwich with Vanderwood’s name and a little note so he can put them in the fridge for the older man to have whenever he returns from whatever it is he’s out doing. Next, carries the pint of homemade vanilla bean ice cream and the large caramel frappe along with a spoon to Saeran’s bedroom door.

“Hey, little bro,” Seven knocks. “You holding up okay in there?”

“Don’t call me that… And I’m fine, leave me alone.”

“Saeran… I want you to be happy, but I can’t let you stay in that room forever. I’m starting to get worried about you,” Seven insists as if he isn’t already worried about Saeran when, honestly, he’s worried to death.

“I said to leave me alone!” Saeran yells back.

“Please, Saeran, it’s been days! When’s the last time you’ve eaten? Please, just talk to me… All I want to do is help…” Seven trails off, then sighs. A pit of sadness pools in the bottom of his stomach as tears fill his golden eyes. “Look, you don’t have to come all the way out, and you don’t have to let me in, but I brought you breakfast from Jaehee. I even got you your favorite coffee and something sweet so you’d eat. Just come open the door enough to grab it from me, you don’t have to do anything else. I promise.”

“And you’re not going to drag me out or try to force your way in?”

“Of course not,” Seven relents, as tempting as the idea is. “I want you to trust me.”

“Fine, give me a sec,” Seven hears some shuffling, which is followed by footsteps. The door opens and Saeran is on the other side, matching eyes bloodshot and tired, white and red hair matted, and skin pale. It looks like he’s lost a few pounds, but he’s alive, and he’s okay. Seven expects Saeran to snatch the ice cream and the coffee out of his hands, which does happen, but it’s not immediately followed by Saeran slamming the door shut. Instead, Saeran looks up at him as if he’s grown another head. “...You dyed your hair. Why? Why the fuck did you dye your hair?”

Saeran doesn’t look like he hates it, at least not immediately. He just appears curious. Seven smiles and starts to explain.

“I was getting sick of the red… Makes me look too much like Mom, y’know. It sucks hating what’s in the mirror just because of the past.”

“Okay, but why did you make it the same color as mine?” Saeran asks with narrowed eyes.

“It looked good on you- thought it’d look good on me, too,” Seven explains.

“It looks stupid. You should’ve gone pink or black or something… Would’ve suited you more.”

The words hurt more than they should. It’s just hair dye. Seven likes it, he’s liked it since he did it. But everyone else’s opinions matter to him more than they should, and his feelings are hurt, especially when Saeran slams the door shut in his face with not another word.

“...At this point, I’m not even surprised anymore,” Seven deadpans and turns to walk down the hallway and back to his own bedroom. “Oh well.”

“Seven,” Vanderwood greets lowly. He almost walks right past Seven, at least until he stops in his tracks and stares down at the younger man with a baffled expression. “What the hell is going on with your hair?”

“Don’t even ask, Vanderwood, I’m not in the mood.”

WIth that, Seven storms off to his bedroom, so frustrated with the reactions he’s gotten to his new hair that he decides he’ll just have to cut it all off.

~~~

That night, Jumin stays over. Seven supposes he didn’t think it through very well, but as soon as the older man fell asleep, he finds himself sneaking to the master bathroom. Leaving the door unlocked, he flicks on the lights, plugs in his electric razor, and grabs a pair of hair scissors from the drawer. He’ll have to cut off all the longer parts, then tackle what’s left with the razor. After that, he’ll wear a wig for a few weeks until it grows back red- the only color that looks good on him, apparently.

To his surprise, though, despite Jumin having an incredibly long work day, he wakes up and walks into the bathroom to lean back against the wall. Seven sees him, not because he turns around, but because the ravenette aligns perfectly with the mirror that Seven is currently using as visual aid while he holds the scissors up to the first strand he plans to cut off.

“Saeyoung,” Jumin starts, voice groggy. He’s dressed in his blue and white striped satin pajamas, fully finished with that silly pajama hat that Seven makes fun of every once in a blue moon. His dark eyes are full of sleep and his long arms are crossed over his narrow chest. “What exactly are you doing?”

“Cutting my hair.”

“Why? I thought you trimmed the ends when you dyed it last week.”

“I did.”

“Then why are you cutting it now?”

“Honestly, Jumin, I don’t want to talk about it,” Seven frowns. The thought of how everyone- Zen, Yoosung, Saeran, Vanderwood, and Jaehee- reacted to his new hairstyle, it bothers him. As used as he is to them teasing him for his weird personality and silly jokes, he doesn’t like it when his appearance is judged like this, even if they don’t mean to offend him. “Please just let me shave my hair off in peace.”

“...Saeyoung, put the scissors down for a moment and listen to me,” Jumin sighs, and Seven listens. He sets the hair scissors down on top of the bathroom counter and turns around to face his lover. “I don’t know what inner turmoil you’re going through, and I don’t know what you’re thinking right now. What I do know is you’re stressed, which is probably why you made such a big change in the first place… But I like it. I think you did an excellent job with your hair. Please, don’t cut it off just because everyone else is struggling to get used to it.”

“Jumin, everyone hates it! I’ve had multiple people tell me it looks weird or stupid since I did it, and I know they’re not wrong. At this point, I may as well just chop the shit off and start over.”

“That’s a terrible idea and you know it, because if you cut it off, tomorrow you’re going to be complaining that you’re bald,” Jumin points out, and it’s true. Even if he wears a wig for a while, he’ll hate the way he looks without it; he’s tried shaving his head a handful of times and it never looks proper because of his head shape. “It looks fine, you can’t blame everyone for struggling to adjust to it. After all, we’ve only ever seen you with bright red hair before this- minus the occasional wig. Give it a few more weeks. If you don’t like it after that, you can dye it back to what it was or dye it another color, or even shave your head if you so please. Just don’t go and make a rash decision about your appearance because things haven’t been going well lately.”

“...You’re right,” Seven admits and reaches out to unplug the electric razor. “But you should probably hide the scissors and the razor from me for at least a month. I may get tempted when you’re not here to stop me.”

“Fine. I can do that much after you fall asleep tonight.”

“Thanks.”

Seven moves to push past Jumin and go back to the bedroom to sleep with his sad, ugly white hair, only to get caught by the wrist. He looks over his shoulder and sees Jumin staring down at him with a small smile.

“Saeyoung, wait,” Jumin murmurs and leans down to press a kiss into his hair. Seven’s heart skips a beat at the gesture of affection. “I do mean what I said. You look beautiful. I love the white more than I thought I would when you told me about it over the phone.”

“Thanks, Jumin,”

“Hey, I have an idea,”

“And what would that be?”

“...Got any more of that bleach? Perhaps a makeover for me would distract the RFA from your new look.”

At that, Seven smiles and starts to dig through his bathroom cabinet for the last bottle of bleach.

[mejomonster]

Hair color correction notes ToT

So hair has been bleached, and now it's over fried and grey because even the pale banana yellow has been stripped out.

Options:

1. Do a color remover method such as a. Vitamin c/dandruff shampoo/dish soap, that ion water mix color remover, or another light blonde box dye (9 1/2 or lighter) if hair may be grey because it over absorbed an ash tone. If one of these works, and you have hair with at least a slight gold base again? Use wella 7N natural dark blonde on the roots. Apply to roots, then use thin tooth comb to brush the color down just slightly to blur the line between colors. Put conditioner on the lighter blonde lengths. USE PROTEIN FILLER PLEASE OR YOUR LIGHT BLONDE WILL GET FUCKING GREY AGAIN. If you want to put a particular color on the lengths, I recommend level 9NG wella permanent if some slight gold needs to be added/protected in the lengths.

2. So you did step 1 above and it was fucked. Or you did not do step 1 above because it's white/grey because there's just no fucking gold base left. Even after a color removing method, your hair is just white/grey. Go get the Clairol Advanced Grey Semi Permanent dyes. Mix 10/4 ratio (it can be any ratio just make sure the gold color is the larger amount) 6G with 6N dye. Mix the dyes with conditioner until the color is as LIGHT as you would like. Put this mostly gold/slightly neutral color mixture into the fucked up hair. This mixture should ADD gold back in (thank fuck). The ratio can be adjusted if you need more ash tones, or more gold, or darker or lighter. This is a good method to give your hair a darker base color again if say you're trying to go from base blonde to brown ultimately. Anyway, so you've mixed 6G/6N (at level 8 blonde lightness) and now have mostly neutral colored hair. If your roots are too warm at this point? Use 5A (light ash brown) mixed with 6N and apply to roots. If you want the color to be a bit lighter than level 6 on the roots, apply conditioner until the color is light enough (which in my case was 5A/6N equal ratio with a little conditioner to level 7 lightness). Okay, so now you've got roughly neutral toned hair all over. Wooh!

3. What if last step, 2, came out overall too ashy? It DID add some gold so you're back in a natural haircolor range. But it's not gold ENOUGH. You look washed out. You know this ashy is still going to affect future colors? Or you fucked up and darkened your hair with the semi permanent dyes by going too dark (just a little too dark though like you're level 7-8 blonde now instead of the goal of level 7 roots and level 9-10 ends). Or you just want to permanently make your hair a natural color, now that the base color has been put back into a roughly natural range with the semi permanent dyes? That's me NOW lmao.

Slap some 9NG wella in that baby! Put it primarily in the lengths and where ashy buildup is (about 2 inches from the root), leave it on as long as you'd leave on dye for grey coverage (since it will work on the grey hairs longer), so around 45 minutes. About 15-20 minutes before you'll rinse, put the last of the 9NG you mixed into the roots. If you want the roots to be closer to the same color as the rest of the hair, or lighten it a little, or bring that same neutral warm tone up to them too. (Wella 9NG worked excellent on my hair and I think next time I might just use that on my fucking roots too and avoid this kind of mess of a process in the future lol)

The left was after the semi permanent dyes (6N/6G with conditioner on lengths and 5A/6N with conditioner on roots). A roughly natural shade color was reached, but was slightly too ashy and green for my taste. The right picture is after the 9NG wella permanent dye. The color is a bit golder with a bit less green. While also looking like a natural shade, not super gold to the point of looking brassy.

And final result o3o)/

[surveillance-0011]

More. More headcanon

Human AU: Harper, Sweezy, Gus all dye their hair often. Kenny, Douglas and Giblets do so occasionally. Mona bleaches his hair.

Lizzie’s hair is also bleached but. Liek. Duh!!

BH has gotten into the habit of swaddling the gatlians up in blankets (with permission/on their request ofc) and pampering them on days off between bounties n shit

They are a little worried every now and then about what exactly is respectful to the gatlians and they don't wanna get into the habit of treating them more like pets or anything like that but. Hand made to cherish friends and treat them right. and in the end the gats would certainly let BH know if anything was too much

BH and Lizzie used to play flash games on their parents’ computer and get viruses trying to download cartoons and music when they were younger

They also played video games and generally spent a lot more time together when they were younger.

Lizzie’s friend Jen is still alive and ok I’m coping I’m seething I’m malding

Jorb becomes one of Globo’s biggest fans

Blorto has killed a man. Or two or three. He is not proud of this but he is not against killing again if need be.

Douglas likes shaved ice. He’s also fond of freeze dried candies + treats but everyone else at the cartel does the thing parents do where you say you like something like once offhand and then all the sudden to them this is all you’ve ever known. And he just doesn’t get it. At least that’s a good thing to have stocked up if need be?

If there anything he does rlly like like that it’s 1) alcohol and partying and 2) torturing people and 3) (older usually) sci fi movies. Also likes to take notes from horror and thriller movies. Guy Who Has Watched Every Saw Movie.

Douglas is probably not his birth name, I think he’s changed his name a couple of times in his life before he settled down with the cartel. Settled down is such a gentle way to say that idk. Idk. Shrug shrug shrug. Idk

The officers meet when they can, usually bimonthly probably? Monthly? Depends on who is available? But will convene for important events and anything that comes up. They’ve also celebrated important business milestones and some holidays together. I am visualizing a hella rad New Year’s party but considering every planet’s probably in another year it’s probably some other standard annual thing. Anniversary of their founding? Sure. I like that.

Otherwise? Garm and Nips spend a lot of time together, p much daily. Skrendels r always down to chill outside of work if things r going good. And likewise Douglas can and will party down so he’s out with them like half the time. (The other half he's wherever doing god knows what) Krubis used to do the same but has gradually just kinda been bogged down with work though they’ve all dragged him out with em a couple times.

Krubis also tends to cross paths with the Skrendels every now and then when his operations get close ish to the laboratories. And sometimes Giblets is unavoidable. unfortunately

But giblets rlly is a hermit. Used to be a bit more sociable but he only really does what he has to do then fucks right off to do. Whatever he does. Shrug.

Gurgula is also off doing his own thing outside of any crucial contact bc he can’t afford to be caught red handed. But he’s been to at least one party/night out/etc etc etc and. Well. What happens in Dreg Town stays in Dreg Town.

Garmantuous’s vision is best in the eye on the stalk.

Gatlian mouth perfect shape for ice cream I am going to feed them all ice cream. and other assorted snacks

Kenny is the sort of guy to have a thousand half finished water bottles by his bed

I think he likes salty snacks also. Chips. And I think he’d like straight up dry ramen crushed up with the seasoning on top. And gummies sour gummies but he also looks like a big gummy to me so maybe that’s just me

Gus and Sweezy are pretty damn close and generally get along well. Gus gets she's just a tougher person and also has had 2 be more callous to survive but still calls her out on any total bullshit and meanwhile she's glad to have someone who's a lot more chill in her corner after so much time w/ douglas and they generally just. rlly understand each other and understand what the other has experienced. and theyre a lil like. when mr krabs and squidward are kind of bitchy together. they get to be a lil mean as a treat they've earned it.

I mean Gus. is chill very chill and i think he's a pretty nice guy but he's not one to stand for any bullshit. Don't try to trick him or push him around or anything like that. And he can get pretty annoyed by lots of general inconveniences but sometimes he does hold his tongue a lil.

And Sweezy is sweezy and encourages him to be a bit more "up front" about any grievances.

you'll usually hear em both riffing on / making fun of and complaining about different bounty targets once the work is all said and done and they'll do the same for any annoying people they gotta deal with

May be too early to say anything but I think they both get a long w/ harper well too. so far <_< ... >_> don't let me jinx this. They're both supportive and relatively welcoming even though it took her a while to get acclimated and though creature is also as nice as he can be he tends to make her accidentally feel worse by bringing up kenny + her just kinda being here so she's generally more comfortable around the two of them as she feels they see her for who she really is or at least give her an easier time. though some of that is bc even after working on forgiving Kenny and rebuilding their bond things were still a bit uneasy.

Though I am sure Harper and Creature eventually sort out their issues bc in the end it's mostly creature genuinely struggling with social stuff and it just so happens what he does way is stuff that is still a sensitive spot for Harper and eventually they'll reach that middle ground. Eventually. But Harper doesn't hate him or anything she just gets frustrated with him easily and feels bad abt it bc she knows he's just kind of Like This and that's really the G3's fault.

Gus Sweezy and Creature have filled in each other (mainly the former two remind the latter about stuff and in turn he says little details he remembers) and the other Gatlians in on a lot of G3 officer drama.

BH really wishes everything on Earth clears up soon and things are relatively easy to rebuild n shit bc they really want to show the Gatlians Knifey and Gene cool stuff from home.

Im under the impression dead tweeg is canon path?

Idk if Ranchy is still alive after being warped into the middle of wherever the fuck on Zephyr but I. I think it would be so awesome it would be so cool if he came back to give us hell ✨

Other misc HOL hcs that im just putting in the same post bc why not

Douglas is capable of driving and has a motorbike. Probably wrecked it some time before the game's events and it's in the shop or something. Not like he should be allowed on the road considering he's usually. Well. Yknow. Decent driver when he's sober though.

Also his lil fins flop down when he is sad tired or sick

Angela wears colored contacts. His actual eye color is purple (like in the concept art + model in the art book).

Krubis did try to crash the wedding between his wife and Giblets. it was a whole thing within the g3 for like a month or so

Mux owns the space versions of twitter and tiktok alongside Muxxalon. Muxxalon also has a streaming service full of very, very trashy and unoriginal content.

Moplets and Furgles share a common ancestor and are part of the same order. It's like humans in comparison to lemurs.

Furgles are often used in experiments not just by the G3 but in the scientific world as a whole for the same reasons animals like rats and fruit flies are used (simple, still adjacent/similar enough to sapient species, shorter lives which means more generations to be studied in a shorter amount of time)

Krubis skateboarded as a teen/young adult.

Giblets would kill a man for a white chocolate mocha. He has killed for a white chocolate mocha. He will kill again. Posthumously, even. Don’t fucking test him

Garmantuous’s species starts off as aquatic nymphs that resemble joints. They’re very small but grow to the huge size they are in game.

Gene deals with chronic pain from overexertion during his line of work and phantom + growing pains in his legs.

Knifey, pre-DLC, felt distant from the others. Initially it was all just work but seeing the bond between the Bounty Hunter and the Gatlians form + Gene start caring for other people again made him feel a lil left out

Granted it was not like he talked much to others and for a while he didn’t gaf at all but ig when he saw it all he eventually took a chance for a change of scene. He didn’t realize everyone else kinda counted him in, in the end

Either way he’s usually the type not to talk unless someone talks to him first or if it’s about stabbing and maiming killing etc etc etc or something he needs. Gradually opening up more but he’s actually pretty quiet on a day to day basis

Helen ends up working with Gurgula as a secretary/record keeper (squanch games please keep this gag running I beg of you)

[wizardouxie]

PANTONE 2046 C

Genre: Fluff, #ZoeAppreciationWeek

Pairing: Zouxie

Summary: The Pink Hair Origin Story (alternatively also the Blue Hair Origin Story)

Word Count: 2788

Author's Note: First day of Zoe Appreciation Week! Wanted to participate so have this not so little one shot to showcase our lovely pink haired witch <3

"Wow, the dye came out really nicely," Zoe murmurs as Douxie exits the bathroom, his hair freshly blown dry -- from its tips to the full bangs dipped in a deep yet striking blue. He smiles widely at the quiet compliment and waves over to Archie.

"How does it look Arch?" they ask, though the answer is pretty clear, if Archie's fond gaze is anything to go by. The familiar flies in to nuzzle his face.

"Dashing as ever, Douxie."

Zoe leans back into the couch with content, taking in the beautiful sight that is her best friend. She did really good. The faint buzz of adrenaline lingers on the pads of her fingers. Right, she forgot. That was her first time.

"Are. You. Crazy? I've never even dyed hair before!" the natural brown haired girl hissed. She begrudgingly wiped the bubblegum that had exploded over her lips -- a result from the initial shock when Douxie first made his request. Granted, she felt honored that they would come to her before anyone else, but still! She can't risk ruining his hair, she doesn't have experience, plus the hair salon could totally do it better and-

"I'd rather it be you than anyone else," the wizard confirmed firmly. Zoe turned to the familiar. Surely the cat who lived with this stubborn kid could knock some sense into them. Archie could only provide a shrug in response.

"They're pretty sure about this."

She groaned.

"Fine, fine! But give me a few days unless you want me to pick out the wrong dye and end up with neon green."

[ 1 Week Later ]

Zoe couldn't keep track of just how many hair channels and blogs she'd gone through. She mimicked their hand movements, using cheap wigs and mannequin heads to simulate the experience. Through it all, one voice echoed the same message: "You can't mess this up."

She bought all the necessary tools. Gloves, hair clips, bleach, foil, just to name a few. Oh, and of course the dye -- though you'll be surprised how one can forget the simplest things while getting caught up in trying to memorize everything. Blue, Douxie had asked for. But what kind of blue? Sky blue? Cobalt? Midnight? Which one? She pinched the bridge of her nose before angrily texting the wizard. It went a little something like this:

DOUX: go with whatever you think will look good! i'm fine with anything tbh :]

ZOE: i Hate you so much

DOUX: ??? WHY

ZOE: IDK SHIT ABOUT HAIR DYE HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO KNOW WHAT LOOKS GOOD

DOUX: let's talk about this in person before you electrocute your phone again

ZOE: you won't let me live that down will you

DOUX: you know me so well ;)

She shoved the phone back in her pocket. There's no way she was actually doing this for him.

She was.

"Are you absolutely sure you want to do this?" she asked for what would be around the 73rd time. Douxie pulled his face down with both hands.

"Ugh, the answer is still yes, love. I'm not asking you to dye the whole thing, just the front part, bangs and sides."

She rolls her eyes at the nickname and smacks the clean brush against his head. She smiles at the little 'ow' that Douxie lets out with a pout. Hm, cute.

"Alright, but don't start moping around if it doesn't come out the way you wanted it!"

"Nothing that a little magic can't fix if it gets to that point. Which I hardly believe it will."

And now here they are.

Douxie crashes on the couch with Zoe, slinging an arm over her shoulders. She raises an eyebrow at the sudden physical touch, but it's never unwelcome. Not when it comes to him.

"You know of all human creations, I gotta say, this one really takes the cake," they start and Zoe snorts.

"You say that about nearly everything."

"Can you blame me?"

She looks at them and no, she really can't. In fact, she finds herself agreeing with him. He looks... really nice. A faint blush spreads over her face; not that it is noticeable by any means -- the two of them happen to have done this dying process starting from the evening to night, so the dim lights in her home do little to highlight her features. This is still her Douxie, lovable guitarist and wizard nerd who cares about everyone. Yet there was something about the hair dye that changed things up a bit. Something good, naturally.

The two of them fall into a comfortable silence, doing whatever is usually available. Sometimes it's texting, scrolling through social media, or listening to music. Other times it's zoning off and reminiscing about the past.

Zoe decides to go for her phone, unconscious of the way her hand finds its way into Douxie's hair, carding through the locks and untangling them with nimble fingers. It's peaceful. Maybe even a little too peaceful, considering the two of them are adrenaline junkies.

"Douxie, I can hear you thinking..." she begins. It's a common way to start the conversation between them, and oftentimes she's right.

He turns around, her hand still in his hair, but enough to meet her eyes. Their own eyes look serious and her heart sinks. Were they not happy with their hair?

The answer is quite the opposite.

"You ever considered dying your hair too? Maybe we can match."

The untangling stops.

And then the tugging starts.

"Ow ow ow-"

"Hisirdoux Casperan you are a menace to society."

She does though. She considers it for weeks. Of course, Douxie doesn't push; it's her hair at the end of the day, she can do whatever she likes. But after seeing how well she did with the wizard, she kinda felt excited. She definitely can't forget the exhilaration she felt when she saw people compliment Douxie at Benoit's or at the GDT book store. Her heart started beating faster when he looked back at her with a proud smile on his face-- damn that wizard, they told the others that she did it for them, didn't they?

After a few days, a young girl in a cap comes up to her at the record store. Probably from Arcadia High, if her backpack stacked with books is any indication.

"Hi! I'm Claire. Claire Nuñez," the girl starts. Zoe raises an eyebrow in interest.

"Hey Claire. What can I get you?" she asks, raising a flask to her lips. There's no water. Damn.

"Um, it's not really a standard request, but um, I was wondering if you could dye my hair?"

Zoe chokes on her water. Dye her what?

"Kid, are you new here? This is a records store. I can give you the direction to the hair salon it's really not that far."

"No, no, no! It's just, this guy got their hair dyed and I asked if he did it himself and they said you did it for them so I came to you. It's nothing too big! Just a strand really," Claire rambles. She gestures to the invisible front of her hair, currently tucked away behind the cap, outlining it with her fingers. The hedge witch groans.

"That would be Douxie. Now, here's the thing I don't do this for just anyone. Douxie happens to be a close friend so what I did was a little gift for him. I don't even know you, so what do I get out of this?"

Claire pales.

"Uh, $20? I know a full head of hair costs way more but like I said, just a strand..."

Zoe's stomach rumbles in response. She had $5 currently in her wallet which could buy a snack at most. She pinches the bridge of her nose.

"Ugh, you're lucky I'm hungry. Catch me after my shift is done okay? And I only got one color on me, which is blue, you good with that? Otherwise bring your own."

"Yes of course, of course! Thank you so much."

"Yeah, yeah, now scram if you're not here to buy anything."

"Oh actually, I was wondering if you had anything Papa Skull released recently!"

Curse this girl and her good taste in music.

[ 45 minutes later; 2:00 PM ]

"Thank you for doing this by the way," Claire starts. Zoe waves it off. She doesn't really know why she agreed to this. Well kind of. She wanted to eat. But besides that, she also was curious to see if she could satisfy another "customer". Hair dying was never a profession she had properly considered and right now? It doesn't hurt to entertain a thought.

"Alright so I have the bleach, you'll need to let that set in and keep that before dying the strand you want. We can even add toner to neutralize the color post bleaching if necessary," she lists off. Claire shakes her head.

"That won't be necessary!"

The girl pulls off her cap and surely enough, there's a light blonde lock, similar to Douxie's, just a little lighter. Zoe's impressed.

"Well that definitely makes my job easier. Especially since this is my second time."

"Wait, second time?"

"You didn't know?"

"No?"

"Of course Douxie leaves that part out. You want out? I'll pay you back the $20 in four days."

"No, I trust you."

Zoe always believed that she had tough and cold demeanor. Clearly she's doing something wrong if people are finding her trustworthy just by looking at one dye job.

"Alright then, here we go! Don't say I didn't warn you," the witch replies. She wraps the cloth around Claire softly, and pulls up the bowl with the dye in it. With a gloved hand she separates the pale strands from the brown ones. The blue will definitely be more prominent here than it would be with Douxie's. Something tells her that Claire wouldn't mind.

From the looks of Claire's surprise, wonder, and delight, she definitely didn't mind.

"It. Looks. So cool! You're really good at this. Maybe you should start a hair dying salon or something," the girl rattles off. Zoe raises a hand.

"I'm already working two part time jobs so... no. But I'm glad you liked it. The blue looks really good. Stands out well."

"Thank you, thank you, thank you," Claire repeats, putting back her cap on. A feeling of confusion overcomes Zoe.

"Wait, why are you putting your cap back on? Don't you want to show people?"

"Duh, but um, my mom doesn't know about, uh, all this. You know, councilwoman things."

Zoe's mouth drops, the $20 bill crumpled in her hand. So that's why she didn't go to the hair salon. Nuñez is the councilwoman, so she'd know pretty much everyone in the town. And word spreads pretty fast. In summary: Claire would have gotten caught.

"See ya!"

These kids are going to land her in some serious trouble one day.

With a burger and soda in her tray, Zoe takes a seat and pulls out her phone. That Claire girl though, she's sort of inspiring. Adventurous. Not hesitant in taking chances. And you know Zoe, she absolutely loves the thrills of life. Whether it be hunting magical creatures or refining her usually unpredictable magic. The humans tend to have mellow definition of risk taking, in her opinion, but their examples are fun enough in their own way: crossing the speed limit, riding rollercoasters, anything along those lines. The brunette clicks on a familiar contact and begins typing.

ZOE: which color looks good on me

ZOE: don't ask it's for a stupid job thing

DOUX: which job?

ZOE: WHAT PART OF DON'T ASK

ZOE: hex tech, something for employee uniforms

DOUX: i was going to say pink since it brings out your eyes but if it's for uniforms i dunno, light blue?

ZOE: hm interesting

DOUX: you should just work here at the book store it's chill

ZOE: but then i'd have to deal with you

DOUX: now is that really a bad thing?

DOUX: zoe.

Light blue is definitely a no go, Zoe decides. Too much blue dye going around. But pink, hm she could work with that. It's a pretty bold color and it would compliment her eyes as well as her face in general. A win-win for her.

And as for how far she's willing to go? She decides to go all in. No tips, no ombre, just complete bubblegum hair. Of course this takes a few days to gather the guts.

'You can do it Zoe, just go for the bleach,' she thinks to herself. Her hands shake with nervousness and excitement. Frankly, hunting niffins didn't compare to the rush she's feeling right now. She closes her eyes and brings the brush to her hair.

Well, here goes nothing.

She winces as she feels the tingling sensation, but loads of videos have assured that such symptoms were normal. She continues to work at it, using the foil to make sure she doesn't bleach a part of her hair to death. It's long and strenuous, but she knows the results in the few coming weeks would be worth it.

She doesn't have to worry about Douxie finding out thankfully. Turns out these weeks are essential for Merlin's "To-Do" List. Apparently it was to find Camelot?

"The castle he means. Not the actual kingdom. That's been gone for centuries. Anyways, I'll be back once I actually find it. Dunno how I'll do it and it probably will take me and Arch a month or so, haha. Oh! And if my hirers ask you anything, it's a family emergency."

Hm, whatever. A brief thought of Merlin dying his hair neon green amuses her, before she goes back to watching more hair dye videos. They've become a little addicting nowadays. She's amazed at how often people do it. How do they keep their hair so healthy?

It's been four weeks now and Zoe's eyes stare at the pink concoction in her hand. PANTONE 2046 C. This was the shade that stole her heart in the middle of the hair dye aisle. No other color could compare in the slightest. Even the cashier who packaged her order hummed in approval.

"Nice color! Not many go for it, but it'll suit you for sure."

This time her movements are calculated, not clumsy or fear driven like it used to be. One could even say she's getting the hang of this. Her hair over time changes from platinum blonde to a dark matted pink. She lets it sit for a bit, meanwhile focusing on getting the dye out of her hands. This turns out to be harder than she thought and she sighs. Well, maybe another day.

After washing and blow drying her hair, she stands in front of the mirror. The witch staring back at her is almost unrecognizable. As if she were a new person completely. And she liked it.

The blank stare shifts into a grin and she tugs at her own locks. Goddamn. She looks really good.

And well, Douxie's reaction is priceless to say the least.

DOUX: you said to meet up at the museum where are you

DOUX: i swear if you slept in i'll send archie to knock down everything in your apartment

DOUX: ok no i won't but still it's been a month since we last saw each other come on

DOUX: wait a second

DOUX: you're joking

DOUX: IS THAT??? YOU????

DOUX: IN THE PINK

DOUX: oh fuzzbuckets you look stunning

DOUX: Hello this is Archie. You broke Douxie so could you please finish your conversation with whoever it is you're with and come pick him up? Your hair is absolutely lovely by the way.

ZOE: omfg

ZOE: can't take you guys anywhere

The witch smiles at the girls and nods over to a gaping Douxie and his cat before gracefully exiting the conversation. She approaches her friend and pushes his jaw up with her index finger.

"So I'm assuming you're digging the new look hm?" she teases.

"You have no idea," Douxie responds. A pink tint lighter than the shade of her hair blooms across Zoe's face at the expression of adoration in her best friend's eyes. The two of them have been through a lot together, seeing each other grow and change. And this time, it was a really fun and welcome one.

"I might try this again with a different color some time. You wanna join then?"

"Don't have to ask me twice."

It's crazy how all of this came from a chaotic, impulsive research project to help a friend. But honestly Zoe wouldn't have it any other way.

Maybe Douxie was right. Of all human creations, this one beats pretty much everything else.

[ymirgf]

a silly night

Jean Kirstein X Reader

summary: you asked jean to dye your hair and ofc like a nice boyfriend he does!!

warnings: screaming,cursing,fluff!

meanings!!

F/C : fav color

H/T : hair type

H/L : hair length

Y/N: your name

also this is unedited only edited in some parts so sorry if there r any grammar mistakes !

—

flashback to earlier that week, you and your boyfriend had a discussion.

“hey jean...? would you be willing to dye my hair for me” you say ending with a smile.

of course jean’s happy to oblige. “of course Y/N! what are you thinking of doing?” he tilts his head in your direction.

“oh nothing much, i was just thinking of maybe F/C? i don't know i think it'd be pretty.” you say looking at him for an opinion.

his eyes lit up looking back into your eyes. “hey woah really! we’d have to bleach it though i hope you’re okay with that.” he laughs.

“yes i’m okay with it!” you say with a smile.

“good, not to brag but i’m kind of an expert at everything so this won’t be a problem.” he says raising a brow acting like the cocky man he is.

timeskip to now..

your head. was on literal fire. jean said you had to wait until you could wash out the bleach but, waiting felt like it was taking ages. “FUCK MY GOD.” you scream, jumping up and down from how much the bleach is burning. jean sat in his chair with his gloves on, pointing and laughing at you in your face.

“JEAN!! STOP LAUGHING THIS FUCKING HURTS SO BAD” you yell making him start to hold his stomach from laughing so hard.

“just five more minutes, chill out babe, okay?” he said calmly trying not to let out another laugh.

you scoff and rolled your eyes, now shaking your head side to side screaming bloody murder as you jump waiting for the five minutes to end.

“okay, times up. go shower..” he says as he throws away his gloves and walks into the bathroom with you.

you enter the bathroom, immediately throwing your clothes on the floor and jumping in, with the water already on since jean turned it on when he got to the bathroom before you.

“okay babe this is important, make sure you shut your eyes as tight as possible, getting bleach in your eyes will hurt really bad so keep them closed, kay?” he says tilting his head making sure you understood.

you nod and close your eyes immediately. he was in there so he could hand you the products that you needed to brighten your bleached H/T hair.

as he handed you the products and you washed throughout your hair you finished shortly.

then you were back in the chair asap, jean was wearing his gloves, going through your H/L hair with the hair dye brush. he made sure to de-tangle your hair prior to dyeing it. as he dyed your hair F/C you couldn’t help but just whip out your phone camera just to look at how pretty he looked, he looked so calm and precious as he dyed your hair with a small smile on his face, he was gorgeous. everything you could ask for. you didn’t know how you ended up so lucky and he felt the same.

“HEY! Y/N I BOUGHT EXPENSIVE FOIL FOR YOUR HAIR!! SO. APPRECIATE ME!!” he yells, putting his hands on his hips then realizing he got dye on his shirt and sighs as he going back to putting pieces of your hair into foil.

after he finished putting all the foil, you guys played mario kart to pass the time you had to let your dye sit.

after the time passed, you started to scream.

“I WON MOTHERFUCKER!!” you jumped up sticking both your middle fingers in jean’s face. he laughed at you, high fiving you and he pushed you slightly towards the shower.

you removed the foil, and then stepped into the shower. jean already set the products you needed to the side of the shower prior to you getting in and you smiled at the thought.

you washed throughout your hair, watching some of the color mixing with the water. jean waited eager to see how you looked as you finished washing your hair throughly.

you wrapped your body in your towel as you looked in the mirror before stepping out.

“TADAAA!!!!” you said loudly while doing jazz hands, trying to make sure your towel didn’t fall.

“STOP OH MY GOD YOU LOOK SO PRETTY” jean says while walking towards you with his jaw practically on the floor.

he grips your shoulders and leans back to look at you fully and then smiles brightly.

“hey so do you like it? i tried my best” he says with a nervous smile showing that he isn’t as cocky when it comes to you.

“jean,” you say tilting your head down and looking at him. “jean, i love it so much.” you say as you pulled him into a hug.

he lets out a sigh of relief and laughs as he hugs you tightly back. he pulls out the hug and asks if he can touch your hair as you nod and he goes in to touch it.

“ahh Y/N it feels so healthy!” he says as he quickly takes his hand off smiling so brightly as you smile back.

“thank you jean, you did an amazing job, i love you.” you say shutting your eyes from your smile.

“i love you too.” he says smiling.

—

AUTHORS NOTE:

hi tysm for reading i hope this is as gender neutral as possible i tried my best i also tried to make sure i respected peoples hair types , etc cause i see a lot of ppl saying “he runs his hand through her nice straight hair” abt other fics when not all people have that typa hair so i tried my best making it neutral w the whole touching the hair,washing,detangling,etc!! and sorry if the word pretty seems like more fem or smth i see it as gn to me i love that word and use it for an gender so sorry if u don’t feel that way!! also i try and make my fics as most for everyone as possible such as body types,height,hair,skin and more so i will continue to try my best at that! sorry for the long note i hope u all enjoyed !!!!!!

[kibybun]

Yandere dabi with his y/n his sister

There are many different ways this can be written but I chose to stick with gross path hehe... But it also follows the theory that Dabi is Touya so yeah! Hope you enjoy!

Yandere Dabi x Sister reader

Tw: Yandere, gross stuff, incest, nsfw

Enjoy!

💙Shoto's screams of pain echo through the house as he was brutally trained at the age of four. All his siblings cringe, trying to block out past memories of the pain.

💙They all had to go through that torture, Touya being the oldest and still occasionally having to go back and train.

💙They were all complacent, knowing and accepting that they'd have to live with this. Well, Touya was untill you were born.

💙You were an accidental pregnancy. Endeavor already had what he wanted out of his quirk marriage but was pleased to find you had the same quirk mash up as todoroki, indicated by the snow white and deep red of your hair.

💙Touya didn't understand what was so different about you. You were just a baby born into this hell hole of a family but you seemed too pure to be put into this, almost like you were born into the wrong family by mistake.

💙Touya took it upon himself to take care of you, even if he was only still a kid himself. He slept in your nursery every night, he fed and made meals for you, he changed your diapers and bathed you, he even ditched your other siblings to spend all his time with you.

💙It was close to your fourth birthday when Touya heard Endeavor telling Shoto that you were almost ready to start training.

💙Touya instantly went into his flight or flight mode and planned his escape with you.

💙He waited untill everyone was indefinitely asleep and planted the evidence of his death, also making it seem like you were dead as well. He than ran. A fifteen year old with a four year old with nothing in the dead of night trying to erase their past.

💙Touya takes you to a gas station, spending some of the little money he had on hair dye and cereal, managing to snag a few candy and energy bars without the cashier knowing. He then takes you to a motel to spend the night. It wasn't much but it was somewhere to stay for the night.

💙Making sure the door was locked and windows covered, Touya begins to ease his past. His skin was already burnt beyond recognition so all he had to do was dye his hair. He had settled for black.

💙As the dye soaked into his hair he began to dye yours as well. He bleached the red, reassuring you that the fowl smell of bleach would be gone when you washed your hair. After the bleach was washed out, he then dyed your hair a nice shade of (h/c).

💙He sits with you after the two of you shower, tv on a low volume with cartoons playing. You didn't really understand what was happening or where you were but you didn't mind, you had your big brother there to take care of you. That's all that mattered.

💙That's how your new life started, always on the run. Touya, or Dabi now, became a villain and shoplifted all the things you'd ever need. He always started fires for no reason.

💙Over the years you also forgot your family, only believing it was just you and Dabi. Dabi had said the two of you came from a horrible family and that he saved you.

💙You never admired or loved anyone more. Too bad he didn't deserve it.

💙Dabi did love you and would die for you, it was just the thoughts and actions he did for you.

💙The petty theft and robbery was for essentials but he always managed to snag clothes for you or candy or a teddy bear.

💙His random fires weren't so random either. Sometimes he would set stuff aflame because you thought his flames were pretty but he mainly did it to make others suffer. Like the guys who'd catcall you, people who would bump into you, or if they even look at HIS sister. They'd be burned that night but he'd keep it a secret so you didn't worry your pretty little head.

💙Oh that pretty little head of yours... how he wished it would lean in and kiss him.... or bob up and down while your mouth sucked him off.

💙You were only 15 now but that didn't prevent his wild imagination. He also knew his overall thoughts about you were sickening to others, but that doesn't matter. You're his.

💙You and Dabi share a bed at night, mainly because you had no idea how to sleep alone and Dabi would refuse to leave your side. Sometimes you snuggle up into his chest or he spoons you from behind. You never thought anything of this, even when his hands would start to wonder.

💙Some nights you'd wake up to your brother's rough hand or hands slipping under your shirt and in your pants while something poked the back of your thighs.

💙You always call out to him in a sleepy voice to see if he was awake or not, due to your back being against him. He never responds so you assume he's sleeping.

💙His hands continue touching you in more private places that make you squirm but you do anything to wake Dabi up. This was a normal thing. Dabi said it was a normal thing the really close siblings did. You believed him.

💙You can't help the sounds that escape you lips and seem to encourage him to touch you harder and faster. The hard thing that was poking your thigh had now found it's way between your thighs and was rocking back and forth.

💙Your "touching" session ends when something warm and sticky shoot onto your thighs and when Dabi pulls you close with his heavy breathing on your neck.

💙Your hands intertwine with his as you try and fall asleep again, unaware of the devious smirk Dabi has on his face.

💙He adored how you listened to his every word like your life depends on it. He would always stopped if you asked but he knew you wouldn't.

💙It also tired him. He had always made the first move. He wanted you on top of him, being rough and demanding.

💙That was a far away fantasy that couldn't be achieved with his panty sniffing and "asleep" touching.

💙Sadly, for Dabi, everything changed when the two of you joined L.O.V.

💙Instantly Toga was all over you, wanting to know your whole like story while holding you in a bone crushing hug.

💙You could tell that her touching you bothered him so you try to pry yourself from her. She doesn't let you leave.

💙Dabi aggressively flings her off of you and pulls you close, threatening her and the others in to room.

💙Tension dies down as everyone shuffles into their new rooms. You were offered your own room but you decline and bunk with Dabi.

💙This seemed perfect to you. You and your big brother living somewhere! Not just drifting place to place.

💙But the league started to grow and more and more people started to become interested in you, due to your lack of interaction with anyone besides Dabi.

💙Their interest in you upset Dabi beyond belief. He had to restrict from killing them all every second he sees them.

💙The boiling point was when Spinner asked you on a date.

💙You didn't have a chance to respond before Dabi's hand grabbed his face and set it a blaze, successfully causeing pain and killing him.

💙Everyone watches in disbelief as you were carried out of the base, never to return again.

💙But you didn't care.

💙All you ever wanted was given to you by Dabi.

💙He was all you ever needed.

Kiby~💚

[suchalonelysunflower]

Entangled Part II (c.h) (h.s)

Pairing: Calum Hood X Reader / Harry Styles X Reader 

Requested: Yes! 

Summary: After months on tour, the boys finally make a move. But you are too caught up to even notice it. Let the triangle begin! 

Warnings: Love Triangle! Pinning, unrequited love, language, angsty with a little fluff, mentions of alcohol and some grammatical error (English is not my first language, I’m sorry)

Word Count: 8 K 

Author’s note: Part 2 is finally here! Thank you so much for all your support, it really means the world to me. Reblogs, comments and feedback are always welcome, I love to hear from you guys and if you have any questions about the series, please don’t doubt to reach me 💕 You can read my other works for Harry and 5SOS HERE.  Hope you like it and happy reading 🦋✨

Part 1

Part 2: Dates and other names 

“Calum stop that right now!” You said sternly while glaring at him. The boy, however, raised his eyebrows defiantly.

“Make me” 

“Oooh” You heard Michael say, teasing at the probability of a conflict while he sipped his beverage with a metal straw, sitting in front of the vanity. But you paid no mind to it, not when Calum was at risk of doing something incredibly stupid.

“Calum Thomas Hood” You threatened, knowing that everyone has a reaction to their full names being called with such a tone, Calum was no exception “Put down the brush and leave your hair alone before I grab a razor and shave your entire head” 

Calum just kept staring at you, still standing on the couch where you couldn’t possibly grab a hold of him or the brush that was dripping with pink dye. He shot one of his charming smiles at you, shaking his head.

“You wouldn’t. You always tell me that you love my hair as it is” 

“I do. That’s why I don’t want it pink!”

“But Michael has pink hair! Why wouldn’t I?” He argued. 

“Let Michael deal with the consequences of too much bleach when he’s older” You heard Michael give you a whiny ‘heey’ “Sorry Mike, your hair is lovely as it is but it’s true that you need to take a break on all of these dyes before you end up bald” 

Michael groaned an ‘okay, fine!’ Before turning all of his attention back to the interaction. You, on the other hand, turned to Calum with one of your ‘dont fuck with me’ face and placed one of your hands on your hips, extending the other so he could place the brush there. 

“Okay, I'll tell you what” he bargained “I’ll leave my hair alone if…” 

“If?”

“If you go to dinner with me after the concert” He smiled. 

You stared at him, lips slowly going upwards as a shy smile formed on your face. You lowered your gaze from his eyes, shaking your head as a small giggle came out of your lips. Calum, on the other hand, didn’t even flinch his eyes from you, his smile growing wider and wider while the teasing tone of the question still lingers on between the two of you… And Michael who was just as invested in this scene as anyone would be. 

“You seriously are crazy, Cal” You said “Of course we can go, are you kidding? It’ll be fun” 

Calum’s eyes gleam in delight at your words. His face at that moment could only be defined by comparing it to a child receiving their dream toy on Christmas morning. 

“Now, give me the brush before I change my mind” You threatened again, extending your hand to him. Calum jumped off the couch and compiled, handing you the dyed tainted brush as he walked past you to sit in his own chair and giving Michael a small fist bump while doing so. 

You walked over to the green eyed boy, finally being able to keep going with your work and the conversation started flowing once again. 

It was amazing, but at the same time not so hard to believe, how well you got along with all the guys. The end of the tour was close, but you didn’t want to focus on the sadness that brought you, instead you decided to enjoy every single moment of it. It was amazing how you found yourself creating a loving family among them and Lottie, who was always by your side calming your nerves the first few days. The way you find it so easy to talk to either one of the Australians or the 1D boys is something you didn’t expect, quickly creating emotional connections with each of them. 

For example, you always considered Louis like an older brother to you, always very protective and attentive. Who would’ve thought that Zayn fell under the same category? On the first few days they, along with Lottie, always made sure that you were taken care of as well as having fun and not overworked yourself as you normally would. But it was hard to even consider this a ´serious job´when you had nine young adults running around your little office. However, when it did get serious, you knew you could count on Ashton or Liam for an encouraging chat, always ready to listen and give you the best advice for any situation, creating a sense of trust you never really had with someone, especially someone you just met not too long ago.  

For quiet moments though, Michael was perfect. It didn’t seem like it at first, knowing that boy had a reputation for being extremely loud sometimes. But if someone understands the need of just staying silent and doing nothing for a few minutes, was him. Always inviting you to play some of his games or just sit around you, keeping you company or just relaxing after a tiresome day, Michael was your guy. On the other hand, Niall was the complete opposite. That Irish little shit never stayed quiet for long, bringing his guitar with him wherever he went and lifting your spirit anytime he caught you feeling a little off. He made you laugh the most along with Luke who was just as chaotic as he was but with a little more common sense. He was like a little brother to you, even though he was a feet and a half taller than you, and you always felt the need to protect him of any harm. If someone won the soft spot on your heart, it was Luke, without a doubt. 

And then there’s Calum and Harry, your boys. You would never admit this to anyone but they were your favorites. From day one they were nothing more than pure sweethearts. Yes, you did have your rocky start with both of them, nearly breaking one’s nose and the other one almost breaking you, but you wouldn’t have it any other way with them. The best moments on tour were the moments you shared with them, and they seem to agree on that. They always look for excuses to spend time with you, trying to get your focus completely on them and you find that funny, assuming it was their nature, but what you didn’t know is that they were both completely and utterly smitten by you. 

Harry and Calum both laid their eyes on you from the beginning, practically jumping at every chance they had to help you or hang out with you or just talk to you about anything. And the funny thing is that you were completely unaware of all this circus around you. Friendship was one thing, and you were very grateful for that, not even in your wildest dreams you thought you would’ve befriended all of these amazing guys, so the idea of something else was absolutely out of the question, that was just simply impossible. Only if you knew what you were getting yourself into… 

You were so unaware of these feelings that you didn’t notice how Calum’s smile didn’t leave his face for a second after he asked you, watching you work through Michael’s hair through the mirror. 

“So,” Michael said, while your fingers were entangled in his hair “Are we going to wait for the full concert to be over or just our set to go back to the hotel?”

Lately they found excuses to hang around backstage after their set, management wasn’t too happy about that decision, not wanting even more attention to the Aussie band than to the actual main act, but they managed to sneak around them, only staying backstage and not actually being able to see the concert.

 You, on the other hand, never missed a set, not only because you promised Harry and Calum that you’d be present in each one, but because you actually enjoyed the energy of the whole thing. You loved to jump around and dance to their songs, you already mastered the lyrics of every song on the set list and even created some kind of choreography with Lottie for each one. It didn’t matter to you that your feet hurt afterwards from the massive tiredness of the next few days, you were living your best life watching your boys perform and you would do that every single day of your life if you had to. 

“Oh, I’m staying the whole concert” You answered “Can’t miss see them on stage”

“Aw, c’mon Y/N” Said Calum, faking a whine “You can miss at least one concert” 

“Who is going to miss the concert?” Someone asked as they opened the door. 

Everyone turned their faces as they saw Lottie came in with Louis and Harry. You smiled at them while they took a seat in front of the vanity, Harry’s eyes shining when they met yours through the mirror, smiling almost at the same time when Calum lowered his gaze and started fidgeting with his thumbs. 

He didn’t know why, but he always got uncomfortable with the idea of Harry being around you and spending your time with him. Is not like he didn’t like the guy, on the contrary, they had a very good relationship, but the fact that you shared jokes, touches and moments with him made Calum feel uneasy. Same thing goes for Harry, he didn’t particularly enjoy how close you and the bassit were, but he wasn’t going to mention it, it would make him look like an asshole to you and to the Australian who he considered a friend. And you, as usual, were completely oblivious to it. 

“We were just asking Y/N if we are going to skip the concert so they could get ready for their date” Michael said, pointing his finger between you and Calum as your cheeks went red. 

Harry’s smile went away in an instant, snapping his head towards Louis who just stared at him blankly as he gave an apologetic smile to the curly haired man. 

“What..? Michael, is not a date.” You said in an awkward laugh “We are just hanging out, right Cal?” You asked, smiling at him, not noticing the surprise in his eyes. 

All eyes were on you again. Louis, Lottie and Michael gave you a confused look while Harry looked like he could breathe again. Calum, however, just blinked a couple times before lowering his gaze again, trying to hide the hurt in his eyes as he responded “Yeah.. it’s not a date”

An uncomfortable silence fell upon the group for a few seconds, no one really knowing what to say until Lottie was brave enough to break it by commenting on Michael’s new hair color that needed rincing, making the conversation flow easily among them, well, among everyone but Calum and Harry who stayed silent in their seats, having very different but similar thoughts. 

A few moments later you excused yourself to go towards the catering section, expressing your dire need for a snack before you pass out applying gel to the boys hair. Louis offered to go with you. 

As you were walking down the halls of the venue, he ventured “So… What made you accept the lad’s proposal?” 

“Calum’s? it was not a proposal” You rolled your eyes “It was more like a quid pro quo kinda thing. He threatened to dye his hair if I said no” You chuckled. 

Louis hummed “And you’re sure it’s not a date?” 

“This again?” 

It wasn’t the first time this conversation rolled around between the both of you. He had been teasing since that night of the party, where you found yourself with two drinks in your hand, one from Harry and the other from Calum. You spend the whole night talking to them, apologizing for the misunderstanding and thanking them for being such sweethearts. For you it was an innocent act of good manners, a nice gesture from the two boys. For Louis, that witnessed the whole thing, was more than that. 

He was convinced that they had a thing for you. He believed, no, he knew that they were completely head over heels for you and, he had to admit, it was pretty funny to see all the things they did to gain just a little bit of attention from you. 

“He is just friendly and so am I. We are just going to hang out, nothing more. It is not a date” You explained “We’ve had this conversation over and over again and it’s still the same answer, don’t you think that if he was making a move I would know?”

“Actually, no, love. You are completely blind and I would be very surprised indeed if you happen to notice that”

“What? Lou…”

“Didn’t you see the face Calum made when you said it wasn’t a date? Or Harry’s when Michael said it was? He was crushed” 

“I-“

Louis shook his head and sighed “Look, love. I know you don’t mean to, but you’re breaking those guys’ hearts”

“I’m not breaking anyone’s heart. How could I? They’re just my friends, they can’t like me like that”

“Why not?” 

“Because! Look at me, Louis” 

“I am looking, love! And I’ll I can see is a beautiful person, inside and out, with an enormous talent and even bigger heart. Anyone would be lucky to have you” Louis said, placing his arm around your shoulder and giving it a squeeze “And I just happen to know two lads that would kill to have that privilege” You rolled your eyes and he sighed again “Fine! Don’t believe me. But don’t say I didn’t warn ya” 

After grabbing a snack and a drink, you started to make your way back to your little room, but then you realized it was almost time for them to start the show so you decided to go wait by the side of the stage until the Australian band came out to the public. 

On your way there, your mind didn’t stop thinking for a minute about what Louis had said before. Was Calum upset that it wasn’t a date? Did he expect it to be? And why was Harry even a topic? Did he talk about you with Louis? They couldn’t have a crush on you… could they? 

Suddenly flashes of the past few months flew by in your head. How Calum’s eyes shined every time he heard you talk about hair related things because he knew you were very passionate about it, or how Harry always seemed to have some kind of trouble with his hair and needed your help, and only your help, to fix it because you were the only one who ‘understood his curls’ even though Lottie could’ve done a better job if he asked her. Calum put you in charge of recording his keeks and always made you feel welcome and comfortable around him and the guys, making you laugh uncontrollably with each shenanigan they pulled, or when every time Harry told a really bad joke he always looked at you first, almost like searching for your approval and smiling every time you did laugh, even if it was out of pity. How every night they were on stage they looked to the sides to find you dancing or singing along to their songs, making faces at you or copy your movements or give you reassuring smiles as they kept performing. They always seemed to know when you were feeling under the weather and they always went out of their way in order to make you feel better, going from making silly things on stage that night to just hold you and listening to you rant about what was bothering you, not even flinching at your touch but actually craving it. Every time you hug they don't pull away, in fact, they hold on. And you didn’t seem to mind at all. 

You love them both, truly and wholeheartedly. And you would be a fool if you didn’t think they’re very attractive and attentive and different and special in their own ways. At the beginning of the tour you could’ve easily fallen in love with one of them if they ever showed interest in you, but you were sure they didn’t and probably never will so, why bother to think like that as a possibility? It will only get your heart broken in the end. You were sure that if they liked you as more than a friend they would’ve said something by now. 

The thing was that they tried to tell you, countless times. But they were, in all honesty and innocence, idiots. So you had no clue on their true feelings. 

But you would be lying if you said that Louis didn’t plant the seed of doubt in your mind. 

“Hey, Y/N!” You heard a voice call you from the end of the hall. You lifted your gaze and smile when you saw Calum approaching, bass in hand ready to go out on stage. You lifted your finger and brought it to the side of your nose and he did the same. It became your own little secret ´handshake´ 

“Calum! Are you ready to go and kill it in front of a thousand screaming fans” You teased, resting the back of your hand on your forehead, mocking a faint. 

He laughed, shaking his head “I rather concentrate on the fan that keeps dancing along Amnesia like it’s not an acoustic song backstage”  

“Are you saying I’m distracting you?”

“You always distract me, sweetheart” He smirked “But I can’t say that I don’t like it”

You felt your cheeks get warm with his words. You must admit that Calum had a way with words, always tempting the line of cute remarks and downright flirting, creating a friendly banter between the both of you. Now you begin to wonder if they were ever friendly at all. 

“Well the job of a fan is to hype their favorite band while on stage, right?” You smiled. Calum’s eyes shined like glitter. 

“Are we really your favorites?” He asked. 

“Hey, I don’t go around creating bomb coreos for any band, you know?” You slightly punched him in the arm as you both chuckled.

Suddenly you became very aware of his proximity to you and you didn’t seem to mind one bit, in fact you were enjoying how close he was, noticing even the crinkles by his eyes every time he smiled.  “Hey, Cal. I’m sorry for earlier” You apologized, not really knowing how to approach the subject “I’m sorry if I made it awkward and-”

“What? No, no, no, no,” He said way too quickly, shaking his head rapidly “It wasn’t awkward” Calum said awkwardly. 

Your face visibly cringed “Yes it was! And I’m sorry, I didn’t know that-” 

“Hey, hey hey. It 's okay. If you say it’s not a date, then it’s not a date. We are just hanging out and that okay” Calum calmed you, rubbing his hand up and down your arm in a reassuring manner “It’s more than okay, actually. I really love spending time with you, Y/N” 

You looked into his eyes and you could see the honesty in them, you covered his hand with your and smiled “I really love spending time with you too, Cal” 

“CALOOUM” You heard someone yell from the side of the stage, not even a second after Ashton popped out his head from the wings “Get your ass over here, the concert’s abou to start you dipshit!... Hi, Y/N” 

“Hi, Ashton” You laughed. 

Calum rolled his eyes at his bandmate and took a step back from you “Well, duty calls. Someone has to woo the thousand screaming fans, right?” 

You nodded as you quickly cupped his left cheek on your hand to give it a small kiss “Go kill them, you dipshit” You chuckled. 

Calum did his best to try and hide the redness of his cheek, lifting his finger to the side of his nose as he walked away, turning around quickly to delicately press his palm to his cheek, still warm from that little kiss you just gave him and smiling like an absolute idiot. 

“Mate, you’re whipped” Luke teased when he saw Calum’s grin. 

“Shut up” 

It was after Calum had turned away that you realized what you just did. You mentally slapped yourself, it was no big deal, right? just a friendly kiss like you and Louis do all the time but, why did it feel so different?

In the midst of your internal debate, you decided to walk to the other side of the stage where you knew Lottie would be waiting for you, you also knew it was Calum’s side of the stage, but it had the best view you could ask for. So you made up your mind of sucking in the embarrassment of your careless and innocent action from earlier and started making your way. 

You enjoyed walking backstage, you knew every venue was different but the backstage rarely changes so it was easy to find your way around the messy halls full of people you now know and love. Every person you met along the way greeted you with a smile or a nod, they all respected your work and you respected theirs, all of you knew that this tour couldn't work without any of you. 

Tonight, however, there was a new face in the multitude of people. You catched her eye as you almost walked past her, but she stopped you by gently putting her hand round your shoulder.

“I’m sorry, dear” The woman said with a smile “But aren’t you Y/N L/N? The stylist?” 

The mysterious woman stood in front of you, her hand already gone from your shoulder, but she had your full attention now. She was wearing a black suit with a white button down to go along with some killer heels. Her black hair stopped right at the end of her neck, giving her a Uma Thurman in Pulp Fiction vibe, elegant yet powerful. She was smiling at you like you were her next meal and it made you uncomfortable. 

“Yes, I am. Well, one half of the team,actually” You answered, nervously looking around for nothing in particular “Can I help you with anything, Miss..?” 

“Oh, how silly of me,” She laughed “I’m Mariah Slendge, I work for Jordan Coutier? You heard about them?” Of course you have! They were the most famous, most expensive, most stylish beauty company of all times! Led by the Jordan Coutier himself, the legend of legends when it came to hair and make up. A true inspiration for you and for many others. You nodded, trying not to freak out too much in front of one of his representatives “Well, we’ve heard about you too”

“‘Bout me?” You asked in disbelief. 

“Why, yes, darling. I’ve seen your work with the boys, very impressive”

“Oh, it’s nothing really-”

“And your Instagram?” She said, pulling out her phone and showing you your feed that was filled with different hairstyles you’ve made along the years and on the tour, showcasing your work on different types of hair and for a wide variety of people “You are very talented” 

“Thank you, but-”

“I have an offer for you” She stated, putting her phone back in her purse “Well, an almost offer, actually. I wanted to have your consent before I do anything” 

You stared at her, wide eyed as your mind was a blank space. What was happening right now? 

“Once this tour ends I want you to come work with us in New York as a paid intern for a few years. You would learn everything you need to know in order to succeed in this business and more. You’ll be working with the best professionals in the world and you’ll make really good connections in the industry, I can assure you that”

“Y-you want me to work with you?” You stuttered. 

“Only if that’s okay with you, darling. I haven’t said anything to the big boss yet because I needed your approval first but-”

“YES!” You yelled “Sorry! I’m so so sorry. I didn’t mean to do that but, yes. My answer is yes, I would love to” 

Mariah smiled like the cheshire cat “Wonderful! You’ll be hearing from me in a few days. Take care, darling” 

She blew you a kiss and waved as she walked away, leaving you in complete awe before you could even begin to thank her. 

You shook your head, waking up from your daze and practically ran towards Lottie, who was waiting for you at your usual spot from the side of the stage. 

“Where have you been?” She asked when she took on your breathless appearance “The boys are in the middle of the set already and-”

“I know! I know, I’m sorry but,” You said, panting as you tried to gain some composure “You would never believe what just happened” 

To say that Lottie was over the moon with the news you just brought to her was an understatement. She celebrated with you and congratulated you like you just won the lottery “Oh my god! I can’t believe it” 

“Well, it’s nothing sure yet, but-”

“But nothing! This is amazing and you completely deserve this, honey” She hugged you “I’m so proud of you” 

You melted into the hug, wondering how on Earth did you get so lucky, having a best friend like her was… Oh, it was more than you could ever ask for “One more thing,” You said, separating from her embrace “Don’t tell anyone. I don’t wanna jinx it”

“But Louis will be so happy and-”

“Lottie, please” You pleaded with your best puppy stare. She rolled her eyes and muttered a ‘fine’ before wrapping you into a hug once again. 

When she let you go, you focus all of your attention towards the stage. Your eyes met Calum’s as he was looking at the two of you with a quizzical look. You lifted your finger to your nose once again and brushed it off, he smiled and mouthed something like ‘You’ll tell me later’ making you laugh and shrug as you started dancing to their cover of Teenage Dream. 

Moments later, when their set ended, Calum came running towards you but you pushed him away “Uh uh, no touching until you get into a shower” 

“What about you, Lot?” He asked your friend with open arms, she just shook her head and started laughing “What? You can hug but I’m left all alone?” Calum pouted. 

“Take a shower and we’ll see, Hood” 

He mocked a salute and said “We’re still hanging out later, right?” 

“Of course!” 

“Great, can’t wait” 

Calum smirked and ran offstage. You stayed with Lottie, talking about your hypothetical plans for the future until it was time for One Direction to take the stage. 

The energy on the concerts was hard to ignore, every night you found yourself with goosebumps running up and down your skin every time you heard the guitar riff or when you felt the bass and the drums shake the floor, literally. Not to mention the vocals of every single one of them, it filled you with joy seeing them perform and give their absolute best to all of their fans, who loved them just as much as you did. 

You followed your usual routine with Lottie, dancing your specific choreographies to each song, but something was different tonight. 

Every time you glanced at the stage you found a pair of green eyes already staring at you. Harry smiled whenever your eyes met, but his gaze always seemed to lurk around you for a second too long before putting all of his attention on the crowd once again. 

When it was time for a break, Harry, as usual, took center stage and started interacting with the fans. 

“Okay. Here in One Direction we sing a lot about love” He said, making the crowd go absolutely ballistic “Now, who here came with a date? C’mon now, wanna see those hands up, who here is taken?” 

You laughed at how the fans started screaming unintelligible things at the boys, you saw how some brave ones started lifting their hands, showcasing their love in front of a full arena of people. 

“Aww that’s wha’ I wanted to see! And what ‘bout over there at the sides” He said, pointing to your side of the stage “‘nyone in the crew who might be on a date today?” 

He was asking the crew of the sides in general, some of them raising their hands in amusement, but Harry's gaze was locked on you and how you were giggling with Lottie about the whole ordeal. 

“I think he’s talking to you, love” The young Tomlinson whispered in your ear. 

You looked at Harry with your eyebrows furrowed, he returned the gesture by raising one of his own, asking you to answer him. You rolled your eyes and smiled while giving him the middle finger. His face visibly relaxed as he gave you one of his signature smirks and went back to amuse the crowd, who by now, were already losing their shit. 

“‘M very glad to know that” Harry claimed into the microphone “Love is love everybody so if you love someone you gotta tell ‘em” And while his eyes were fixed on the crowd, you managed to find Louis bold stare already setting on you, giving a knowing look that you tried your best to ignore “Let’s celebrate love, everyone! This song is called Little Things” 

As they settled around the stairs of the stage, you and Lottie started to sing and dance, not noticing how, every time he had a moment of silence, Harry would glance at your direction and smile a little bit to himself, hoping that you would look his way. And the universe seemed to listen, because when his last chorus was approaching, you turned your gaze to meet his. Harry smiled as he started singing, and, for the first time, he didn’t advert his eyes from you. 

You felt a warmness spread from your chest to your whole body as the curly haired man started his last verse, green eyes staring right back at yours as the words slipped through his mouth with such an ease and calm melody, you didn’t dare to look away. 

The feeling had no name, for what you could tell at least, but it was almost the same as the one you had when Calum was close to you earlier in the evening. It’s not uncomfortable, in fact, it’s totally the opposite. It’s almost like a calming breeze flowing through your entire body. Safe, noticed, warmth, shyness, love? You couldn’t figure it out. 

The trance ended just as the song did, you felt a little nudge on the side of your body and turned to see Lottie giving you a smirk. You were about to tell her off when you were interrupted once again by a known beat, the next song was already starting as Harry’s eyes concentrated on the crowd once again, only glancing at you a few more times the entire set. 

After the show ended, you and Lottie went backstage to celebrate with the boys. 

“That was amazing!” The girl said, giving her older brother a pat in the back, not wanting to get all sweating because of him. You joined the congratulations and started simple conversations about what happened tonight on stage. You were so invested in the story Liam was telling about how he thought he saw the clone of Justin Bieber watching the show, that you didn’t notice how close Harry was to you until he whispered in your ear.

“Did you lie, earlier?” He asked. 

You turned to face him, his face was unreadable, but his eyes had a glimpse of desperation in them, almost begging you for an answer he might like. “What are you talking about?” You responded, looking around, but no one seemed preoccupied with your little conversation.

“When I asked if anyone was on date”

“Mmh, and I recall I gave you the finger, didn’t I?” You smiled “Why did you think that was?” 

Harry smirked “It was a tad rude, actually” You rolled your eyes at him “So you’re not seeing anyone at the moment?” He pressed, even when he saw you shake your head “Not even an Aussie lad that’s traveling with us?” 

You sighed “No, I’m not dating Calum. We are just hanging out, as friends and nothing more. Just like I do with you, H” 

Harry tried to mask the sudden hurt expression that came upon him, is that all you thought of him? 

“And besides,” You continued “You can’t believe anything the Tomlinsons tell you, most times at least” 

He chuckled “That’s true, love. I just…” He sighed “I really care about you, Y/N” 

“I really care about you too, Harry” You said in all honesty. 

“No, but I mean-” 

“Hey, Y/N” Interrupted Lottie “Shouldn’t you be on your way to the hotel now?” 

You opened your eyes like plates and looked at the time on your phone “Oh shit” You grabbed your stuff as fast as you could and said goodbye to everyone as you ran through the exit to grab a taxi. 

Once you reached the hotel, you already saw Calum waiting in the lobby for you and suddenly you felt way underdressed when you saw him wearing a white shirt and some nice black pants to go with it.

Calum lifted his gaze from his phone and smiled when his eyes met yours. You gave him an apologetic smile as well as your secret code of putting your finger on the side of your nose while you walked up to him “I’m sorry I’m late, I got caught up in the concert and-” 

“Hey, I get it” He chuckled “I know what it’s like to be a fan and those guys give a whole damn spectacle of everything. I’m glad you came, though. So,” He said, clapping his hands “Ready to go?” You nodded and let him guide you through the streets of the city. 

You ended up in a little secluded sushi restaurant, not so far away from the hotel “The best sushi in town” Said Calum “Or at least that what they told me” 

The night was spent between laughter and deep talks. You got to know a side of Calum you never expect. The way that he talked about his family and how hard it was for him to leave them behind in Australia but how, at the same time, he was happy he did it because now he could live his dream with his best friends. He told you anecdotes of when he, Michael and Luke were in school and played all kinds of pranks to their music teacher and how he lived in Brazil for a few months before realizing his dream was music all along. 

He got to know you as well, how you grew up in a very strict family and how you were the ‘child-with-too-many-dreams-to-count’ how you met the Tomlinsons and how they became your real family in no time. He listened enthusiastically when you talked about when you first found out about your passion for styling someone when your first dance came around and you had to do all your classmates' hair and make up with the help of Lottie, creating a form of art that was so simple yet so special at the same time. 

He made you laugh as well, playing with the chopsticks that were mostly for decoration and pretending to be some weird animal, he was so invested in his act that he didn’t notice how much wasabi he had put on his sushi bite, having to excuse himself to go to the bathroom. 

You were wiping away your tears of laughter when you notice something, or rather someone, walking outside and entering the restaurant at that exact moment. 

“Harry?” 

The curly man turned around and faked a surprised face “Y/N? Hi, darling. What are you doing here?” 

“Me?” You laughed “What are you doing here? I thought that maybe you and the other would go to a club after the concert” 

Harry grabbed a chair and sat down next to you “The others did, but I was jus’ so tired tha’ I asked someone to recommend me a place to grab some take out” He chuckled “The food at the hotel is truly awful for a four and a half star restaurant” 

“Well, let me tell you. This salmon roll is just exquisite so you won’t be disappointed here” You said, not giving too much thought at his excuse. 

Calum got out of the bathroom soon after, he couldn’t see Harry just yet, but he could tell you were laughing at something. Once he got closer and noticed the british boy sitting next to you, making you laugh and give you the pretty eyes, he felt that uneasy feeling again, the one he always had whenever Harry was around you. He noticed how his jaw clenched and how his hand became a fist when he heard you laugh again, knowing it should’ve been him the one who should make you smile like that tonight. 

When you looked at him, however, the uneasiness went away as soon as it came. He walked over to your table and put on a surprise show at Harry’s sudden appearance. 

“Harry,” He said with a fake smile “What are you doing here?”

“Jus’ passing by, looking for something to eat and then I found Y/N here” Harry answered in a cool tone “What a coincidence, right?”

“Yeah, weird” Calum said, looking directly at the green eyes from across the table. 

An uncomfortable silence came upon them as they glared at each other. From any perspective it was easy to see that they were having a silent conversation with those looks. A conversation filled with questions, realizations and accusations as the two men finally acknowledge the feelings each one had towards you. And, just like any situation when a man feels threatened by another man's feelings, it meant war. 

However, they were not stupid. They knew they had to keep it civil for your and the tour’s sake, knowing it would not be fair for anyone to start fighting over you and especially when you seem to have no clue about what’s going on. So, with one look, a deal was sealed: You would have to choose eventually, and whatever you say goes, they were mature enough to respect your decision, but that doesn't mean they are not going to try to win your heart. 

“So,” Harry said after a while, faking modesty as he made a move to get out of the chair “I should better get going, I don’t want to interrupt whatever’s happening here” 

“Oh, you are not interrupting” You said, completely oblivious “Right, Cal?”

Calum looked at you, and he found it impossible to deny you anything at this moment, even if it mean having Harry joining your ‘not-date-date’ So he gave a fake smile to the curly haired man and said “Nope, not interrupting at all” 

Harry smiled with sufficiency and sat back down, officially joining you for the night. 

From your perspective, you were having a great night next to two of the people you love the most, having fun and joking around. Too busy enjoying their company to notice the passive aggressive attitude they excelled, silently competing to gain your attention. At one point in the evening, Harry started singing along the song that was playing on the restaurant’s speakers, telling you a story about the composition of that specific Fleetwood Mac song and you gladly listened. Calum then proceeded to woo you with some food related tricks, making you laugh at his failed attempt to try and put three California rolls in his mouth. 

The talks came to a neutral ground when you started mentioning the tour. They both loved to hear you talk about your experience so far and they even shared some stories and tips about it too. You shared anecdotes and your favorite moments, making your boys smile whenever they realized they shared most of those moments with you. They understood that, whatever happens, they were truly the lucky ones just by having you in their life. 

The evening went on and as it did, all of you started to feel more and more tired, given that you had to be on an airplane somewhere the next afternoon, so you decided to call it a night. Walking out of the restaurant, you made your way into the hotel again. Calum said his goodbye with a kiss on your cheek, making you blush and Harry clenched his jaw. He lifted a finger to his nose and disappeared into the other hall of the lobby where the elevator to his room was. You were about to do the same, already walking to the other elevator, but Harry had another idea.

“There’s an ice cream shop down the block” He said as he grabbed your hand to call for your attention “Wanna try it, Y/N?” 

“Oh yes! I would love to” You smiled at Harry“But, aren’t you tired? You perfomed a big show tonight and-”

“I could never get tired if you’re by my side, love” He grin and tugged on your hand, leading you once again into the streets. 

The ice cream shop was very small and it was horribly decorated with pink and purple cows. Their ice creams, however, were a delight. You sat down in a tall stool next to Harry, enjoying your scoop of rocky roads with chocolate syrup and sprinkles on top. Harry was staring at you, his smile never fading for a second. 

“What?” You asked when you felt his green eyes on you “Do I have something in my face?” You brought your napkin to your face, but Harry just shook his head.

“You’re just too cute,” He said, smiling again.

“‘m not” 

“You are” He countered “Knew that from the moment I met you”

“You mean when you knocked me to the ground and almost broke my bum?” You teased, raising an eyebrow at him. 

“Exactly,” He said, unfazed by your sarcastic tone “Thought I died and went to heaven”

You laughed and gently punched him in the arm “Oh, shut up, Haz” 

For the rest of the night and the beginnings of an early morning, you and Harry sat down on those stools in that ice cream shop, talking about everything and nothing at the same time. He talked about how hard it was to be constantly under a magnifying glass in the eyes of the media, about the rumors and about how he didn’t expect his life to turn this way “I assume it’s not easy” You said “But what you’re doing is amazing, Harry. You and the boys have changed the lives of so many people, it’s… truly something else” He thanked you for your words and then started to change the subject so the conversation was focused on you. 

You pretty much told him the same old story you told Calum a few hours ago, he too, was very invested in whatever you had to say and let you ramble on and on about everything you thought it was worth mentioning. He even let you play with his curls a little bit before noticing your eyes were beginning to close, already too tired to keep the conversation going. 

You walked to the hotel once again, this time it was you who gave Harry a good night kiss on the cheek before making your way to your shared bedroom with Lottie and basically plopping down on the bed, thinking about how great this night was. 

There were two more stops before the tour finally ended. You could feel the tension in the air. It seemed like everyone was anxious about coming back home and seeing their families again, and you were too, but you got to admit that you were going to miss this even more. 

And it seemed like it was the same for Harry and Calum, because for the past few days they barely left your side.  And it was not like you were complaining, not at all.In fact, you were savouring every moment of it, not knowing if you would ever have the chance to do this again. So you let them play with your stuff, hanging out till late at night , you laughed at all their antics, from Calum’s keeks with the band to actually helping Harry pull down a prank to their bodyguards. On stage the energy was always the same, stolen glances and mocking faces between you, inner jokes said at loud only for you to understand and weird dance moves to make them break in front of the crowds. 

You were definitely going to miss all of this. 

When the last night of the tour arrived, so did an email addressed to you. You were sitting in your little office, cleaning and setting everything up before the boys needed to get ready when you phone dinged. 

Your breath got caught in your throat as you realized who that email was from. 

From: Mariah.S@JCNYC.com 

To: Y/E/A@Sunflower.com 

Dear Y/N, I am very glad to inform you….

Suddenly the door bursts open, a breathless Calum standing right under. 

“Y/N” He panted. 

You looked at him, confused “Calum, what’s going on? Are you okay?” 

Calum smiled “Yes! I’m more than okay actually, uuhm,” He said, trying to find the words “You know the band is going on tour, right?” He said referring to one of the biggest tours 5SOS was going to make following the release of their new album. 

“Yes! And I couldn’t be more excited for you! That 's huge!” You celebrated. 

“Come with us” 

“What?” Your smile faded. Calum got nervous.  

“Uh, I- well I mean we-” He took a deep breath “Me and the boys want you on tour with us as our stylist” Your mouth hung open, Calum took it as a good sign “We already talked to our management and they all agree. We want you to come on tour with us”

You were speechless. Part of you wanted to jump in joy, but the other part… “Cal, I-”

“Hey, Y/N” Another familiar voice called from the door “Great news, love. Yo- Hello, Calum, what are you doing here? Harry said when he laid eyes on the Australian, who wasn’t very fond of the interruption. 

“I came to tell Y/N some good news,” Calum said, dryly. 

“What a coincidence, I came for that as well”

“I don’t think there are any coincidence when it comes to you, Styles” 

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Harry asked, defyenty. 

Calum was about to answer with another passive aggressive remark when you interrupted them “Guys, not now” You said with a tired tone “What’s up, Haz?” 

“You’re coming on tour with us” He said, smiling at you “We already talked to management about it and you and Lottie are staying for the next tour”

You opened your mouth to respond but Calum cut you off, fuming. 

“Well, that’s not possible” 

“And why not?” Asked Harry, putting his attention on the other boy.

“Because Y/N is coming on tour with us” 

Harry scoffed “As if Y/N would want that” 

“How do you know that? You’re so arrogant and self centered-” Calum said a tad too loud.

“Don’t start something you cannot finish, Hood” Harry started, leveling his tone to match Calum’s “You immature prick -”

“Enough!” You yelled over their voices, making them turn their heads to you “What the hell has gotten into you today? It’s the last day of tour and this is the memory I get from you two? What a parting gift!” 

“Wait-” Calum said 

“Parting gift?”

You sighed “Guys, I can’t go on tour with either of you. I got an internship job with Jordan Coutier” You could see the disappointment in their faces as you softly said the words that would break their hearts “I’m going to New York”

Part 3

[witchybitchypeachy]

Quarantine selfcare

1.Catch up on your sleep. Even if you have to work in the morning, try an afternoon nap.

2. stay hydrated. Water with lemon, Tumeric Tea with honey..good for the immunity and the skin.

3.don't wear makeup and let your skin breathe.

4.remove nail polish and let nails "breathe" too.

5.move your body, do some at home exercises, climb the stairs or do chores, if you can go for a walk in the nature.

6. strech every two hours. and do some flexibity exercises

7. I know it may seem impossible but try to maintain a healthy diet and get all the nutrients you need. On another note, now is not really the time to go on diets and not eat, your body needs fuel in order to have a good immune system. so ofcourse you can eat junk but make sure you are eating your vitamins.

8.Vitamin D - sunlight or supplement. This is actually more Important than Vitamin C for immunity. (I've been taking it for a year and noticed a huge improvement)

9. NAC supplement (consult your physician) not only does it help detoxify your body and balance hormones but it also supports lung function which is super important right now.

10. please STOP smoking! even if just for now. you need your lungs in perfect shape also your skin and hair need a break.

11. apply raw organic honey to your face everyday and wash after half an hour. It's good for all skin concerns tbh.

12. this is the perfect time to give your hair a break! Stop dying, heat styling, overwashing, applying dry shampoo and too much product. detox your scalp with vinegar and apply masks very often and massage your hair with oils and leave it in. try to go as natural as possible. if you have bleached hair, use Olaplex n3 and leave it on for as long as possible.

13. Please, for the love of whatever you believe in, do not attempt to cut/dye/bleach your own hair.

14.try to use natural beauty products to give your body a proper detox. Replace lotions and creams with organic oils and butters.

15. try to keep your room and house as organized as possible. you are going to spend alot of time there, might as well..

16. clean and disinfect surfaces everyday, especially if it is something you got from outside your house ( package, groceries..)

17. lots of hand lotion/ oil since we are washing our hands alot!

18. get on the habit of dry brushing everyday (mornings are best to help wake up your body)

19. Apply castor oil and almond oil on your eyelashes and eyebrows to promote growth

20.vitamin C serum for the face everyday and make sure you use SPF after. with consistent use you will see how your skin is bright and glowing.

21.try to not lose motivation to put effort in your academics, otherwise you will regret it when we go back to school/uni. now is the perfect time to catch up

22.candles burning in a clean home can elevate your mood.

23. try cooking something special everyday for dinner so you have something to look forward to.

24. keep your loungewear clean and nice. You can't feel good if you have been wearing the same ripped pyjama pants for 8 days.

25. Connect with people. take to your friends everyday, family members you haven't talked to in a long time, people that you never really had the time or energy to talk to.

26. keep yourself entertained. It is IMPOSSIBLE to get bored nowadays. and if you are..Play the sims

27.if you drink, try to make a fancy cocktail everynight(or maybe not everynight..im not really one to say)

28.Do!Not!Touch!Your!nose!or!mouth

This period may be difficult, but most of us can spend it at home with all the neccesities we need which is a blessing. My condolences to anyone whom lost a loved one due to this virus.

stay strong and stay safe and stay at home.

xo

[hollyhomburg]

Call me yours (pt. 5)

(Ot7 x Reader) (Hybrid Au!) (Blind! Reader)

Summary: You never would have imagined that more love was hidden right next door, just over your garden fence. but will you and Hoseok ever get there? will you ever have your first date? 

Pairings: (Human! Hoseok) x (Human! Reader) x (Wolf hybrid! Namjoon) x (Dog hybrid! Seokjin) x (Cat hybrid! Yoongi) x (Tiger hybrid! Taehyung) x (Bunny hybrid! Jungkook) x (Cat hybrid! Jimin)

W/c: 6.0k

Tags/Warnings: LITERALLY every bit of this is wholesome fluff, no angst at all here.

- To say that Jimin and Yoongi have gotten close over the past few weeks would be an understatement. Jimin is the first thing on Yoongi’s mind when he wakes up and the opposite is also true. though Yoongi for whatever reason- is usually the more nocturnal one, so Jimin usually heads over in the early morning to slip into Yoongi’s bed in the upstairs, or wait in the kitchen starting the morning coffee and bringing it to all of you in bed.

- it’s not that he’s not like- comfortable slipping in between you and Yoongi on your too-small-for-4-hybrids bed, it’s just that there are some invisible lines that they’re just not comfortable breaching yet. Jimin sighs while he makes the coffee and thinks about it. Hoseok needs to ask you out already so that they can stop pretending that they’re not all building their lives into one another.  

- You’re the only one usually stirring when he heads in on those mornings.  It’s exceedingly sweet- especially the first time it happens and you pop your head up from where it was buried in Yoongi’s chest, Namjoon and Seokjin curled into their little puppy pile of cuddles to the side, your hair all ruffled making Jimin coo and smooth it down. asking softly if you’d like some coffee, kissing you on your forehead as he whispers good morning so as to not wake the others up.

- Jimin at least has no problem being affectionate with you, really Hoseok needs to take notes one of these days. though really, it’s not that hoseok has problems being affectionate just being affectionate while makeing his intent known. but then again jimin could probably give him tips on that too since he’s recently taken up the task of letting everyone know just how much he apreciates them, often vocally, with many purrs and alot of scentmarking to physically reinforce his point.  

- Yoongi grumbles and pulls you more firmly against him before he realizes Jimin is there, grumbling without opening his eyes, “5 more minutes Seokjin-Hyung, it’s my turn to snuggle her” Jimin giggles before he presses a warm cup in between your fingers. You hear him set a second one for Yoongi on the bedside table.

- You sip at it gratefully, suddenly quirking your head to the side, “what did you put in this?” Jimin shrugs, you feel the edge of the bed dip. “I couldn’t find your sugar so I used maple syrup like Hobi does,”

- “Hoseok uses maple syrup instead of sugar?” you ask, somehow way too endeared to learn this little fact about him- because of course, Hoseok (with his syrupy sweet soul) would like something like this.

- The first time Jimin surprises Yoongi with a pounce, Yoongi’s resounding yowl makes Namjoon and Jungkook almost cry laughing. Especially when they go over to the side of the house and witness Yoongi’s dazed expression as Jimin straddles him. The watering can he was using to water the catnip they’d planted on the side of the house discarded in the grass. To see him Still pinned, happily being groomed by Jimin, his purs rippling as he licked and licked and licked, and promptly erupted with laughter.

- “Someone’s got a crush,” Namjoon says when he wanders into the kitchen one afternoon in late July and runs a hand through Yoongi’s hair- all splayed and rumpled and sticking up from where Jimin had groomed him again, it’s definitely becoming a daily habit.

- Yoongi’s resulting blush makes Namjoon cackle and teases more, gripping the younger by the shoulders and giggly swaying side to side, miming a wedding march and punctuating each twirl with a whip crack. He’s a little more goofy than usual, The strange behavior might have something to do with the fact that Namjoon had just woken up from yet another sunny nap with Jungkook in the garden, he’s a little heat hazy. “You’ve been spending too much in the sun, and all that soil is gonna rot your brain.”

- “Doesn’t change that Yoongi likes Jiminie.” He says in a singsong voice his giggle deep and adorable.  

- “Oh go find somewhere dark and grow some moss you gossipy asshole.”

- Seokjin snorts from where he reads a book at the table. “Yeah Joonie, you’re one to talk with Jungkook trailing after you like that,” Namjoon freezes. “Wait-what? What do you mean?” he’s blushing from his feet to his ears. Yoongi sends Seokjin a small grin that makes his heart thrum a little harder. Seokjin reaches out absently passing a hand over Yoongi’s side. Making him shiver in the best way.

- “I don’t think he comes over here every day for the carrots Namjoon,” Seokjin comments wryly.  Namjoon looks nearly contrite until the bunny hybrid in question bounds into the kitchen almost tripping over the rug like he does nearly every time, half falling into the kitchen. Yoongi catches him with a well-placed arm.

- “Kid you gotta watch it!” Jungkook’s wide smile with his teeth gnawing at his lower lip is so cute that it just might make all of them blush, and let him get away with being barely contrite. A glance around the room solidifies that yes- they’re definitely all blushing and crushing over the sparkly, wide-eyed, floppy eared glory of Jungkook. 

- “Oh thanks Hyung! I finished twining up the honeysuckle and deadheading the lavender? Is the hydrangea next Hyung?” a faint blush colors his cheeks, barely brushing the tops of his cheekbones as he looks at Namjoon. “Yes, kooky- I’ll be out in a second.” 

- “Do you want something to drink Kookie?” Seokjin asks. because as much as he knows they love working out in the sun all day Seokjin can’t help but look after them and make sure they’re just as watered as the garden. Kooky nods happily, and asks hopefully “Do you have carrot juice?” 

- Seokjin barely contains his smile as he sets Jungkook up. Seokjin had made sure he picked some up from the store last week solely because of Jungkook. The three hybrids watch as Jungkook downs the whole thing in one big gulp, eyebrows raising. Blacktopped tail twitching from side to side and showing the white underside before he places it on the counter (remembering not to slam it- a lesson when he’d accidentally shattered one of their cups last week)

- He nuzzles into Seokjin’s shoulder as he says, “thanks Hyung!” then pulls Namjoon outside. The entire exchange of juice takes about 30 seconds. And leaves Seokjin feeling all kinds of gooey and fond affection. He has to steady himself against the counter. “Jesus” Seokjin comments to no one, holding his heart and shaking his head. Yoongi snickers. 

- “Yoon” comes a crooning voice that can only be Jimin, making Yoongi flush and crumple. “Oh my god just go” Seokjin pushes his hip, “leave all of your flirting out of my kitchen, I just want to relax- oh my god.” And Yoongi heads out of the kitchen looking like he’s about to brave a typhoon- his tail flicking back and forth alert the whole time (though he does go willingly- that fact makes Seokjin externally smile, and internally feel a little smug)

- “Jinnie?” You call from inside the house, Seokjin smiles softly, putting his book down and setting his thick-rimmed glasses to the side, “in the kitchen love.” He responds you follow the sound of his voice, finding your way to hug him from the side. 

- Settling into the comfort of his arms. His face pressed into your stomach, arms loosely wound around your side. Relaxing into The of your oldest lover, nothing feels quite so calming, or quite so comforting as Seokjin. 

- Seokjin hums against your stomach, moving his neck a little bit to scent mark you. An old habit, and a little futile because you smell like a mess of all of them now. Though with a sniff- he realizes (with no small bit of pride) you do smell like him the most.

- “What’s going on in Jinnie world?” you ask, running a hand through his hair to scratch behind his ear. It’s a little bleach fried, last month Jimin and Yoongi had ganged up on him and convinced him to dye his hair. And though you knew it was some “awesome” shade from the amount that Yoongi complimented Jin. 

- You didn’t remember exactly what color it was. After you’d felt it for the first time and whined about the new texture, Seokjin had vehemently promised to never dye it again. He loves the ear pets way too much to make them even slightly unpleasant for you. 

- “Oh you know- just the impending threat of romance from a certain bunny and kitten.” or a tiger and red-headed cutie for that matter, he adds in his head but doesn't say out loud for fear of the teasing it would incur. 

- “Mm, not a kitten.” Jimin pouts from the doorway, hair all fluffed up and curly. Jimin looks extra cute in an extra-large dark blue sweater that probably belonged to Jungkook at one point (it has orange carrots printed all over it).

- Jimin sniffs at the air huffs a glance at Jin put upon look stepping closer to the two of you to Scent mark your shoulder and neck the purr in his chest vibrating softly. Jimin doesn’t break eye contact with Jin the whole time, as if daring him to make some comment. You flinch when he gives you a small lick to the back of your neck, exposed from your hair up in a bun. 

- “Jesus Christ,” you say, pushing at his shoulder playfully the same second Seokjin clenches around your waist, crying “go scent mark Yoongi you brat! Leave my human to me!” 

- Jimin giggles and flicks a wink at Seokjin, “not for long puppy.” he passes back through the door, down the stairs and probably back to where the hammock and probably Yoongi is (not before snatching a bag of chips from the pantry). 

- Even after his heat Jimin has been… a little flirty with all of them teases Namjoon and you almost as much as Seokjin does, and Seokjin feels a little pity that Yoongi has to bear the full force of Jimin’s brattiness like that. Then again, Yoongi probably greets it with the same begrudging enjoyment that Seokjin finds himself feeling when he sees the 6 of them together all floppy and falling over each other under the terrible weight of multiple crushes. 

- At the thought of it, Seokjin whines lowly rubbing his neck along your stomach not satisfied by how much you smell like your shampoo “Feeling possessive Jinnie?”

- “Can’t help it” he mumbles, voice thick through the growl building in his throat. grabbing your hand, hesitating a second, before he places it on his head again from where it had fallen. You oblige him with consolatory ear rubs. But it’s still not enough, jin surges’ up, standing and kissing your cheek before moving to your other one and then to your lips, you smile into the kiss as happy as you’ve ever been. and Jin flops back down once you look sufficiently blushy. 

- “Uhm” Weight creeks over the door stoop and Seokjin’s ears flick in the direction of the sound. Taehyung stands in your doorway fingers tapping on the handle. Shoulders hunched, and his curved ears bright orange and pinned back against his cinnamon-colored hair. “Hey Tae,” you say, giving the hybrid a wider than usual smile. 

- Over the past few weeks, you’ve learned that Taehyung thrives off of obvious enjoyment. Telling him you’re happy he came over or complimenting him when he helps has been amazing for his self-esteem. He’s become a lot more vocal as a result, though he’s still definitely shy in situations like this when he’s not sure if he’s 100% welcome. 

- Hoseok even thanked you for it the other day; you’ve had such a positive effect on the hybrid. He doesn’t even cling to Hoseok in the mornings when he leaves for work anymore.

- Hoseok had told you that with a hand on yours over the banister, your hands lightly entwined in the haze of the evening as you waited on the back porch. After He’d come over to retrieve Jimin who had made himself very comfortable sleeping in your upstairs bedroom. 

- Jungkook had quite literally had to carry him out, appearing in the yellow kitchen light a second after that, you see it for a moment against the light- a blob of darkness that must be Jungkook that quickly shifts. Hoseok’s hand sliding out of yours regretfully. 

- The calico cat had slept on, dead to the world with his head tipped against Jungkook’s shoulder arms loosely twined around Jungkook’s neck. Jungkook’s strong arms gripping under either of his thighs, lifting Jimin like he weighed nothing. 

- “Wait” Seokjin had said, in the doorway of the kitchen, his apron wound around his waist. Jungkook had paused and let Jin press a little kiss to Jimin’s cheek. to which Jungkook had pouted and shifted from foot to foot nervously a move probably learned from Jimin. But he doesn't even have to ask just looks up at Seokjin with his wide dark eyes and he’s already kissing him on the forehead too. “Goodnight loves” Seokjin had said, low and hushed. 

- Jungkook looked equally as reverent and put upon with affection his little cottontail twitching happily as Hoseok had chirped. “Sorry about that! He’s such a goof falling asleep everywhere.” His hand hovering a second next to yours as he said, “see you tomorrow I guess” you’d smiled, a little too happy at the thought of seeing him again. “Yeah! See you tomorrow” 

- Yoongi had stumbled down the stairs soon after. Seeking out your lap for comfort. His words slurring, “where did Minnie go?” Namjoon had tugged on his tail playfully, “he had to go home- you know to his actual bed where he actually sleeps- I swear when I read that cats sleep 18 hours a day I didn’t actually think that was true for hybrids.” 

- “Hoseok says tiger hybrids don’t sleep that long.” You had commented. All their ears perk up at that- it’s no secret you have a soft spot for the shyest hybrid next door. 

- The hybrid who is now at your door, looking down like he doesn’t know if he’s allowed in. Tae shifts from foot to foot, “I was wondering if-” his voice is small, strangled by the anxiety in his throat. “Could I help you cook today Hyung? Minnie and kooky are both hanging out with Yoongi-Hyung and Namjoon-Hyung and Hobi-Hyung won’t be back from work till 6.” 

- One thing that Hoseok had imparted to you was how unused Taehyung was to being alone and how anxious it made him. A few weeks ago, Hoseok had to call over and apologized, saying that they wouldn’t be able to make it over for dinner like usual because of Taehyung. 

- Jungkook had told you later what had happened. How Taehyung had become so touch starved and shivery and anxious that they’d all piled on top of him the whole night. He’d whined and almost burst into tears each time any of them had gotten up from the cuddle puddle.

- It’s that neediness that makes you part your arms and let Taehyung fold his large body into yours, determined to make himself as small as possible no matter that you’re still in-between Seokjin’s legs, he has to part them more to let Taehyung in. 

- Seokjin casts a glance at the clock, letting his hand trace over Taehyung’s arms where they’re wrapped around your back, he’s putting his full weight on your shoulders and all- but you don’t mind. Seokjin feels the Fondness creep up in him, he wants to coo at the way Taehyung’s ears always shake back and forth when he gets happy.

- “It’s a little early to start Taehyung if I started dinner now it would be a little cold by the time Hobi gets home.” Seokjin doesn’t let the significance of home linger but catches the way you bite your lower lip. Because the only ones who haven’t accepted that they’re all basically headed that way are you and Hoseok. 

- Taehyung looks crestfallen for a moment, “But I think we do need to go to the store to get some stuff if you’d like to accompany us- if you’re feeling up to it.” Taehyung perks up instantly and nods happily “Definitely! I can help you carry the groceries!” Seokjin definitely does not mention the fact that they don’t need enough stuff to require both Tae and Seokjin to go- but maybe Seokjin should utilize the extra help when he can get it. And he won’t burst the adorable bubble that is Kim Taehyung. 

- “We should probably leave Hobi a note,” you say, “and tell the others!” Taehyung walks to the edge of your deck and shouts- surprisingly loud after his quietness to the others. Yoongi and Jimin may not hear him- but if they wake up and head over to the garden to ask Namjoon and Kooky they’ll find out where you went.

- “A heart? Really? You want me to add a heart to the note? You know you two could just text,” Seokjin teases; when you dictate him a note to Hobi- you’ll put it on his front door. There is a little collection of likewise notes that Hobi has left on your door on sitting on the window sill, occasionally you’ll bring the small pile over to Seokjin and ask him to read them to you. As it goes- most of them are actually for Seokjin- since Hobi knows you can’t read them without the help of the others.

- Though that might change soon. The other day Jimin came over for Yoongi, Seokjin had answered the door. Jimin had barely even stopped to press a sticky note to Seokjin’s forehead, stood on his tippy toes to kiss him fully on the lips with a loud (and wet) smack.  Before he stomped up the stairs to what Jimin has started to call “the cuddle room” ie Namjoon’s/Seokjin’s old room, and where Yoongi slept whenever he wanted to stretch out like a starfish. (Taehyung shows up soon after, and also piles into the cuddle room after sleepily bumping into both the wall and Namjoon on his way up the stairs.)

- Namjoon roared with laughter until he can get enough breath to tell you what happened and then the laughter doubles. Seokjin still standing in the doorway.  Absolutely astounded at Jimin’s unending battiness, but blushing so hard that he almost wants to melt into the floor.

- Hoseok always leaves little footnotes for Seokjin too- always little tidbits or jokes, like hope you have an eggcellent day Jin-Hyung! or I’m gonna try and find some of your youtube videos on my break today, or why can’t towels tell jokes? because they have a dry sense of humor! that leave Jin grinning and laughing after he reads them.

- Even though Seokjin is often the one to receive the notes, Jimin had informed you that Hobi got a book on braille so that he can start giving you ones that you’ll actually be able to read. The little sneak- Hobi had probably meant it to be a surprise. 

- He’d picked it up from the local library on an outing with Jimin and Namjoon. And Hobi had sent you what Seokjin described as an adorable picture of Jimin and Namjoon snuggled in one of the reading nooks together. Seokjin ends up printing out that picture and adding it to the growing collection of them on the wall in the living room.  

- There are more than a few hearts on those notes; sometime Hobi will sign them with a heart instead of his name. If Seokjin could roll his eyes anymore they’d fall out of the back of his head, he doesn’t know why Hoseok doesn’t just ask you out already- they all know it’s coming. But still, you insist on tiptoeing around each other. 

- Taehyung happily takes your arm while you walk to the store, chirping and pointing out the strangest things. “I like this street because all of the doors on the houses are different colors,” and “that car has like- a billion stickers on it- and half of them are for the same sports team” Seokjin chimes in whenever possible. But sequitously drops back and takes a photo of you two, adding it to his Instagram...which is greeted by immediate fanfare. 

- It’s not like Seokjin has been really secretive about the growing change in his life or hid it from his fans, but his youtube channel has taken somewhat of a backseat recently with all of the excitement in his personal life- he’s only been making cooking videos like once or twice a week instead of nearly every day like he used to.

- He hasn’t come out and said it or alluded to why Hoseok's hybrids have started popping up here and there in his social media, or even the human himself who helped Jin try to kook blindfolded the other day. He asked you first of course, and you made a mini-competition out of it with you, Seokjin, and Hoseok cooking together and the others testing it- none too surprisingly, Seokjin still wins because you and Hoseok spend most of the time giggling and falling into each other and burn both of your pans.

- The episode finishes with you talking about your blindness, both of them leaning in and admitting how hard it must be for you. though it’s never really your intention to feel indulgent, you admit it was kind of cathartic. Seokjin and Hoseok come out of it with new a new perspective. A the moment, when you sit in between both of them and they admit how strong they think you are. 

- At the store, Taehyung sets about retrieving things for Seokjin, who barks off a list from his phone. All in all its uneventful though Seokjin does add a carton of Minnie ice-cream cones to the cart after Taehyung glances at them a few times, his ears pinned to his hair, unsure how to ask for them. He blushes and Seokjin sends him a knowing glance. later outside, Taehyung gives Seokjin a small smile that's worth everything and says, “you take care of us so well Hyung,” his smile boxy and easy, leaning into Jin so sweetly. 

- When you get home, you’re not surprised to find Hobi sitting on your back porch watching Namjoon and Jungkook throw a frisbee back and forth, occasionally sending it Hoseok's way. The gate between both of your yards is open (it’s rarely closed anymore).

- Seokjin drags you close and whispers when he spots the redheads work tangled mop sitting on your steps.  “He’s wearing his suit- I’ll have you know it looks all rumpled and cute. Ask him out before I do I swear” before he nudges you in the direction of the stairs. 

- Hobi straightens at your presence, standing in a rush; Seokjin sees that he’s holding your note. Taehyung makes to say hello to his owner but before he can Seokjin drags him back by the hood of his sweatshirt. Pressing a kiss to his cheek in response to Taehyung whines. “Why don’t you help me chop up some of the carrots for bibimbap Tae,” 

- “Thanks for taking them today,” Hobi says, taking your hand and helping you sit down against the steps next to him.   

- “It’s no trouble- I think Namjoon’s glad for the company, and Yoongi as well, I think anyway. None of us mind it at all.” And it’s true, you love the way that your house has become a meeting place for all of them, even though it does get twice as loud as usual, and sometimes it’s more difficult than usual to distance yourself and concentrate on work. 

- “How was your day?” you ask, Hobi sighs his hands through his hair, making it look even more tousled, curling against the nape of his neck in the humidity “Long, I’m just happy it’s Friday!” 

- “Oh yeah forgot it was,” 

- Hoseok pouts, pushing against your shoulder amicably “I’m still so jealous you get to work from home and make your own hours- that’s so convenient and I’m stuck going all the way into the city every single day,” 

- “Yeah it has it’s perks, I get cuddle while I work more often than not. Did you know Tae cuddled me all day yesterday? Kookie too because Namjoon had another day at the community center.” 

- “Yeah, he gushed to me about it for about an hour last night while he took a bath. speaking of cuddles”  Yoongi and Jimin walk past the two of you- probably on the way to the cuddle room now that the hammock is a little too cold, but Hoseok doesn’t let Jimin past, yowling for a moment when he pulls the cat into his lap. 

- On the other side of you, Yoongi cuddles up to your side, kissing your cheek. the sound of loud purring pervading the back steps. Eventually, the two cats detangle themselves and head upstairs. Someone (probably Tae) starts up the speaker in the kitchen to play some new kitschy pop music that spills through the open door.  

- Hoseok lets out a happy sigh and taps his foot to the beat subconsciously. Jungkook crows in delight as he makes a particularly large hop, catching the Frisbee out of the air making Namjoon jump up in down happily- a habit that he’d begun to pick up from Jungkook. 

- “You seem a little quiet today,” you comment, your hand hovering just an inch away from Hobi’s on the wooden step, you dont know that hoseok has his eyes closed and is listening to all of it. 

- The clangs from the kitchen, Jungkook’s and Namjoon’s happy yells, the music, the everything that Hoseok appreciates so much. both of you would be lying if you said that your hybrids had nothing to do with how reluctant you are to push forward with your own relationship. Thought it’s nothing that either of you would ever admit to- not even to Seokjin or Jungkook.  In the worst case scenario- if you date and then break up- it would probably break all of their hearts not only yours. 

- but hypotheicals only do so much for so long, hoseok stretches his hand out a little, his fingertips pressing against yours. For a moment he resists the urge, he’s loathed to damage the peace here, but then you give his had a reassuring squeeze. 

- From inside the kitchen, Yoongi and jimin have decided to stay and help chop things, but the cutting boards lay untended on the counter. Taehyung too has piled to the side of the bay doors to secretly watch the two of you. “Jin get over here” Yoongi hisses as Taehyung jostles him by leaning his elbows on Yoongi’s shoulders. “I think it’s finally about to happen” jimin whispers hiss as they watch, all piled to peer around the door. 

- Both of you are oblivious to the audience you have, even as Namjoon and Jungkook start sending you two furtive glances. “Do you want to maybe-” Hoseok pauses, a little unsure, “go out for ice-cream tomorrow? Have you been to the cute place in myeongdong yet? They mix shaved ice and vanilla and it’s so good.” 

- “Yeah but we probably would have to get like 5 for all of them Seokjin loves shaved ice so much-” Hoseok’s hope falls incrementally.  he scratches at the back of his head with his other hand. 

- “Uhm I meant- I meant just the two of us? But you can totally bring Jin if you want to I know he’s like- I know I’m not great at like making sure you don’t crash into things” he thinks about an unfortunate incident that occurred last week when you came over to his house and almost fell horribly into a glass side table. internally wincing. 

- “But I thought it would be nice to kind spend some time one on one… if you- if you want to” he trails off, glad you can't see how bright red he is- god it’s been so so long since he asked anyone out on a date he can’t believe how badly he just fucked that up. 

- But you won’t let him get away with anything. “Do you mean like a date?” Hoseok’s ears burn, he replies even quieter and even more unsure, “only if you want it to be- we can, we can just go as friends too, if you- if you want?” you grip his hand tight, glad that the light spilling from the kitchen allows you to properly judge where Hoseok’s face is, reach out to press your hand to his cheek. 

- Inside, Seokjin slaps a hand over Jimin's mouth the second he’s about to shout in joy, while Yoongi pumps his arm and swallows his excitement as Taehyung bounces on the balls of his feet, biting on his knuckles to keep from exclaiming, boxy grin impossibly wide. 

- “Shaved ice sounds lovely, we can go just us two- I’m sure the boys will be glad to have some time to goof off.” 

- “Okay” he says, the words quiet and hopeful, He leans his hand into your cheek, you can feel how warm it is, and the flutter of his eyelashes, the streach of his mouth into a wide smile, softer than the rest. All of it- you are keenly aware of every little movement he makes to lean in closer to you. and feel even more keenly when he stops, heating up a little as he turns his head and sees whatever's in the kitchen. 

- He stays for dinner, all of them do. they move the kitchen table out onto the deck and pile in, though Yoongi does have to sit on the ottoman that was in the living room. (Though Jimin is practically sitting in his lap the whole night- really why did you even bother grabbing 2 chairs for them?).

- None of them mention or tease when you both inform them that tomorrow night you’re going to go out, though the eye wiggling wink jimin gives Hoseok makes him flush and sink into his seat. 

- You compliment Taehyung on the braised acorn squash he tells you proudly that he made all on his own with barely any help from Seokjin. He feeds you the best piece with his own chopsticks, and he blushes and flicks his tail against Seokjin’s face, squeaking when he grabs it and pulls lovingly. 

- The next day before your date with Hobi, Taehyung, and Jimin and Jungkook walk over to your house toting their X-box, it’s many cords and more than a few bags of snacks. 

- Seokjin answers the door and lets them in.  Jimin snickers standing on his tippy toes to press a kiss to the underside of Seokjin’s jaw and says, “he changed 5 times for this” within earshot of you, Namjoon snags his hip and scents along the Coolum of Jimin’s throat in hello after doing the same to Jungkook and Tae. “she changed 3 and had us weigh in on each outfit” Namjoon adds. 

- Seokjin stoops to kiss both of their cheeks, “I spent a full hour on her makeup too!” then he returns to your side to help you put on your jean jacket, before you dart back into your room at the sound of the doorbell “just tell him I’ll be ready in a second! i forgot about my perfume” 

- The doorbell rings again, and Seokjin lets Hoseok in. His leg is twitching and he tosses a little nervous hello at Seokjin before his hands reach up as if to run through his hair- carefully a little windswept before he stops- like he’s worried about messing it up. 

- Seokjin takes one good look at Hoseok’s rumpled white button-down and shakes his head. “That won’t do” tugging on the corner of his shirt half-tucked into his tight dark skinny jeans, tugging it up further so that it comes loose “off- there's iron in the laundry room.” 

- Hoseok eyes Seokjin for a moment, when the elder raises an eye expectantly Hoseok finally starts unbuttoning it. “No undershirt- really?” Hoseok blushes at that and throws him the shirt. Jimin wolf whistles, which Namjoon answers with an honest to god whistle. Both of them leaning over the back of the couch to watch Hoseok, drinking in the low rise pants and happy trail combo (along with the abs? how the hell does Hoseok manage to have abs when he has full-time job?) 

- Jimin’s green cat eyes are sharp and teasing “Hey hubby” he greets with a flutter of his eyelashes, his patchy tail swishing. “hey menace” Hoseok teases lovingly, as he trails away after Jin.

-  Just under the stairs and it’s cealing  slanted on one side, Seokjin leaves the laundry room door open. a shelf of cubbies consumes the nonslanted wall some of them empty and others full of towels and bins of winter jackets or baskets full of snow boots. There is a basket of laundry on top of the drier and Hoseok definitely doesn’t let his eyes linger on whatever lacy and translucent thing is kind of falling out and over the top. 

- Seokjin pops an iron board from where it’s folded against the wall, clicking on the iron (which was many more settings and looks a lot more heavy duty than a regular one) and makes sure it’s filled with steam. Hoseok briefly recalls one of your late-night conversations about Seokjin- about what he’d done before you’d adopted him and his time as a show hybrid, and Hoseok briefly wonders if he’d learned how to do this from that. 

- While they wait a minute for the iron to heat up Seokjin holds out his hand. “give me your phone” Hoseok hands it over with a raised eyebrow, Seokjin clicks around on it for a moment. 

- “I think it’s good that you both are getting some alone time but incase anything happens I want you to have my number.” Jin says. “I don’t want to smother you both but-” 

- “Jin you’re not some overprotective parent. I totally understand why you would be- hell- I’m worried every time she takes Taehyung, Jimin, and Jungkook to the park.” 

- “It’s not that I don’t trust them it’s just that…“ where Seokjin trails off Hoseok finishes. 

- “They’re not the most aware bunch.” Seokjin smiles at Hoseok finishing his sentence, looking up at Hoseok with only the thin ironing board between the two of them. And Hoseok finds himself suddenly aware of the fact that he’s shirtless-In what is basically a closet with all 6-foot glory of Kim Seokjin and his delicate countenance that disarms Hoseok in dangerous ways. 

- Even with you waiting for him out in the living room, Seokjin makes his heart stutter and it’s not like you wouldn’t understand if he explained to you. More often than not Hoseok has come in to find you snuggled into Seokjin or kissing him or cuddling him or Namjoon or all three of your hybrids. And newer- all three of his. And Hoseok doesn’t mind one bit. 

- Seokjin checks the iron, holding his hand a safe inch away from it to feel its heat and then turn it up all the way, before he starts and carefully smoothing out Hoseok’s shirt, pressing around the edges with a practiced air.  “is it bad that I’m nervous?” 

- “It would be worse if you weren’t.” Seokjin finishes quickly, setting the iron back into a standing  position and Hoseok is sure he has one of those back in his house but he’s not sure he’s ever used it- some move in present from his mother. Seokjin holds shirt out for Hoseok to step into. 

-  Is it just Hoseok’s imagination? Or his Seokjin letting his fingers brush a little more over the planes of his chest as he button’s up Hoseok’s shirt. He’s blushing by the end of it. 

- When Seokjin makes a ticking noise at his hair and runs his hand through Hoseok’s hair to make it more tousled. he bemoans the loss of effort, he’d spent thirty minutes makeing it perfect, but the intent expression on seokjin’s face, suddenly closer, makes the complaint die in his throat.  “She’ll be able to tell,” Seokjin says. “What?” 

- “if she touches your arm or your shoulder she’ll be able to tell if it’s smooth or not- and she likes it a lot when it’s smooth and soft.” He says as he runs his fingers down Hoseok's arms and to the cuffs rolling them up once then twice, and checking intermittently to make sure they’re even. 

- Seokjin looks down smiling at his memories. “do you know that when we first got here both Namjoon and I individually and independently decided that we both didn’t want to wear any fabrics that she didn’t like? Because we cuddle so much and neither of us wanted to put her off?” 

- Hoseok laughs, because what Seokjin’s describing- that’s cute. “What ones should I be worried of? Not that we’re going to be cuddling tonight or anything really” thought Hoseok does have hopes. Seokjin grins- like he knows Hoseok is imagining it. “Say away from chiffons and wool blends, cotton is usually a safe bet- just god no microfiber” 

- Seokjin continues combing through Hoseok's locks. Hoseok gets why the hybrids love head rubs so much- it feels unreasonably good and Hoseok doesn’t even have a pair of ultra-sensitive nerve ending dense ears on top of his head. Seokjin fusses with Hoseok’s hair, turning the curls this way and that to get them to a cute placement.  “Will she be able to tell my hair is messed up too?” 

- Seokjin takes a step towards Hoseok. Close but not pinning him against the ironing board quite yet. Hoseok realizes how tall Seokjin is, the few inches between the two of them feel greater now. Hoseok rarely feels so pinned in and small like this doesn’t even really like feeling that way at least not the same way that Jungkook and Taehyung like. 

- But it does calm the nervous bits of him to have Seokjin so close, the tender affection exactly what Hoseok needs as his hand squeezes the back of Hoseok’s neck. “No” Seokjin says, his mouth a perilous few inches from Hoseok’s, the room suddenly too hot and small to contain all of this. “that’s for me.”  

- Seokjin doesn’t kiss Hoseok like Hoseok thinks he will. Instead tipping their foreheads together and letting hoseok feel every brush of closeness until their lips truely meet. The moment is quiet and tender, almost stolen. Hoseok’s hands fist in the back of Seokjin’s shirt and the elder's hands are still nested in Hoseok’s hair. Just for a moment really, but it somehow makes Hoseok feel like a live wire sparking with it all, and suddenly he’s not anxious about your date at all as he breaks apart. 

- “I trust you with her Hobi.” Jin says after a moment, letting their noses brush before Hoseok pulls back, steadying his hand against the ironing board without thinking about the hot iron. 

- This is how your date would have gone: 

- Hoseok’s heart would have beaten quick when he saw you in your baby blue dress in your living room, the hybrids would have teased both of you for your blush and Seokjin would have quite literally pushed both of you out the door. Shaved ice would have been a lovely affair in which Hoseok cutely fed you spoonfuls while you let him have sips of your hot chocolate which you got even though it’s the middle of summer. 

- Then after, the two of you would linger and walk by the river and Hoseok would have explained to you how all of the lights look and all the neon shrouded night and how hot humidity of summer made the light look diffrent. 

- On the way home, the two of you would have cuddled up on the train close and Hoseok would have frozen and gone still when you laid your head on his shoulder and intertwined your hands your ankle brushing his. Scared that the jostling of the moving train would make you vacate his shoulder, a spot that your cheek had always been meant to rest on. 

- And then when you got to your front door the following conversation would have taken place:

- “I just realized- we don’t really get to say goodbye- I’ll just go in and get them and then we’ll go over to my house and ugh- I was hoping this would be like the movies- you know when the guy walks the girl home and then they-“ Hoseok would have choked off, stopping his rambling, realizing what he was just about to say. 

- Kiss, he would want to kiss you goodnight, a small nervous smile plays on your lips, and Hoseok would have thought wow good job Hoseok now she totally thinks you’re a creep- though it’s not exactly wrong to want to kiss after the first date? He had been clear that this was a date right and you’d agreed so-

- “I’ll pretend it’s a movie if you will.” 

- “Oh” he would have said, would have shifted closer his hand coming up to your cheek, “okay,” his lips would be soft and tentative despite the fact that hoseok gives and gets kisses more than the average human. his hair brushing at your forehead, nose a little off, it would be shorter but he’d catch you with your lips parted and now can’t resist opening his mouth a little too. He would have sucked your bottom lip between one of his, not biting on it but pressing it. 

- Your hands would have come to rest on his shoulders and coincidentally- his nicely pressed smooth silk shirt, smoothing over it, and retaliated by pressing in close makeing hoseok’s head go the best kind of hazy. nose filled with the prick of your sweet perfume, hands full of the softness of you- and everything from your little ghap when you part every kind of right. 

- Neither of you would have cared that you where in the middle of the street, especially when Hoseok’s hand would have gone up to cradle the back of your head and run through your silky hair, he would have tilt your head to just the right angle so that you would melt into the kiss like chocolate on a hot summer day. 

- You two would be so caught up In what is basically making out that you wouldn’t notice your front door opening, the 2 hybrids that can't fit into the doorway looking on from the window as Seokjin snorts, “Finally!”  

- But instead, what happens is this: 

- “Mother fucker!” Hoseok yells flinching back when his hand touches the still burning hot iron, doubling over as hot and consuming pain laces up his arm from his sensitive palm.

(Please comment and reblog! Likes are nice, but they do little to support content creators!)

[philomenafm]

(NATALIA DYER, DEMI GIRL) - Have you seen PHILOMENA CARMICHAEL? PHILLY is in HER/THEIR SOPHOMORE year. The WILDLIFE SCIENCE MAJOR is 20 years old & is a TAURUS. People say SHE/THEY are WHIMSICAL, PATIENT, APATHETIC and UNPREDICTABLE. Rumors say they’re a member of CALLOWAY. I heard from the gossip blog that SHE CONCEALED MURDEROUS EVIDENCE  (JAMES. 21. EST. THEY/THEM.)

ive done sm switches bt. she is the one. she is the one i love. trust me. ples. this is an old intro n im frankly. too lazy 2 read it bt. i love her a lot shes very good please like her

TW CANCER, TRAUMA, DEPERSONALIZATION / DEREALIZATION DISORDER ( ALT. DISSOCIATION ), DEATH, DECAY, MAGGOTS.

aesthetic.

wildflowers in your hair and bare feet against moss, binoculars and maps, madonna beating out of half-dead speakers in a half-dead van, whipping wind, jumping off cliffs and rolling down hills, a bandaid wrapped around each finger, cryptic bumper stickers and cryptids in the woods, facing the sun and letting the rays hit you, counting stars late into the night, dancing naked in the woods with nothing but fire to light your way, mismatched socks and lucky ribbons, hoarding a box of special treasures, shoplifting and diner-dashing, bleach against roots, pink sweaters paired with ripped fishnets and slip dresses with knock off uggs, willingly wearing crocs, glitter stickers, fungi and feeling one with them, lying down and decomposing, they’ll find us in a week. they’ll find us in a week.

basics.

full name: philomena brontë carmichael

nickname(s): philly, phil, etc.

b.o.d. - april 20th, 2000

label(s): the amaranth, the halycon, the neophyte, the wanderer, etc. etc.

height: 5′4″

hometown: woodside, ca

sexuality: demisexual

pinterest ( & her family pinterest b/c they’re my most developed family uwu)

stats

favorite song: wonderfully bizarre, bendigo fletcher / we can be defined by the things we want / i’ll be a life full of free haircuts from the one that i love / we’ll collect fallen out teeth in a candy jar / mice for the backyard peregrine falcon reservation.

background.

a middle child belonging to christopher and imogen carmichael - two stanford professors. christopher specialized in british literature whilst imogen specialized in the classics. hence the name.

the order of siblings goes as such: lysander, elektra, juno, philomena, and twins orion & valora. the deal was that everybody had a greek (or in juno’s case, roman) first name and a middle name inspired by a piece of british literature circa 1800s and under. a family of nerds, if you will.

so, clearly - right off the bat, their parents are … eccentric. they’re both in love with their respected topic, and with each other, and with their kids. the carmichael family is a happy family.

they each have their own quirks and whatnot - though philly’s always been particularly dreamy - even as a child, she’d spend hours watching clouds or caterpillars or the leaves blow in the wind rather than play with other kids. she wasn’t a shy kid - she just had her own interests.

hardship doesn’t hit the family until philomena is five and starts having splitting headaches. they’re slow at first - but as soon as she’s seeing spots and unable to walk in a straight line, doctor appointments are made.

it doesn’t take long for them to discover the tumor, though the official diagnosis of malignant ependymoma comes a month later.

it’s grade ii but slow-moving, small enough to not be as much of a threat as worried, but big enough where removal is necessary. philomena earns a scar and brings it in for show-and-tell. for two months afterwards, philly’s at radiotherapy monday through friday.

they’re lucky - philomena’s considered cancer-free by the next year. she’s babied at first - handled delicately, as if she could break if touched - but with five other children … it doesn’t last for too long.

and life continues as normal.

her personality doesn’t shift much over the next few years - she’s awfully independent for a kid, and awfully quiet - when she speaks it’s about faeries and bigfoot, about how the sky is so blue and if you listen quietly, you can hear the leaves whisper their secrets to each other. this is not odd.

she’s close to all her siblings, but she idolizes her older sister - elektra. elektra’s six years older and dyes her hair whatever colors she wants. elektra bought a knife off a seedy guy downtown. elektra threw away all of her heels and renounced god. elektra is god. her music is loud but it’s not heavy - it’s florence and the machine.

they’re opposites - elektra’s boisterous and feels loudly, philomena’s softer and feels…less. when elektra sneaks out, philomena keeps watch. they are a duo.

philomena is smart - but she’s fifteen and hates school. hates sitting inside all day. hates the same routine - day after day - it’s all the same. her parents’ routine is the same, philly feels contained and she wants to live.

elektra’s twenty-one and just bought a brand new spanking (used but not falling apart) 19-something volkswagen … van - using her entire savings account. she says she’s tired of routine, she’s leaving the next day.

naturally, philomena stows away in the back and isn’t discovered until they’re two states away and she’s got to pee. elektra nearly crashes the van in shock.

it’s an argument - philomena vs. elektra, then them vs. their parents, then their parents vs. the school, the state - it’s an ordeal. philomena switches to an online program in the end.

it hurts christopher and imogen - lysander’s not having any of their nonsense, juno’s betrayed and alone - the twins are twins. in the end, it’s alright. the carmichael family is a happy family.

philomena and elektra take their time - it’s not a road trip, it’s their new life, permanently on the road. they stop and explore often - they do odd jobs in whatever town they settle in. they dine-n-dash, they shoplift. they survive in their own way.

during particularly desperate times, they two resorted to identity theft & credit fraud - getting away with it only by ditching the cards once they’ve made it out of state.

she drops out of high school officially when she’s seventeen - they have to drive all the way back to california to deal with the wrath of their parents and to deal with paperwork, but it’s done. philomena doesn’t know what path she wants in life - but it’s not that.

it’s during this time that the episodes occur - philomena’s outside her body, philomena’s wrapped in cotton, her memories are not her own. she’s looking in the mirror and she doesn’t recognize herself. they take shelter in a city for six months, long enough for her brand spankin’ new therapist to figure out what’s wrong with her. she’s diagnosed with depersonalization / derealization disorder - they think it’s stress. philomena doesn’t get stressed. they think it’s trauma. she laughs - she never laughs.

there is trauma though, deep-rooted but somewhere inside - you just have to look for it.

you. just. have. to. look. for. it. look for it. look for it. look for it look for it look -

you were ten and she was thirteen, an off-trail hike in familiar woods in a familiar town, safe and familiar. it was your idea, to stray from the carved out paths, down creeks and up hills and round, and round again. you’re the one who spotted the scarf first, sticking up from the dirt and dancing in the wind like the beginning of reincarnation. it was not reincarnation, it was discovery. it was ruin. with curiosity drawn, you skidded down - with compliance, followed juno, followed your sister - clumsy in her steps and tumbling down quicker than you. you saw the corpse, but juno felt it. decaying flesh and maggot.

and she left juno, just like that - just five years later, when juno had finally gone to the end of her wits. philly up and left. abandoned her.

philomena and elektra leave the city after that therapy session. they do not return. she’s always been good at hiding her secrets.

three years later and her parents want philly to have a higher education - desperate for it, really - worried for her future. it’s a battle that she loses, getting her ged and applying to a local college in florida in shameful compliance.

they’re there for a year until philly gets (expectantly) expelled from the community college & the two of them are banned from the town they’d residing in up until that point. they don’t talk about it - but boy, was it one hell of a time.

they found refuge in preaker, a town that seemed to suit them well - it suited elektra’s desire to travel up and down the east coast, and it intrigued philomena enough to the point of her being content with staying. soon after, philly officially transferred to yates for her freshmen spring term & theyve been here since.

(whenever anna brings cillian uh. he’s in here too he’s been traveling w them fr like 3ish years. i just cannot rewrite atm KDSGLSDKLGKFGHLKSL bt hes here. n hes sexy. n we love him. bro3tp)

OH. hey yeah the secret. errmm. tht’s on cillian. philly just hid the evidence. no they didnt kill someone yes they did no they did not <3 yes

personality & facts.

she’s quiet but she’s confident - her voice sounds like rustling leaves, if leaves smoked a pack of cigarettes a day.

often underestimated - philly’s petite and looks like she’d fall over if a plastic bag blew too close to her. she’s independent - for the most part. elektra is the only person philly takes orders from.

has always been considered odd - weird, strange. still talks about the trees as if they’re listening, as if they’re old friends. she’s vague and doesn’t elaborate on the things she says.

believes in pretty much any superstition you throw her way. luck is very important to her. if you ask her if the earth is flat, she’ll say probably. believes strongly in bigfoot and the lochness monster. has personally seen aliens, and loves ghosts almost more than herself.

she can be amusing - whether you ‘get’ her or not, her outlook is often bright - she talks about the negatives the same way she talks about the positives. can be seen as naive or gullible, but she’s plenty smart. even if half of her education has come directly from google.

philly doesn’t laugh. a smile, yes - often, in fact - not always reaching her ears, or bearing teeth - but these are not indicators of her happiness. philly is consistently content. she thinks many things are funny - she still will not laugh.

her voice is often monotonous - she doesn’t sound dreary, she sounds far-away. her voice carries. her emotions are often unknown to others.

is apathetic in most situations. she’s hard to bother - she’s incredibly patient and enjoys the company of most - tolerates them at the very least. it’s hard for her to express her emotions, because she feels them so little that it’s very nearly not worth it. her affection is not verbal - it’s small touches and gestures of kindness, love in her own way.

is a fan of knock-knock jokes and bad puns. she won’t crack a smile while telling you them, nor does she expect you to laugh. she just enjoys them.

she owns a motorola razr covered in puffy stickers - hasn’t ever had a smartphone. she’s a fan of emoticons. her favorite is :o)

has a lot of bruises and scratches and scars - she’s often getting herself into pickles. there are always, at the very minimum, three bandaids on each hand.

she has insomnia, so she’s awake often. is often seen wandering town - even when she shouldn’t be, even when it might be dangerous. her intuition is delayed. when she does sleep - her dreams are vivid and fantastical.

keeps a box of memories - sentimental bits and pieces she’s picked up over the last few years. there are a lot of buttons and postcards, but any teeny tiny object will do.

her style changes every week - most, if not all, of her clothes are thrifted. one week she’s baby spice and the next she’s lydia deetz. she combines pieces from different styles often - she looks like a barbie clothed by a child. she feels most comfortable like this.

will either patch-up the clothes that get too worn or reuse them in some way. sometimes donates the clothes she gets tired off - isn’t minimalistic, but she’s learned to keep only a small amount of possessions.

the only consistency is her lucky ribbon - it’s pastel yellow and silky and as thin as a shoelace. she ties it onto her outfit of the day, everyday. if she loses it, she’s lost. elektra has a matching ribbon (& so does leo fowler eyes emoji)

has no problem with minor theft - she only takes bare minimum, puts herself and elektra first and that’s how it’s always been. she tries to be good while in preaker / yates - would hate to be forced out by mobs with torches and pitchforks

currently living in calloway while elektra stays in their van, florence - sometimes philly stays there during the weekends.

they used to live in motels on the occasion, the cheapest room, and more often than not they’d both go home with strangers for a comfier bed and a hotter shower.

it was a common occurrence - she didn’t sleep with them - but somehow, she weaseled her way into their homes anyway. has come out mostly unscathed, on most occasions. this has been a practice ever since they’ve been on the road.

really, truly - has not slept with anybody, had her first and only kiss at thirteen with a frog. this doesn’t bother her. edit: her first & only kisses hv been w leo fowler. this is important

will consume anything you put in front of her - isn’t picky.

listens to whatever they’ve picked up along the way but she likes instrumentals the best. her second favorite genre is 1990′s and 2000′s top hits. they’re nostalgic for her. third favorites? florence, of course. fleetwood mac. the bird and the bee.

loves storms - will go out in the rain and will risk her life for it.

owns a pair of roller-skates and is often skating rather than walking. unless she’s on grass - then she’s walking barefoot.

has many hobbies, and gets bored of them often. her favorite hobby is welding. she’s not certified.

also, juggling.

also, accordion.

the kind of girl who’ll do any job you give her. odd jobs are her favorite jobs. babysitting is her least favorite - but she does it anyway. has lost children before. have they ever been found? not by philly.

dyes her hair blonde often and cuts her own hair - bangs included - finds it cathartic, likes the itchiness of bleach.

everything she does is often in pursuit of feeling free, alive, and meaningful.

( like her frequent visits to the woods, late at night when the moon is high and full. it’s freeing to dance around a fire, stark naked in the cold. builds immunity )

comes and goes wherever she pleases, nothing & nobody can stop her. she knows to respect nature. exudes natural trust energy <3 dont know wht tht means but

the trust expands to animals as well, she has a certain knack for getting them to like her. has too many ‘pet’ rats that reside with her, alongside a baby raccoon & a few crow pals. has a new animal companion everyday, but she doesn’t contain them or force them to stay. edit: she hs a tabby cat named pail, now. named in honor of her mother, bucket.

leaves her window in calloway wide open because of this, because her window is conveniently right besides a tree with sturdy branches. good for animal smuggling, sneaking in and out, hiding, etc. etc. world is her oyster.

though her room in calloway is ??? frankly a mess ??? already ??? usually keeps most of her possessions in her memory box but she’s also turned her room into a mini labyrinth of knick-knacks. very cozy, but very nest-like. think of howl’s room from howl’s moving castle.

wanted connections.

how did you get in here ;; someone whose room she perhaps crashed at late at night, mysteriously. she refuses to explain where she’s come from. she’s gone before you wake. they could literally not know her at all she’s just sleeping halfway under their bed like <3 thank you <3

ma’am this is a wendys ;;  someone who sees her constantly <3 doing outlandish shit <3 bc lets b real. shes weird. shes a weirdo. why do u think she wears the same hat everyday. (she doesnt wear hats often) anyways. they probably dnt even like her? just think shes very strange?

im literally going to dissect you ;;  someone who. wants to figure out philly. pick at her brain. wear her shoes. kind of in the same category of above in this general like. ur fkn weird. bt they wna figure out why <3 they wna play therapist <3 jokes on u she hates therapists

liddle thief in the night ;; someone who has caught her stealing. or dining n dashing. either/or. perhaps both. she steals a lot :/

oh like. friends n stuff ;; of any closeness. ppl she talks 2 conspiracies with, ppl she goes on late night walks with, ppl she explores with, ppl she steals with, ppl she smokes with, etc. etc. ppl who bring her out to parties cos they like her funky little ways when she gets drunk n tries to climb atop everything <3 

thts nice. anyways ;; this is fr like. literally anything unrequited. philly doesnt like <3 a lot of ppl <3 In That Way. so its basically just. ur muse thinks shes very neat n she thinks ur muse is very neat bt platonically. she doesnt do hookups or anything n if she does i tend 2 like. run purely based off of chemistry even with. most of her connections in general.

uuhh. anything ;; HLKDGKSDLKGHLKSFDSHGKFD i nvr rly hv a lot of connections up fr philly bc shes like. a very unpredictable muse n i think its usually better to just. throw her in! n see wht happens! we cn still plot obv n come up w some fun things bt fr the most part shes very organic

[akkurai-zandervos]

Okay clown u answer all of them too 🤡 (or if u want just 11,20 & 33 😌)

I’mma go ham (i guess)

1. What’s your sexual orientation?

Grey-asexual

2. What are you obsessed with right now?

Video games, (right now it’s Valorant and Yakuza Kiwami 2)

3. Ever done any drugs?

I guess? Not sure if alcohol counts, and I accidently ate a pot brownie, cuz no one told me

4. What piercings do you want?

Maybe like a third and first piercing for my ears, but I think I might just get magnetic ones :3c

5. How many people have you kissed?

I had to reach into the past for this one woof, 7?

7. Who are you jealous of?

Me? Who gave me the right to be this epic (I’m joking, not really jealous of anyone)

8. What’s your favorite show to binge?

Not really a binge watcher, but I’ve been wanting to rewatch Bleach/naruto

9. Do you watch porn?

Eh, sometimes, but it’s kinda boring

10. Do you have a secret sideblog?

Nah, it’s just this and my art blog @akkurai

12. What’s one of your fantasies?

Making something cool and that I’m proud of

13. Do you have/would you get your nipples pierced?

Nah and nah

14. How would you spend a million dollars?

Giving it to someone else, I don’t need 1 mil, it’s too much and I could survive on much less

15. Are you in a relationship?

Nah I’m single ;)

16. Do you follow porn blogs?

Nah, and I don’t allow porn bots to follow me, so my blog stays fresh, clean, and sfw c:

17. Are you angry with anyone right now?

Not at anyone person, I mean I’m always angry but it’s calm rage because there’s not much I can do about the issue, so I don’t let it consume me

18. What tattoos do you want?

I have 2 already and want at least 1 more, maybe 2 if I’m feeling spicy

19. If you could change your name, would you? What would you change it to?

Whatchu mean, my name is flawless as is, Akkurai Zandervos

20. What is something you’re obsessed with?

Swords and art

21. Describe your best friend.

I have 2, one is a lovely person who is mega outgoing and fills the silences I can’t but despite that she still likes hanging out with me and my other best friend has been my friend since middle school and even if me and him don’t chat for a while when we do meet back up it’s like no time passed at all

22. Tag someone you think is hot.

I don’t really find people hot, but I could tag some people who are beautiful or that I think look amazing (but I won’t because then I’d be hitting on them, and that makes me nervous cuz like y’know aaaaaaaaaaaa, hey don’t read this part plz) 

23. Who are five of your favorite bands/musical artists?

-Glass Animals

-Tame Impala

-CRX

-Eve

-Pale Waves

24. What are three places you want to travel?

-Japan

-Italy

-Germany

25. Describe your perfect Friday night.

Perfect? Alright grab your popcorn. I wake up at 10am, I eat some breakfast, I play video games with friends for a few hours, then I pick up my special someone and we go on a cute date and hang out for the rest of the night until we pass out from exhaustion and that’s as far as my brain goes

26. What’s your favorite season?

Autumn!

27. What’s your pet peeve?

Hmm, people who are rude for no reason and thinks it’s funny

28. Who is the funniest person you know?

My lil bro, he wildin’

29. What’s the most overrated movie?

Like people overhype it? Uhh I dunno, not really a movie person

30. Tag someone you want to talk to but have been too shy to message.

But then I’d have to talk to them LMAO, honestly any mutual I have not chatted with

31. Do you like paper books or ebooks better?

Paperrrrrrrr, I like turn pages

33. If money was no object, what would your wardrobe be like?

All custom one of a kind stuff, but not like made of fancy ingredients, I just mean something like tie dye, ya can’t replicate it even if the same person made it again, for example I have a jacket that I bleached and dyed so it’s carbon grey and orange my two fav colors, I will never see someone with the same jacket as me~

34. What’s your coffee order?

At the store? Caramel Frappe. At home? Medium roast coffee with 3 teaspoons of sugar

35. Do you have a crush on anyone?

Perhaps

36. Do you still have feelings for any of your exes?

Nah, like I wish them well, but I don’t have any romantic feelings for them

37. Have any tattoos?

2

38. Do you drink?

Not really, alcohol taste bad, but IF i have to, Jack Daniels or Scotch

39. Are you a virgin?

;)

40. Do you have a crush on any of your mutuals?

This list is out for my life huh

41. How many followers do you have?

250 ish, we a small little family

42. Describe the hottest person you know.

The person reading this <3

43. What’s your guilty pleasure?

I like sleeping on the floor, and I also eat frosting out of the container

44. Do you read erotica?

Ya might laugh, but sometimes I do try to read it for the plot (spoiler alert, they mostly bad)

45. What’s the worst date you’ve ever been on?

Fun date at arcade, playing pool/billards, date got a text and it was there turn so I told them that just so they knew, they told me to shut up and be quiet as they finished their text. Entire date ruined for me

46. How many people do you follow?

348

47. If you could marry any celebrity, who would you pick?

Uhm, I dunno, it’s hard to say cuz I don’t really know what they are like

48. Describe your ideal partner.

I’m pretty simple, someone who is kind and likes me for me, and is comfy being themselves with me

49. Who do you text the most?

I don’t text anyone really, my phone do be kinda silent tho

50. What’s your favorite kind of weather?

Overcast with slight wind, about 65 F or 19 C

[pickyperkypenguin]

some reflections on dying hair with henna (lawsonia inermis)

i’ve had dyed my hair red with henna/lawsonia inermis (sometimes with added amla/emblica officinalis, and jatropha) for four years, since i was about sixteen year old ‘til i was about twenty. somewhere at the two or three year mark i roped up my mother into dying her hair with henna too. so, i’ve been dying my own and then my mother’s hair with herbs for the last ten years every month or two. i feel like i might have the right to talk about it just because i’ve done it so many times and got consistent results

it took me long enough to figure out my perfect recipe, but the amount of misinformation i see on the internet in regards to henna dying process is staggering. i thought, okay, maybe ten years ago it was relatively knew in the polish corner of the world wide web, but now? sure it should be more popular? and okay, i did manage to find some info faster than those years ago (boy, let me tell you it was some google-fu required to get into that information back then, and all was, like, crowd-sourced from experimentally-inclined hair bloggers - a sub-type of beauty bloggers - and wise, old and jaded women who knew henna as chna, because they’ve used it back in the socialist times, when it was still imported from the east, hence the different spelling). but still, it was not much, however, there were some more professional sources involved than cosmetics forums. i’ll check the anglophone side, i thought. sure it should be much better, yeah? no misinfo?

goddamn, was i wrong. like, on one hand it was much better, because you have those amazing sources from especially indian women, for whom it is very much a traditional thing so the technique was perfected for, like, millenia. they know what they’re doing. but - and here comes my surprise - there was much of the same simply wrong bullshit from other sources? and i was like, what the hell, why do you even do that, why do you spread information that is clearly wrong - and you’ve had the chance to cross-reference it with very good sources without learning a whole other language in the process? so, like, why? why do people do that? i do not understand.

*if you are curious and want some unsolicited advice from a person who is not an expert, then, here, have my completely unprofessional opinion that’s based solely on years of experience and observation of dying first never previously dyed hair, and then naturally grey hair, which was (is) also getting regularly permed, because my mother has never left the eighties:

the perfect recipe is this:

add sugar and lemon juice when using pure henna or when you combine it with amla and/or jatropha

don’t use acids when you add indigo/indigofera tinctoria, because it needs alkaline environment. you can add either some black tea or a bit of salt

but do not add that salt, to be honest, because it’s not good for your hair, it dries it out

i’m not sure if adding sugar would be bad when dying with indigo (idk about its acidity level - is this a thing in this case?), but sugar is generally a humectant, and really helps the dye to have a lot smoother consistency. 

also, sugar might moisturise your hair, but i’m not entirely sure about that - even if one moisturises hair with something, the hair cuticles (is that the word in english?) should be then closed/smoothed down with something else, oil or silicone, to keep the moisture in? otherwise you’re just preparing your hair to be frizzy as hell, because porosity and different level of humidity in the air is a thing

the consistency of the dye should be adjusted to your own preferences and the thickness of the hair, don’t feel like you have to get that arbitrary greek yogurt thickness. that literally doesn’t matter, it’ll work anyway as long as you cover it and keep it moist. don’t let the dye dry, you might get uneven patches of colour. keep it covered with plastic wrap and put a towel on, herbal dyes like warmth to develop properly

speaking of warmth - about 80 C for henna, no more than 40-50 for indigo, maybe even less, around 30 C. never want the dye to be boiled

what also matters is not adding oil to the mixture. it will hinder the dying process. so, no fatty yogurt, no coconut oil. you can do it after, at least a day or two (for indigo at least two, maybe even three) days after

honey will not 'clog’ anything, i have no idea where did it come from. it’s not a fat, it shouldn’t do anything except for the same thing that sugar does

idk, you may add honey instead of sugar if you’re feeling extra, but no, it will not make the shade any different (i’ve seen stuff like adding honey will give you that honey-blond lustre. it will not. cassia might, for grey and very fair blonde hair. but won’t change much when you’re using something much stronger, like henna). and if you think it will give you some health benefits? i mean, i do think honey is healthy for you, but i very much prefer to eat it, simply as that

i have no idea how does that work, if it builds into your hair, if there is some magic with herbal proteins and hair proteins, but herbal dyes, henna especially, thickens your hair. which is marvellous. i believe that ridiculous statement only because i happened to be gross that one time and lost a hairbrush before i managed to clean it, and it was just after my first two or three henna dyes. i found that brush four years later, after consistent dying every single month, and i compared my hair from the brush with the ones in my head - and the ones on my head, despite comparing the very ends - you know, easily reachable when you have hair reaching your butt - and the ends of hair that long are thinner and split in my case - were still thicker (almost twice as thick!) as those from the brush. it was fucking wild

it builds up and darkens overtime, so your ends might be darker than your roots, if you dye the whole thing, as i did

i never dyed with indigo, but relaying on second-hand experience - if you have hair on the lighter side, do the two-step process and pre-dye with henna first. if you don’t, the blue of the indigo and the yellow that your hair contains combine, and you might end up with something green-ish on your head 

although, you know, that’s basic colour theory, i don’t know what people expect when they do that and then act surprised - herbal dyes only cover what is already there, they don’t bleach or strip your natural colour before. that’s why henna ends up very bright on bleached or grey hair and yes, you should very much do the two-step thing, if you want your grey hair black not green

also, never understood what’s so wrong with green hair. go and be that nymph, live your true forest god life, eff society

a quick guide for colours:

henna - pure red

henna+jatropha - fox-red, as in warm, yellow-ish, brassy, beautiful for skin with warm and olive undertones

henna+amla - red but cooler, not exactly a cherry, but much different shade than pure henna or h+j, awesome for cooler and neutral skin tones

henna+amla+jatropha - idk what you’re trynna do, mate, but it’ll be somewhere in the red region, depends on proportions

henna+indigo - depending on proportions, anywhere from cooler brown to dark red-ish brown

indigo - black with blue-ish tinge, on lighter hair should be used on pre-dyed with henna hair

cassia - might give you warm, blonde-ish shade on grey or very fair hair, might do absolutely nothing, you can add it to henna mixes to ensure the warm tone

[philcmena]

「natalia dyer & demi girl」⇾ carmichael, philomena, the junior radcliffe student’s records show that she/they are a taurus and 20 years old. she/they are studying wildlife science, living in noland and can be whimsical, patient, apathetic & unpredictable. when i see her/them i am reminded of the gentleness of decomposition, dancing naked around the flames, and whipping wind in your hair. ⇽「james & 21 & est & they/them.」

here’s my second !! baby child i love a lot ... much kinder ... a bit odd .. love of my life ... a classic ... a favorite ..

TW CANCER, TRAUMA, DEPERSONALIZATION / DEREALIZATION DISORDER ( ALT. DISSOCIATION ), DEATH, DECAY, MAGGOTS.

aesthetic.

wildflowers in your hair and bare feet against moss, binoculars and maps, madonna beating out of half-dead speakers in a half-dead van, whipping wind, jumping off cliffs and rolling down hills, a bandaid wrapped around each finger, cryptic bumper stickers and cryptids in the woods, facing the sun and letting the rays hit you, counting stars late into the night, dancing naked in the woods with nothing but fire to light your way, mismatched socks and lucky ribbons, hoarding a box of special treasures, shoplifting and diner-dashing, bleach against roots, pink sweaters paired with ripped fishnets and slip dresses with knock off uggs, willingly wearing crocs, glitter stickers, fungi and feeling one with them, lying down and decomposing, they’ll find us in a week. they’ll find us in a week.

basic info.

full name: philomena brontë carmichael

nickname(s): philly, phil, mena, etc.

b.o.d. - april 20th lmao !!

label(s): the amaranth, the halycon, the neophyte, the wanderer, etc. etc.

height: 5′4″

hometown: woodside, ca

sexuality: demisexual !!!!

pinterest ( & her family pinterest b/c they’re my most developed family uwu)

stats

inspired by: luna lovegood (harry potter), orla mccool (derry girls), cassie ainsworth (skins), alice (alice’s adventures in wonderland), amelie (amelie).

biography.

a middle child belonging to christopher and imogen carmichael - two stanford professors. christopher specialized in british literature whilst imogen specialized in the classics. hence the name.

the order of siblings goes as such: lysander, elektra, juno, philomena, and twins orion & valora. the deal was that everybody had a greek (or in juno’s case, roman) first name and a middle name inspired by a piece of british literature circa 1800s and under. a family of nerds, if you will.

so, clearly - right off the bat, their parents are … eccentric. they’re both in love with their respected topic, and with each other, and with their kids. the carmichael family is a happy family.

they each have their own quirks and whatnot - though philly’s always been particularly dreamy - even as a child, she’d spend hours watching clouds or caterpillars or the leaves blow in the wind rather than play with other kids. she wasn’t a shy kid - she just had her own interests.

hardship doesn’t hit the family until philomena is five and starts having splitting headaches. they’re slow at first - but as soon as she’s seeing spots and unable to walk in a straight line, doctor appointments are made.

it doesn’t take long for them to discover the tumor, though the official diagnosis of malignant ependymoma comes a month later.

it’s grade ii but slow-moving, small enough to not be as much of a threat as worried, but big enough where removal is necessary. philomena earns a scar and brings it in for show-and-tell. for two months afterwards, philly’s at radiotherapy monday through friday.

they’re lucky - philomena’s considered cancer-free by the next year. she’s babied at first - handled delicately, as if she could break if touched - but with five other children … it doesn’t last for too long.

and life continues as normal.

her personality doesn’t shift much over the next few years - she’s awfully independent for a kid, and awfully quiet - when she speaks it’s about faeries and bigfoot, about how the sky is so blue and if you listen quietly, you can hear the leaves whisper their secrets to each other. this is not odd.

she’s close to all her siblings, but she idolizes her older sister - elektra. elektra’s six years older and dyes her hair whatever colors she wants. elektra bought a knife off a seedy guy downtown. elektra threw away all of her heels and renounced god. elektra is god. her music is loud but it’s not heavy - it’s florence and the machine.

they’re opposites - elektra’s boisterous and feels loudly, philomena’s softer and feels…less. when elektra sneaks out, philomena keeps watch. they are a duo.

philomena is smart - but she’s fifteen and hates school. hates sitting inside all day. hates the same routine - day after day - it’s all the same. her parents’ routine is the same, philly feels contained and she wants to live.

elektra’s twenty-one and just bought a brand new spanking (used but not falling apart) 19-something volkswagen … van - using her entire savings account. she says she’s tired of routine, she’s leaving the next day.

naturally, philomena stows away in the back and isn’t discovered until they’re two states away and she’s got to pee. elektra nearly crashes the van in shock.

it’s an argument - philomena vs. elektra, then them vs. their parents, then their parents vs. the school, the state - it’s an ordeal. philomena switches to an online program in the end.

it hurts christopher and imogen - lysander’s not having any of their nonsense, juno’s betrayed and alone - the twins are twins. in the end, it’s alright. the carmichael family is a happy family.

philomena and elektra take their time - it’s not a road trip, it’s their new life, permanently on the road. they stop and explore often - they do odd jobs in whatever town they settle in. they dine-n-dash, they shoplift. they survive in their own way.

during particularly desperate times, they two resorted to identity theft & credit fraud - getting away with it only by ditching the cards once they’ve made it out of state.

she drops out of high school officially when she’s seventeen - they have to drive all the way back to california to deal with the wrath of their parents and to deal with paperwork, but it’s done. philomena doesn’t know what path she wants in life - but it’s not that.

it’s during this time that the episodes occur - philomena’s outside her body, philomena’s wrapped in cotton, her memories are not her own. she’s looking in the mirror and she doesn’t recognize herself. they take shelter in a city for six months, long enough for her brand spankin’ new therapist to figure out what’s wrong with her. she’s diagnosed with depersonalization / derealization disorder - they think it’s stress. philomena doesn’t get stressed. they think it’s trauma. she laughs - she never laughs.

there is trauma though, deep-rooted but somewhere inside - you just have to look for it.

you. just. have. to. look. for. it. look for it. look for it. look for it look for it look -

you were ten and she was thirteen, an off-trail hike in familiar woods in a familiar town, safe and familiar. it was your idea, to stray from the carved out paths, down creeks and up hills and round, and round again. you’re the one who spotted the scarf first, sticking up from the dirt and dancing in the wind like the beginning of reincarnation. it was not reincarnation, it was discovery. it was ruin. with curiosity drawn, you skidded down - with compliance, followed juno, followed your sister - clumsy in her steps and tumbling down quicker than you. you saw the corpse, but juno felt it. decaying flesh and maggot.

and she left juno, just like that - just five years later, when juno had finally gone to the end of her wits. philly up and left. abandoned her.

philomena and elektra leave the city after that therapy session. they do not return. she’s always been good at hiding her secrets.

three years later and her parents want philly to have a higher education - desperate for it, really - worried for her future. it’s a battle that she loses, getting her GED and applying to a local college in florida in shameful compliance.

they’re there for a year until philly gets (expectantly) expelled from the community college & the two of them are banned from the town they’d residing in up until that point. they don’t talk about it - but boy, was it one hell of a time.

they found refuge in lovell, a town that seemed to suit them well - it suited elektra’s desire to travel up and down the east coast, and it intrigued philomena enough to the point of her being content with staying. soon after, philly officially transferred to radcliffe for the fall semester & they’ve been here since!

UPDATE: another summer update! very simple ... she n elektra traveled the states again, as they always do ... like clockwork. had to be dragged back to radcliffe (doesn’t like staying in one place for too long) bt also <3 likes a lot of people here n brought them all souvenirs. it ws very nice! nothing bad.

personality.

she’s quiet but she’s confident - her voice sounds like rustling leaves, if leaves smoked a pack of cigarettes a day.

often underestimated - philly’s petite and looks like she’d fall over if a plastic bag blew too close to her. she’s independent - for the most part. elektra is the only person philly takes orders from.

has always been considered odd - weird, strange. still talks about the trees as if they’re listening, as if they’re old friends. she’s vague and doesn’t elaborate on the things she says.

believes in pretty much any superstition you throw her way. luck is very important to her. if you ask her if the earth is flat, she’ll say probably. believes strongly in bigfoot and the lochness monster. has personally seen aliens, and loves ghosts almost more than herself.

she can be amusing - whether you ‘get’ her or not, her outlook is often bright - she talks about the negatives the same way she talks about the positives. can be seen as naive or gullible, but she’s plenty smart. even if half of her education has come directly from google.

philly doesn’t laugh. a smile, yes - often, in fact - not always reaching her ears, or bearing teeth - but these are not indicators of her happiness. philly is consistently content. she thinks many things are funny - she still will not laugh.

her voice is often monotonous - she doesn’t sound dreary, she sounds far-away. her voice carries. her emotions are often unknown to others.

is apathetic in most situations. she’s hard to bother - she’s incredibly patient and enjoys the company of most - tolerates them at the very least. it’s hard for her to express her emotions, because she feels them so little that it’s very nearly not worth it. her affection is not verbal - it’s small touches and gestures of kindness, love in her own way.

is a fan of knock-knock jokes and bad puns. she won’t crack a smile while telling you them, nor does she expect you to laugh. she just enjoys them.

she owns a motorola razr covered in puffy stickers - hasn’t ever had a smartphone. she’s a fan of emoticons. her favorite is :o)

has a lot of bruises and scratches and scars - she’s often getting herself into pickles. there are always, at the very minimum, three bandaids on each hand.

she has insomnia, so she’s awake often. is often seen wandering town - even when she shouldn’t be, even when it might be dangerous. her intuition is delayed. when she does sleep - her dreams are vivid and fantastical.

keeps a box of memories - sentimental bits and pieces she’s picked up over the last few years. there are a lot of buttons and postcards, but any teeny tiny object will do.

her style changes every week - most, if not all, of her clothes are thrifted. one week she’s baby spice and the next she’s lydia deetz. she combines pieces from different styles often - she looks like a barbie clothed by a child. she feels most comfortable like this.

will either patch-up the clothes that get too worn or reuse them in some way. sometimes donates the clothes she gets tired off - isn’t minimalistic, but she’s learned to keep only a small amount of possessions.

the only consistency is her lucky ribbon - it’s pastel yellow and silky and as thin as a shoelace. she ties it onto her outfit of the day, everyday. if she loses it, she’s lost. elektra has a matching ribbon.

has no problem with minor theft - she only takes bare minimum, puts herself and elektra first and that’s how it’s always been. she tries to be good while in lovell / radcliffe - would hate to be forced out by mobs with torches and pitchforks

currently living in noland while elektra stays in their van, florence - sometimes philly stays there during the weekends.

they used to live in motels on the occasion, the cheapest room, and more often than not they’d both go home with strangers for a comfier bed and a hotter shower.

it was a common occurrence - she didn’t sleep with them - but somehow, she weaseled her way into their homes anyway. has come out mostly unscathed, on most occasions. this has been a practice ever since they’ve been on the road.

really, truly - has not slept with anybody, had her first and only kiss at thirteen with a frog. this doesn’t bother her.

will consume a n y t h i n g you put in front of her - isn’t picky.

listens to whatever they’ve picked up along the way but she likes instrumentals the best. her second favorite genre is 1990′s and 2000′s top hits. they’re nostalgic for her. third favorites? florence, of course. fleetwood mac. the bird and the bee.

loves storms - will go out in the rain and will risk her life for it.

owns a pair of roller-skates and is often skating rather than walking. unless she’s on grass - then she’s walking barefoot.

has many hobbies, and gets bored of them often. her favorite hobby is welding. she’s not certified.

also, juggling.

also, accordion.

the kind of girl who’ll do any job you give her. odd jobs are her favorite jobs. babysitting is her least favorite - but she does it anyway. has lost children before. have they ever been found? not by philly.

dyes her hair blonde often and cuts her own hair - bangs included - finds it cathartic, likes the itchiness of bleach.

everything she does is often in pursuit of feeling free, alive, and meaningful.

( like her frequent visits to the woods, late at night when the moon is high and full. it’s freeing to dance around a fire, stark naked in the cold. builds immunity )

comes and goes wherever she pleases, nothing & nobody can stop her (besides elektra). has befriended the campus witch, or as much as the witch will allow, and shrike as well. she knows to respect nature, and abandoned sites - she’s practically free to explore as she wishes, her only pride is the trust she’s gained.

the trust expands to animals as well, she has a certain knack for getting them to like her. has too many ‘pet’ rats that reside with her, alongside a baby raccoon & a few crow pals. has a new animal companion everyday, but she doesn’t contain them or force them to stay.

leaves her window in noland wide open because of this, because her window is conveniently right besides a tree with sturdy branches. good for animal smuggling, sneaking in and out, hiding, etc. etc. world is her oyster.

though her room in noland is ??? frankly a mess ??? already ??? usually keeps most of her possessions in her memory box but she’s also turned her room into a mini labyrinth of knick-knacks. very cozy, but very nest-like. think of howl’s room from howl’s moving castle.

wanted connections.

random encounters… it’s only her second semester at radcliffe, she hasn’t met everybody yet i’m sure

random encounters…in the wild… alternately, people she’s met before in a different part of the country. whether she’s stolen from them or crashed at their place, or simply shared a dinner. anything goes!

unexpected sleepover… someone whose place she crashed at after a mysterious night. a party, adventure, etc. etc. maybe they don’t even remember her staying over, maybe she hadn’t been with them to begin with.

employers… she does a lot of odd jobs! knows how to make a lot of things in many different mediums just to earn a small living.

friends… y’know … people who enjoy her presence, likes her oddness. they may not understand her, but they appreciate her. or maybe they do understand her, in their own way!

not friends… philly doesn’t consider anybody an enemy in the slightest, but some people may not be fond of her … think she’s a little too strange, or they refuse to understand her, or something of the likes.

closing in… someone trying to get closer to her, trying to figure her out on a level deeper than what she would like, and she keeps slipping out from between their fingers every time.

mom friend mom friend mom friend… older sibling figures! dad friends! take one look at philly and instantly want to swaddle n protect her.

caught red handed… someone catches her stealing or about to dine-n-dash. do they care? who knows!

late-night shenanigans… they just walk and talk at night … very relaxing … not actually very shenanigans filled…

a dealer… because she wasn’t born on 4/20 for nothing. she’s not turning 20 on 4/20/20 fr nothing. don’t fail us.

debating conspiracies… or superstitions, really anything. maybe they’re frustrated at her apathy surrounding all situations.

no likey… :( they distrust her. probably fr good reason tho … i don’t blame you

thrifting pals… no explanation needed methinks

an eventual hook-up… maybe … possibly … it’s questionable, but it could happen! can’t stay a virgin forever! (or well. she cld. we’ll see!) she’d probably have to trust yr muse a lot though

unrequited romance uwu… probably unrequited on her end because she doesn’t usually think of anybody in a romantic sense - it’s possible, but you’d have to be something special for her to like you back. that being said …

something returned… eventually, slowly. slow. it’ll take time.

maybe something returned !! eventually. slowly. slow.

n like rly anything u want !! anything u can think of i am here 2 fulfill … we can brainstorm all sorts of wacky scenarios!! she’s a thief! she’s an accordion player! she dances naked in the woods! she’s been in the circus AND a small utah county jail!

[skylarkstarflower]

Piers and Marnie headcanon nonsense! Whee! Part one of however many of these I end up writing. :P

I love these two, so of course I have to make headcanons about them. :D (And make their lives miserable, because that’s what I do, baby! :B)

-When Piers was younger, he used to bleach the white into his hair. When he was 15, he suffered through an event so traumatic, it caused it to rapidly turn permanently white. So now he dyes the black.

-Speaking of said traumatic incident, he used to have an Absol named Sheena that he caught in the Hoenn region while travelling with his parents. After the incident, he released her. Though what happened wasn’t really her fault, she lived up to the title of Disaster Pokémon that day.

-This incident is also why Piers' opinion on Dynamaxing changed so dramatically. (I mean, he seemed somewhat disappointed that there's no Power Spot in Spikemuth on his rare card, so yeah...)

-Marnie was also there for said incident, but she was five at the time, and doesn't remember much about it. Piers doesn't like to talk about it...

-Of the three regular Poké Balls Piers wears at his side, only two contain Pokémon. The third is Sheena’s empty ball. The other two contain his original starter Pokémon (surprisingly, a Venusaur named Different Strings (Leon has the Charizard of course, and Raihan, oddly enough, the Blastoise)) and an Alolan Meowth, another Pokémon acquired while travelling with his parents. (This one given to him by Nanu.)

-Speaking of his Meowth, it’s the only Pokémon he ever gave a hold item to. An Everstone. “Alolan Persian is a fuckin’ TRAGEDY.”

-Piers has had anxiety since forever. His Alolan Meowth isn’t for battling, she’s a service Pokémon, specially trained to help with an attack. While on tour in Alola (a couple years before Marnie was born), Piers’ parents met Island Kahuna Nanu and became friends with him. They ended up talking to him about their son and his anxiety, so Nanu trained her for service himself and gifted her to Piers when his parents brought him to visit.

-Piers’ and Marnie’s parents were musicians in their own rights, though their preferred genre was metal. Their mother was lead guitarist while their father had a voice like King Diamond. They met in a karaoke bar.

-Also, their father wasn’t a musician by trade before he met their mother. He was an accountant for Macro Cosmos. After she heard him sing, she convinced him to join her band and he agreed, so long as he could keep his day job and take on an alter ego for the band. Only the four of them ever knew his true identity.

-Marnie can also sing. Piers taught her everything he knows about singing, which in turn, he learned from their father. (Their father would have taught Marnie, too, but he died before he could teach her much.) While she enjoys it, she’s just not as passionate about it as her brother.

-Sometimes, when Piers is in a particularly bad funk, he’ll shut himself up in his room and blast metal. When he’s doing this, you ABSOLUTELY DO NOT interrupt him. He’s listening to his parents. Whether or not this is a healthy mechanism for coping with their deaths remains to be seen, but Marnie learned very early on to leave him alone in such situations and has been warning others off ever since.

-Whenever Piers and Marnie are both feeling especially down, they’ll pop on Lilo and Stitch, have a good cry (certain aspects of the movie tend to hit a little close to home, which is actually why it’s their go-to movie for this) and generally feel better afterwards.

-The Dynamax band Marnie uses is in fact the same one Piers used on his Gym Challenge. It was originally their mother’s.

-Their mother was the previous Spikemuth Gym Leader. Piers was only 14 when he took over from her. Even though at the time, Marnie was only 4, his Pokémon adored her and she was already kicking his butt in play battles. He knew she was going to be something special someday.

-Piers’ Pokémon actually all have names, he just doesn’t say them in battle because, while most of them are named after Ramones songs and that’s fine, his Skuntank is named Cuddles. It’s Marnie’s fault.

-Piers brought home Stunky before deciding on a name for it. When little Marnie saw it, she immediately threw open her arms for a hug and exclaimed, “Cuddles!” Stunky took this for his name and has refused to respond to anything else ever since.

-Marnie’s Pokémon have names, too, but hers are named after Green Day songs. When Piers brought her Morpeko, she immediately named her September. It took Piers a while to figure out what Marnie had done, to the point where he had to ask if it was a reference to Wake Me When September Ends. It hurts him a little every time he hears Morpeko’s name now. That particular song tends to get to him.

-Piers’ Skuntank would die for Marnie. Maybe not so much his actual trainer, though he’s quite fond of him, too. (I mean, Cuddles is always sleeping on the bed with Piers, or trying to sit in his lap and all, but if it came down to him being able to protect only one of the siblings, he’d choose Marnie every time.) Piers has considered on occasion just giving him to Marnie, but he is one of his strongest Pokémon, so he’s been waffling on it for a while.

-Proper hair care is very important to both Marnie and Piers. They each have their own routines, and surprisingly enough, they both tend to use scented shampoos. Marnie prefers flowery smells, and Piers leans towards citrusy ones. You can notice the smell on Marnie most of the time, but with Piers, you’d pretty much have to stick your nose directly into his hair to smell it over the scent of his Skuntank. (Cuddles likes to think he’s a lap Pokémon…)

-Piers likes his showers hot. Like, so hot, if he doesn’t look like a boiled lobster when he’s done, it wasn’t hot enough. Marnie prefers hers just a tad cooler.

-The reason why Piers likes his showers so hot is because he tends to be cold. It’s the same reason why he doesn’t roast while sleeping when his two biggest, fluffiest Pokémon tend to sleep on the bed with him every night. (In fact, it’s gotten to the point where, if Cuddles and Obstagoon aren’t there, he can’t sleep because he’s always too cold. Even if it’s ridiculously hot out, like +35°C or more.)

I’m aware I’ll probably have to adjust a few of these once the DLC comes out, but until then, this is what I’m running with. Gonna wait for the DLC before I write any of the fanfic ideas I’ve got, though. *headdesk*

[mcrflashfic]

Side Effects

Living in the Zones will change you. Literally.

Author: @justlookatthewheat

Content Warnings: Body Horror

Word Count: 2,999

Party Poison wasn't about to claim any kind of expertise on radiation poisoning, but he was at a loss for any other explanation as to why he woke up looking like a fucking Maraschino cherry.

His first thought was - well, his first thought was what the fuck is on my head as he walked past the diner windows on his way to take a piss. His second thought, then, was where the fuck did Ghoul get hair dye? Because this was for sure a Ghoul prank. But then that didn't make sense either, really. Party's hair had been black. He would have definitely noticed someone bleaching his entire head and slapping dye over top, unless he'd been, like, gonna-meet-the-Phoenix-Witch frying, which he knew he hadn't. (Even if he had, his hair would still smell like peroxide. Also, he'd be face first heaving into a bush right now, probably.) It took several minutes of staring at his reflection and pulling strands of his own hair out to inspect them up close before he started entertaining the possibility that he'd mutated overnight, though. And he didn't believe it until he wasted a whole bottle of water and some of the soap they'd salvaged from the diner’s dishwasher on trying to wash it out.

The sand wasn't even pink when he finished rinsing. Neither were his hands. He bent to peer into one of the side mirrors on the Trans Am - to his alarm, his eyebrows, lashes, and three-day stubble were all the same Pantone 485 C color as the hair on his scalp.

"How do you even remember the Pantone color names?" Kobra asked him, exasperated, like Party had fabricated this situation specifically to piss him off, at the exact same moment a totally fascinated Ghoul said "Does the carpet match the drapes?"

Kobra glared at Ghoul so hard Party thought he would sprain something. "Stop talking, or I'm filling your boots with dead spiders while you sleep."

Party'd gone to show the other three as soon as he realized how much the whole thing was pegging the weird meter. So far, they were handling it about as well as he'd expected, which was not at all. He sat on a chair in the middle of the diner floor while they crowded him and talked over each other asking questions.

"It's scientifically relevant. Like, is it all of his hair, or just the hair on his head?" Ghoul grabbed Party's arm and yanked it close, squinting at his peach fuzz; annoyed, Party ripped it back again and folded both arms tight over his chest.

"Yes, it's everywhere. Stop manhandling me, fucker."

Jet had been inspecting his hair with the back of a polished saucepan throughout the debate - probably checking to make sure whatever it was wasn't happening to him - and he finally put it down to join the discussion again. "It's weird that it's just you who's affected. I mean, we're all getting exposed to radiation, right? So why's Poison the only one in Technicolor?"

"And all at once," Kobra added, frowning. He leaned in closer to peer at the top of Party's head. "It'd make more sense as a mutation if it was just the roots."

Ghoul snickered. "Too bad you didn't snag 'Cherry Bomb' for your Killjoy name, Poison. Think of the thematic relevance it'd have now."

"Hilarious." Party rolled his eyes and dragged both hands through his new, inexplicably red locks. "Seriously, you guys. If it's radiation, where do the mutations end? Like, am I gonna get psionic fire powers next?"

The effect was not what Party was going for. All three of them instantly lit up with excitement - even Kobra broke his signature scowl to gasp out a "Holy shit, what if you did, though?"

Party dropped his head into his palms with a groan.

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Ghoul was next. Party was actually the one to discover it, while the two were picking their way through a dusty warehouse on the far edge of Zone 5 a couple weeks after the Hair Incident. It was oppressively hot inside despite the dim and the amount of space. They both had been stripping off layers as they sweated through them; finally, Ghoul tore off his t-shirt in a fit of heat-induced pique, chucking it in a heap on the cluttered floor, and Party gasped.

"Oh my God, Ghoul, your tattoos," he said, too loud in the empty warehouse - his voice echoed, and Ghoul nearly dropped his gun in alarm.

"What? What's wrong with them?" he asked, tinged with panic, and looked down wide-eyed at his torso. "Oh, Jesus fuck."

It was like something out of Harry Potter. Party gaped at Ghoul's skin in wonder - his tattoos were moving. Some flashed like neon; some, like the swallows across his hips, moved like their living counterparts. The grenade on his chest exploded and reconstituted on a loop. All the stars glittered; pieces in script flowed as though being traced in real time by an invisible calligrapher. Party couldn't help himself but reach out and touch one of them. It rippled gently beneath his fingertips.

"That is so fucking creepy," he said, hushed with awe, and watched the letters vanish before wisping, smoke-like, back into place. "Can you feel them?"

Ghoul shook his head fiercely, face pale. His eyes were so big Party could see white all the way around his irises. "No, I - I didn't even - oh shit, oh dude, look at my fucking hands," and he held them up so Party could see them, and he watched with a sort of horrified fascination as the letters swirled around Ghoul's fingers like stripes around a barbershop pole. "Is this fucking permanent? Party, what if it's permanent? They're all - it's all of them, oh my God," he babbled, high and strained, and clutched at Party's shoulders in distress. Party gave him a hug because he couldn't think of anything else to do, and Ghoul shuddered, and clung back.

Jet took it almost as poorly, once they'd gathered what they needed out of the warehouse and returned to base. He clamped both hands over his mouth the instant Ghoul rolled up his sleeves and reeled backward. "Abso-fucking-lutely not. Ghoul, what the fuck?"

"Dude, if I knew, it wouldn't be happening," Ghoul snapped. Kobra came closer, studying Ghoul's ink with his brows drawn together. He dragged his fingertip over the Our Lady tattoo on Ghoul's forearm.

"Party's radiation theory is looking plausible here," he said, sounding thoughtful, and glanced up to meet Party's eye. "I mean, I can't think of anything else that would cause this."

"Are we all gonna end up with freaky shit, then? Is it gonna get worse? Cause there is a big fuckin' difference between sprouting unnatural hair and living tattoos," Jet said, looking pointedly away from Ghoul. "Oh god, what if my hair turns into snakes or something?"

Kobra snorted, straightening up. "If anyone's getting a snake-themed mutation, it'll be me. Maybe I'll get fangs."

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He was almost right. It was significantly more disturbing than simple fangs, but it was definitely snake-themed. They were mid-clap when it happened and shit was already chaotic; Party was struggling to clear dust from his eyes with his shoulder when he heard a sickening crunch and then Jet shrieking Kobra's name. Heart in his mouth, Party whirled around with his gun raised, fearing the worst - but all he saw was Kobra, helmet on, going after a Drac down a wash. He glanced at Jet in confusion, and fired a slug at a Drac over his shoulder.

"What the hell was that sound?" he shouted.

Jet, looking like he'd seen a literal ghost, didn't answer him, just stared after Kobra in stock-still terror until Party ran over and yanked him down behind a rock embankment for cover.

"Fuck, Jet, get it together or you're gonna get dusted," Party huffed out, and shot back to his feet to fire off a couple rounds before ducking back down. "What happened?"

"That - he's not - Party, Kobra didn't bring his helmet on this raid," said Jet, and dug his fingers into Party's bicep. They locked eyes, Jet's wide and scared. "That's not his helmet. That's his fucking head."

Party blinked back at him, lost. "What? That doesn't - "

"CAN I GET SOME FUCKING HELP HERE, GUYS?" Ghoul's voice yelled then, and Party cursed before scrambling up behind the embankment, Jet on his heels. They helped Ghoul shake the couple Dracs that had ganged up on him, and then Kobra came running back up the dry creek, splattered with Drac blood. Back to back to back to back, they assumed their usual end-of-firefight position, Party and Ghoul checking north and south with Kobra and Jet looking east and west, guns drawn. Once everyone gave an all clear, they re-holstered and took a second to decompress. Ghoul wiped his face with the bandana tied around his neck, his tattoos whirling dizzily across his skin.

"Okay, so, what the fuck happened back there? I looked up and everyone was gone," he complained to the group, glaring at each of them in turn. "Didn't we talk about keeping eyes on each other the whole time during these things?"

"Sorry, Ghoul, there was sort of a - " Party started to say, looking up from adjusting his gloves, but he stopped short when he laid eyes on Kobra and Kobra's helmet suddenly deflated and disappeared into his collar with that same crunching noise he'd heard before.

"...What?" said Kobra, glancing between the three of them, puzzled. Party could feel the frozen shock on his face, but couldn't articulate any words; Ghoul heaved a dry retch and pressed his hands over his mouth, while Jet gestured frantically at Kobra while looking to Party.

"That! That's what fucking happened, except the other way! I told you it wasn't his helmet!"

Kobra touched his hand to his face, still looking confused. "Yeah, I didn't bring it cause we were in the Trans Am. Why are you guys freaking out?"

Party, acting on a hunch, quick drew his gun on Kobra and lunged, but didn't fire - Kobra leapt backward with a yelp, and sure enough, his helmet formed over his head with that same awful sound. Party shoved his gun back into the holster and grabbed Kobra by the wrist, dragging him toward the Trans Am. He pushed him in front of the side mirror. "Kobra, look."

He did. "What the fuck," he said, muffled.

Party laid a hand on his shoulder. "Dude. It's a cobra hood. The radiation made you grow a fucking cobra hood."

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By the time it was Jet's turn, the Fab Four were in full-on Buffy research mode to figure out what the hell was going on, and more importantly, if there was anything they could do to stop it. Dr. D didn't know anything but promised to put out feelers for them; they talked to other Killjoys at raves and underground gigs; they stripped tech off Drac bodies and raided Better Living outposts and scoured the airwaves for any stray bits of information. Meanwhile, their individual mutations got weirder. Party's hair color changed, first from day to day, then hour to hour, until it seemed like it varied with each breath. Ghoul's tattoos started multiplying of their own accord. The older ones resharpened, ink drawing up through the layers of skin - their motion, they learned by way of careful note taking, was dependent on his body temperature, faster when he was warm and slower when he was cold. Kobra didn't grow fangs or start sibilating, but he did figure out how to pop out the cobra-hood-helmet thing on command instead of just whenever he felt threatened.

"You know how with the summer monsoons, you can watch the rain sweep over the desert in a sheet until it finally gets to you?" Jet said to Party one day when it was just the two of them on watch. They were parked on top of the Vista de Nada Plano outcrop in Zone Six, waiting to intercept a Drac patrol coming from the east. "That's how I feel about this fucking mutation thing. I just wanna get it over with."

Party glanced over at Jet from the landscape sketch he'd been doing out of sheer boredom. Jet's jaw was clenched, gun in his lap, and he kept trailing his thumb up and down the barrel as he stared out over the scrub wastes. "It's not so bad being a mutant," he said, opting for levity. It only kind of worked; Jet snorted, but didn't smile.

"Easy for you to say. You got the Rainbow-Brite mutation. Kobra sprouted snake anatomy. That's like Storm telling Rogue to cheer up and embrace her power."

Hard to argue with that. Party shrugged, and tapped the end of his pencil against his sketchpad. "Maybe you'll get a softball one, too."

Jet ran his tongue over his teeth. "Yeah, maybe." He knocked his aviators up the bridge of his nose with his knuckle, and then suddenly sat up stock straight, clutching his gun with both hands. "Start the car."

"Huh? Why?" Party looked around, twisting in his seat to check behind them, too - no sign of danger, no dust from vehicles, just the rocks and larrea bushes.

"There's an Exterminator coming up the back side. They've got Dracs with them," said Jet, already shifting into shooting position in the passenger seat; Party cursed, and fumbled to get the keys back in the ignition.

"Fuck, I can't see anything - how do you know that? Where'd you spot them?" The Trans Am roared to life, and Party gunned it down the front side of the outcrop, keeping an eye on the rearview while he dug his gun out of its holster and passed it to Jet.

"I...didn't," said Jet, sounding surprised, and Party cut a glance at him; Jet was staring straight out the windshield, guns in both hands, aimed at the roof. "I just got a feeling."

A ray gun blast whizzed past the driver's side window and glanced off the side mirror. Party jumped, and looked back to the rearview; sure enough, an Exterminator car rose up over the hill behind them, with a Drac hanging out the back window. "Hell of a feeling," he said, and barked out a laugh. "Holy shit, are you psychic now?"

Jet, cranking the passenger window down, shot him a grin before he turned around in the seat. "I guess I'll let you know!"

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It was another couple months before other Killjoy cliques and Zone dwellers started complaining of their own mutations. They ranged from the superficial and mundane Party-esque changes all the way to the X-men level shit Jet and Kobra got. Only two factors were consistent across the board - everyone who got them had been living out in the Zones for at least three months, and they’d all had some kind of clap with Dracs. The major breakthrough came from Kobra, who’d appointed himself lead researcher, when he figured out there was a positive correlation between the severity of the mutation and how many Dracs you’d killed - i.e., the higher your body count, the crazier your mutation.

“I don’t know exactly what it is about killing them that’s causing this, though,” he admitted, after coming to the rest of them with the data.

“I bet it’s the masks,” said Ghoul. “Who knows what kinda freaky shit powers those things? They wipe your fuckin’ soul!”

“Yeah, but you don’t always destroy their masks when you kill them,” Jet pointed out, rubbing his exposed eye. The psychic thing only worked, they’d learned, when Jet’s regular vision was dimmed - he thought it was super annoying to wear sunglasses all the time, so he’d taken to wearing an eyepatch. It worked, and it was totally awesome. Party had sewed him a little star pattern for it. “It’s gotta be something you’re exposed to every time.”

Party frowned, thinking back to all the claps they’d been in since they got out to the Zones. Was there anything that happened every single time? Did he get near one of them every time? Definitely not. The closest he got to actually touching Dracs was standing too close when they got hit by slugs and bled on him.

Wait. Was that -

“Holy shit,” he said out loud, and the other three all looked at him. “Is it - is it their blood? Like, touching it?”

“Oh Jesus Christ,” Ghoul moaned instantly, covering his face with both hands. “Ugh, Party, that’s fucking disgusting, and the awful thing is I think you’re fucking right.”

Better Living themselves spared them the world’s most vile follow-up experiment by confirming their suspicions in a radio broadcast Dr. D picked up and recorded. Not in as many words - as usual, there was some jargon they didn’t know how to parse, and it was all in Japanese - but definitely something about how exposure to Drac blood could poison you. Of course, that concept set the collective Zone-dwelling imagination on fire; a nuclear answer to the age old question of what drinking vampire blood will do to a mortal, which apparently was superpowers. News hit the zine syndicate, and before the Fab Four could warn anyone that the mutations would absolutely get weirder the more you exposed yourself, the latest Killjoy craze was chugging Drac blood to see what kind of crazy shit would happen to you.

Which turned out to be: a painful physical ordeal in the vein of ayahuasca consumption, first of all. Once you got past the delirium tremors and projectile vomiting, though, it wasn’t all bad. And sometimes, if you were really lucky, at the end of it you sprouted wings or could blow shit up with your mind or talk to dead people.

Party never did have normal hair again.