#i got notes from the editor who went over my story and lmao he was SPOT ON

[spacesapphi]

HES Trio Headcanon Time! (HCs below the cut, this is a long one)

TW for mentions of bullying, death, parental death, car accident, drinking, and neglect

Elliot

- he's 30yrs old and 6'0, very lanky and tall and covered in freckles. His hair is curly too!

- HC for his voice has to be Raoul from Phantom of the Opera, just has that romantic voice that fits him so well

- his family is of Irish descent and his last name is Lillis, which he finds sounds VERY romantic!

- growing up he was so obsessed with classical literature that he would often pretend his life was a novel, narrating his daily life in his head

- LOVESSSS pride & prejudice, Phantom of the Opera, and Les Mis, he'll talk your ear off about them if you let him

- was unfortunately bullied a lot for his interests growing up, even at home. He tried not to let it dampen his spirit, but it was difficult. He channels a lot of that pain into his writing

- his parents never really respected his hobbies, and his brothers weren't that kind in general. Elliot often felt alone in his house, like he was a misunderstood outcast that didnt have anyone. One of his favorite book series as a kid was Anne of Green Gables, as he connected to her feeling out of place and different from everyone around her

- pretty much canon, but he's a lightweight. One drink and he's GONE. Hes gets silly and giggly when he's drunk too

- he's autistic (I feel like everyone in the HES trio is) and his special interest is around literature, specifically romance literature. Anytime he sees something notable happen in town, or a couple do anything he goes "Oh this is just like x character in x book!" And he'll infodump about the story to anyone who will listen (usually Leah or Penny)

- he gets along well with Penny and shes actually been his test reader and editor for many of his published pieces! He always puts her name in the "special thanks" section

- takes much pride in his appearance, especially his hair. Before the farmer arrived he was the one practically keeping Pierre in business for self care products because he REFUSED to go to Joja bc "Do you know how many CHEMICALS are in those things?!"

- maladaptive daydreamer for sure. He gets frustrated with the way he cant stop daydreaming, and how music always seems to intensify it. On one hand, it gives him ideas for his writing, on the other it makes it hard for him to interact with others. When he's home alone in his cabin, Finding him pacing around, listening to his favorite CDs and records is common

- his love language is sentimental gifts. They don't need to be elaborate or expensive grand gestures. If you mention loving a certain food he'll make it for you, he'll get you things in your favorite color just to make you smile. Hes a very sweet man!

- he has a beautiful laugh!

- wears dangly earrings all the time. He likes very sparkly ones with jewels, ones that make him feel like he's in a romantic period piece. He has a killer collection of them!

Harvey

- he's 35yrs old and 6'2, though you can't tell because he's often slouched over (bad habit, he knows. His back hurts all the time). He's a chubby guy too, which makes him feel self conscious, but he learns to love himself :)

- My HC for his voice is Simon Petrikov, specifically the way he speaks in Fiona and Cake, I cannot imagine it any differently LMAO

- Harveys family is of Italian descent and his last name is Russo!

- grew up with just his mom and grandpa. His mom was a doctor and his grandpa was a retired pilot who helped spark his love for flying. He died when Harvey was 12, leaving some model planes and that radio he keeps in his office to him with a note telling him to always reach for the skies.

- Harvey has a bit of a lisp, and spent a lot of time in speech therapy as a kid. Words with lots of "s" sounds are tricky for him

- he actively went through so much testing to be a pilot, but when he got to the actual flight test where he had to get into a plane he got so anxious he threw up and ran away

- he realized then and there that he couldnt do it, and it was a hard reality to face. A lot of crying, and a lot of struggling to accept his dream wasn't attainable. He felt like he was letting his grandpa down, but his mom promised he wasn't

- when he decided to go to medical school, he couldn't decide what his focus was going to be to save his life, he changed it constantly. It took about two years to land on primary care physician and even then he still kept researching other tracks. This would come in hand once he got to pelican town and became the only doctor

- often too exhausted to cook for himself, which is why he buys so much processed food. Shane gives him a lot of shit for it every time he sees him at JojaMart ("don't say SHIT to me at my next checkup if you're going to buy that")

- his eyesight is so bad. He can't see a foot in front of him without his glasses. He's also incredibly clumsy and falls and breaks them often (I mean where did you THINK all those broken glasses you were fishing up were from?)

- like Elliot, was a victim of bullying in school, especially highschool :( Nerdy guy with a plane interest that stuck to himself was unfortunately a prime target, and he found himself in a rough situation. It actually got so bad that he took a special test to be able to graduate early so he didn't have to deal with it anymore. He passed it in tenth grade, and put all his energy into studying to be a pilot until he was old enough to join courses for it

- his mom was his biggest advocate, and was regularly down at his school to yell at administration for letting the bullying get that bad. She loved her son more than anything and would do anything for him. She was the one to suggest testing out of school, not wanting him to go through all of that for years.

- hes still close with his mom, and they regularly call and write letters to each other to keep up. Since Harvey lives so far now, they mostly meet up on important days like birthdays, holidays, and to go visit his grandfather's grave every once in a while

Shane

- he's 30yrs old and 5'7, and he hates both of those facts. Being the shortest man in town and one of the oldest single ones is a bit of a blow to his self esteem. He's pretty bulky too, a combination of muscle from working on the ranch and as a stocker, and fat from drinking and diet

- I go back and forth on his voice HC constantly, but I like the common fan interp of him sounding kinda like Nick Miller from new girl, it fits too well

- Shane is Pennsylvania Dutch on his mothers side and his last name (along with Marnies) is Yoder!

- that being said he knows very little of the PA Dutch language, though Marnie speaks it fluently. He has a bit of an accent from growing up with her

- croc wearer, don't tell me otherwise. He has a few everyday pairs, a fur lined pair for when it gets cold, and what he calls his "formal Crocs" (literally just black Crocs with bowtie jibbits this man is so fucking corny). He has normal shoes too, like sneakers and boots for the winter and work, but nothing beats his Crocs

- Jas has tried to call him dad a few times, but it makes him sad. He doesn't feel good enough to deserve that title, and he feels like he'd be disrespecting his friends by trying to take it over.

- Was in the accident that killed her parents. They took him out to celebrate his 25th birthday, going to a Tunnelers game. They were hit by a reckless driver going far above the speed limit on the way back home, and he was the only one who made it. One moment Shane was having the time of his life with his best friends in the world, the next he's waking up in the hospital finding out they're gone. As a result, his birthday has become a bit of a sore subject, hence why he "was hoping he'd forget" anytime he gets a birthday gift

- his leg got really hurt in the accident, and though its healed, he still often needs compression braces to deal with chronic pain from it. Working at Joja and on the ranch aren't exactly low impact after all

- Marnie is his only bio family thats alive and on speaking terms with him. She practically raised him for the most part, with his dad gone and mother having passed when he was little. His mother was Mona, the same Mona from the cemetery. She was Marnies twin sister, and the photo in secret note 11 is her and baby shane.

- He and Emily were childhood bestfriends growing up, and dated in highschool. They realized after about a year that they just worked better as friends though, and remain besties to this day

- he's transgender he told me himself

- Marnie was also incredibly supportive of his transition and she's fiercely protective of him. He may technically be her nephew but she sees him more as a son and thus goes full mama bear when it comes to him

- even though he doesn't take great care of himself, he makes sure jas is well taken care of, especially after he starts recovery. His clothes may be threadbare and worn, and he may look like he hasn't slept in a year, but Jas will *always* have everything she could ever need... and want. Ngl he kinda spoils her a little, especially after he cuts back and can afford it more. He feels bad saying no to her given all that she's gone through. She has a doll collection that could make the most avid collectors jealous

- he makes sure he spends time with her too, taking days off for festivals because she wants him there, taking the day off for her birthday, and trying his best to be there for her. It's an upward struggle for him to get better so he can be there for her, but he's trying

- after Joja closes down, Marnie offers him a full time job at the ranch, including pay and board. He takes the offer IMMEDIATELY, and does an amazing job at it. She's certain she'll be leaving the ranch to him once she's retired

- if you want to get him to do anything, tell him him it involves chickens in some way. Chickens are his special interest for SURE. Chicken print socks, corny puns, joke tshirts, he has it all. He practically becomes the organizer of the Egg Festival yearly once he's started recovery, putting a crazy amount of work into it to make sure it goes well. Same with the Valley Fair's petting zoo. The amount of pride he gets talking about the animals to tourists is unmatched, and it's one of the few times Marnie gets to see him look as happy as he did before the accident. Those moments are fleeting, but everytime she can see that light in his eyes she feels like everything will be ok.

[if-one-of-us-falls]

.

[sometimesbeforeitgetsbetter]

Off the Record | Stiles Stilinski

Pairing: Stiles Stilinski x reader

Summary: High school in Beacon Hills, as told through the eyes of one inquisitive journalist who has a knack at getting on Stiles Stilinski's nerves.

Warnings: idk there's like a couple curse words lmao. also, spoilers? if you haven't finished teen wolf I guess??

Word count: 8,227

A/N: hi hi this is my first fic I'm posting on Tumblr (not to say that this is my first fic ever...anyway)! before you start, I just wanna say that there's a couple things that might be off from the show but please just ignore them. like I think it's bs Lydia brings Stiles back and not Scott in 6b so I righted that wrong. but I hope you enjoy and please let me know what you think of it! thanks for reading!!

--

All my life I’ve wondered why people didn’t question what happens in Beacon Hills.

It’s no secret that our town is unusual, but when odd things seemed to happen, people would just turn a blind eye and go about their business.

I, on the other hand, couldn’t let it go. I was inquisitive by nature, and my mom never knew how to answer my questions.

Why do we have so many animal attacks?

What happened to the people that disappeared in the Preserve?

Why did his eyes glow like that?

That last question almost caused my mom to get me a therapist – which probably would’ve helped me regardless – but she just continued to answer with her usual responses.

They just feel threatened by us, dear.

They’re in a better place now.

I’m sure it was nothing – you probably just saw some reflection in his eyes.

But no matter what she told me, I wasn’t satisfied. I knew there was something bigger going on, something my mom couldn’t explain, but I wasn’t sure what. As I got older, however, I realized that if I kept voicing my concerns, I’d be seen as the local crazy person – which, at the time, was the title reserved for my neighbor, Donna Romano, who always went to Town Hall meetings to complain about how some supernatural creatures were traumatizing her dogs every time she took them out at night to urinate.

Out of fear of sounding like Donna, I kept my suspicions to myself. I observed the strange actions of those around me and kept note of the bizarre events that happened in town. I found that it was something I was good at – observing. Always watching, but never voicing my opinions. Eventually, it got the best of me because I grew really quiet at school. But I didn’t mind. I liked being a wallflower.

One day in the fifth grade I saw my mom reading the Beacon Chronicle and I had an epiphany – journalists investigate weird, inexplicable events, so I should be a journalist. Reading the news became my favorite pastime, and by sixth grade I decided I would join the high school newspaper, The Daily Beacon, when I became a freshman. I figured maybe it would give me an outlet to investigate the odd occurrences in the town without looking like a lunatic.

But in sixth grade, I noticed that some of the odd things had stopped happening. There were less animal attacks and disappearances from the Preserve. Some people had even left town, including the last of the Hales, whose house had burned down that same year.

I didn’t give up hope though. I kept my head down and waited for things to get weird again. In the meantime, I wrote for enjoyment. In eighth grade I started shadowing a girl named Anna that was a part of the Daily Beacon, and I started writing articles – album reviews, movie reviews, school news.

Everything was going smoothly until my sophomore year of high school. Suddenly the weird things were happening, and I was sure that there was one person that was at the epicenter of it all – Scott McCall.

--

“...Angela, you’re covering the new faculty; Thomas, you’ve got the new Vegan Support Group club some juniors just created; and y/n, you’re covering lacrosse try-outs,” said Andrew, the editor-in-chief of the Daily Beacon.

I groaned slightly. “Andrew, couldn’t I write something a little bit more...my style? Like what about the one freshman class that boycotted their summer reading and is facing suspension?”

He gave me a slight look. “y/n, you know how important this lacrosse piece is. You know what that sport means to the school. You should be glad I’m giving you this opportunity,” he scolded. “Besides, Marlene is covering that class and is already interviewing their teacher.”

I nodded slowly and tried to refrain from rolling my eyes. I knew that Andrew meant well – he had been like an older brother to me ever since my freshman year – and he was right about the importance of lacrosse. I stayed quiet until he dismissed us, then mentally prepared myself to spend my afternoon watching some jocks exude machismo on a field.

When my last class was over, I walked over to the lacrosse field and found myself a spot on the top of the bleachers. It gave me an excellent vantage point – until a couple girls sat down right in front of me. The redhead I recognized to be Lydia Martin, the school’s resident popular girl. We’d been in class together all our lives, but I couldn’t remember a time she ever talked to me. I’m sure she didn’t even know I existed, just like the majority of the other people in our grade. The other girl, however, I didn’t recognize. I found out her name was Allison by overhearing their conversation. She was new and must have just moved to Beacon Hills.

The shrill sound of Coach’s whistle knocked me out of my thoughts. Tryouts started, and I watched as Scott McCall, a boy from my grade, was nearly knocked out by a lacrosse ball to the face. I winced but wrote down the event in the notebook I had out for documentation.

The next ball that went Scott’s way didn’t hit his face though. He managed to catch it in his goalie net. I couldn’t help but be a bit surprised – like Lydia, I’d known of Scott my whole life though he probably didn’t know me at all. But that meant I knew he was an asthmatic that wasn’t particularly skilled at sports.

“He’s actually pretty good,” I mumbled to myself as Scott continued to catch every ball that came his way.

I didn’t realize how loud I must’ve said it though because at my remark Allison turned around. “I was just thinking the same thing,” she said, obviously surprised. “Do you know him?”

I shook my head and quickly turned my attention to my notebook to write down the surprising turn of events. “Are you writing about this for the school newspaper?” I looked back up at Allison’s question. She was paying attention to me?

“Um, yeah, I am. I’d rather not write about sports, but here I am,” I joked lightly.

She let out a beautiful laugh at my statement. “Well, I’m glad you’re here. I’m Allison, and you are…?”

“y/n,” I answered. “Nice to meet you, Allison.” Suddenly the crowd roared, and I remembered why I was there. Allison, too, smiled and turned her attention back to the game. Lydia hadn’t said a word, but she was focused on watching Scott absolutely demolish Jackson Highmore, who, in my opinion, needed to be knocked down a few pegs anyway.

The more I watched Scott though, I got this weird feeling. He was good – too good. I tried to ignore my feelings and just focus on writing notes for the ridiculous lacrosse piece, which would include the headline: “Sophomore Scott McCall shines at lacrosse tryouts and becomes team co-captain.” But deep down I knew there was something up with him.

A few days later, I was sitting behind Stiles Stilinski, Scott’s best friend, in English class. Even though I’d had nearly all of my classes with him, we never talked. It originally was because I had a minor crush on him and was afraid I’d pass out if I spoke to him, but eventually it just morphed into me not speaking to many people and being convinced he didn’t know of my existence anyway.

But this one day, I was committed to speaking with him. I had to know what was going on, and if there was one person that knew anything about Scott’s new-found lacrosse talent, it was Stiles.

“Hey, Stiles,” I spoke up from behind him.

The brunette turned around, slightly confused but with that soft smile on his face. “Oh, hey, y/n. What’s up?”

I swear my heart stopped beating for a second. He knew my name? He knew who I was? I shook myself out of my thoughts before I went down the rabbit hole of the implications of him knowing me.

“Oh, nothing much. I’m just writing a piece about lacrosse tryouts for the school newspaper and I was just wondering if you had anything to say about it,” I explained.

He tilted his head slightly and shifted in his seat to more fully face me. “Um, yeah sure. I think it’s going to be a great season, especially since we’ve gotten some new leadership. My boy Scott’s co-captain now, so those Devenford Prep guys won’t know what hit them!”

“Speaking of Scott, when did he get so good at lacrosse? Would you say it’s natural talent?” I pressed a bit, hoping he’d say something that would give me a hint as to what was going on.

Stiles’ eyes squinted a little, and his head tilted slightly again. He seemed to be at a loss for words, which was unusual for the fast-talking, sarcastic boy, but he quickly recovered. “It’s definitely...natural...talent. He’s been working extra hard recently to hone his talent and skills so he could bring his A-game to this year’s tryouts.” When he finished speaking, he looked pleased with himself, and I could tell he had let out a small sigh of relief.

What are you hiding?

Though I didn’t know it yet, at that moment my rivalry with Stiles Stilinski began. He and Scott were hiding something, and I was going to find out what it was.

--

“You’re telling me that a girl is in a coma after the school winter formal and you don’t want me to write a story about it?”

Andrew leaned against the desk and crossed his arms. “It’s not that I don’t want you to write it. I just think it’s a tense time right now. The administration is receiving a lot of flack right now because of the winter formal fiasco, and Ms. Blanchard told me that we may want to avoid stirring the pot right now,” he explained. “That is not to say that we abandon our journalistic integrity and commitment to informing the student body, but we just may want to be sensitive to our environment right now.”

I trusted Ms. Blanchard, the faculty sponsor of the Daily Beacon, but not reporting on Lydia’s comatose state felt wrong. She was well-known at school, and students deserved to know the facts of her situation and how it had happened.Well, maybe I was lying to myself by saying that the real reason I wanted to pursue the story wasn’t the fact that something inexplicable had happened at the dance and I had to figure out what it was.

Andrew could sense my disappointment. “Look, maybe for now you can start collecting information and sources, and I’ll talk to Ms. Blanchard. Maybe she can advise us on how best to proceed.”

I threw my arms around Andrew in a quick hug. “Yes, thank you! I promise I’ll be sensitive when asking sources. I know how difficult this must be for the people close to her.”

“I know you will,” he said, chuckling lightly.

With a smile plastered on my face – perhaps a little inappropriately considering the topic I was excited to cover – I left the small newspaper office in search of my first source: Stiles Stilinski. He had been Lydia’s date to the dance, so surely he must know what happened to her, right? “No, I don’t know what happened,” Stiles angrily responded when I cornered him at his locker. “We were separated for a bit because she went looking for someone. When I went looking for her I–” he stopped suddenly, as if choosing his words carefully. He wouldn’t meet my eyes as he spoke.

“The next thing I know, she was at the hospital in a coma. They told me Jackson had found her out on the field when I went to check on her at the hospital,” he explained.

Something wasn’t adding up. “Ok, but where were you the rest of that time? You didn’t go looking for her when you didn’t see her for a while? What about when she had already been checked into the hospital?”

“What is this – an investigation?” Stiles shouted as he slammed his locker shut. I took a step back, eyes wide at the sudden display of aggression. Maybe I pushed too hard, I thought. Stiles rubbed a hand over his face and took a deep breath. “Sorry, I….I didn’t mean it like that. There’s just a lot going on, and my dad has been up my ass about those details too. To be honest, I can’t tell you where I was. The time just flew by and all of a sudden I’d realized I hadn’t seen Lydia for a couple hours. I wish I had been there for her, but there’s nothing I can do for her now other than check up on her.”

Running a hand over his buzzed head, he shot me a forced smile and said “good luck with your article” before walking away.

I was at a loss for words, trying to put the pieces together in my head. Surely he couldn’t have had a part in Lydia’s injury? There’s no way. But his defensiveness was off-putting–

“Hey, y/n!” I was snapped out of my thoughts by Allison approaching me from behind. “What were you talking to Stiles about?”

“Huh? Oh, um, I was just asking him about…” I remembered that the funeral for Allison’s aunt was happening and didn’t want to mention the additional stress of her best friend being comatose, so I opted for a white lie. “Biology homework. I wasn’t really paying attention in class today.”

“Oh, I didn’t realize you two were friends,” she said as she leant against the lockers.

I shook my head violently. “We’re not.” I’d grown too close to Allison for her to not pick up on my feelings though.

“You say that now, but–”

“I have to get to class. See you at lunch, Ally!”

--

Other things that year were weird, but none warranted any further investigation via newspaper article. Sure, I was wondering about Erica Reyes’ sudden transformation into the ultimate baddie, the mysterious deaths of a mechanic and Isaac Lahey’s dad, numerous paralyzations at the Jungle, and a death of someone at a secret rave, but Andrew thought it would be best for the Chronicle and Ledger to cover those bigger events. In fact, the only other unnatural event that happened that I had to cover for the newspaper was Stiles’ unbelievable winning streak at the lacrosse championship. I would have quoted him after the game, but I really didn’t want to speak to him and anyway, he had disappeared for a bit right after the team won.

I could tell that things were happening, but it was all hidden from public view. I even noticed Allison’s behavior fluctuating. The arrival of her grandfather shook things up, and while he gave me a bad feeling, I couldn’t exactly figure out why. Lydia was more troubled than usual after coming back from the hospital even though she tried to act normally. Jackson was going through something and was more angry and aggressive than usual, but I wasn’t close enough to him to ask him if he was okay.

Over the summer, I spent a surprising amount of time with Lydia. Allison spent her summer in France, but she asked me to keep an eye on Lydia to make sure she was okay, especially since Jackson had moved to London during the summer break. I was surprised how much I enjoyed spending time with the redhead, and we hung out when I wasn’t working at my internship at The Beacon Chronicle, which my mom had convinced me to apply for after she noticed how irritated I was that I couldn’t pursue some of the stories I wanted.

By the time Allison came back before the start of school, it felt like Lydia and I had been best friends for the longest time.

“So, Allison, have you talked to Scott at all this summer?” I asked when I was sitting in the backseat of Lydia’s car, Allison in the passenger seat.

She shook her head. “No, I think I still need some time. He...hides things from me and I don’t know if I can trust him.”

I nodded my head, understanding the feeling. I still couldn’t place my finger on what had happened between them or what Scott was involved in. Though I comforted her when I found out they broke up, I didn’t really know why they’d done it.

“What about you, y/n? Have you talked to Stiles at all?” Allison asked, looking back at me in the backseat.

“Why the hell would I talk to Stiles?” I questioned, confused.

She and Lydia shared a small look that I couldn’t decipher before she shrugged her shoulders. “I don’t know, but you guys are more similar than you may think. I don’t know why you guys act like you don’t like each other though.”

The car rolled to a stop at the stop light, and all of a sudden I noticed a familiar baby blue jeep approach next to us. “Speak of the devil,” I mumbled. Lydia and Allison didn’t notice Stiles staring and waving at first, but when they did the car was filled with awkward tension.

The next events were a blur: Lydia running the red light, both cars stopping in the middle of the road, and a deer running straight towards us, nearing killing me in the gap between the front seats. We were shaken, and the boys ran towards us when they saw what happened.

“Are you okay?” Stiles asked Lydia, but he kept looking at me. I nodded slightly and he turned his full attention back to Lydia.

“What was wrong with it?” Allison asked as Scott got closer to the deer.

“It was scared,” he explained. “No, terrified.”

Things got progressively weirder after that. On the first day of school, I interviewed our new English teacher, Ms. Blake. She was nice enough, but it was unfortunate that her class was the one that a whole flock of birds decided to burst through the classroom windows. By the time the police arrived, I was already drafting up a story in my brain: Why are the animals acting weird in Beacon Hills?

I had overheard Stiles talking to Scott about the deer’s weird behavior and the number of deer-related incidents in California, so I swallowed my pride so that I could talk to him and maybe get some stats and information on the whole situation.

I walked up to him when he was sitting alone, texting on his phone. “Hey, Stiles.” “y/n? What’s wrong?” He had genuine concern written on his face.

“I overheard you and Scott talking about deer-related incidents earlier,” I noticed how he tensed up at my statement, “and I was wondering if you could help me with a piece I’m writing? It seems like you know all the stats, so maybe...you could write it with me?” It pained me to finish that sentence, but I figured it might be easier to figure out what was going on if he was helping – especially if he already had inside information.

I think for the first time in his life, the talkative boy was speechless. “I understand if you don’t want to or you’re busy–” I said quickly, trying to give him a way out.

“Yeah, sure.”

I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t caught off guard by his response. “W-what?”

He smirked slightly. “Yeah, sure. I’ll help you out with your article, y/n. Collaborate with you, if you will. We can work on it at my house tomorrow afternoon if you want.”

Nodding and agreeing with the plan, I left the chaotic English classroom.

The next afternoon, I felt like I was walking into the lion’s den. Going to Stiles’ house felt foreign, but what was even stranger was seeing him in casual clothes in a comfortable environment.

He answered the door wearing some sweats and a t-shirt, looking more comfortable and confident than I’d ever seen him. “Hey, y/n. Come on in,” he greeted.

I thanked him awkwardly, and we walked to his dining room table to get set up. “Sorry, I need to go grab my notes from my room. Be back in a sec,” Stiles said before leaving me alone in his dining room.

After a moment of silence, Sheriff Stilinski walked in wearing his uniform. “Oh, y/n! What are you doing here?” He had seen me a couple weeks ago in the police station when I was requesting documents for a story for the Chronicle. Though journalists and cops don’t often have a jovial relationship, he said that he liked me because of my commitment to the truth and respectful nature.

“Hey, Sheriff. I’m writing a piece about the animals acting weird, you know, with the deer accident and bird incident, and Stiles said he’d help me since he has a bunch of statistics on deer related car accidents.”

“Stiles is helping you? Well, I’ll be damned.” When he saw the confusion on my face, he rushed to explain himself. “No, not like that. It’s just, you’re all organized and focused, and Stiles is….Stiles.”

I was laughing heartily when the boy himself walked back into the room. “What’s going on, Daddy-o?”

“Nothing, son. Just catching up with y/n here. I’ve got to get to work, but you’re welcome anytime, y/n.” He said before patting Stiles on the shoulder and heading off to work.

Stiles looked over at me oddly when he placed his notes on the table and sat next to me. “Since when are you all buddy-buddy with my dad?”

Shrugging, I said, “Ever since we started grabbing beer every Thursday night while you’re at lacrosse practice.” His jaw dropped slightly, and I laughed again. “No, idiot. We’ve just interacted a lot because of my internship. Now, can we get started on the article?”

--

After the article was published, my next assignment was writing about the track meet a couple weeks later. I found out Allison and Lydia were riding together to the meet, so I tagged along.

Both girls were extremely tense the whole ride, seemingly concerned about something going on in the bus. We were only a few cars behind the bus full of track runners (and lacrosse players who were forced to attend the meet), but the stand-still traffic was a force to be reckoned with.

“Do you think we’re too close?” Allison asked.

“Honey, if you were any closer I think you’d mount the bus,” Lydia said sarcastically. She got a call from Stiles and looked over at Allison. “Hey, Stiles,” she dragged out the ‘hey,’ tension obvious in her voice.

She listened to what he was saying, something clearly wrong. “What do you mean he’s not–” she stopped when she remembered I was in the car, “healing?” She finished the question quietly, probably hoping I wouldn’t hear.

Healing? Is he injured?

“Yeah, ok, just find a way to get Coach to stop. We’ll meet you there.” She hung up and told Allison to pull off at the next stop.

When we got to the rest stop, I could see everyone hurrying to get off the bus. Allison parked the car, and we quickly went to the bathroom where I saw Scott nearly passed out on the floor. “Oh my god, is he okay?”

“Yeah, y/n. He’s fine. At least, he will be,” Stiles responded. He positioned his body in front of me a little bit as if he was trying to block my view of Scott.

I gently pushed him aside so I could see and was shocked to see black blood coming from the injured boy. “What the hell is going on? Why is his blood black?” I ran forward to get closer, kneeling next to Allison.

“It’s nothing. We just need to stitch him up and he’ll be fine.”

“Stiles, don’t fucking lie to me. I can see that he’s obviously not fine.”

“He’s right,” Allison said quietly. “We need to stitch him up. I need something to stitch him together with.” She looked around before remembering something in her bag.

I shook my head. “We need to tell Coach. Take him to a hospital or something.”

“No!” All three of them yelled at me.

It was quiet for a moment, all of us deciding where to go from here. “Just…” Stiles started, “please go and make sure the bus doesn’t leave without us. We’ll handle this.” I got up and slowly made my way to the door.

As I reached for the door, a hand grabbed my wrist. “y/n,” Stiles said, “it’ll make sense someday. Just trust us for now. Trust me,” he pleaded quietly out of earshot of the girls and Scott.

“I do,” I replied quietly, not meeting his eyes, before pulling my hand from his grasp and leaving the bathroom.

That night, we all had to stay at the Motel Glen Capri because of the postponed meet. I didn’t like its energy, and neither did Lydia. “A lot can happen in one night,” she said.

Though it was supposed to be two to a room, I convinced Coach to let me room with Allison and Lydia. Admittedly, Coach didn’t need much convincing because I was saving the school money by doing so. Once we got our room key, we went up to our room on the second floor.

“I’m going to go get a snack from the machine,” I told Lydia once Allison was in the shower.

She nodded. “Sounds good. I’m going to the lobby. There must be something we can do about these towels that reek of nicotine.”

Grabbing a couple one’s from my wallet, I made my way down the hall to the vending machine where I ran into Boyd and Stiles. As I approached, I could hear Stiles trying to talk to an unresponsive Boyd, who subsequently punched a hole through the glass of the machine, grab his snack that the machine refused to give him, and walk away.

“What the hell was that?” I asked Stiles as I walked up next to him.

He shrugged. “I don’t really know, to be honest.” He reached into the machine to grab his snack and tossed one to me as well.

When I got back to my room, a shaken Allison and Lydia were hurriedly talking about something. “Oh, y/n! You’re back. You won’t believe what just happened…” Allison started

She recounted the story of Scott’s bizarre behavior in the bathroom, and Lydia filled me in on the counter that they have at the front desk. “Can you imagine having a counter for the number of suicides that take place in your hotel? Crazy,” Lydia said. Taking her phone out, she sent a quick text to Stiles telling him that we all needed to talk.

We met him in the hallway a couple minutes later. “What was the text for?” Stiles asked when he saw our little gathering.

“There’s something going on with all the…” she looked over at me before continuing, “guys. You know, Scott, Boyd, Isaac, probably Ethan too.” I tried to connect the dots between all of them, but I didn’t really know what they all had in common. Scott and Isaac were both on the lacrosse team, but from what I could tell they didn’t have a particular fondness for each other or Ethan.

“I think someone’s going to die tonight,” Lydia said decisively.

“Why do you think that?” I asked, but it seemed like I was the only one questioning her line of reason.

She shook her head slowly. “I just...have a feeling.” After a moment of silence, she told us about hearing something from the room next to ours through the vent, so we decided to investigate it. Room 217 seemed empty and locked, but all of a sudden we heard the sound of a saw from behind the door.

Stiles busted the door open, and we opened it to find Ethan turning the saw on himself. “Ethan, stop!” I yelled as we ran into the room. Stiles started wrestling him for the saw, but luckily Lydia saw where it was plugged into the wall and unplugged it.

The next thing that happened was completely unexpected to me. Ethan grew fangs and claws, his eyes blazing red. What the fu–

Allison and Lydia rushed forward, wrestling his claws away from his torso where he had been planning on slashing himself. In the struggle he fell on the space heater, which apparently brought him out of whatever state he was in. He ran out of the room soon after. When we tried to question him about what he was doing, he couldn’t answer us. He had been out of control, and it made Allison realize we were forgetting someone.

“Where’s Scott?” She asked suddenly. When no one could answer, we all decided to split up – I’d go with Allison to look for Scott while Stiles and Lydia went to find Boyd and Isaac.

Scott wasn’t in his room. Allison and I ran all over the motel, looking in every crevice. At last, we decided to check the school bus, and that’s where we saw him. Standing drenched in gasoline, a flare lit up in his hand.

“Scott…” I approached quietly, careful to not make any sudden movements.

It was then that Stiles and Lydia joined us. I watched as Stiles walked into the gasoline, my breath catching in my throat as he nearly sacrificed himself. Scott was talking, but I didn’t really understand what it meant. He said that his life was better before the bite.

Stiles eventually talked Scott down, but the flare rolled into the gasoline. Luckily, Lydia was able to make sure we had all gotten out of the way. I’d ended up next to Stiles on the ground, and though we made eye contact, no words were spoken.

We spent the night in the bus because none of us could bear the thought of spending another second in that cursed place. Coach woke us up in the morning, definitely thinking the worst about what we may have gotten ourselves into, but whatever he was thinking wouldn’t possibly compare to reality. What was reality? I couldn’t have really told you at that point. I didn’t understand what we’d just lived through.

Before the other students started loading onto the bus, Stiles slid into the empty space next to me. “y/n, you know that all of this,” he made a grand gesture to Scott and the others as well as the motel, “is off the record. You can’t tell anyone about this. About what happened.” I held eye contact with him for a moment before nodding. “I wouldn’t tell anyone. To be honest, I don’t even really know what I would tell people, but I wouldn’t.” He nodded, a sad smile on his face as he looked down and fidgeted with his hands. “But Stiles,” I said as he looked back up at me. “Please help me understand it all. You can trust me, I promise, I just want to understand. I want to help.”

With a deep sigh, Stiles nodded once more. “Okay. I’ll tell you everything.”

--

When Stiles said he’d fill me in on everything, I didn’t realize he meant everything. I couldn’t believe how oblivious I had been to everything that had happened in the past year. Sure, I knew something weird was going on, but how was I supposed to know it was supernatural?

Finding out that my little corner of the world, little old Beacon Hills, California, had werewolves (and a kanima, pack of alphas, and whatever the hell a Darach was) was a lot to process. It was unbelievable, but Stiles helped me believe it.

I could tell that he didn’t fully trust me though. There was something in the way he looked at me that told me he was wondering when I would be done with my source acquisition and I’d write the next big exposé: Supernatural Beacon Hills: How Werewolves Have Been Hiding In Plain Sight. I didn’t know how to assure him that I was on their side and wouldn’t expose their secrets.

As the year progressed, things simultaneously made more sense and less sense. To defeat the Darach, we had to perform a sacrifice for the parents that had abducted, and Deaton – the veterinarian that had taken care of every family pet we’d ever had – told me I had to hold Stiles down during it. He said we had some sort of connection, but I guess that’s what mutual loathing does to people.

In the end, we won. We beat the Darach, the alpha of the alphas Deucalion left, and Scott became an alpha himself. But it was still just the beginning.

--

The sacrifice did something to Scott, Stiles, and Allison that we didn’t fully understand. Deaton said they left a door open, which only made it harder for Stiles to trust me because he could barely trust himself.

Knowing about the supernatural didn’t preclude my other responsibilities though. I still wrote for the Daily Beacon, much to Stiles’ displeasure, but I enjoyed it. So, on the first day of school I interviewed our newest faculty member – Mr. Yukimura. He and his family had just moved from New York, and his daughter Kira was in our grade. She was nice, but shy, so I invited her to have lunch with us.

Surprisingly, Kira jumped right into the conversation at lunch by mentioning bardo, the Buddhist concept of being in an in-between state.

After lunch, I caught up with Allison to walk to our next class. “Hey, Allison, could I ask you a favor?”

“Of course! What’s up?”

“Well, I don’t really know how to ask this but...I need help learning to defend myself, I guess? It’s just that I’m going to be helping you guys now, and I actually want to be helpful, so I want to protect myself so you guys don’t have to worry about me,” I admitted.

Allison smiled softly. “I’d love to help.” I returned her smile, suddenly giddy, yet nervous. “But, I think you should know that my...aim...has been off since the sacrifice.”

I could hear the disappointment in her voice. “Nonsense, I’m sure that you’re still the best shot in this school.” She shook her head. “It’s never been this bad.”

Touching her arm lightly, I gave her a reassuring smile. “We’ll figure it out together.”

A few days later, I was surprised when I was paid a visit by both Scott and Stiles while I was sitting in the library. “To what do I owe this pleasure, boys?”

“We need your help.” I perked up at Scott’s statement. “We’re trying to solve the Tate case, you know, the one where Malia Tate disappeared all those years ago after that car accident, and we could use your help tracking her down.” He looked over at Stiles and nudged him with his elbow.

“And, you can write a piece about it. Not including all the details, if what we think happened is true, but you can still write something factual,” Stiles said, still displeased that I was writing for the newspaper.

To annoy Stiles, I acted like I was really thinking about it for a minute, but then laughed lightly. “Yeah, I’ll help you guys. Where do we start?”

--

Pull yourself together, y/n. You’re a journalist. You’re supposed to report on tragedy all the time. Be objective.

I took a deep breath and wrote the first line for what would be the cover story of the next Daily Beacon issue.

Junior Allison Argent, 17, died in an unfortunate carjacking incident last fall.

Before I could write any more, I got a phone call from Stiles.

Oh, thank god. “Stiles?”

“Do you want to come with us to Mexico?” He blurted out.

I couldn’t help the laugh that bubbled from my chest. “What? Mexico? Why? When–”

“Tomorrow.”

“Stiles, are you insane? Even if I wanted to, there’s no way my parents would ever let me go.”

“We’re all telling our parents we’re going camping, if that helps at all,” he said with what seemed like a hint of disappointment in his voice.

I was quiet for a minute, but my mind was already made up. “Why? And who exactly is going?”

“Scott, Lydia, Kira, Malia, and I have to visit some hunters and see what they know about Derek being missing.”

As soon as he mentioned Malia, my mouth started curling into a frown. It’s not that I disliked the werecoyote, it’s just that she and Stiles had been pretty full on since they hooked up at Eichen and started dating. I wasn’t jealous – though I’m sure Lydia would argue otherwise since she’s convinced I like him or something – just...weirded out by their relationship.

I sighed. “I want to help, but I really can’t tomorrow. School starts back up in a couple days, and I need to finish this elegy for Allison and come up with a bunch of assignments for the staff writers…” I trailed off, thinking about all that I had to do before the coming week.

“Oh yeah, I forgot. Ms. Editor-in-chief over here has a life outside of us,” Stiles joked.

Andrew graduated at the end of last year and left his glittering empire to me, though suddenly I felt overwhelmed at the prospect of running a newspaper while being way too involved in the town’s supernatural endeavors. It didn’t bother me last semester, but after Allison…

“I’ll just see you guys when you get back, okay?” I told Stiles. He made an unintelligible noise of agreement. “And try not to let anyone get killed.” “Yes, mom,” Stiles said sarcastically. I could almost hear the smirk in his voice.

When the pack got back, I was surprised by the events that had taken place. “What do you mean it’s a young version of Derek?”

A few days later, I had to cover the spring lacrosse tryouts. Though I wanted to assign it to someone else, I had to do it myself because everyone was busy with the assignments I had given them.

To my surprise, a new freshman, Liam Dunbar, showed everyone up at tryouts – even Scott. I took note of how he seemed almost athletically superior to everyone, and I wondered if he was supernatural.

“He’s human, I’m sure of it,” Scott said as he came up next to where I was sitting on the bleachers, scaring me out of my mind in the process.

“Jeez, Scott. A little warning next time would be nice. But how do you know?”

He shrugged. “I can just tell. He’s just a really great athlete.”

“He’s going to be a great pain in my ass, I can tell,” Stiles said, sidling up next to Scott.

I took note of their reactions, writing down Scott’s comment – about being a great athlete, not human – to consider while writing my piece.

“Oh no, don’t tell me you’re writing a story about him,” Stiles groaned.

“You know I have to write one about the tryouts, and he just happens to be the star player of today,” I told him. “Sorry, Scott.”

Scott waved me off, but Stiles was still upset about the situation. “No, don’t give him the ego boost! He’s already a little shit, and an article about him would make it worse.”

Taking a break from my note-taking, I looked over at the brown-haired boy. “Stiles, have you even talked to him?”

He looked at a loss for words. “N-not really...but I can see his arrogance from a mile away!”

I rolled my eyes. “Well then, if you’d excuse me, I’m going to write up a fantastic story about a talented up-and-coming lacrosse player.”

The article became the next issue’s front page, but I almost wished I hadn’t given him as much attention when Scott turned him into his beta.

The rest of the year didn’t go as planned either, but isn’t junior year supposed to be everyone’s worst year?

As much as I liked helping out with the supernatural problems Scott and the rest of the pack were having, it was hard knowing about what was going on and not being able to write about it, especially when all of the mysterious killings started up. We eventually found out about the deadpool, but I could write about a kill list of Beacon Hills’ resident supernaturals, could I?

At the end of the year, I finally had to make the trip to Mexico with the rest of the pack. “Stiles, I’m going. You can’t stop me!” I attempted to open the passenger door of the jeep when he reached out and shut it from behind me.

“No, it’s going to be dangerous. We don’t even really know what we’re facing,” he tried reasoning with me. “I can protect myself,” I said, thinking of the training that Allison had given me. “Besides, I can’t just sit by and wait for you guys to come back. I need to try helping Scott.”

Realizing that I wasn’t going to back down, Stiles removed his hand from the side of the door and opened it for me. I nodded a quick thanks as I hopped into the vehicle.

I wasn’t expecting to fight Scott that day, but we all did in order to return him from his Berserker form. At the end of the fight, I had a few cuts and bruises, but nothing I couldn’t deal with.

As Derek drove away with Braedan, I could feel that things were changing. “I can’t write about any of this, can I?” I asked somewhat jokingly.

“Off the record,” Stiles replied from where he stood next to me.

--

“Stiles, what’s wrong?”

“Oh thank god, you remember me!” He said as he grabbed my hands. He’d been running down the hall frantically when I saw him.

I looked at him with concern on my face. “Yeah, of course I remember you? Why wouldn’t I–”

“y/n, it’s the Hunt. The Ghost Riders. I saw them, and now they’re coming for me.” He was breathing heavily, eyes sweeping the surroundings for signs of the Ghost Riders. His eyes locked on something to his left, but when I looked, I couldn’t see anything. “They’re here. We have to go,” he said, pulling me towards the parking lot. We got into his jeep, but he didn’t start the car. “Stiles, what are you doing?”

“It’s too late.” I could see the look of grief on his face. “No, don’t say that. It’s not–”

“It’s the truth,” he cut me off, turning to look at me. “Promise me you won’t forget.”

I shook my head. “I won’t. But Stiles, I can’t do this without you,” I could feel a tear escaping my eye and slipping down my cheek, my emotions getting the better of me.

Stiles reached forward and wiped the tear away before placing his hand on my cheek. “What do you mean? You’re one of the smartest, most inquisitive people I know. If I had to trust anyone to find a way to stop the Ghost Riders, it would be you.”

I couldn’t help but smile at his honesty. “Yeah right. Lydia will probably figure it out before me.”

He shook his head. “You can do it. I trust you.” I could tell there was more he wanted to say, but he turned to look at something through the window over his shoulder. “Can I tell you something? Off the record.”

I couldn’t help the laugh that escaped my mouth. “Yes, of course. What is it?”

He took a deep breath. “I don’t hate you. I know it may seem like I’ve never trusted you or that I don’t care about you, but it’s actually the opposite. I...really really like you,” he admitted.

I was stunned. Stiles likes me? He was searching my face for any indication of feelings as I sat there silently.

“Oh, shit,” Stiles mumbled. “Ok, forget I said that. Well, you won’t need to forget when you forget me in a minute–”

I cut off his rambling by placing my lips on his. They were warm and familiar, as if they were made for mine. “I like you too,” I mumbled when I disconnected, my eyes still closed from the interaction.

But when I opened them, I was alone in the baby blue jeep.

--

All semester, I’d felt that something was missing, but I couldn’t figure out what it was. Or who it was.

But after months of searching for it, we finally figured it out. Lydia had gone into a banshee trance to discover the word “Stiles,” and it brought back vague memories for me when I heard it. The feeling of soft flannel. A sarcastic laugh. Red string around my finger. A hefty wooden baseball bat.

The collection of memories made sense when we all finally got our memories back and remembered the person we were missing from our lives.

We traced the trail of clues to the sewers, where Scott tried to bring back Stiles because of their brotherly love for one another. I thought it would work, but the portal closed and Stiles hadn’t appeared. Come on, Stiles. Where are you?

We had to fight the Ghost Riders off, making sure they didn’t turn our beloved Beacon Hills into another ghost town. I’d run into the high school, looking for something to use as a weapon when I ran into someone in the hall. A tall, brown-haired figure wearing a flannel shirt. “Stiles?”

He turned, and smiles emerged on both of our faces. I broke into a run again, right into his arms. “I can’t believe you’re here. You’re really here.” I mumbled, the sound muffled against his shirt.

“I knew you could do it,” he said.

I pulled back slightly and looked up at his face, suddenly nervous. “That night in the jeep...did you hear what I told you before you disappeared?”

A soft smile rested on his face. “Of course I did. It was the one thing that kept me going, especially when I was stuck with Peter.”

“Peter Hale? Why the hell were you with Peter Hale?”

Stiles shook his head. “We can go over that later. For now, there’s one thing I’ve been wanting to do.” I was a little confused, but I understood once he leaned in and connected our lips.

This is what I’d been missing, and I was never going to let it go again.

--

I watched from afar as Stiles gave his trusty baseball bat to Mason, who didn’t seem to appreciate the hunk of wood.

“Have you told him yet?” Lydia asked as she appeared next to me.

I shook my head. “We haven’t really had time to talk about that stuff. I think he doesn’t really want to think about it just yet and what that might mean for us.”

She nudged me with her elbow, silently telling me to go over there and talk to him. Rolling my eyes, I walked towards the familiar blue jeep and familiar mess of brown hair.

Liam and Mason had already walked away, and Scott and Stiles were standing and talking at the jeep’s trunk. “Hey, y/n. I’m just heading out, but I’ll see you guys later,” Scott said as I came up and Stiles threw his arm around me.

We waved as Scott left, and Stiles pulled me closer. “Hey,” he said, looking down at me with an affectionate expression.

I pulled him over so we could sit in the open trunk. “We need to talk.” I could see the panic flare up in his eyes.

“Oh, um, okay? Is everything okay?”

Chuckling lightly, I nodded. “Yeah, we just haven’t talked about college at all,” I explained.

His head dropped. “Yeah, I know. I just don’t want it to ruin what we have here, and I don’t even know what life will be like outside of Beacon Hills, and I feel like we just got together and now–”

“Stiles,” I cut him off. “I’m going to GW too.”

His eyes widened at my confession. “You...you’re going to GW?”

I nodded, a small smile on my lips. “I committed a while ago. I’m going to study journalism there.”

I watched as a smile spread across his face. Then, it was replaced by a quick smirk. “Oh great, you’re following me there, huh? I just can’t seem to get rid of you.”

I shrugged. “What can I say? I’m going to need someone to give me the inside scoop on the FBI’s antics.”

He looked pensive for a moment. “I think what you’re describing is illegal.”

“Not if it’s in the public’s interest. But maybe it just needs to be off the record,” I admitted. Stiles laughed. “Oh, it’s definitely going to be off the record.”

[bangtae-sohotddaeng]

we’ll be counting stars | k.th. | 3

(^ gif cred: ON THE VOYAGE | pinterest)

pairing: idol!Taehyung x publisher!Reader

rating: nc-17 (for language and themes)

summary: You’d sworn off love and relationships forever. You were here to do your job - work with the biggest boyband of the world. Not forge friendships and...and whatever it was that you and Taehyung were building up with these sneaky glances. It was, to be very fair, your Chief Editor’s fault that you’d landed in this mess. Maybe you should quit your job? Maybe you should quit life -

Oh, he was staring again, and did he freaking lick his lips?

warnings: swearing (reader’s got a potty mouth) + this is set like 5 years in the future + reader has emotional issues, she's a relationship phobe + mentions of weed

genre: so much ANGST ugh + fluff + comedy + some crack

words: 5 k

note: hey, y'all. so last month i went on a new year's trip to my boyfriend's city (yes, covid has forced us into an ldr, fml) and got too occupied in all the celebrations and reunions, and this got delayed. also, you might have noticed how the chapters progressively grow wordier, lmao i'd been confused. but i think i've found the perfectly comfortable number now. expect this length from now on. thank you for reading~💜

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gimme feedback, much much appreciated!

You were, to be very honest, a complete mess at this point.

You hadn’t been quite certain as to what to expect when you’d picked Jungkook’s name out of the bowl in your office, but you could say with certainty that it hadn’t been even close to this. 

This boy was brimming with ideas! You hadn’t been able to get a single sentence in the midst of his own enthusiastic chatter, with words and ideas folding and layering all over each other. All you had done was nod, mumble words of agreement and appreciation—that you were pretty sure he didn’t even hear—and type it all. Freaking typing. So much typing.

So basically, the entirety of yesterday spent fussing over the repertoires to ensure that the list of tasks for the first set of three weeks were well-constructed had led to this—not being able to so much as tell him about the questions your team had so meticulously framed! You felt irked, amused, exasperated, exhausted, and at the same time, really fucking lost. 

How were you supposed to interrupt him without disrespecting him? You didn’t have a great amount of tact and usually just cut to the chase. Which was generally an appreciated quality in your profession, because no writer wanted to be just lathered with compliments to later find out his work was actually bullshit that no one wanted to read. But this situation was different. You felt pressured, nervous and out of your element. Because you really had no idea how to respectfully stop this guy from making a mess of all your hard work.

He was Jeon freaking Jungkook of BTS, for God’s sake!

How could you shut him up?

You were both in Jungkook’s personal studio in the BTS dorm. The boy was seated on a couch across the coffee table from your own, literally swimming in a trillion size bigger t-shirt and some loose sweatpants. His hair floof-ed all over the place as he spoke, bubbling and bursting with enthusiasm. Which he was doing a lot of. Speaking, that is.

For the better part of two hours now, you’d been listening to him go on and on about what all he wanted to include in the book. Your fingers were nearly cramping with all the typing, but you’d promised the guys no recorders and you didn’t wanna miss anything he said. But it was freaking difficult with the speed he was going at! 

And also with the mess and reluctance in your own head. You were used to pulling the reins with writers. This situation was making you feel incompetent.

You hadn’t even touched your list, yet. What would your teammates think of you if their very team leader failed to finish with the assigned data collection and messed up the team’s hard work? Ugh!

Currently, Jungkook was having you make a list of all the people he needed to talk about in the book.

“And there was this boy my age, Ji-Hyun, he was so much better than me at everything! It is him, truly, that I credit my overachieving traits to. I had to work so, so hard—oh! Please also note down Mun-Hee’s name! She was the best dancer in my entire school. So… wait, where was I?” He looked up at you with wide big, round eyes.

You opened your mouth to speak—was this when you asked him to shut up? It had to be, right, because this was the first time he’d actually prompted you to speak. 

You meant to take your shot, but then stopped. You blinked. Looked back at your laptop. Blinked again. 

You were so confused, right now. “Uh, Ji-Hyun was better than you—”

“Oh yes!” Jungkook exclaimed, launching off into a detailed story about how and in what respects, exactly, this guy was better than Jungkook.

You shut your eyes. This had gone beyond ��taking notes” and was quickly turning into Jungkook enthusiastically reminiscing his childhood and freaking telling you tales about it. And he seemed to be enjoying himself so thoroughly, looking so adorable, that it felt very wrong to ask him to stop even when you tried to avoid the added pressure of him being a whole ass idol.

But you had actual work to do. And you were leading a team. You couldn’t act so unprofessionally.

In hindsight, maybe you shouldn’t have told the boys that this was going to be like “making friends.” Jungkook seemed to have taken it too literally.

Biting down on your lip, you cleared your throat. He didn’t acknowledge it. Sighing, you shut your laptop. “Jungkook?”

This time, he stopped mid-word, looking at you with his lips rounded in a pout, sparkling eyes turning into saucers. 

Now, you were in no way attracted to the guy, but you really could not deny how freaking cute he looked in the moment. 

“All okay?” he asked, looking at you and then the shut laptop on your lap.

You took a deep breath, winced a little, and then shook your head. “No, Jungkook. We need to pause…” You had to stop speaking when his face crumpled. “Whoa…um?”

Jungkook slumped in his place, shoulders sinking. “I’ve been giving horrible ideas, haven’t I?”

Your eyes widened. “What? No! Absolutely not! That isn’t the case, I was…”

He wiped his face with both his hands before looking at you with really sad eyes, all enthusiasm from some time ago washed away. “Then what? You can tell me, it’s okay.”

Now. You prided yourself to be a practical human being who strived to be as straightforward in her life as possible. But right now, you really could not stop yourself from lying your way out of this one. You decided to blame it on the fear of upsetting a client, and not the impossible-to-control empathy that Jungkook’s doe eyes seemed to naturally draw out of people. 

“I just need a coffee. It’s been a while, my hands need a break. And my brain’s kinda overwhelmed, too,” you expertly lied, relaxing when Jungkook’s eyebrows lifted.

“We’ve been sitting here for long, haven’t we?” he said in an almost guilty tone before standing up. “And I didn’t even show you around the dorm!”

You tried to tell him how it was really not necessary, not to mention a bit too personal and…not what you were here for? But he was already moving towards the door and beckoning you along.

“Come on, let’s drop by the kitchen and then we’ll take a walk around the property!” he enthusiastically announced.

You stood up and followed him out of the room, awkwardly trying to ignore the two bodyguards that had stood as still as mannequins while you were in the room and then started to follow Jungkook wordlessly as you left.

The walk to the kitchen was a short one, and the place was, unsurprisingly, not empty.

Your team members along with their partnered BTS members had been assigned one particular space in the dorm, each. According to the email you received last evening, the kitchen was supposed to be used by Simon and— 

“Taehyungie-hyung! Are those chicken burgers?” Jungkook excitedly rounded the kitchen island to peek into the paper bag Taehyung was fiddling with. “They smell so good…”

You looked from Jungkook’s face that was awash with childlike excitement to Taehyung’s, and your breath caught when you found his eyes already trained on you. While you struggled to formulate a coherent thought at the intensity his eyes seemed to be emanating, yet again, his lips slipped into an easy smile.

“Hello!” he greeted you cheerily, bowing his head.

You, dazedly, bowed back and dragged your feet up to the island, standing across from the two guys. “Hey,” you mumbled in English.

His smile widened further to show his teeth. “Food?” he asked you in English, nodding at the burger Jungkook was pulling out of the bag.

You shook your head. “No, coffee,” you responded in Korean, earning raised eyebrows from him.

“I hate coffee.”

You smiled, this time. “You’re missing out.”

“Can I call you by your name?” he asked out of the blue, and you did a double take.

“Uh…yes?” you stammered. “Yes, of course Taehyung-ssi.”

“You should call me Tae.”

You swallowed, continually nodding your head like a damn puppet. “Yes. Tae. Sure.”

“I’m bac—boss?” 

You twisted on your heels at the familiar squeak. “Simon, hi,” you mumbled, professionalism slipping over you in the blink of an eye at having a member of your team in your vicinity. “Where did you wander off to?”

Simon seemed to be sweating a bit, and you really couldn’t really tell why. You’d just asked a simple question. 

Maybe you’d become too scary…

“Just the loo,” Simon responded with a forced giggle. 

You nodded, giving him a long look and observing how his smile grew progressively weirder. Then you turned back to the island. And nearly choked.

Taehyung’s fringe hung over his eyes, making his eyes look that much more hooded. His lips were twisted up as he watched you.

Oh, dear God, did this guy have a crush on you or something? But how? Why? 

He was a bonafide Greek God, and you were…well. Not.  

And needless to say, he was literally not allowed to have a crush on you. Or anybody else, for that matter. It was against BigHit’s policies. According to what you’d read, the boys were to wait out one more year, as of now, before indulging in any sort of romance.

You were, by contract, also bound to not encourage any such advancements. Not that smiling at you could be considered one, to be honest. He could very well be trying to make friends, and you could be reading too much into it.

You decided to stop thinking so much.

“You want to eat something?” Jungkook asked as he handed you a cup of brew.

You smiled and shook your head. “I don’t eat at work. None of us do.” You eyed Simon and he nodded with his gaze wide. “Disturbs the momentum.”

“Hey, you shouldn’t consider this strictly work,” Taehyung spoke up in that deep ass voice of his, startling you. “We’re also making friends, here. This is also not your office, but our home.”

And then he grinned at you with all of his teeth. You felt your cheeks heating up.

This was not going according to plan. 

You were panicking.

Flashing Taehyung a close-lipped smile, you stepped away from the counter. “Um, Jungkook?” you mumbled. “D’you guys have a pool in the house?” 

Jungkook looked surprised but as enthusiastic as ever. He nodded, his hair bouncing all over. “Come on!”

Throughout your walk around the house, you had tried to slip in ideas from your first three week’s layout to Jungkook that would fascinate him enough to make him at least want to hear them out. And, you’d proudly like to claim, it had worked.

Jungkook had heard your plans and had even asked you to pull the list up on your laptop to have a look at it. And henceforth, you’d made tremendous progress.

And now, at nearly nine o’clock of the night, you and your team were taking your leave for the day. 

You had exchanged brief words with all the members to see how they found their partners. Currently, you were conversing with Yoongi.

“ARMYs know a lot about all of that,” the guy said, referring to his life before BTS. “But there’s still a lot that they don’t. I talked to Nathan about all of it, we made notes. I’m really excited about the book.”

You gave him a professional grin. “I couldn’t be happier! Nathan’s got a really innovative mind. I’m sure he’ll make this a good experience for you.”

Nodding, Yoongi wished you a good night and bowed. You bowed back, moving away from the building and towards the vans waiting to drive you back to your hotel.

Jimin flashed you a wide grin as you got into the car. “Have a good night,” he wished you, shutting the door like a gentleman. Then he peeked and waved at Areum, your team member assigned to him. “See you tomorrow, Areum-ssi!”

Namjoon followed suit with a hand forwarded through the window for you to shake. “How did today go for you?” he asked you in English, causing Hoseok to elbow Jungkook, probably asking the younger to eavesdrop. Jungkook’s eyes met yours, though, and the two of you shared a covert giggle. “Did we meet your expectations?”

You smiled, formally. “It was… a good introduction of sorts, I’d say. Highly informative. Moderately productive. And we didn’t have any expectations, per se, but my team really loved you guys. We’re super excited to be working with you.”

You looked around yourself, prompting the three team members seated with you to nod in agreement. “Likewise!” Namjoon nodded at you, his smile turning his eyes to crescent moons.

“Thank you. How was your experience with Sana?” you asked him, nudging the girl sitting next to you.

Namjoon grinned with his teeth. “Amazing! She’s really compassionate and driven. Today’s session was interesting and felt comfortable. I’m eagerly looking forward to more.”

You secretly exhaled in relief. Sana had been the one person on your team that you’d been the most worried about. It was good to learn that she’d managed to impress Namjoon despite her initial nerves.

Next to you, she gave a short, very professional chuckle, and leant by you to nod at Namjoon. “Thank you, Namjoon-ssi.”

“Have a safe journey and a good night,” Namjoon wished you before peeking into the car. “Bye, Sana! See you tomorrow!”

You waved at the boys and their manager as your van started to move. You looked behind to check that the other one, carrying the remaining three members of your team, was following closely behind.

“What a day!” Simon exclaimed from his seat opposite you.

“You can say that again,” you mumbled, massaging your temples. “And what was up with you? You looked really wound up when I saw you in the kitchen.”

Simon took his glasses off and rested his head against the back of the van’s seat. “Let’s just wait it out, boss. I’ll tell you later if I absolutely have to. Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that.”

You frowned, but let him be. 

Today was just the first day. If you stuck to your schedule, you would have a hundred and twenty five more of these before this project was done.

You could do it.

Right?

You, as it turned out by the end of the first week, could do it. The same couldn’t be said about Simon, though.

On Saturday night, barely an hour after you’d all retired to your rooms after dinner, Simon sent an SOS to the group chat. The six of you were in his room within a minute.

“You look physically okay,” Nathan, the only other guy on the team, mumbled as he squinted at the bespectacled nervous wreck. “What’s up?”

“I can’t do this anymore!” Simon blurted out.

All eyes immediately landed on you.

You did a double take. “Come again? You can’t do what anymore?”

He sighed, shrinking into himself as Riya, another member of your team, sleepily sat on one corner of his bed. “You can’t quit the project, Si,” she mumbled, patting his shoulder. “You signed a contract.”

Simon’s wide eyes met yours. You raised your eyebrows.

“Then—then I need a different partner.”

Sana clicked her tongue. “No can do. We’ve all worked on our homeworks. No one’s gonna sacrifice theirs for you.”

You agreed, so you stayed quiet when Simon looked at you in hopes of a counter.

“I can’t go into another week, please! It’s…” Simon trailed off with a helpless expression on his face.

You sighed. “Everyone, out.”

Your team trickled out of the room, tossing curious glances and hushed whispers your way.

“What is it?” you questioned Simon when it was just the two of you.

“He’s too intense. I have a huge crush on him.”

Your jaw fell open. “Dude… I… what? You have a fiance!”

He exhaled. “Yeah, he cheated on me.”

You drew a sharp breath, shocked. “Oh. Oh, my God, what? What the hell’s been going on with you, I’m so sorry, Simon. Are you…okay? When did you find out?”

“I’d been suspicious for a whole week, hoping it’d turn out to be a lie.” He sighed. “Guess not. But, don’t worry.” He waved a dismissive hand. “I’ll deal with it, no big deal. It’s happened before. I’ve done it before, too, that’s not the issue. The problem is that, right now, this is all making me wanna kiss Taheyung. What the fuck do I do, boss?”

You sympathised with the guy and felt responsible, in a way. After all, you’d been the one that forced him to propose to his boyfriend so that you could bring him with you on this project. If only you knew what kind of a toxic pair these two were! Goddammit. 

But, this guy was really telling you he couldn’t focus on work properly because he wanted to kiss Taehyung? For real?

What a guy.

“Get a fucking grip, Simon, what else?” you exclaimed, throwing your arms up. 

“No, I can’t. Don’t you think I have tried, already? Please take me off this project before I fuck things up for all of us and the company.” He shut his eyes, rubbing his face with both his palms. “And I’ve also, technically, broken the contract, so… Ask Boss to send someone else in.”

Was this happening for real? You were caught between wanting to smash the glass vase kept next to you over Simon’s head, and hurling yourself over the balcony.

You inhaled deeply, then exhaled. You could, realistically, do neither of the above. So you thought clinically and professionally, and made the sound decision to burden your boss with this mess instead of trying to sweep it under the rug by yourself.

“Fine.” You cleared your throat. “Take a break tomorrow. I’ll have a word with Manager Woo, he’ll talk to Taehyung. Tomorrow’s a Sunday, so I’ll be calling Boss for the first weekly check-in. I’ll ask her if something can be done to replace you on the team.”

Simon nodded with a grimace, which may have been his attempt at trying to smile.

You retired to your room on heavy feet. How could things go south in a week? You had barely begun and a buckload of bullshit was on you already.

Exhaling, you opened your laptop to leave a mail for Manager Woo. Quoting a personal emergency, you drafted an apologetic letter stating Simon’s absence tomorrow and asked the man to forward your apologies to Taehyung as well. At the same time, you were also mentally seasoning yourself for a possible confrontation with Taehyung when you went in tomorrow. 

You’d just put your laptop away when your phone rang. Frowning, you lifted it up, only to silent the ring with a groan.

Ever since you landed in Seoul, your best-friend cum roommate back at home had taken to giving you a call every single night. Even when you didn’t pick up. Ever.

Every morning you would text him an apology, and every night he would call again. It’d been a week to this pattern, now.

Why was he doing this? You’d made it abundantly clear that you weren’t going to get roped into any kind of affair with him—emotional or physical. What did he want, now?

For a second, you wondered if he was maybe only just concerned about your well-being in a foreign country? But then you dismissed it, immediately. Why would he? What had you ever done to deserve his—or anyone’s, really—concern? You were a bitch to the majority of people in your life, without trying and even meaning to. Why would anyone give a fuck about you without ulterior motives, right? 

Lying back on your pillows, you looked at the ceiling.

You’d been absolutely horrible at treating people with compassion and care for the majority of your life. You were always labelled either too prudish, too selfish, too career-oriented, or plainly, too narcissistic by people around you.

And, strangely enough, it never bothered you. 

But that didn’t mean you had not cared about anyone, ever. You had. Too much too, once upon a time. But what had that left you with? Expectations and hurt. 

So then, wasn’t it better to not care at all, and not expect at all? You never got hurt, this way.

Sighing, you rolled over to your side, tugging the covers up to your chin. Lifting up your phone from the nightstand, you turned it to silent.

An unread message was displayed on the locked screen:

Looks like you went to bed early again, lol. Hope you’re safe, warm and relaxed. Have a good day at work tomorrow xo

You sighed, yet again. You did not need anyone’s hugs and kisses for your day to be good. Why couldn’t people take a hint?

Shutting your eyes, you tried to get some sleep.

You were absolutely not surprised when, barely an hour into a fierce discussion about his school life, you and Jungkook were disturbed by a knock on the door. But Jungkook was, and jumped at the loud rapping, his wide eyes flashing to the door.

Your back being to the doorway, you looked at the boy expectantly to inform you of the intruder. Not that you didn’t already know.

Jungkook didn’t say anything, though, and simply kept looking behind you with raised eyebrows and rounded eyes. You sat very tightly wound up, contemplating whether to peek around the sofa’s high back or to stand up, when a deep, heavy voice enunciated your name. 

You stood up, slowly, pulling on a professional frown of very minute concern on your face. You willed yourself to act surprised when your eyes met a timid looking Taehyung’s. And, you actually slightly were, too. Why did he seem so shifty and nervous?

“Hello, Tae,” you wished, formally bowing to greet him.

He bowed back, licking his lips as he stood back straight up. “May I please borrow you for a few minutes?”

You twisted on your heels to look at Jungkook. It took him a few seconds to focus on your stare and recognise the question. “Oh! Sure! Of course! I’ll be here, I’ll wait.”

Nodding in gratitude, you stepped out of the studio to join Taehyung in the lounge area attached to the kitchen.

“I know what you would ask—”

“Have I not been cooperating well with Simon?” Taehyung cut you off with a question you were not expecting.

You frowned. “What makes you say that? He had a personal emergency today, Tae, that’s all! I’m sure he must be having a great time working with you.”

Taehyung sighed. “You think, or you know?”

How were you supposed to answer that? You bit your lip, trying to read Taehyung’s eyes, but the collar-bones peeking above the wide neckline of his oversized, brown t-shirt kept distracting you. On some level, you could understand what Simon must have been facing. But! You were all supposed to be professional adults and quell any unprofessional thoughts and not foster them!

You turned your face to your feet, not missing the wide-legged, knee-length shorts Taehyung wore. You mentally cursed yourself.

His sigh floated over to you. “I hope it isn’t something I did. I know I can seem a bit overwhelming sometimes and uninterested at other times, but… I am excited for this project and I really want to give it my best, too.” His eyes looked pained when you met them again. You softened. “Please tell me the truth.”

You drew in a breath. “It’s just as I told you, Tae. Simon has to sort some issues out in his personal life. And what makes you think you’re too overwhelming or uninterested? Did Simon say something?”

“No, no!” Taehyung immediately shook his head. “I just…speak from previous experiences. I don’t collaborate with people that well. I tire them out. And Simon… I don’t think we like each other’s approach very much. I feel like he doesn’t really agree with my ideas, just goes along out of courtesy.”

Your lips turned downwards. “I’m sure it’s none of that, Tae. Absolutely positive. And if worse comes to worst and the two of you actually aren’t able to work together, we will arrange for a switch-up so that you’re able to work comfortably.”

Taehyung seemed to perk up at that. “Switch-up? Will you work with me?”

You narrowed your eyes. He seemed a bit too keen about wanting to work with you, didn’t he? You could very clearly recall your first meeting and how he’d seemed to wane when you told him you were paired up with Jungkook.

Curious.

“We’ll see how it unfolds. But as of now, I am partnered up with Jungkook and you’re fretting over nothing. Simon will be back tomorrow, and things will get back on track. I promise.”

You hoped.

Taehyung nodded, excusing himself to visit the kitchen and you took your leave and came back to an eagerly waiting Jungkook.

He stood up the moment you entered the room. “Is everything okay? Hyung looked sad.”

You honestly had zero idea as to what to tell Jungkook. Pursing your lips, you slowly nodded in contemplation as you made your way to your seat. “He’s not working well with Simon,” you honestly told him.

“Oh.” Jungkook’s lips rounded, forming an adorable pout. “Taehyung hyung has a very artistic soul,” he said, taking you by surprise. You leant forward to listen in with interest. “He tends to get awkward and insecure about his ideas and conceptualizations. They’re usually off-beat and hard to work with, but they’re amazingly creative if you look at them like an artist. Not everybody has the right vision for those things, though. Maybe that is why Simon is…” Jungkook trailed off with a shrug.

You bit your lip in consideration. Taehyung’s words echoed in your head. 

‘I don’t think we like each other’s approach very much.’

Maybe they really were mismatched, outside of Simon’s immature, unprofessional, god-awful behaviour, too.

“Hey, could we add him to our group?” Jungkook suddenly asked, confusing you.

“Huh?” you very eloquently responded. 

He gave a small giggle. “Hyung. Could he work with us? We have been pretty efficient, and you certainly seem to have an artistic vision.”

You smiled. “Thank you, Jungkook, that’s really flattering. But also, no, I don’t think we can do that. The contract we’ve all drawn has a couple of strict clauses and one-on-one sessions is one of them.”

Frowning, Jungkook nodded in acceptance.

The two of you resumed your discussions from before, but the vigour and drive was now lessened to a great extent. You, especially, couldn’t stop worrying. You were the leader of the team, after all.

Sunday night brought in the awaited conference call with your boss. 

Looking at her excited, smiling face on your computer screen, you couldn’t help but dread the news you were about to break to her.

“So. How is it going?” Your boss rubbed her hands together, wiggling her eyebrows. “How is Sana doing? You were quite wound up about her, if I remember correctly.”

“You do remember correctly. There’s good news and bad news,” you responded with a grimace. “Which one first?”

Your boss pursed her lips. “Don’t wanna immediately spoil my mood, so, the good one please.”

“Sana has been doing fantastic. She’s been nothing short of professional, and according to what I’ve seen and heard, Namjoon is really pleased with her,” you relayed, smiling when your boss sighed in relief.

“Okay, so that’s out of the way. What’s wrong?”

You sighed. Better rip the band-aid straight off. “Simon has a huge crush on Taehyung and feels like he broke the contract. He wants to leave.”

You watched quietly as your boss choked on an inhale, coughed, had some water, and sat back down to blink at you with a blank face. “These words must not leave your room. Or Simon’s. None of the BigHit staff must catch a wind of it.”

You groaned. “Please don’t ask me to work through this, boss, please—”

“Work through it, Y/N!” your boss cruelly cut you off. “This is such a tiny, little, manageable thing! Resolve it.”

You gawked. “You literally just choked—how is this little, boss?”

“Counsel Simon. Ask him to push through. Threaten his employment with us, if necessary.”

It was your turn to blink at her, owlishly. “And? That’s it?”

Your boss shrugged. “And if it doesn’t work out, swap him with someone else on your team.”

You sighed. “This is all such high school, teen flick bullshit. What the hell.”

“I know, hun. Which is why I’m asking you to manage it. And I know you can. You’re my favourite, Y/N.” Your boss nodded at you with a solemn look. “I have believed in your capabilities since day one. It’s time to make them shine.”

You nodded, dumbly. The back of your mind was hinting at an inkling that you were being manipulated by flattery, but the forefront was basking in all the praise and could really not be bothered.

All you had to do was keep the whole thing hush-hush from the BigHit people and keep Simon in line, right? You could manage that.

Bidding your boss goodbye, you rung up Simon.

“Hey, boss.”

“You’re coming with us tomorrow and you’re gonna be a fucking professional like you’re supposed to!” you barked into the phone. “Bottle up your feelings, or eat them—I don’t care. You’ll do the job you were here for, and you’ll do it right.”

There was a long, suspended silence at the other end. And then a sigh escaped Simon. “I don’t think I have a choice. Fine, I’ll try.”

You put your phone to silent and shut your eyes, knowing you’d receive another call tonight and that you won’t pick up tonight, either.

You lay back in the bed, gearing up for tomorrow.

If worse actually did come to worst, and Simon sent everything down the rabbit hole, who would you make him swap places with? All of you had built really amazing rapports with your assigned partners in just a week. No one would be willing to start over.

If it came to it, would you have to? Would you be able to?

You could maintain professionalism a hundred times better than Simon, that much was certain. But you and Jungkook had been working so well! And who was to say Simon wouldn’t cause trouble with Jungkook, too? 

You let out a whine, beyond mad at the situation this guy had landed you in.

But you’d have to navigate out of it, somehow. This was the biggest project of your life so far—the first ever you were heading. You would ensure everything worked out at the end.

You would tie all the loose ends and make it all work. You would.

(You literally had no choice.)

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Tags: @tangledsparkles​ @hoefortaeshands​ @getmemyfries

[misterbitches]

the whole thing but i think esp how oh-aew became more and more sure. the hammock scene is really something cause before he even says it, he’s touching him (tay) the whole time. on the couch before when they were like looking at each other. it was really refreshing? almost to see him be so direct. i’m going to have to think of why he leaned in in their room. i guess to evaluate and test himself, which is fine, but he definitely already knew. the way he rejected that open invitation was fascinating stuff like truly. really good subtext. “you know. you don’t? but i think you do” and “i think you’re jealous” — maybe it’s because tay is a sure thing always (or officially?) but oh-aew’s got himself all tied up in knots if he can do the whole thing to get to where he wants to go but he’s sure with tay. which is fun to see, nice, intimate, sensual etc. it’s nice to see him have firm command over something. unfortunately, life isn’t that easy. 

the music  and sound design were really good this ep and i’m glad they changed it up. i have one critique which isn’t a critique so much as it would be impossible to do, really, and wouldn’t attract us as much. it’s obvious that though they are not too far from 18 (3 years out) they aren’t teenagers anymore. the way oh-aew acts whilst approaching someone is confident with the hesitant parts. it’s better this way; it’s not fumbling or annoying to watch but it is obvious in contrast. i would say it helps the story and i suppose, in a way, it does but you can’t really replicate certain parts of understanding yourself and the way we  learn how to enact sexual cues and sensuality and stuff definitely becomes better with age. it’s easier to be hesitant about leaning in then doing certain things (touching, crawling, etc like when i was a teen i would never do any of that like that even if i knew the dude liked me. and i’ve been in these situations since them as a full grown adult and it’s still ridiculous. on the other hand, tay isn’t a liar like any other men i have liked (girls i don’t usually have this issue lmao) so)

i can safely say that from what we have witnessed a well-rounded and happy ending should be imminent. if not, i will critique it and be irritated. one good thing about story is that we don’t have to keep predictions. i hate watching television for this reason. these are 5 odd hours of a show but it’s like one and done. given the writing, it would be a waste to just let them seperate or something for the sake of coming of age. the heaviness is solidified now and unfortunately there’s all these signifiers that they’re fated to be in each other’s lives and share the same friends.

it’s good tay was so caught up in his day he wasn’t like “oh hold up i told tarn i couldn’t today” but also sad. i mean i’m not sad for her and bas, that’s what being on the other end of heartbreak or liking someone is like. we all go through it (or if we haven’t we know people who have) so it’s interesting to watch. 

for some reason i thought there would be different clashes. but it wasn’t a big to-do at all. the confession. it seems like it will have to be tay who kind of comes to this conclusion on his own. i struggled with my sexuality but i never had another person to spur it on. the acceptance you extend to other people doesn’t always involve yourself which is another interesting piece. had he never thought of it before? had he only known one person to make his heart leap? is it his expectations? 

if i’m reading it correctly hoon’s friend is probably his “close friend” or his girlf but regardless there’s an outsider coming in. there’s all these ideas of like duties as a child of a parent especially who you love etc so i wonder if that will come up.

also want to casually mention that i noticed that it’s a  “french and thai food” place. it may not seem like a big deal but thailand was never colonized by europe (i just learned.) i was thinking about it because there was french vietnam basically. if you don’t know the history of vietnam the french are the first to “own” vietnam, then they discuss it with the british and when the US is formed, then we have the vietnam war—this greatly affected all areas around them in SEA especially laos and cambodia. HOWEVER, they only had missionaries visit and it is chalked down to “relations”—colonizers ruin everything but i guess they were never officially colonized.

it helps add to the story of why their town looks the way it does, how small it is, and just how far their understanding of the world is yet. it’s contained but it doesn’t mean they are free from outside influence (IE tourists, hoons friend etc) and not all outsiders or differences or a bad thing (in this case, the french are a bad thing but they lasted and isn’t it funny what remains.) 

them not kissing is alsooooo a note i liked. because kissing makes it real, and it’s new and weird, and it would mean a lot to oh-aew if he got his first kiss. but tay realizing he’s not like, touching or caressing breasts (LOL) is just wild to me. he’s the type to go if you want it, do it, but damn. that shit runs deep. being young fucking sucks.

also i abhor and i mean abhor call me by your name. like every part of it but the DP was thai, too, just a lil reminder. however, if it was as nice as this show. this show was what i think a white person wanted to imagine on film but simply couldn’t. it portrays the really weird shit about growing up and desire in such a digestible way. it doesn’t rely on precociousness or ridiculous situations or even money to hold the story up (one of my fav critiques of CMBYN is here) but this team really impressed me. i am not so easily moved.

ANYWAY that was a lot of fun and it was nice. they have great chemistry. i hope bkpp stay friends forever and i hope the cast and crew are proud of themselves. the writing in this one really surprised me and as usual the DP and editor did great. unfortunately, i know expect this level in everything i watch. there’s a lot less resources in newer industries but it is clear that hwen you are on a mission you can make something amazing with what you have—no matter what—and luckily they found investors (obviously) but sincerely this should be the level all these shows are at. that’s why capitalism sucks and BL as a genre is simply inadequate nowadays.

on an endnote: i hate the DNC and i don’t like our options in the USA and when i have the energy i will get back into organizing. i finished editing something really important though and it looks like biden might win. though that means nothing now, it’s better than what we have. so we went from fascist to  person who won’t reverse anything and is just okay. but it looks like we have at least that. so i thank the week for being mild and surprising and i’m going to pray that we have one idiot over the other. 

[thebabayagaofediting]

Review of Love Me (Series)

Author: @unbelievableholland

Parts: Prologue | Part One | Part Two | Part Three | Part Four | Part Five 

Important Note: I am not a professional writer nor editor, the advice I give is from personal experience and classes I have taken. ALSO, ANY CRITICISM WILL NEVER REFLECT the author, I am only looking at the piece of work they’ve posted. Not everything I say will be right, I am only limited to my own experience with writing. 

My review is below. 

I went through this story as if I was an editor for this series. I know the author cannot go back and change past mistakes, but hopefully there is something you (the reader) can take away to improve your own writing.  

Prologue

- I like that you established his awkwardness/shyness, not just because he just met Tony’s daughter but because he’s normally shy with girls. 

- In future chapters, we can see that the shyness/awkwardness goes away because he’s more comfortable around the reader and her presence. 

- With the flashback I got a bit confused when the line,” it isn’t long until strange told everyone what is actually happening, and why they need to get the compound- or at least, what’s left of it. 

- Was the reader on Titan when everyone got snapped? You didn’t really establish where the reader was before the snap and after the snap you breezed by to Tony’s death. 

-If you ever don’t feel like writing a large action scene with many moving parts you could use a trick like, “ everything passed me like it was a blur.” 

- It's good that you used italics to establish a flashback and separate it from the normal-looking text. 

- From what I can remember the reader’s choice of numbing her pain (alcohol) doesn’t come up in chapters 1-5.  This seems to be a detail that didn’t make it into the actual story. 

- I can see the hints of Peter and the reader being in a relationship and see his change in attitude which is a future foreshadowing of their relationship falling out. 

Part One

-  Good starting line.

- Maybe I missed it, but I didn’t really see anything that established the time in which this story takes place. I can see that it takes place after Thanos and Tony’s death, but there isn’t anything else that indicates where we are time-wise. Is it 2 months? A week? A year? 

- I defiantly see the parallels between Tony and Y/N. 

Part Two 

- “Because before you went to sleep, you got a notification on your phone from E.V.I. that someone entered your lab. That someone is Peter.” Wasn’t she in a coma? How could she look at her phone? 

- The entire scene where Peter and Y/N are cuddling in the hospital bed, I completely forgot he was in the bed with her the entire time while she was having a conversation with Bruce. 

-“Y/N!! Make us think your dead one more time and I’m taking away your lab privileges!” This made me laugh. 

- “The room is for therapeutic purposes...” This paragraph reminded me of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy or Expose Therapy (You re-create a trauma to help get over it)

-”You don’t talk, because you recognize this voice.” How does the reader know its Zemo? Did her father warn her? Did Steve say something to her? Or did she discover old S.H.E.I.L.D files (aka Hydra) that said they transferred his consciousness into a computer?

- “Peter left the compound after the breakup.” They broke up? It didn’t really seem like they were in a relationship? Or maybe I just missed it. 

- “So life went on.” Like what is the usual now? Does Y/N never leave her lab? Does she constantly live in her room? What's Bruce, Falcon, Bucky, Happy, and whoever else doing?

Part Three 

-”When you woke up, you found yourself attached to multiple wires. You felt cold, hard metal on your back and a helmet-like thing on your head. There were thick cuffs attaching your hands, feet, and torso to the metal bed.” More description would have really help the reader in-vision themselves in this situation. 

-”Pulling away, May held her nephew’s hand,” There’s no need to add, ‘nephew's hand” its established in the lines before that May is his aunt. 

- “Everything felt very overwhelming and he didn’t know how to handle it. “ Once again, describe how it feels to be overwhelmed. Really try to drag the reader in and really take advantage of having access to his thoughts. 

-“Maybe it’s your spider powers evolving?” Ned asked. Lmao of course Ned.

- “Like that time I felt like I was being electrocuted, or that time where my stomach felt like it was being punched.” Okay good, good. 

Part Four 

” A soft buzzing could be heard around the room as the mystery man spoke. He asked you a question, but you failed to answer. You were paralyzed sure, but they had granted you the ability to move your mouth in order to speak; well, more like whisper slightly.” Okay, I see where you’re going with this, but you have to be more descriptive of the people in the scene. 

- “ A lab coat hanging over his body and black-rimmed glasses to complete the overall stereotypical scientist look.” Love the description, it gives me a good idea of what he looks like. 

- “Sweating didn’t help though. It only intensified the burning that surrounded your body. The temperature around you felt like it was increasing and every cell in your body felt like it was tearing itself apart. “ Love this description. 

- “It lasted long.”  Like how did it feel? Once again describe emotions. 

Part Five 

- illusions, nice touch. 

- Didn’t see the twist where the reader is actually underneath the compound. 

Overall Thoughts

-  I believe you have a good foundation for the story here. I did read all 24.3K (some parts twice).  

- Good job in separating your work so it isn’t in just one giant paragraph. 

- Also, good use of  “ --”  to indicate scene change. 

- The big take away for this would be to add a more descriptive language. As highlighted above, when I read through each part I found that there was a lack of a description of settings and emotions. 

- Regarding settings, you have to remember that you have to set the stage for the reader. In part two Peter mentions Y/N’s new lab looking like her new lab with new tech. Okay, so what does it look like? You have to give the reader important details and then they can fill in the small details.  You don’t have to describe every single thing in the room, just describe the few things that you feel matter the most to the story.

- Regarding emotions, you want to essentially put emotions into the minds of the people reading. What does it feel like to be overwhelmed? What is your heart doing? your mind? what does your body feel like.

- I think the five senses are key when trying to set up a scene. What do you hear?What do you smell? Do you taste anything? What does X feel like? What do you see? 

- Outlining is very important when you’re writing a series. Sometimes throughout your story, you would raise a question and never answer it. Ex. Y/N Stark doesn’t like hospitals, why? Or there was just a lack of consistency with ideas. Ex. In the prologue Y/N Stark is a heavy drinker and she uses it as an outlet to cope, but in parts 1-5 she doesn’t drink any alcohol.  These are just a few examples. 

- I noticed in very high emotional moments in the story (when the reader is in her coma) everyone reacted in the exact same way. In a situation like this, you would describe facial expressions and body movements to make people different. For example, yes Happy would be an emotional mess, but maybe not Sam. Sam seems to have a close relationship with the reader, but Sam’s a man who's seen war. He wouldn’t be so emotionally vulnerable on the outside. 

- I’m unfamiliar with your blog so I’m unsure if you’ve discussed publicly the struggles you go through with writing. My biggest tip I can give you when it comes to spelling, grammar, proper tense (past/present), is to give your writing time. Like after finishing the next chapter wait a day or two. The reason I suggest this is because we (as the writer) don’t see our mistakes because we are so used to seeing our writing. By giving yourself time, you can read through your work with fresh eyes and possibly catch common mistakes and edit much better. I believe you can download Grammarly for free on any computer if you don’t already use it. I just use the free version and I find it a helpful tool to have around.  

- When it comes to the next series you do, try to focus on one POV style. It can get confusing for readers if we are bouncing between all the POV styles in one chapter.  By also using one POV you can create tension because we don’t know what everyone is thinking and what they’re going to do next.  You probably know the different Point of View styles from reading books/fan-fictions in your spare time, but here’s a refresher if you need one. Click Here

- I think a first easy step (if you wish to take it) for the next part of your series would be to try and be more descriptive with your settings and emotional states. 

Well this is the end of my review, I hope I was able to give provide some good advice! :) 

[sweetcatastrophex]

yesterday was weird. whenever i have a particularly overwhelming day i always mean to do two things 1) listen to my calm app meditation session and 2) check my horoscope. idk why, i don’t really care for that stuff but still get curious even tho i know ppl who profit from that stuff want you to feel vulnerable and seek guidance from obscurity. (i didn’t do either yesterday) (my day was nonstop busy and pls spare me the it’s-up-to-u-to-make-time spiel)  i got up early to go to a meeting with the schools superintendent of my coverage area, a woman who has a lot of power and with whom i want to have a positive, ideally symbiotic, relationship. she planned it under the guise of “oh we just typically meet with all new editors” and then as soon as i got in there, went in on me for a story i wrote in january that she thinks made her precious bond proposal look bad. she goes, i showed 15 ppl and they all think it slants against the bond (it doesn’t), and i said, you showed schools people? and she said yes, and community members lol ... (obvs schools ppl are gonna agree with their boss and possibly think it slants.) it’s funny, from my perspective, because i hear it from both sides. the chamber president came to me and said he thought it slanted pro-bond. lmao so u can never win. i was as balanced and fair as possible. when a person challenged the school district, asked a callous question or shared a (very fair) concern, i put the super’s response right under it. i was fair and balanced and objective, bc i’m good at what i do. and yes she was kind of offensive with some of the things she said, and i spit back “we have a good reputation at the herald, we’re not the NY Post.” and etc etc in the end i wasn’t personally offended (her agenda is obvious and i don’t really blame her), but she certainly was! and she said so, explicitly, more than once during the meeting. if the bond doesn’t pass, it’s a permanent mark on her record. i get it. and the schools deserve to be updated and match what’s happening academically (students are excelling). but at the same time, seniors on a fixed income, as well as other residents, can’t afford more tax increases. especially not a 20-year one attached to the AVs of their homes. this area already has some of the highest taxes in the country. anyway... other than the bond talk it went really well, i talked about stories i’d like to do that would highlight how progressive the district is... she told me about upcoming events and it was good and she also said she likes me and my pleasant personality O:))) and i like her a lot too bc we need more strong women and leaders in education who are progressive and who fight for children’s futures. plus she intimidates me and i tend to like women who intimidate me bc there are so many intimidating men, we need more intimidating women. those are my thoughts, at least.  after the meeting i went to the office and called the chamber president, with whom i have an even better relationship, and he goes “oh you millennials always waking up late” and i was like um actually i was at a meeting with the superintendent... hahaha and told him about it a little and in turn he told me about a potential huge development that might happen ooouuu juicy  then i did more stuff at work and was not that productive but i was productive in my personal life, if that makes sense, bc i called my health insurance company and cleared up my auto payment question and called Audible to cancel a subscription i apparently had for 14 months looool assholes and they’re gonna refund me so that’s good. then i went to yet another 2.5 hour meeting about the bond!!!! convenient timing for the meeting with the super, right??? lol i digress. a lot happened at the meeting bc the developers of the potential huge development were there and i talked to them about it... and a bunch of union workers attended the meeting and asked if the district would use union labor, to which the district said they legally couldn’t or something... gotta go over my notes but it was a lot. it was overwhelming. but then i went home to jake’s and cooked chicken and brussels sprouts on my own for the first time!!! and they were good! so that was productive in my personal life. on the way home from the meeting i had a panic attack, started hyperventilating and hysterically crying, bc i saw bernie wasn’t doing well (super tuesday) and kept thinking about my future and how developers at all the meetings i go to keep saying buzz words like “affordable housing” for “millennials” who are leaving NY in droves bc they can’t afford it... affordable, bitch, where? not here, not on LI, not in NYC. baby boomers fucked us out of medical coverage, housing, sustainable wages, and forced us to be in debt for the rest of our lives, and now they’re voting for fucking can’t-form-a-sentence biden? what the actual fuck. i was sick to my stomach. i think about how my own mother sees my struggles and continues to vote against her own daughter’s best interest. our parents, at our ages, had bought their own houses. the minimum wage hasn’t increased in over 10 years, and yet inflation has increased 20%, how does that make sense? how is that fair? we did everything right — graduated HS, got a college degree or two, landed full time jobs... and we’re fucked out of a standard of living. a decent, basic standard of SURVIVING. how is this freedom? best country in the world? laughable.  so anyway i was having a panic attack with all these thoughts swirling through my head, my emotions were a mixture of anger and sadness and couldn’t figure out which to express first, but i pulled over and focused on breathing and calmed down and went home and drank wine and hit the bong and watched black mirror, my favorite and most important show. and jake comforted me. 

[dahvangogh]

EROS, LUDUS AND PRAGMA, chapter one | duncan shepherd

Author Note: don’t have much to say, i’m too awkward lmao. this is the first chapter of this fic, not very happy with how it came out but i hope you all enjoy it. i will also upload it to AO3 and maybe Wattpad (not sure about that one lmao). you can reblog, comment or leave a like, whatever you prefer. Also, i pictured Duncan wearing that amazing look he wore on episode 3 and my OC, even though i do describe it, wears this amazing look.

There is no right or wrong anymore, there is only being in or out. She knew that very well, after all her mother worked for the Madame President, a woman who all she cared about was to end up on top, no matter the consequences or who she had to bring down.

Being a reporterfor District of Columbia Post wasn’t something she had always wanted, even though she had been curious from a young age and wanted to learn everything about anything remotely interesting, she dreamed of being a famous painter. Unfortunately, growing up as a Latino American, even though it was one of the largest ethnic minorities in the US, had been hard in Washington D.C. The rich white families controlled everything, with money and connections they had the key to survival in that damned city, and she didn’t have that.

‘You better work hard, Isabella.’ her mother always told her. ‘Nothing in life is free, what you get is due to your effort.’ 

Victoria Aguilar wasn’t a weak woman. A single mother of two while also working a part-time job at a supermarket and getting her degree on International Relations at Elliott School of International Affairs. She had worked hard all her life, her very united family helping her raise her children while she studied her ass off and made a name for herself. She had been so good at her job that the one and only Claire Underwood asked her to be her personal secretary. Many years later when Claire became the Chief Executive Officer of Clean Water Initiative, her mother was there behind her. After the Underwood’s won more and more power, Victoria followed Claire wherever she went and lastly, when she became the first woman to serve as President of the United States, her mother still remained working faithfully for Claire.

So Isabella knew she needed to stop dreaming and become someone important, not to gain as much money as her mother but to earn herself a place in that city.

Isabella won many scholarships, always the first of her class and ready to help anyone in need, and ended up graduating with honors on Journalism and Mass Communication at The George Washington School of Media and Public Affairs. One of her teachers was so impressed with her hard work that he asked her to join his crew at the District of Columbia Post.Gladly she acceptedand the team worked hard to air one of the biggest scandals of 201: a Senator who had sexually assaulted three different women in the past and now participated in many orgies of different important business men. When they had found out that some of those sex workers where women from East Europe trying to earn their citizenship, women who had crossed the border of Mexico searching for a better life for them and even underage girls forced into participating in those private parties, they gathered everything they could and exposed him.

The scandal had made her an important asset to the company, her fearless journalism and diligent work gaining an excellent reputation with her coworkers, editors and boss. Now she had an small office and much support from the company.

Isabella had sleep through her alarm that Wednesday morning. Fortunately, her best friend Amanda called to remind her of their girls night out tonight and fifteen minutes later she was running out of her apartment while calling her boss. Old John just laughed at her, and being the best boss he was, he just reassured her that it was fine and to take her time to get to work.

When she stepped a foot on the elevator and clicked the sixth floor, Isabella finally felt like she could breath. Even though John had reassured her over the phone that it was fine and her other editors would probably just laugh at her for having overslept, she always felt like she couldn’t allow herself to make mistakes. The Aguilars always tried to be perfect, professional and personally.

She stared at the mirror, letting her hair down from that horrible ponytail she had done earlier and fixed her red lipstick quickly. Isabella examined her outfit, she had quickly chosen a camp-collared white blouse with short sleeves and buttoned front tucked inside a pair of high-waisted black suit pants, her favorite ankle strap black heels for work and a black blazer. At least I look good, she thought happily while adjusting her heavy working bag that hanged on her left shoulder.

Eventually the doors opened at her floor and when she crossed them, the singsong voice of her good friend made her grunt in embarrassment.

‘Morning, sleepyhead!’

Sarah Walker was a tall, blonde and athletic woman with the best humor in the world. The two girls had become close after working in many stories, they were quite close in age after all the blonde was only 4 years older, and then when they shared an office together their bond became even stronger.

Her friend sneaked an arm over her shoulders and together they walked to Isabella’s office.

‘It happens to all of us, you idiot.’ the wink the blonde gave her, exaggerated almost childlike, made her laugh out loud. ‘Remember when I had that marathon of Gossip Girl and that bottle of red wine? Lord knows how I even got to wake up before 11 am.’’

Isabella crossed her doors office and quickly sat down, resting her back on her comfortable chair and closing her eyes. Sarah smiled at the sigh that escaped her friends lips, then leaned on the table besides her and patted her shoulder.

‘Bad night, huh?’ which the brunette just nodded as an answer. ‘Elle, you know that if you need to talk about anything, even about the weather or how you took a shit this morning, I’m here. You know that, right?’’

The brunette laughed and nodded again, patting the hand of her friend as a thank you for the comfort. She rose from her chair, unbuttoned the blazer and walked to her coat stand beside the only window of the room.

‘Girl, your ass looks bomb on those pants!’ Sarah squealed cheekily making her blush instantly. ‘Between having those big tits and that ass, I’m about to start considering murdering you and illegally transplanting them to me.’

She laughed out loud at the craziness of the blond, sat on her chair again and then removed her laptop from her working bag, placing it on her desk and opening the lid.

‘Miss Frankenstein, please leave my office immediately or I will call the SWATS.’ the brunette signaled her door while funnily pursing her lips, voice mockingly stern.

‘Oh! Maybe those lips too!’ her friend answered while walking backwards to the door. ’So thick and big, Kyle Jenner wishes!’

‘Fuck off already!’

Their loud laughs always behind their words, Sarah bidded goodbye for now with a wink and then disappeared towards the left side of the hallway towards her own office. Then when she was alone, Isabella started her laptop and took her notes out of her bag, scattering them on her desk.

She started reading and typing quickly.

‘’You sure about that?’’ she asked to Chad on the phone while crossing the steps back to her office.

An hour and half from her arrival she couldn’t stand another second without caffeine, her sleepless night fucking her routine and making her almost fall asleep on her desk. So she rose from her chair, went to their office kitchen and made herself a big black cup of coffee.

Then Chad King, another journalist and good coworker, called her. While she carried her cup of coffee in one hand, the other was busy holding her phone to her ear. Their team was going after another Congressman, they did that a lot, who they suspected had committed tax fraud and was covering it with bribes.

‘I just talked with his ex-wife… she obviously wants to speak up for a good sum of money, you know how this housewives are but I think we can find other sources.’’

‘We have his former secretary and the testimonies of other employee, so I don’t think the ex-wife is necessary in this.’ She smiled at John when passing by his office, the old man smiling in return at her. ‘Now we have many information so we need to sort it out and build this in a…’

Isabella pushed her door open with her bum and when she turned around to get inside his office, the sight that greeted her made her stop on her tracks. A young handsome man, no older than thirty, was standing in the middle of her office as if he owned the goddamn place. It seemed he had been looking at the painting she had hanged over in the main wall, behind her big desk, with some sort of contemplation but when she stepped a foot inside the room his undivided attention was fully upon her.

She tried to not gasp when he fully turned around towards her, for he was of extraordinary beauty. Tall, much taller than her which wasn’t something unusual, with beautiful brown locks and a chiseled face covered in stubble.

Black leather jacket with black jeans and nice shoes, he reminded her of those heartthrobs she found extremely attractive in movies. Isabella was passionate about classical art and she could swear his face had been crafted by Michelangelo himself. That nose, neither big or small, with those gorgeous lips and that strong jaw. He was asymmetrically perfect, her finger tingled from the need to sketch his face

‘Isabella? Are you there?’ Chad voice never had sounded more annoying that in that moment over the phone. ‘Hello?’

She blinked and closed the gap between her desk and her, quickly resting her coffee near her laptop.

‘Yes, sorry Chad...’ hurriedly she answered his coworker. ‘Something came up here, I will call you later.’

‘Okay, I will get a coffee and review some of the files. Talk later!’

The conversation ended and she left her phone next to her coffee, awkwardly staying there looking at him. Funnily, he did the same. He was just staring at her with those gorgeous blue eyes while a small smirk graced his lips.

‘Starry Night Over the Rhone by Vincent Van Gogh, huh’ his deep voice broke the silence.

Isabella raised her eyebrows surprised and peeked at the painting behind her, a soft smile appearing then.

‘Unfortunately most people only know about the Starry Night and not this one, but I find it even more breathtaking than any he has done.’ her voice full of admiration for the artist. She joined her hands in a soft clap. ‘Anyways, what can I help you with Mr…?’

He stood proudly, his smirk grew bigger while his eyes shined.

‘Duncan Shepherd’ he extended his hand and she clasped it in greeting. She tried not to show a reaction to that surname, because thanks to her mother she had heard many things about the family, and just smiled kindly.

‘Isabella Aguilar’

‘I know. May I?’ he then gracefully signaled the chair in front of her desk, asking for permission to take a sit.

She raised one of her eyebrows surprised but quickly tried to mask her surprised as good as possible.

‘Please.’

He sat as she did the same on her chair, the desk a big barrier between them which made her feel less anxious about having a handsome stranger who embodied more confidence and grace than she would ever do in her life.

‘I’m here to talk about a column published this past Wednesday.’

The woman just pressed her full lips for a brief second before smiling awkwardly at him.

‘Well, I think you should have this conversation with one of the chief editors or maybe the CEO.’ she joined her hands in front of her. ‘Even though I’m an editor, I’m also a journalist and I don’t have any say about those matters. I could call my boss if you want and…’

‘That won’t be necessary, Miss Aguilar.’ he elegantly crossed his legs while also joining his hands around his right knee, his black jeans tightening around his thighs. She tried not to bit her lips at the sight. ‘I came to see you, your boss won’t be necessary in this conversation.’

Mierda, he is fucking handsome.

She just raised her eyebrows again and tried to appear as confident as possible, for Duncan was intimidating in the way he carried himself. His confidence, elegance and graciousness made him look like he owned the fucking place. And it was her office, she should be the one feeling confident and not him.

‘As I was saying, this past Wednesday a column of this newspaper talked about my family’s dealings with ex-congressman Andrew Bernard, I believe you know who he is.’ she nodded, a few months ago her colleagues and her had uncovered how that congressman had been committing tax fraud while also bribing people to cover many dealings he did with different cartels. ‘And as you can understand, those accusations might damage our image to the public. So I came here to suggest that you might consider telling your coworker to do another refuting that information.’

What in the…?

‘Again Mr. Shepherd, I believe there is a misunderstanding here.’ she couldn’t contain the smile that graced her lips while she leaned back on her chair. ‘If you want to talk about that then you should do it with whomever wrote it. I don’t have anything to do with it.’’

‘Oh, really?’ the sarcasm was clear on his voice.

She just nodded back.

‘That’s funny, you know?’ he leaned closer to the desk, licking his lips quickly. She tried not to stare at them. ‘Because I know who your mother is, who she works for and how much it would help her owner..’

Isabella briskly sat straight on her chair surprised at those nasty words, quickly interrupting the pompous asshole.

‘Her owner?’ she almost spat those words back, the color on her cheeks a bit more pink than before. ‘My mother doesn’t have an owner, she is not a pet, and I would kindly ask you to take those words back or…’

He had the nerve to look slightly surprised at her outburst.

‘Pardon my bluntness, but I’ve seen how she runs after the Madame president and she really is the perfect embodiment of a lapdog. ’ he now leaned back, clearly satisfied with his words, nonchalantly gesturing while speaking. ‘That’s why I’m sure that thatinformation was handed to you by her and then you did the same with the columnist. As you probably know already, Underwood is not on good terms with my family and would love to destroy our image.’

The brunette just laughed out loud at how surreal the situation was, quickly trying to cover her mouth with her right hand. Duncan just raised an eyebrow, not understanding what was funny in what he had said.

‘I’m sorry, it’s just… I’m…’ she tried to control her smile, positioning both her hands at the desk. ‘Duncan, rest assured that I have nothing to do with the column. I don’t work for my mother and she has never influenced any of my work, not now not ever.’

He opened his mouth to reply back but she raised her hand to stop him, a mockingly smile now gracing her lips, while she leaned as close to him as the desk allowed it.

‘But if your family doesn’t want to tarnish their lovely reputation, then they should stop doing dealings with those kinds of people.’ her smile grew even wider. ‘I’m not gonna lie, Duncan. I’ve heard many things about your family, and if some of them came out, the least of your problems would be the reputation bit. Right?’

Duncan leaned closer, his smile dangerously ferocious while his eyes shined with wonder. They both stared at each other, a clear battle of how-would-look-away-first and dominance. Isabella raised her eyebrows and he answered the gesture with a soft smile, making her take a peek at those full lips of his. She tried not to gasp at the sudden pang in her chest, or how her tummy felt weird.

Good Lord, why is he so fucking attractive?

Quickly she rose from her place as he leaned back on the chair. Isabella placed her hands at both sides of her hips and raised her chip up, she was sure she looked like the embodiment of a woman in control. She actually wasn’t. Her fingertips tingled with the need to draw him while she felt warmth bloom down there.

He just stared at her from where he sat, a weird look on his face that made her even more uneasy than she had been seconds ago. His face didn’t give anything away.

Why is he staring at me like that?

‘So, having set things straight, I will kindly ask you to leave for I have work to do.’ she tried sound nonchalant, voice clear without stuttering like a teenager with a new crush, and smiled politely. ‘I believe you know where the door is?’

Duncan tried to suppress a smile, quickly licking his lips while standing up, and reached for her cup of coffee that rested forgotten next to her laptop.

‘You should warm that up, it has ran cold.’ his smirk made her wiggle her toes, almost as if they had been hit with electricity, something she did when she was feeling nervous. Then leaned back with his hands placed behind his back.

He approached the door slowly, or so she thought, opening the door completely for it had been ajar since before when she had come inside the room. When he had set a foot on the threshold, he looked over his shoulder and stared at her.

‘It was a pleasure to meet you, Isabella.’

And with a nod, he just walked out of there.

The girl just stared at the empty space of the door where he had been standing seconds ago, almost dumbfounded or in a weird trance. She probably stood there like a fool for a few minutes until she blinked too many times and finally came back from it.

Isabella quickly went to the door and closed it, then turned around and went to her working bag, fishing out her sketch book and placing it in front of her on the desk. She should have went back to her work, calling Chad back and doing the outline of the headline they should submit to John later that morning.

She should have done all of that.

But she didn’t.

[sweetnestor]

12 Days | Chapter 3.2

Two guys that lowkey hate each other are forced to walk in each other’s shoes in order to learn a lesson.

***in collaboration with @themarkiplierexperience

lmao soz its not actually x reader we’re just desperate for attention haaaa

previous

“I don’t know how to explain it,” Tom said, “I just… I need to take a mental health break.”

He was in the living room in Ethan’s apartment, sat with Ethan’s boss, Mark. He was tall, muscular, and just as intimidating as the very first guy (who’s called Tyler, as it turns out) Tom saw when he entered this weird reality. They had been talking for some time now, and Tom managed to improvise a story regarding his, or Ethan’s, current state of mind. For some reason, he expected Mark to be angry when he said he couldn’t work for the time being. Tom still wasn't even sure what it was that Ethan did for Mark.

“Okay,” he replied. “Have you had any other panic attacks, or things like that, since the other day?”

“Uh. Yeah, some type of anxiety,” Tom replied, sounding stressed out. “Bella thinks I overworked myself, and I kind of agree with her. I think I need to slow things down for a little bit. I don’t… I don’t really feel like myself.” That's one way to put it.

Mark nodded. “Alright, that’s no problem. I have Kathryn and Amy helping out, anyway. Just worry about yourself. Is there anything else you wanna talk about? You know, as a friend, rather than an employee?”

Tom didn’t know how close Ethan was to this guy, so he just shook his head. He still had a lot of research to do. There was so much to find out about all of this, it was almost like auditioning for a movie role. Except the movie was Ethan's life, and the audition came in the form of being thrust into said life without any warning.

“So…” Mark trailed off. “Are you still doing videos for your channel? Or are you taking a break from that too?”

He hesitated. “I haven’t decided yet.”

“Well, whatever you decide, I’ll gladly support you. We’re all here for you, man.” Mark stood up from the couch. “I gotta get going, but you’ll be okay til Bella comes back?”

Tom stood up as well, waving it off. “Yeah man, don’t worry. Thank you for hearing me out. I'll try my best to get myself together. I'll be back in the office before you know it.”

“Hey, don't worry about it. Don't rush into anything if you're not ready.”

Mark then went in for a friendly, reassuring hug. For someone who looked very manly and intimidating, he was very nice. You couldn't dislike him right off the bat. Then again, Mark was speaking to who he thought was his friend/employee. Nothing about this was normal.

After Tom was left alone again, he got back to research. He wasn't sure how long he would have to act as Ethan, but he had to play it off in the meantime. He went over and sat at the computer, which was hidden behind these massive acoustic panels in the bedroom. At that little area, Tom took note of the giant lights, the video camera, the two monitors, and all these other extra wires and cords. His mind was already an endless circle of questions, and this setup just added to it.

Shaking it off, he sat at the desk and began searching online. From there, he discovered that Ethan was in fact one of Mark's editors alongside Kathryn. Then, Tom had to search exactly what it was that Mark did (YouTube gaming personality, a recurring topic in this life.) Through that Wiki page, he found Bella, who used to date Mark. Tom then remembered catching a glimpse of Mark's current girlfriend, Amy, at the office. Blonde girl with a pleasantly soothing voice. Apparently, Mark left Bella for her last summer. Somehow they're all friends. He kept reading before going to find any videos.

“Okay,” Tom spoke to himself after a while. “Ethan works as Mark's video editor. Mark is dating Amy, who is friends with the other editor, Kathryn. Tyler is Mark's oldest friend out of the group, and he’s… his secretary? Bella was recently hired by Mark, who is her ex, and now she's dating Ethan. They all went on tour together last month, except for Bella. Why didn't she go?”

His phone started buzzing on the desk. Speak of the devil. He opened up the text message.

“I'm coming over and I'm bringing sushi for you!! Hope you're not too busy…” it read, with a wink face added at the end.

That made Tom’s stomach flip over. He couldn't say no! What would Bella think if her boyfriend was suddenly disinterested in her? After answering her text, Tom sent another message to Ethan, asking to call when he got the chance. He could only hope it would be soon. They both had things to go over if they were going to stay like this.

In the meantime, he tried not to feel like a creepy stalker as he searched through Bella’s social media. Tom debated going through Ethan's texts with her, but then decided that that would be a little too much. Whatever he needed to do in order to find out about Bella would have to be through her public persona.

By the time she had showed up to his apartment, all he knew was that she was a Latina makeup artist with a vulgar mouth. He closed the video he was watching on his phone when he heard the knock on the door and got up from the couch to answer.

He was pleasantly surprised to see her wearing a low cut shirt and a short black skirt. How was someone as attractive as her dating someone like Ethan? He was almost dumbstruck by her appearance, he didn't know what to say at first. At this point, Tom couldn't deny that Bella was really hot. But she wasn't his to claim. Sure, the view was nice, but where was this going to go?

“Hey you,” Bella greeted as she stepped inside. She placed her hand on his shoulder and quickly kissed him on the cheek. “How ya doing?”

“Good,” Tom replied, remembering his words. He followed her trail to the breakfast bar. “You look… you look nice.”

“Aw, thanks,” she replied as she sat on one of the stools.

Her skirt rose up a little bit as she shifted, and Tom barely caught a glimpse of the skimpy garter on her thigh. Okay, Ethan was a lucky guy. But Tom was not him; He had to get out of this somehow. Or did he?

“So… sushi?” he asked, gesturing to the plastic bag as he went to sit in the other stool. “Where'd you get it from?”

“Same place as always,” she replied, pulling two containers from the bag. “I think your sushi obsession is rubbing off on me, it's all I wanna eat now.”

He chuckled. “Good. It's all we'll ever need.”

Bella then started talking about the videos she planned to make during the week. She spoke of the packages that were sent to her in the mail, and how excited she was to try the new products. Tom just listened and pretended to know what she was on about as he ate. He was actually curious as to how Bella’s job worked, but she was speaking as if he already knew all of it.

“Oh my god! I also have to edit my interview with Tom Holland!” she exclaimed like she just remembered that piece of information.

Now things were getting interesting. Tom knew that Ethan wasn't his biggest fan, but this sparked his curiosity. He sat up, wanting to hear more. “Yeah?”

Bella twiddled her fork in her hand, a worried look on her face. “Ugh, I have to look at myself trying not to have anxiety attack. And then I have to put it out for everyone to see. Do you think he noticed I was freaking out?”

“Not at all,” Tom answered without hesitation. “You were very professional and well put together. If there was anything he'll remember about you, it's probably your hair.” All of that was true.

“Yeah, and the stupid questions I asked,” she glumly added.

“Hey, they weren't stupid!” he reassured. “They were so different to what I - he, probably gets. How many times has he told the story of how he found out he was Spider-Man? I can tell, he's probably tired of telling that tale!”

“I suppose.” Bella shrugged. Then she sighed. “Okay, whatever. I'll worry about that later. But I have to get that video up in the next couple of days. My mentions have not calmed down since I posted that selfie with him on Instagram. Anyway, sorry, I'll stop talking about him now.”

He raised an eyebrow. Were there times where Ethan told Bella to stop talking about certain things because he didn't like hearing about them? Given the way he acted over the phone, Tom wouldn't put it past him. But was this a normal occurrence between them? What did she even see in Ethan?

“Let's go to the couch,” she said after a while, getting to her feet and grabbing his hand.

“Oh, okay!” He let himself be practically yanked from his seat. His heart began pounding hard as Bella sat him down on the soft cushion.

Shit, this was happening. Before Tom could protest, Bella was straddling his lap and pressing her lips against his. For a second, he debated gently pushing her away but… she was a good kisser. She's hot as hell. Tom placed his hands on her waist, almost ready to let this happen, forgetting completely about the main situation at hand.

Then he heard a strange clicking noise. One glance down made reality hit Tom like ice water.

“What the fuck?!” he snapped in shock once he discovered that Bella was a holding a knife in her hand. “What are you doing?!”

He threw his arms up and tried to shift out of the position he was in. He almost wanted to push the girl away, but she was the one with a deadly weapon. What the hell kind of shit is she into? What kind of relationship was this? This couldn't be normal!

Bella quickly got back to her feet, a frantic look in her eyes. “I-I’m sorry, I thought you'd like it, I'm sorry…”

“Why the hell would I like that?” Tom harshly returned, still distraught. “What the fuck, what is wrong with you? Are you trying to kill me?”

She looked down, almost like she was curling into herself. She silently closed the switchblade and lifted her skirt to clip back to the garter. Then, she turned on her heel, making her way out of the apartment. He didn't try to stop her, until he remembered yet again that he wasn't himself. In Bella’s teary brown eyes, Ethan just yelled at her, and now she was upset.

“Bella-”

“Don't.”

And then the door slammed shut.

Tom sat there in silence, still trying to process what just happened. He didn't even want to think about what Bella would have done with that knife. Was that something people were into? Just when he thought this situation couldn't get any weirder.

~

Somehow, he managed to sleep through the night, despite the fact that the silence from Ethan was like an itch that couldn’t be satisfied. The longer the silence went on, the bigger opportunity there was for both of them to mess something up. Tom probably already crossed that line with Ethan’s girlfriend. He could only imagine what Ethan has been up to since he last spoke to him.

He checked his phone, only to discover a message from someone called Sean. There was a slight hesitation before Tom decided to open it. He noticed a head of bright green hair in the contact photo, and it definitely rang a bell. Had he interacted with this guy prior to the switch?

“You busy? You better not be because me and Signe are going to Bella’s and you better be there!!”

Shit. Who are these people? How many friends did this guy have?

Tom checked for any messages for the guy currently living in his shoes. Nothing. How long more would he be kept waiting?

“Dude, where are you? What have you been doing? Call me!”

After sending that, he sat up and looked around the room. It felt weird sleeping in the bed of a person he didn't know, but what choice did he have?

He got up and looked around for something to wear. Even when he wasn't in his own body, in his own home, Tom looked to the floor first. He picked up a black t-shirt and did a quick smell check before putting it on. Then he picked up a pair of jeans, which caused something small but dense to fall out of the pocket.

If it hadn't hit him on the top of his foot, Tom would have ignored it. But he looked down, finding a black, round stone. He bent down and picked it up, staring at it and trying to figure out why it looks so familiar. Surely this belonged to Ethan, but Tom had a stone just like this one. How many things would these guys have in common? Was this why they switched?

Suddenly, Tom gasped. He looked at the smooth, shiny stone in realization. He knew where he and Ethan got these from. Pantsless and panicked, he hopped back onto the bed, grabbed his phone, and dialed Ethan.

_______

tag list: @marie-is-in-the-dark @beardedsteveslut

_______

next

[apatheticaria]

my spoilery thoughts on the last of us part ii

i apologize in advance for this super long post that you have to scroll past because i don’t know how to do the “keep reading” option thing

the only reason i’m writing this out is because i’m literally going insane from not being able to talk about my feelings for this game to anyone since no one i know actually cares lmao so this is mainly just for myself and anyone who wants to read this

the intro:

as i played through this game, i also watched a few playthroughs up until the point where i stopped to take a break. this was a game i couldn’t binge just because it’s so heavy and intense and sometimes you just gotta step away and take a breather

one of the playthroughs i followed along with was jacksepticeye’s and at the end he gave his review of the game like he normally does. i didn’t completely agree with everything he said, but for the most part i thought what he said lined up pretty well with my own opinion.

in particular, one thing that stood out to me was when he said that the introduction to this game shouldn’t have been Joel talking to Tommy about what he did at the end of the first game, but rather the whole flashback of Ellie’s birthday at the museum. then at “one” during the countdown to liftoff, the screen should’ve went black and fast forwarded to four-years-older Ellie opening her eyes in her home in Jackson (idk if i’m explaining this well, but Jack’s editor, Robin, edits this together and really sold it to me. if you wanna see it, go to the last part of Jack’s playthrough and look for it towards the last 30 minutes). i think this would have given us the time i think we all needed with Joel before he died and all the following flashbacks would be more focused on how/why Joel and Ellie’s relationship turned so distant - or hostile on Ellie’s part - and could’ve helped the pacing a bit.

Joel’s death:

potentially an unpopular opinion? but i actually like how Joel died. or uh lemme rephrase, i like the way they wrote his death. in this world of violence, hate, and brutality (actually doesn’t sound too off from our world but ahem moving on), i think the way he died was realistic, especially since he doomed all of humanity by saving Ellie in Part I. it just makes a lot of sense that someone would go after him and hunt him down

from the moment Abby and Owen stood over Jackson from the cliff, i was thinking: well theyre gonna kill Joel and since we’re gonna probably be playing as this girl for some (emphasis on some) of the game, they’re gonna go hard on the grey area of perspective in terms of revenge. which i was super on board with, but we’ll get back to that

when this game was first advertised, i didn’t know how i felt about a revenge story. it’s been told so many times and i’m never as hell-bent on revenge as much as the character is because it never feels warranted enough. that is, until i saw Joel die. watching Ellie pinned to the floor with a perfect view of his body, his face, beat to shit as she screams and begs for Abby to stop? haha that’s fucked Naughty Dog, thanks. but i do appreciate that they were able to make me just as mad as Ellie because of just how brutal his death was and how much i care, cared, about that character. no story has ever made me so incredibly enraged to the point i was with the main character full-stop to just destroy the perpetrator and take revenge. that’s why i think the way Joel dies is perfectly done. the fact that that cutscene is so horrible to watch for so many reasons just proves that it does it’s job.

Ellie’s half:

i actually don’t have too much to say about Ellie’s half of the story. this was what i both expected and wanted from the game, the whole game. while i can’t say i was having “fun”, because this isn’t really a fun game to play, you know what i mean when i say that this part was fun to play and follow.

side note: Naughty Dog’s improvement of your NPC buddy is so good, Dina and Jesse were both actually helpful, still not perfect, but also they’re not supposed to do all the work for you. i think the added layer that they could also get caught/seen and alert the enemy was completely unexpected and such a good addition to the gameplay (ofc this goes for Lev as well).

throughout the whole story, there’s kinda a problem with the pacing, and i know i’m not the first person to say that. however, i think the only big pacing issue i had with Ellie’s perspective was that kinda weird attempt of an open world map that they did with the gates. it felt a little unnecessary since i, and most other people, are playing for the story, not an open world with various side quest-like things. i missed the guitar cutscene with Ellie playing the guitar and singing to Dina (which kinda sucks, but i obviously just watched it after) because i just wanted to get back to the story rather than explore a large area. it was an attempt at something different so i won’t fault the game for that too much, but also stay in your lane lol so that section was a bit of a miss for me personally. i really liked the rest of it though, it had me engaged the whole time

Abby’s half:

ok. i have a lot to say about this half of the game since this is where most the problems occur.

first, let me preface this by saying that i don’t hate Abby. as i said, from the very beginning i knew she was going to have a, not justifiable, but an understandable reason for murdering Joel and that the game was going to be about seeing two sides to the same story. except, at the same time, i came here for Ellie, so why am i playing as this heterosexual? im mostly kidding. but fr i didn’t need the entire half of the game trying to get me to sympathize with Abby. i really didn’t need the message to be so spelt out for me, i got it from the moment i realized she was going to kill a favorite character.

i think my main gripe with the way they told this story is the way they formatted it. this story has all the elements to be amazing, but the execution just lacked the...finesse? idk if that’s the right word.

rather than splitting up the game into two halves, they could/should have integrated Abby’s story into Ellie’s so that when we cut from Abby holding the gun at Ellie in the theater to suddenly Abby as a young girl, it won’t feel so jarring when we have to start all over again with the upgrades and the timeline.

i really liked how we switched between them in the very beginning so why couldn’t that have just continued? in a book with multiple povs, the author often switches back and forth between every or every few chapters. you never see a book that starts with one perspective, then at the climax you have to start all over again from the other. at least, i’ve never seen this in any books i’ve read and i’ve read a lot ngl

maybe they forced us to stick with Abby for so long because if we’re forced to play as her, then we’re forced to get invested into her story. while this makes sense, it also really degraded at my enthusiasm for the game. it took me so long to just give up on the idea that we would be going back to Ellie relatively soon and when i did actually realize that was what was happening i was really disappointed.

instead of separating their stories, i would’ve liked to have Abby maybe one step behind Ellie the whole time so that while we play we’re just anticipating when Abby will finally catch up and it builds to this whole thing. instead, when we actually got to the point where everything was supposed to go down, we’re hit with whiplash and back to the very beginning with tutorials?? like did they just expect us to forget how to play since we switched characters?

i’m thinking, after Ellie and Dina jump over the barbed wire that explodes and Ellie’s knocked out, we could have switched over to Abby waking up in the WLF stadium. after Abby sneaks out of the stadium and you have that interaction with Jordan where he mentions Leah at the tv station, then we go back to Ellie waking up and tied to the table and we see Ellie kill Jordan.

after this i think Abby should have met Lev and Yara way sooner because i barely even remember what happened before Abby was caught by the seraphites it was so boring. so she gets caught by the seraphites AFTER we meet them through Ellie being shot through the shoulder (i still want to get all the first impressions of new stuff with Ellie because then it still makes her feel like the main character) and we meet the siblings and blahblahblah.

as a follow up, after Ellie kills Nora, which by the way, Ellie’s facial expressions are just so good with the red light while she’s just beating Nora to death? wow that entire interaction was so well done. anyway, after Ellie kills Nora, and Ellie gets back to the theater and the scene ends with her and Dina hugging, then we would switch to that whole section with Abby and Lev traveling to the hospital to get the meds and it would be cool if on her way in, Nora helps Abby and then on her way out, we run into a door we have trouble opening so we push and when it opens, Nora’s beaten up body is right there.

you get the gist. Abby’s story was barely intertwined with Ellie’s until the very end where she finds Owen and Mel dead. she doesn’t know that literally everyone else, except Leah, is dead too. i feel like that would’ve made the impact of Abby and Ellie’s fight at the theater more effective. affective? whatever i’m not an english nerd

i also think we should have gotten the flashback with Abby’s dad a little later when we’re expected to understand her character a bit more.

overall, i’m not mad about getting Abby’s side of the story, but i am mad that the way it was told felt so disconnected from Ellie. we could still get that whole arc of Abby going to the island to get Lev, she can still get her own story apart from Ellie, but she needed to have more of a interaction with Ellie’s actions.

Abby vs. Ellie, Abby’s pov:

i absolutely hate this fight. i really hate the way it was written and the way it happened. i get that the game is trying to give us Abby’s perspective and to show that in her point of view, Ellie is the villain in this story.

except, AGAIN, i don’t need this spoon fed to me!!! i KNOW that the world isn’t black and white and that people’s perspectives are different, but also? i don’t really care. both characters have gone through shit and both have done shitty things. neither of them are innocent, no one in this world is innocent (hence why i really dislike Mel, but that’s not really relevant), so it really comes down to which character you value more. in my - and most other people’s - case, it’s Ellie. i know the whole point of this fight is to make the player uncomfortable, but i wasn’t just uncomfortable, it made me legitimately start to dislike this game (spoiler for the end of this stupid-long review: i don’t completely dislike it)

the game really emphasizes that this is Abby’s story as much as it is Ellie’s and i get that, but this fight did not need to happen the way it did and the game didn’t need to be even longer after this. a lot of people say that we played from Abby’s perspective because Ellie would have killed Abby and that would be that (and she did, by the way, i relished watching Ellie get her revenge because while i don’t hate Abby, it was still so satisfying even if that wasn’t how the game wanted me to play). however however however, Abby wouldn’t have showed mercy either. she was absolutely going to kill Ellie if Dina hadn’t intervened then she was going to kill Dina if Lev hadn’t intervened.

here’s how i wouldve wanted it to go: we go back to Ellie’s perspective once Abby has the gun pointed at Ellie in the lobby and during their fight, Ellie would get the upper hand because she has weapons and shit (let’s be honest, Ellie would not win in hand-to-hand combat with fully-healthy Abby, we saw that first hand). Lev would try to jump in, but then Dina would disarm him and prevent him from escaping her grasp. then eventually Ellie would have the barrel of the shotgun pointed at Abby’s face and she would hear Lev tell her to please stop don’t kill her and Ellie would listen because the same exact thing happened to her (we could get a short flashback or something for more emotions, idk). so instead of killing Abby, Ellie would knock her out and her and Dina would leave and Lev would run to Abby’s unconscious body. this would end that cycle of revenge and because Abby has something more important to her than revenge (Lev), they would move on.

the ending:

if the game went how i just imagined, we probably wouldn’t get an ending that’s as depressing and open ended as it is, but i’m sure Neil and his team could figure something out, such as Ellie still has to deal with PTSD and Tommy’s really pissed at them and Ellie still looses her two fingers. so we get that little domestic sequence and the PTSD flashback and Tommy coming with his eye missing and showing the map. he leaves and when Ellie is about to leave in the middle of the night, Dina convinces her this time to stay and the next day Ellie tries to play the guitar one last time before giving up since she doesn’t have her fingers (i still want that last heartbreaking flashback, that one fucked me up i love it) and she goes out to leave it somewhere in the woods with it all ending with her walking away from the guitar that Joel gave her to symbolize her letting him go. idk man something like that, still not that open ended, but i’m just talking out of my ass rn

anyway that’s not how it went so we’ll stick to reality.

an open ending isn’t supposed to be unsatisfying, because that’s what this ending was. Part I does an open ending perfectly as we still get closure even though we don’t know exactly how things go afterwards (until now obviously).

after playing from Abby’s perspective for so goddamn long, it was weird to play as Ellie again, even while it was also a relief, and that makes me really sad. in the end, i did feel bad for Abby when she was literally left to starve and “hang” (but again i didn’t need 15+ hours in order to feel basic sympathy).

from the way they wrote the story, i knew Ellie wasn’t going to let it go and she was going to leave Dina and JJ. it made sense and i don’t think it was out of character for her, but the fact they did that in the first place and that Abby was the one to let go first? Abby got her revenge, she killed Joel, but Ellie never got that closure so of course she was going to go after Abby.

in the very end, Ellie is left with no one and Abby still has Lev and a group of fireflies to run to. Ellie’s biggest fear was being alone as she said in the first game, but that’s exactly what she’s left with. yeah life is unfair and i do like that the consequences feel real in this story, but i don’t think Ellie deserved to be done so damn dirty while Abby is living her best life. sure all of Abby’s friends were murdered because of Ellie and Dina leaving is Ellie’s own fault and i don’t blame Dina, but i mean we have no idea what happens to Ellie after this, where she goes. it at least feels like she’s on the road to eventually being relatively okay, as okay as you can be in this world.

i can’t completely articulate how i feel about this ending, even after three days having finished playing. all i do know is that while it’s realistic how Ellie’s story ended, i would’ve liked for Abby to get the same treatment. for her to not actually find the fireflies through the radio and escape from the Rattlers only to have no where to go so that, just like Ellie, revenge cost her everything and we don’t know where she went after.

maybe because Abby’s story was pretty much wrapped up and Ellie’s wasn’t, they’re planning for a trilogy, but i guess we’ll see.

the tldr;

this game has all the elements it needed to be amazing overall imo, i just wish they were all utilized Better. the reason it’s so hard to figure out how i feel about this game is because it has so much potential that just never came through and i’m really jealous of all the people who were blown away by this story. it’s still a good game though, but a 7/10 seems too high and 6/10 seems to low. ig it’s a 6.5/10 for me.

thanks for reading if you made it this far

[chanyoel-archive]

Princess (m)

•  words: 5.1k •  genre: college au, smut •  pairing: chanyeol x reader (ft sehun) •  a/n: ok this is my first ever fic so please bare with me, i’m more of a editor than a writer tbh lmao. it might become a series so if you like it please like and comment~

You dreaded at the thought of your project deadline being moved a week earlier. You only had two more weeks to get the project finished and thinking about it just made you anxious.

It was a Thursday morning and you weren’t in the best of moods, the stress was now taking over you, meaning that you had hardly got any sleep last night which made you wake up later than usual forcing you to skip breakfast and rush to your first lecture of the day. On the way, you grabbed a coffee and somehow made it to class. The project room was on the other side of the campus, but the coffee played a huge part in keeping you active. You take a seat at the left side of the room which was by the door.

Since you were majoring in drama you had to take lots of notes and listen to every lecture, which is of course the worst part about studying drama. Another downside to this course was the cocky brat who always came into the class later than everyone else causing you to be distracted. There was always one seat left – next to you.

Twenty minutes into the lecture and he comes strolling into the classroom, dropping his heavy bag onto the table beside you. The chair scraped across the floor as he pulled it out from the table and slumped down while taking his time taking his notebooks out. You were becoming irritated, but chose to ignore it and brushed it off by rolling your eyes.

“Mr Oh, you’re twenty minutes late again, care to explain?” the lecturer asked him softly. She had a big soft spot for him which was really infuriating since he got away with murder. She was quite young, so you wouldn’t be shocked if she had a crush on him.

A charming grin appeared on his face. “It won’t happen again, I just slept in, I’m sorry.”

She sighed. “Okay. Please be in time tomorrow?”

“Yes.” He nodded and smiled firmly.

He used the same lame excuse every time and somehow it worked. Normally you would ignore it and just focus on your work but the stress was worse than ever and this was just the cherry on top. He skipped class and was always leaving early but the teachers never caught on. Sehun was really talented and everything seemed easy and effortless for him which annoyed you and cutting class didn’t affect his grade at all. You ignored his whole existence by having both earphones in and music blasting loudly. About an hour into the lecture you felt someone tap on your shoulder and leaning in closer to you. Pausing, you take out one of your earphones.

“Hey, so there’s this party and I was wondering if you wanted to come?” he winked at you and slung his bag over his shoulder hovering over you while waiting for an answer.

“Um, yeah can I bring someone?” You asked smiling.

“Of course, the more the merrier! See you tomorrow night.” He caressed your shoulder and left the class.

As usual Sehun left the class and you made a soppy story up to cover his ass. Why bother?

After the lecture had finished you headed back to your dorm and again grabbed a coffee to keep you awake for the rest of the day. As you entered the residence halls and found yourself on the fourth floor where your dorm was, you saw him with his guitar and scrunched up papers around him.

Park Chanyeol is majoring in music at Korea National University of Arts.  Even though he was popular amongst the girls, he doesn’t show much affection since music is his number one priority in life.

You couldn’t stop looking at him. He looked absolutely ethereal with his bright auburn hair and his dorky smile. You were intrigued but nonetheless smitten by his music. He was tall and lanky but somewhat muscular. Your eyes trailed down his body to his delicious thighs. Your mind started to drift on its own accord and soon enough you could feel a tingling sensation between your legs. But before you could get too carried away you shook yourself back into reality. As you walked down the hall to your dorm you could feel eyes on you piercing through your clothing.

Yours and Chanyeol’s room were directly across from each other but you’ve never spoke to him once. He was stood outside your dorms strumming at his guitar trying to find that perfect melody. You glanced at him as you forced your key into the door, he had his guitar pick stuck between his lips and you couldn’t take your eyes off him. His eyes landed on you and you quickly returned to unlocking your door as if nothing happened, you rushed to get inside but your door was sticking. While using all your strength to get inside, you felt a warm body pressed against your back as the door flew open. You turn to face him and he cocks his head to the side. Your lips were now mere centimetres away from his. You were so close, Chanyeol swore he could almost taste the flavour of the peach chapstick on your lips. You moved away from him quicker than the flash and slammed the door shut straight in his face.

You paced around the room trying to take in what just happened. You decided to forget about it and begin the project that was due in two weeks. A couple of coffees down the line and you decided to go to sleep - you’ve done about four to five hours of studying and tomorrow was just another day at university.

The next morning, you were sat in the project room and once again there was no sign of Sehun. You decided to wear a loose tank top and jeans but you realised it was a big mistake when you felt your cheeks flush at the skin on skin contact.

“You still on for tonight?” He grinned placing his bag down gently on the desk while he sat down as usual and brought out his notebook. You peeked over slyly, in awe of how organised and neat his notes were in a tattered book. He seemed different today. He was only five minutes late instead of fifteen and seemed less cocky that usual.

You shook your head and gave a small smile. “Yes.” Your hand went to rub behind your neck awkwardly. After the awkward silence, you put your earphones in and began to continue from where you left off last night. But your mind trailed off to the Chanyeol incident and you couldn’t help but grin and blush.

As you were packing your things away, Sehun stood behind his chair, unmoving, his stuff already in his backpack, that was slung lazily over his shoulders as always. When you were done, you glanced up at him and coughed to get his attention.

“So, I’ll see you tonight then?” You shyly smiled.

“Indeed, you will.” He smirked as he finally moved out the way.

You left the class without another word, he was too cocky for you and you couldn’t handle a longer conversation with him. You decided to take a break from studying and head somewhere to chill out.

You were seated in the corner of a small café on the campus, your fingers drumming on the table nervously as you saw Chanyeol sat in the opposite corner with his guitar and a tray of food.

After a few minutes, you got up to leave the café - it’s time to get back to studying. Throwing away your coffee cup in the bin and gave a short glance to Chanyeol before leaving.

Hours flew by and you realised that you now had to get ready for this party Sehun kept gossiping about. You swore to yourself you were only going to see what the fuss was about.

You jumped into the shower and sang your heart out without a care in the world. You then wrapped a towel around you and kept your music to a minimal tone so that only you could hear it. You tie your wet hair up out of your face and hum to the music. Just as soon as you were about to change you heard the door knock. You cocked your head to the side, unsure of who would be knocking on your door at this time of night. As you opened the door you saw Chanyeol stood there and you gasped.

“Hi, I’m sorry to bother you but my shower isn’t working can I use yours?” His deep-toned voice spoke with an embarrassed look on his face.

You glanced at your towel and held onto it for dear life. “Yeah sure.”

You left the door open as he voluntarily walked into your room and stood in front of you without a word.

“So the bathroom is right behind you, there’s a spare towel on the rack if you want to use that but you can also use your own.” You spoke without taking a breath.

He chuckled. “Okay, thanks.”

Without another word, he went into the shower and you ran around like a crazy woman shoving on the party clothes you had prepared hours before. You took the hair tie out of your hair and let your wet hair dangle below your shoulders. Ten minutes later, Chanyeol came out the bathroom with a towel covering his bottom half, and you couldn’t take your eyes off his abs, you were left flustered.

“If you wanted to take a look, you only need to ask, Princess” He smirks.

You simply turned around to face the wall, keeping your expression blank as possible.

He steps closer to you when he receives no response. “Why? Just looking at it doesn’t interest you?” He asks. “I’d let you touch them, if you’d like” He whispers into your ear and you cringe internally upon hearing that sentence but also feel a tingling sensation between your legs,  again.

His light breath tickles the shell of your ear and makes a shiver run throughout your body but no you will not let Park Chanyeol win. Chanyeol finds himself resisting the urge to bite on his bottom lip at the sight of your slightly parted lips.

You move your head until your lips were hovering a few inches away from the shell of his ear. “If I were you I’d head back to your dorm before you regret it.” You smile as you shove him away from you.

Chanyeol stumbles backwards and he grabs the edge of your desk to steady himself. He inches closer again and you press a finger to his forehead to stop him from coming any closer.

“Ah you’re so fun to mess with, Princess” He smiles as he pinches your cheek.

“Chanyeol, get out,” You shout. He laughs with his arms held up in surrender as he backs away from you.

Before you know it he was gone. You could feel your whole body flustered and you could feel a slight wetness coming from your sex but you chose to ignore it and continue to get ready for the party. After applying your make up and straightening your hair, you got all your things together as you left your room.

You stood amongst a small group of people all with red solo cups in hand. Your best friend Liv had a bit too much to drink but she had been at the party longer than you. After a few minutes you excused yourself from the group to go refill your cup. You were staring at the counter full of cheap liquor where there was so many to choose from. Just as you were about to grab the vodka and pour some into your cup when a voice from behind startled you.

“They actually keep the good stuff under the sink.” You turned around to see who the voice belonged too.

There he was standing in front of you wearing a button up shirt and skinny jeans. In awe, you couldn’t manage to get words to come out of your mouth and when he noticed you weren’t going to respond he knelt down and plucked a bottle from under the kitchen sink.

He walked over to you and poured some of the contents into your cup. You looked at him a tad bit confused and you could feel your cheeks start to heat up. Why were you acting like this? He was a huge dick towards you earlier. Why are you still getting affected? You stood there in silence, not saying a word until he finally spoke.

“Look, I’m sorry about earlier.  I was just caught up in the moment.” He said smiling at you.

Gosh his smile was amazingly dreamy. You stood still saying nothing. He chuckled and mumbled. “You’re cute.” Before turning around to grab the bottle of coke and pouring some into yours and his cups.

You were so embarrassed about earlier events but also really turned on by his presence. You were making a total fool of yourself. You needed to get out of that kitchen as soon as possible before you embarrassed yourself even more.  

“Thanks” you managed to mumble out.

You bolted out of the kitchen before anything else could happen. Hoping that you would never bump into him again and forget all encounters with him.

Instead of looking for Liv you decided to go into the garden to get some fresh air. You really didn’t want to be at this party and there was no way you were leaving Liv here on her own with all these men. So, you decided to take a seat in the backyard and scroll through your phone.

“Y/N!!!!” you heard a familiar voice shout.

You glance up to see Sehun with a beer bottle in the air looking absolutely drunk. You chuckled to yourself and waved at him.

“You made it!!” He shouted once again.

“Yes. It’s kind of hectic inside.” You replied pointing to the house.

“Loosen yourself up Y/N. You deserve it.” He smirked. “I’ll see you later.” He left.

After half an hour, you decided to go back into the party. You figured Liv would be wondering where you are, but knowing her she’d probably be too drunk to remember you’re here. You walked back inside and found Liv stood in the corner making out with some guy. You rolled your eyes and sat down on the chair.

You saw Sehun once again approaching you but this time with Chanyeol, oh great.

“Hey, Y/N this is Chanyeol.” He pointed over at Chanyeol.

Chanyeol winked at you which left you flustered and extended his hand out to you.

“Nice to properly meet you, princess.” He grinned as you shook his hand.

“Likewise.” You responded.

Sehun looked at us both with a confused look sprawled across his face.

“Have you guys met before?” He questioned.

Chanyeol answered before you could get a word in. “Actually, the other day I had to-“

Before Chanyeol could finish his sentence, you spoke over him. “We met each other in the kitchen.” You smiled.

You started to feel your cheeks beginning to blush again. You couldn’t understand why he had this effect on you. Luckily Sehun didn’t notice that you were blushing.

Tonight, you were downing one drink after the other, and you knew tomorrow morning you’d regret it. You were stood at the living room entrance watching Liv have the night of her life on the dance floor.

“Let’s dance.” You felt a hand grab your wrist as he pulled you into the crowd.

You then noticed that the voice belonged to Chanyeol and you felt butterflies fluttering within your stomach. A few dances and drinks later and you were now feeling a little different from your usual self. Your ass began to grind on Chanyeol’s crotch and you enjoyed every second of it. As you did, you felt his member hardening between your legs so you began to grind on it more, forming a smile across your lips. Your bodies were becoming closer than before, you could feel his breath against the nape of your neck which sent shivers down your body. You wanted him right there and then but you didn’t give in that easy, you wanted him to have taste of his own medicine.

You turned around and you were yet again inches away from his face and you couldn’t help but stare at his heavenly plump lips. You wanted to kiss him so badly but you stopped yourself since you didn’t want to be the centre of gossip.

You hesitantly pulled away from him taking one last look, damn you thought.

Someone had told you that Liv went home because she had too much to drink so you decided to go home too. You noticed that Chanyeol was a bit drunk too so you both went home together since you both lived across from each other. Succeeding the walk back to the residence halls you both made it outside your dorms.

You and Chanyeol had spent most of the night together and you felt like you knew him more than what you thought. You both stood there in silence not saying a word and you felt your heart beating faster than usual.

“Good-“

You don’t give him the time to finish his sentence, choosing to smash your lips against his. He grunts as you push him against the nearest wall, his head hitting the wall with a soft thud. Chanyeol responds almost instantly, his hands gripping your waist tightly as he feels you tug at his soft locks. He brings up one hand to cup your check, to slow down the pace and you whine disapprovingly not liking how intimate this was getting already.

He pulls away from you as you drag him into your dorm room.

“Slow down Princess” He whispers before he begins to leave a trail of open mouth kisses down your neck. You whimper involuntarily when you feel his hand slip under your t-shirt to knead one of your breasts.

Your hand moves around to the front of his pants where you begin to undo the button of his jeans, trying to speed up the process. He tries to ignore you but when you start to palm him through his jeans, he bites down harshly on your neck before his tongue quickly glides over the spot to soothe the pain. You flinch from the pain and tug his head away from your neck by grabbing a fistful of his hair.

He tugs your chin towards him, smirking again before crashing his lips against yours. This time he doesn’t take his time, his lips move greedily against yours sucking and nibbling at your bottom lip. You swipe once, twice against his bottom lip before he grants your entrance. Your tongues swirl around battling each other for dominance, and the only thing you can hear is your greedy moans as his hand slips between the two of you to rub at your core through your jeans. You roll your hips forward needily, craving more friction.

You moan once more into the kiss and Chanyeol decides he can’t wait any longer. He grabs your thigh, fingernails digging into your skin as he hoists you up. Your thighs wrap around him automatically and he begins moving forward, all the time never leaving your lips.

He sets you down on your bed and his arms leave you momentarily only to pull his shirt over his head and you do the same to your shirt. You move backwards by your elbows until you feel the pillows behind you and Chanyeol follows, hovering above you.

“Fuck,” He pants, leaving sloppy kisses starting from your neck and down the valley of your breasts, stopping only to unclasp your bra which he tosses off the bed. You shut your eyes, biting down on your bottom lips to muffle your desperate moans. He continues, leaving open mouth kisses on your breast, sucking at your skin, leaving marks that will surely be dark purple tomorrow.

“Chanyeol,” You moan, grabbing his free hand to guide it down towards your core. “More,” You breathe out. You feel him against your skin as he unbuttons your jeans, his knee putting pressure against your sex. He moves down leaving kisses that stop at your navel and he tugs your jeans, along with your panties off. You lay there excited for what’s to come next but you feel Chanyeol’s hands leave you altogether so you whine in protest.

“Chanyeol,” you groan. “I don’t have time for games.”

“I’m just taking the time to admire your body,” He smirks, his fingers teasing at your folds.

Without warning he plunges two fingers into you and you almost scream out in delight. He brings his thumb around to rub slowly around your clit and you feel the room start to spin. He glances up to see you loll your head backwards, lips slowly parting as you feel a knot build at the bottom of your stomach and he feels his jeans tighten.

“Fuck, Chanyeol.”

The room is filled with only the sound of squelching as Chanyeol continues to thrust his fingers into you. He soon replaces his thumb with his tongue and you moan his name repeatedly, struggling to contain yourself. You can tell he’s already smirking as he uses his tongue to swirl around your clit. Your hips buck up and you’re practically grinding down on his tongue so he places a palm across your stomach to stop you from squirming.

“Behave, Princess,” You hear him hum and you try to relax but you can’t stop the shivers of pleasure that run down your spine.

The knot building at the pit of your stomach tightens and your vision goes hazy as you feel yourself reaching your climax. He thrusts his fingers into you with more urgency as your moans grow more and more frequent, knowing that you were reaching your high soon.

“Chanyeol, I’m—“

“Mmm, come for me, Princess,” He hums against your folds.

A few more swirls around your clit is all it takes for him to send you tumbling over the edge. You let out a long moan, as your thighs begin shaking as you reach your release. Chanyeol thrusts his fingers slowly into you, letting you ride out your high. You feel his hot breath against your core as he removes his fingers, he licks every drop of your juice from his fingers and you find yourself shivering with delight.

After drawing in a few deep breaths, you look up to see Chanyeol licking his lips, his chin glistening with your fluids. Seeing him that way stirs something inside of you. You place your hand behind his neck, pulling him down towards you to kiss him slowly.

You bite lightly at his bottom lip as you pull away, pushing him onto his back before leaving a few more kisses down his jaw, licking up the remnants of what was dripping off his chin. You move towards his neck, leaving a long stripe as you continue to inch downwards and you hear him inhale sharply as shivers at the cold trail you have left behind. You take your time, slowly shimmying your way down until your lips hover just above his dick. He watches with fully blown out pupils as you use your teeth to drag down the zip of his jeans.

“Fuck, Y/N that’s so hot,” He moans.

You pull off his jeans and boxers in one swift movement and you watch his member flip up onto his abdomen. Chanyeol hurriedly kicks off his jeans and boxers that were pooling by his ankles and you lick your lips as you eye his member, spreading the bead of precum leaking from his tip.

You leave kitten licks across his tip and he grunts in annoyance. You continue teasing him, using your teeth to lightly scathe down the side of his member carefully.

“Stop teasing, Princess,” He whines and you laugh lightly.

You lick a long stripe up the side of his member before hollowing out your cheeks to take in as much of him as you can and you hear Chanyeol let out a light whimper. You bob your head up & down, using your tongue to swirl around his dick. The breathy moans that leave his lips has you rubbing your thighs together and you work quickly, slacking your jaw as you sink down all the way until your nose touches the hilt. You take in a deep breath, swallowing once around him and you feel the burning sensation back in your throat.

“Ohh, just like that baby,” He cooed.

He bucks his hips upward, aching to feel relief and despite how it burns your throat even more, you let him do as he pleases. A slew of cuss words leaves his lips, his breathing becomes ragged and he bucks his hips up once again but then you feel him suddenly retreat from you altogether.

You look up at him confused as to why he would do that when he was so close, afraid that you might’ve done something wrong. You see him with a shiny packet in hand, eyebrows furrowed, hurriedly trying to tear it open. Frustrated, he uses his teeth to tear the packet open and he pushes your hand that rested limply around his shaft away.

“But you haven’t—“

“Next time, princess,” He says. “I just need to feel you around me now,” He growls as he rolls the condom down his member. No, no there won’t be a next time. There can’t be.

He motions for you to come forward and you comply, placing your knees at either side of him as you guide his member towards your entrance. You sink down slowly, crying out as you feel his length stretch out your walls. Chanyeol watches you with dark eyes and his jaw slacks at the feeling of his member sliding slowly against your walls. When you sit down fully, you let a long moan escape you while you adjust to his size.

Chanyeol places his hands on your hips, silently urging you to move and you rest your palms against his chest as you roll your hips forward cautiously a few times to test the waters.

“Fuck, Princess,” He curses.

Moving your hands further up, you grip at his shoulders as you sit back on your knees. You rise up, almost feeling him slip out of you before you slam back down on him.

“Oh my god,” You cry, bouncing up and down as only lewd sounds of skin slapping against skin fills up the room. You feel Chanyeol’s fingers dig into the side of your waist leaving behind tiny crescents, guttural groans leaving his throat as he bites down on his bottom lip. Soon, your movements grow sloppy and you let Chanyeol do most of the work, him bucking up into you as he lifts you up and down with him. Your eyes shut as wave after wave of pleasure runs throughout your body and you find it hard to hold on.

“God, Y/N why haven’t we ever done this before?” He groans as he flips you onto your back. He thrusts mercilessly into you, hooking one of your knees onto his shoulder so he can reach deeper into you. You open your mouth to shoot him a witty answer but only a sharp scream leaves your throat as the feeling of him hitting just the right spot is almost too much for you.

“Shit, Chanyeol right there!” You scream and he picks up the pace, drilling into you. Your hands grip onto the sheets as you feel your climax steadily approaching, high pitched breathy moans leaving your throat. Chanyeol’s steady pace starts to falter and you know he’s close too. He lets his hand slip between your bodies so he can rub little circles around your clit and you lift your head to muffle your scream against the crook of his neck, your arms gripping tightly at his back.

Two, three more thrusts and for the second time of the night you’re sent over the edge, your fingernails raking down his back as you feel a wave of pleasure wash over your body. A few moments later, with a final push you feel Chanyeol’s member stutter inside of you and his face contorts in pleasure as he finally reaches his climax. He helps you ride out both of your highs with a few more shallow thrusts before you’re squirming from over-sensitivity.

Exhaling deeply, Chanyeol flops down next to you.

“Damn Y/N that was so—“

“Good,” You smile, completing his sentence for him. The two of you lie there in silence, allowing time for the both of you to catch your breaths.

You felt Chanyeol wrap his arm around you pulling you closer to his naked body. You could feel his breath against the back of your neck as you closed your eyes and held his hand that was wrapped around you. You loved this moment and you didn’t want tomorrow morning to come any quicker.

The feeling of a migraine in the morning after drinking is the worst ever, you got out of bed and made your way to the kitchen to find a pain killer. Only to find Chanyeol sprawled across your bed just as naked as you are. You choked on your water and tried to think of many different scenarios of what happened last night, but no matter how many you thought of none of them explains why you were both naked. You glanced over at him while he lay there fast asleep, all you wanted to do was play with his hair and cuddle him. Why are you behaving like this?

A few moments later and Chanyeol was opening his eyes to find you sat on the table glaring at him.

“What the…” He mumbled grabbing the duvet to cover his bottom half.

“I can’t believe you.” You groaned.

“Me? What about you?” He argued as you threw his clothes at him.

“Listen. None of us wanted to do this so let’s just forget what happened and go back to the way things were.” You insisted.

“Why? Didn’t you enjoy last night?” he smirked as you rolled your eyes and crossed your arms.

“Don’t make me chuck you out Chanyeol.” You replied.

“I’m leaving anyway, Princess.” He grabbed your arm and kissed you on the forehead as he left without saying another word.

You watched him as he left with a confused expression across your face, what the hell was that all about?

[thatbookcritic]

Kingdom Hearts 3

Title: Kingdom Hearts 3

Media: Video Game

Developer: Square Enix

Criticism written by: Kai

Editor: Julie

The Review:

Hey there everyone. I just finished playing Kingdom Hearts 3 and I need to vent about it. What better way than to do a review on it. I’m simultaneously amazed but disappointed by the game. It’s beautifully crafted and hit all the right notes for the nostalgia. There were many occasions that got me to tear up as I recall my childhood that this game shaped. Yet despite the shine and sparkle that was the gameplay, design, and music; the story was extremely lackluster. For the story that were all waiting for, it wasn’t delivered properly and it was cheap. I’m sure many of you have already seen “kingdom hearts 3 disappointment” appearing on your search recommendations when you type up the title. I know there are those who like the game and others who are defending it tooth and nail, but I hope you all can understand that nothing is immune to criticisms and improvement.

That being said, this is all a warning for you all about spoilers. If you haven’t played the game yet, I highly recommend doing so before reading my review. For those who stayed, let’s review Kingdom Hearts 3.

Before actually talking about the story, I want to first say that I won’t dive into the lore and past games of the series. I’m going off the assumption that everyone reading this review knows the story and all the information pertaining to the series. If you need a refresher, I suggest looking up a TL;DR video on youtube about all the games.

Anyways, Kingdom Hearts 3 immediately picks up from Dream Drop Distance. Sora failed his Mark of Mastery test while Riku passed. Riku and Mickey went on to the realm of darkness to save Aqua. Sora, on the other hand, is tasked to go to other worlds and try to reclaim the “power of waking”. Skipping over the disney worlds since they’re literally not important for the big picture here, Sora learns about the three people who are currently living in his heart and how to free them via replicas and finding Ventus’s real body. It’s just one big scramble where team light is trying to find their seven members and team dark flexing on them by going “lol we got our 13 members already.” There’s also some side story about Maleficent and Pete looking for a black box but that’s never addressed except once by team Sora. Moving on, Sora saves Aqua which then leads into Aqua waking Ventus. From this point, the game goes from 0 to 100 in pacing. The team jumps straight into the final battle quest. Fought an army of heartless and nobodies, Kairi ex machina (will explain later), killed 12 members of darkness, exposition, final battle, “the villain was misguided!”, cliffhanger, epilogue, and secret end. That’s literally the chain of events at the end of the game. I finished this final portion in under 2 hours…. With breaks in between.

If you seen people complaining about how short this game was, they aren’t joking. This game is insanely short for what it should have been. The story was at least 24 hours long… that might sound like a long time but it’s not. At least, not a long time for a game. Kingdom Hearts 3 was released on January 29. Eight days passed and there are already guides on where you can find all the collectables. Eight days after a release date… that’s insane. You might say it’s due to “speed runners” or devoted fans with too much free time, but as a casual player myself, this was a short game. I finished it just under 24 hours… and that was me taking long periods of breaks (dealing with friends, going to work, doing chores, ect.) Needless to say, the story had a lot of wiggle room to expand instead of rushing to tie up loose ends.

Another thing to point out is the number of worlds included in the game. There weren’t a lot, let me tell you that. Just eight worlds (excluding the Final World and Caelum). Kingdom Hearts 1 and 2 have about 14 worlds each (excluding the other games since they aren’t “main” games). Some might argue that even if there’s less worlds, there’s more content in each world. I say bullshit. Are you talking about the mini games and collectables from the worlds? I bought this game for the main story, not the mini games. If I wanted mini games, I would have gotten mario party instead. As for the story each world present, they didn’t take long to complete… the story may be longer than other games but I still managed to finish two worlds for one sitting… one world if I’m getting rushed by my mom to go to bed lol. Needless to say, this part of the game wasn’t it chief.

Finally, let’s talk about story here. When it comes to Kingdom Hearts, you kinda gotta accept that the story isn’t going to make 100% sense, have plot holes, inconsistency, and lots of recons. That’s just how Kingdom Hearts gonna be but the story was still good. If a story can suspend your disbelief for the entire ride, then it’s a good story. And Kingdom Hearts is good at “story first, questions later”. But with this, the pacing is so fast that it broke the fantasy way too soon.

Now… in anticipation for Kingdom Hearts 3, I ran through all the lore and game stories once again to have a good idea on what’s going on. Leading into KH3, there was a long list of tasks that was left over from all the previous games. We have to save the Birth by Sleep crew. We have to save Roxas, Namine, and Xion. Sora isn’t a Keyblade Master. We got Xehanort and his norted group. The Masters of Master and his black box. The Keyblade war. The Dandelions. Maleficent and more. We got a long checklist here yet the script writers seem to just… gloss over all these details. With how long these cutscenes are, I’m honestly surprised how fast they zoom past the story. Honestly, there were many points where the writers could expand on something and actually lead to more gameplay. For example, for saving Roxas, Namine, and Xion. They just toss these three at the very end in one scene before moving to the next. Like… lmao what? It would have been interesting if they had Kairi… you know, actually being useful and chilling in Radiant Garden or something. Goes up to emo scientist and be like “Yo! Let me just free Namine in your conveniently placed replica and… boom!” Maybe toss in like “I remember this place” and give some background about Kairi. Then with Namine, she could have been useful in drawing up memories about Xion which would lead into that quest. These three could have been a great main quest in unlocking for main story. Would have been also great to see some interactions between Ventus and Roxas too and toss in a bullshit explanation on why they look the same. The same with how Vanitas look like Sora; instead of, again, glossing over it at the end. There’s just… so much where the writers could have expanded on and actually make the game a bit longer to make it more satisfying to play. Yes, I understand this was supposed to be the end of Xehanort’s arc but it was distastefully done. It was cheap and rushed. That ending where it’s revealed the Xehanort opened Kingdom Hearts to bring the worlds back together and was more or less well meaning about the whole thing (basically, he’s not doing this for the shits and giggles) but it doesn’t explain anything still. I honestly think it was an idea given to him and not something he came up on his own, judging on his ending cutscenes about him. Can I point out how funny it is that Xehanort was a more fleshed out character than fucking Kairi… a main character? Oh my god, this fucking bitch. Kairi is so useless storytelling wise. She’s just a deus ex machina for anytime Sora feels down in the dumps and only there to get kidnapped. “I’ll protect you Sora!” *Immediately gets kidnapped after*. Even in the one time she fights by our side, she instantly dies on me and left killing three bosses on Sora and Axel. She’s not even good canon fodder like Donald or Goofy in a fight. Just… there’s so much this game could have done with story and it just failed.

Some people might use the argument that we have high expectations for this game so “of course you would get disappointed.” Honestly, yeah! This is a valid point and we’re in the right for having high expectations. I don’t see how this was our fault? We all literally waited 14 years for this game. We were given all these puzzle pieces and waiting to see the finish picture. The hype was massive… and don’t say that it was just the fan’s hype. It was very much advertised to be the “conclusion” for Kingdom Hearts. The trailers that advertised the “end”, the names of the songs being used for this game (“Face my fears” and “Don’t think twice”), the fact that this is the third game (when it comes to series in media they usually end in trilogies (but of course I’m not saying that this is absolute)). It’s just that the hints that the developers were giving us were making us think in a certain direction… that is deception… and it wasn’t a good trick. Another argument to tackle is that: “A lot of time passed. You’re expecting the same thing as the original games. You’re not the same person as before, so you won’t experience it the same way anymore.” It’s one thing if you’re harping that the game doesn’t give you “the feels” anymore, that argument fit this issue. But it’s entirely different from the disappointment of reading a half assed story, no matter the age, I think anyone would be annoyed. I also want to toss out the argument of “You’re not the marketed audience”. Then… who’s the marketed audience then? People who aren’t fans of the game? This is the third main game in a series with a crazy fucking lore. You kinda need to be a fan to keep up here, mate. This isn’t an issue about age. The fact that there’s disney characters in it should be a sign that this game isn’t going over a pg-13 rating. So most people aren’t expecting a mature, “adult” story here. But we are expecting a “good” story… and that is an issue everyone can relate to. You! You are a consumer! You can expect more from a creator sometimes! I agree on respecting a creator’s visions, art, ect. I’m a writer myself. But at some point, you gotta realize that some people would shit in a bucket and try to sell it to you as art. Be a little critical sometimes. It’s fine. If anything, creators want some criticisms to know where to improve. So just don’t take this sitting down!

Kingdom Hearts 3 was an good game if you’re looking at this objectively. But for what it could have been… well… just wasted potential. Pity.

Overall Score: 6/10

(Btw, if anyone want some theories about Kingdom Hearts 4, I believe that they’re going to tie it in to us. The player. I mean, besides the obvious secret ending where it looks like the real world (we can use the same ending to point toward The World Ends With You so this isn’t strong enough evidence). I’m mostly basing this on a storytelling perspective and Union X. From a storytelling point, Kingdom Hearts tackled every single trope so far. Time travel, doppelgangers (the replicas), amnesia, multiple selves, body possessions, time passing at a different rate, alternative worlds, data worlds, ect. We can go on, but the one trope they haven’t touched yet is the 4th wall. I honest to god wouldn’t be surprised that they would do this for both storytelling but to also say a big “thank you” to the player. They already got closed to it by including the usernames of players from Union X in the Heartless Tornado. Talking about Union X, there’s still the Dandelions. Based on the current story known, the Dandelions are keyblade welders who are still alive in the dream realm… one of the welders being you… the player.  Also, the alternative game at the end that Master Eq- however you spell his name, talked about. It was seven darkness but an unknown amount of light. I suspect that it’s a number flip from the original 13 darkness and 7 light. It would make sense if you do a counting of the current cast. Sora, Riku, Kairi, Mickey, Donald, Goofy, Terra, Ventus, Aqua, Axel, Xion, and Roxas (I’m excluding Namine for now since she can’t fight). 12 fighters, right? Well… it becomes 13 if you count yourself since… we are fighting through Sora. Well… I could just be egotistical and give the writers way too much credit lol.)