#i was just posting my thoughts on wanting to write a character with that | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

star-girl69 · 2 days ago

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❦ Buttons

Daniela Avanzini … college!au

Synopsis: It turns out it was never casual.

Feel free to send Dani requests 😘

Warnings: y’all they play strip poker except it’s not poker bc idk how to play. They play strip card. Idk. I think we get the point… but just to make it clear!! Alcohol, reader drinks, probably inaccurate depictions of parties and alcohol (guys I write fanfic I don’t go out.) possessive!dani, jealous!dani, a little bit of angst but a happy ending, lots of making out, some sexual innuendos and such, the usual swearing, lmk if I missed anything!

A/n: this is my first Katseye fic but anyways I think it’s cute lmk what y’all think 😘 this fic is so long. Omg. I’m sorry. ALSO!! This fic is not a real portrayal of anyone mentioned! This is for entertainment purposes only 💗

And also yes I’m using my original side characters from my other fics BC I WANT TO!!!!

Maybe listen to … Buttons by The Pussycat Dolls (or the Dream Academy version 🙈)

—-

Your eyes flick over the elaborate Instagram post, smiling at the shameless picture of your best friend on the second slide, looking at the infographic again.

Another party your best friend is throwing.

This one is supposed to a game night with promises of seven minutes in Heaven, spin the bottle, card games, and stripping games.

You roll over in bed, turning to face your roommate.

“Jackie?”

She’s engrossed in her phone, giggling at something, but as soon as she turns to look at you a wicked smile crosses her face.

“Have you seen my beautiful new instagram post?” She smirks. “Don’t I look so pretty in it?”

You stare her down, the corner of your lips unwillingly turning up into a smile.

“Ugh. Whatever! I’m a grown woman, okay? And, besides, it’s not even my party. It’s Matty’s and his frat’s party, I’m just promoting.”

“When is it?” You relent, slightly curious, feeling a little bit better by the fact it wasn’t technically her party.

“Girl, read the fucking infographic. That shit takes time to make.”

You roll your eyes but look back to your phone anyways.

“Tomorrow. Fun. No way I’m going with one day’s notice to a themed party.”

Jackie quickly stands up at this, crossing the room to throw herself on top of you.

“No!” She shouts, straddling you and pinning your hands to the bed. “You have to come, Y/N!!”

You attempt to push her off you with a screech.

“I literally don’t!!”

“Dani will probably be there…” she says suggestively, wiggling her eyebrows.

Shit.

As soon as she mentions the name of your infuriating friends-with-benefits-situationship-who-you-kinda-want-to-be-more she knew that you would be coming.

An opportunity to see Dani is an opportunity to… do other things with Dani.

“Maybe I’ll come,” you shrug, but your heart beats more just at the thought of her.

“You’re so in love with her,” Jackie teases, light-heartedly.

You quickly stick a smile on her face as she relents, getting up off of you and moving to your shared closet, talking animatedly about an outfit for you to “bag a baddie” whether that’s Dani, or someone to make her jealous.

Maybe your life revolves a bit too much around Daniela.

Sometimes, laying awake in her arms after a hook up, you stare up at the ceiling and try to coach yourself into believing that you’re happy with just this. You’re happy with whatever the hell you two are. You’re okay with not having all of her.

Then you’ll remember what just happened moments earlier.

And you’ll remember the way she makes you feel, that bad habit she has of biting her lip that drives you crazy, the way she tucks your hair behind your ears even when she’s on top of you.

She always finds a way to tuck your hair behind your ear. It’s not in a weird way, and you’ve never asked her why she does it, but you like to think to yourself that it’s just another way to touch you.

Sometimes she lingers.

God, sometimes her fingers stray just a bit too long, and her eyes widen and she catches herself. She’ll tuck her hands behind her back and start biting her lip, like she’s physically restraining herself from touching you.

Holding hands is a bit too platonic. Grabbing your waist is a bit too romantic.

But this, for whatever reason, feels good. It feels right.

You usually lay in bed for a bit longer. Listening to her breathing against you. And every night you tell yourself this is the last time you’ll let yourself pretend she’s your girlfriend. And every time the cycle repeats again.

—-

“Fuckin’ Professor Davis,” you mumble to yourself, angrily zipping your bag up as you sigh heavily. Your last class on Friday is always the worst no matter what it is. So close to freedom yet so far. It didn’t help that Professor Davis was fucking infuriating.

“What are you mumblin’ about?”

Your body tenses up.

“Nothing, Dani,” you mumble.

She easily falls into step beside you, shoulders bumping, and usually her presence would brighten your day- but Jackie was sending you pictures all class of outfit options for the two of you. Now you were stressed out, annoyed by the impossible deadline Professor Davis had set- really? A three page essay due on Wednesday?

“I don’t know why I ever wait for you after your class with him. He pisses you off so much,” she teases.

“It’s not my fault he’s the most idiotic professor to ever teach ever. I mean, seriously-”

She reaches out and tucks your hair behind your ear in a gesture that’s supposed to be calming.

And you’re… kinda in love with her. So it works.

“Calm down,” she soothes. You meet her eyes. She’s smiling at you softly, amusement etched all over her face. You quickly look forward again.

“Fine, whatever,” you mumble.

“Mumbling again,” she scolds jokingly, but thankfully lets it go. “Are you going to the party tonight? I figure you are, since Jackie posted it.”

“Yeah. Are you?”

“As long as you’re there, cariño.”

Her voice drops.

“Can I see you after? Please?”

Everything in your body screams to run to her. But that part of you that is still fighting desperately not to get hurt is screaming at you to run away.

Your heart starts beating faster.

She makes you feel like you’re drowning.

“Maybe,” you say.

“I’ll change that,” she smiles. She gets closer until she’s whispering in your ear. “I’ve missed you so much.”

You fall back into it.

“Maybe, Daniela.” You shoot her a smile. Her eyes light up. This is part of it, for her. The chase thrills her. She’s a little bit like a big lion, or something. She gives off this fierceness and definitely can be, but there’s also this big cuddly side to her. And that part of her that likes to chase you around on a stick.

That’s what it’s like, you suddenly realize.

She’s chasing you around like you’re dangling on a stick in front of her. When really you’re attached to her already.

You stop in front of the door to your dorm.

“I mean, no pressure.” She backtracks. “It’s not like we’re dating. You can do whatever you want.”

And just like that, she breaks the fantasy you were building.

“Oh, yeah, obviously.”

You start walking to your dorm before you can stop and replay the conversation in your head. You don’t notice the way her jaw tightens. The slight change in her voice, like she was forcing the words out. You don’t stay long enough to notice it.

—-

She says all the right things, calls you these Spanish pet names that are ten times better than anything anyone could say in English, and you know the intention behind it is wrong.

It’s not done out of love.

It’s all transactional- she makes you feel special. You fall into her bed. Into her. Again. And… again. And you flirt right back because it feels so good to pretend.

You sigh, cheers coming from the next room over as the already drunk frat boys get the broken speaker to work again. Music starts blaring through the house.

You don’t recognize the song, but it is in Spanish.

You roll your eyes, red solo cup crunching under your tight grip. Of course everything always comes back to her.

Maybe she’ll just always haunt you.

“Fuck,” you mumble, shaking your head as you reach for a bottle of vodka and pour more of it into your shitty drink.

“Y/N,” Jackie says with a bright smile, although the concern seeps into her eyes. “You okay, babe?”

It’s 9pm, the start time Jackie wrote on her infographic. People will start showing up soon, but it won’t actually become a true party until 10.

“Pregaming,” you shrug, knowing she sees right through it.

“Okay, fuck this.”

Her hand clamps around your wrist and she drags you through the mostly empty house until she locks the two of you in the bathroom.

“You’ve been acting all fuckin’ moody lately,” she immediately accuses. Your mouth drops open in shock. “I’m sick of it. Talk to me.”

“What the hell are you talking about? I literally haven’t.”

Sure, you’ve been thinking about Dani a bit more lately, but it wasn’t outwardly noticeable.

“The last time you hooked up with Dani you came home the next morning with some really sexy bruises on your hips to be fair, but also some crazy sad look in your eyes. Then you laid in bed staring at the ceiling hugging a goddamn pillow.”

Her eyes narrow on you.

“Dani is really beautiful, but no friends with benefits shit should make you feel like shit.”

Maybe you did do that.

“It’s whatever, okay?”

“It’s not, though. Not when I can see it on your face, babe.”

She grabs your hand, this earnest look in her eyes that suddenly reminds you she’s your best friend. She’s the girl who hugged you when you would get homesick freshman year. She’s the girl who parties with you and makes sure you’re never alone. She’s the one who listens to you talk about Daniela.

“It just sucks,” you finally relent.

“Yeah?”

“Like, sometimes I want to be more. But I know that would never happen. She’s just so… Dani. She doesn’t really fit with me. She would never want me back. Like ever. So maybe it’s better to just let her go now, you know?”

Jackie draws you into a tight hug that literally fixes every broken part of your soul.

You don’t realize it when a single tear escapes your glassy eyes and rolls down your face, but she notices it.

“I don’t think I want to keep being led on like this.”

It breaks you to say that. You’ve given Dani so much of your time, finally accepting that you were only meant to love her and leave her is harder than you thought.

The thing about Daniela is not only that she’s startlingly beautiful and haunts your every waking moment, but she’s so goddamn charismatic that everyone loves her. It’s why you love her.

Jackie backs away, and you look at yourself in the mirror. Red sparkly top. Jean shorts that were way too short. Your arms wrapped around yourself and a look on your face like you had just survived a war.

“First of all, don’t think like that. You are so gorgeous, and she’s lucky to have you. Also, she’s completely in love with you. I honest-to-God think so.”

You roll your eyes.

“Okay. Why don’t we just have fun tonight? Tomorrow we can talk.”

“I need to get so drunk,” you weakly laugh, wiping the tears from your face.

“I can definitely help with that.”

—-

This is definitely not the best party you’ve ever been to. But you’re so drunk that it certainly feels like it.

It’s 11, the house is now so full of people you just have to push through the crowd and hope you don’t knock someone over. So crowded that saying “excuse me” is pointless.

It’s exhilarating, this many people around, and for a while you really forget about her. Dancing with Jackie until Megan crosses your path on the dance floor.

Dani and her group of 5 other girls are inseparable.

Where one of them is, the rest of them are soon following. If Megan is here, so is Lara, Yoonchae, Sophia, and Manon. And Daniela.

Megan doesn’t see you, but by the way she’s animatedly greeting people, she probably just got here. And, shit, your eyes gravitate towards the door.

You don’t see her come in.

Jackie grabs you, obviously seeing Megan too, pulling you close to whisper in your ear.

“You good?” She asks, shouting slightly so you can hear her over the music and commotion.

You take a deep breath. You’re that perfect level of drunk where nothing can stay in your mind for too long, and all you want is to dance.

You nod.

She smiles.

Daniela appears behind her.

She’ll never want you back.

It keeps repeating in your head like a mantra. It’s written behind your eyes. It’s all you can think about.

“Hi Jackie,” she says, but doesn’t even spare her a glance.

She’ll never want you back.

Dani’s eyes rake their way up your body and you’re sure she can see you visibly swallow.

She really is like a lion. Her eyes are striking, her smile is sharp, everything about her has this sort of quality that makes it seem like she’s hiding razor sharp claws somewhere.

Her eyes are like claws now, stopping specifically around your hips and chest and leaving particularly deep marks.

“Hey, baby.”

Her smile. Your legs feel weak.

“Miss me?” She asks, joking on the fact you just saw each other a few hours ago.

“Obviously not,” Jackie says for you, a joking smile on her face. Her eyes are full of panic, glancing to you, not sure how she’s supposed to react on your behalf.

She’ll never want you back.

“H-hi,” you say back, stupidly. Your brain feels like it’s being sloshed around in a bucket of vodka.

She laughs. “Wow, you are so drunk.”

She steps closer, one hand coming to your waist, too low, fingertips brushing your ass- the other tucking your goddamn hair behind your ear.

You can’t stop staring at her eyes.

Your inhibitions are down. You’re about to make a total fool of yourself, you’re about to literally fuck her on the dance floor.

She’ll never want you back.

Someone squeezes your hand and caresses your shoulder. But it takes you a few seconds to look away from Dani, for everything to come back into focus.

The music starts blaring again. An elbow jams into your back.

She’ll never want you back.

“Y/N,” Jackie says. “I gotta go talk to Matty.”

“Wait, Jackie!” You say, needing to get away from Daniela, but she’s already disappeared into the crowd.

Dani grabs you as you try to run after her.

She’ll never want you back.

“You are way too drunk to be on your own,” she’s slightly teasing, slightly serious, and her thumb is rubbing back and forth from where she holds you by your arms. “You good?”

She’ll never want you back.

“Drunk,” you shrug. Drunk on her. And on vodka, but whatever. “I’m sorry, Dani, I really have to go.” You start trying to pull away, watching her frown.

Dani frowns. “Y/N-”

“No, I-I’m sorry. I gotta get away.”

You don’t stay long enough to see the hurt look on her face.

—-

After another few shots of reassurance, you feel a little better, a little more drunk, and now that you’re away from Dani- your head is clearer.

You would laugh if you could.

You’re so drunk your balance is shot, you can’t even think about what you’re doing, and yet you don’t feel like you’re drowning.

After watching you down three shots, Jackie had sighed, made Matty promise to watch out for the two of you, and quickly caught up.

The two of you like this with dangerously low inhibitions was probably not good… but it was too late to do anything about it.

People had been playing card games all night mixed in with some drinking, placing bets on who would win, but now the party had started to congregate in whatever room this was.

There were two couches, and in between was a small coffee table, low to the ground. There were a few decks of cards and drinks scattered about, but everyone gave the area a wide berth.

You and Jackie watched the unmoving area.

“That’s where he wants the strip poker to happen.”

“Really?” You turn to Jackie, her Instagram post suddenly flashing back to you. “Oh, yeah. Strip poker,” you giggle. “They’re all a bunch of pigs.”

“Could be fun.”

She shrugs, as if what she says is nonchalant.

You lock eyes before she suddenly bursts into laughter.

But something inside of you lights up.

“Wait, let’s do it.”

“What?” She gawks. “You can’t be serious.”

“Why not? We’re single…ish. Hot.”

For once, this excitement doesn’t have you thinking about Dani.

Jackie thinks it over.

Matty suddenly comes up behind the two of you, all of you forgetting his earlier promise to watch out for you two, and he’s clearly just as drunk.

“Did I hear you say you wanna play?”

You and Jackie share one last look.

—-

“Ladies and gentlemen, my drunk guys and girls, welcome to another one of my fuckin’ amazing parties!”

The crowd cheers.

You and Jackie are sitting across from each other at the table, being given random kitchen table chairs and told that you’re more than welcome to stand on them. You smile. You’re happy.

“Tonight is our main event. My two beautiful friends, Jackie and Y/N, are going to give everyone a wonderful show of… strip poker!!”

The house literally shakes with how much cheering happens.

“Remember to pay 5 dollars to me if you haven’t!” He shouts, before unceremoniously and rather quickly dealing each of you seven cards. “You draw one card at a time. Whoever gets the lower number has to take something off. Aces beat everything.”

He flashes both of you a bright smile before stepping back.

You’re not nervous. You’re not thinking about her. You cross your legs on the chair, a few boys whistle, and that only makes you feel more confident.

“Ready?” Jackie asks, smiling wide, giddy and excited.

“Yes,” you say, sporting and equally cheery smile.

“3..!” Matty starts counting down.

You grab a card.

“2..!”

Your stomach flips.

“1..!”

You swear you see a flash of something familiar in the crowd.

You both flip your cards.

Jackie draws a 10. You draw a 6.

The crowd erupts into cheers and whistles.

You smile, standing up as you place one of your legs on the chair. You run your hand down your legs before finally slipping your shoe off.

“Nope! Nope!” Matty shouts. “Shoes aren’t technically an item of clothing, but I’ll allow it if you take both off.”

This is met with more cheers.

You’re honestly kinda flattered by how many people want you to take your clothes off. You pretend to pout, when really you feel great. This was the reminder you needed.

So what if Dani didn’t want you back? Someone else in this crowd could take her spot.

You take your other shoe off with the same amount of fanfare before sitting back down.

Jackie loses the next round and takes off her shoes too.

Jackie loses again.

She undoes her belt and throws it to Matty.

You lose.

You don’t have enough clothing to be playing this.

Thankfully you do have a pair of fishnets on, but all of this cheering is kinda getting to your head, so you stand up on the chair. You wobble a bit and the crowd laughs, but you steady yourself by bending over and grabbing onto the back of it. Jackie and the group of people behind her cheer a little louder.

You start rolling down your fishnets, letting them shimmy down your ankles, and finally kicking them off into the crowd.

They were ripping, anyways.

“Spin! Spin! Spin! Spin!” The crowd chants.

You laugh. “You want me to spin?” You shout.

You glance at Jackie, but she only laughs and starts clapping to encourage you.

You twist your hands up into the air, tilting your head back slightly to expose the column of your neck. You do a few spins, looking back down at the crowd. The faces mostly bend together, and it’s mostly boys like Matty in the crowd, clearly enjoying the show.

You feel this sense of headiness that reminds you of when it’s good with Dani. You feel this all rush to your head, this admiration. You may have a giant ego after all of this.

That’s when you see her. When you really remember that she’s there, she’s real. She was almost yours.

But she’ll never want you back.

She’s in the crowd with a few of her friends who are cheering for you and smiling. They’re all sweet, and you wave to them.

Dani’s eyes are dark. She’s practically glaring at you. Her red solo cup is getting crushed in her tight grip.

Good, you think to yourself. You’re not stupid. You’re sure she has a roster. She can find someone else because she’s incapable of choosing you and committing.

You blow her a kiss.

You sit back down, feeling flushed and exposed. But in a weird good way. Maybe you wouldn’t be doing this if you were sober. But you’re drunk, and there’s nothing you can do.

At this point, Jackie has grabbed her cards and started standing on the chair too. You grab one of yours, feeling hundreds of eyes rake over your body the way that Dani’s do.

A drumroll starts.

You flip your cards.

You lose again.

Now you really don’t have anything else to give up.

Jackie throws her head back and laughs.

Your hands find the ends of your shirt, lifting it up over your head, leaving you in your short shorts and a red lacy bra.

The crowd goes absolutely crazy. You can’t stop smiling.

You can’t help but look towards Dani again. She’s facing Manon, her best friend, looking back at your intermittently.

Your heart stutters as you realize she’s angry.

She keeps gesturing to you.

Manon looks to be trying to calm her down. Sophia is holding onto her arm like she had tried to run up to the chair and stop you.

You look away, taking a steadying breath.

The sixth round. Jackie loses and takes off her shirt too, leaving herself in a bra and shorts just like you. At least she still has her tights on.

The last round.

You lose.

You start to fiddle with the buttons on your shorts. There’s two of them, and you have fun unbuttoning them slowly, biting your lip as you do so, sharing a few charged glances with Dani- who can’t take her eyes off of you.

You finally slip them off. Someone whistles so loud it actually kind of hurts your ears. You flick them off onto the floor.

Jackie shrugs before raising her hands in the air.

“I may as well join you!” She shouts, slipping off her own shorts.

She’s two far away to reach, but you suddenly wish you could hold her hand.

After a few more seconds of standing up there, a bunch of boys rush forward to help you off of the chair, one guy actually getting on his hands and knees in front of you as a very ineffective stepping stool. You grab two random hands as you step onto the guys back, before finally stepping off and onto the floor again.

At the bottom of this staircase of men is Dani and her group.

Megan and Lara are laughing hysterically at all of the men reaching for you.

You walk forward, hips swaying. Lara and Megan immediately bow down and grab your hands jokingly.

“Oh my god, you were so good!” Megan says, smiling as she stands up again.

“You are so hot,” Lara compliments simply. “Do you wanna get out of here?” She wiggles her eyebrow suggestively before bursting into more laughter.

“I think I have a very long roster now,” you laugh. “But I’ll add you.”

“Oh thank you Y/N, the amazing sexy Y/N.”

Yoonchae is the next to speak up. She’s an exchange student from Korea, and you smile at the way her cheeks are a little pink from just watching you.

“I’m scared,” she says. “I’ve never seen anything like that before.”

“We get crazy in America, babe!” Lara shouts.

You finally bring yourself to look at Dani, placing your hands on your waist.

Manon is standing shoulder to shoulder with her. Sophia is smiling at you but holding Dani’s hand tightly.

“Did you guys like it?”

“Um, yes!!” Sophia shouts. “You really put on a show! Are you sure you don’t wanna change your major to theatre?”

“I think I have a boner,” Manon jokes with a shrug.

Dani, who had been silently glaring at you the entire time, finally seems to break at this. While the rest of you erupt into laughter, she breaks out of Sophia’s grip and grabs your wrist.

“You need to come with me. Now.”

“Dani,” you start. Her grip on your wrist is possessive.

“Shut up.”

Her friends all try to interject but she’s suddenly pulling you through the crowd. You’re too surprised to even think about letting you go.

You find yourself in a hallway.

She opens one door. Someone shouts and you get a glimpse of two people on a bed.

“Oh god,” you mumble.

She drags you to the next door.

“Dani. What the fuck are you doing?” You try to tug her to stop, but she quickly rejects that and pulls you forward.

The next door is locked.

“Fuck,” she curses, taking you to the next door.

“Dani!” You shout.

The next door is open and empty.

She pulls you inside. She doesn’t even bother to turn the lights on, but the light to the adjoining bathroom was left on, giving you enough light to see her.

Seeing Dani in the dark is all you’ll ever do. Unless you get out now, you’re stuck in this cycle forever. She told you when you first started this that she’s not ready for commitment. And you respect that, and you love being with her- but you can’t keep pretending that you’re okay with only having some of her.

She unzips her hoodie and puts it over your shoulders.

“Please. You look like you’re freezing.”

“Dani.” You take a breath, zipping up her jacket, not feeling well enough to be completely exposed to her. “What the fuck is wrong with you? Like actually?”

“Um, with me? You fucking blew me off earlier. Next time I see you, you’re getting fucking naked for the entire goddamn party.”

“We are not dating,” you remind her. “And also, don’t slut shame me. I can do whatever I want.”

She leans against the door, her head hitting the back of it. Her neck is exposed, and you think back to the last time you were with her, how you kissed up her neck.

Sadness burrows deep inside you before your anger resolves.

“I can do whatever I want,” you repeat. “You told me this was casual. Besides, I’m sure you’ve been fucking other girls.”

Okay, that wasn’t true. But you’re angry.

Her mouth gapes open in shock.

“What the hell are you talking about?!”

“Don’t be dumb, Daniela. You’re, like, the most popular girl here. You could have anyone.”

“You don’t be dumb. You’re the only girl I’m fucking. Are you serious? Why would I even look at anyone else when you’re right in front of me.”

“Whatever. You wanted this to be casual. Remember that, Dani.”

She jumps off of the door. She grabs your face with one hand, her fingers digging into your cheeks and kisses your roughly. It’s all emotion. It’s all anger, jealously, every ugly emotion that she bares openly to you in this messy kiss.

It feels like fireworks. Like butterflies. Like what all the cliches say it’s supposed to feel like.

She finally lets you pull away. A string of split connects the two of you. Her lipstick and yours is smeared on her face. You’re both breathing heavily, her pupils are dilated, her eyes moving from your lips, pouted due to her tight grip on your cheeks, back up to your eyes.

“I’m changing my mind- no. I have changed my mind, Y/N. I want all of you. I’ve wanted all of you. For a long time. And I wish I told you sooner, because this was the worst night of my life.”

She smiles like that solves anything.

It all starts to click in your head.

“Are you serious?” You push her hand off of your face.

Her smile falters.

“I’m in love with you, hermosa.”

“Don’t call me that.”

“What?” She asks, looking genuinely confused.

“You wanted this to be casual. You led me on for months, Daniela. You made me feel like shit. I-I lost so much. So much of my self-respect and my confidence letting you drag me around. I’ve been in love with you since the moment I saw you. And tonight was good for me. It… made me feel good again.”

You didn’t even know you were feeling like this until she was in front of you with your lipstick on her face and you were suddenly shouting at her.

But it’s always been there.

The reason you thought she would never want you back… maybe it wasn’t anything she did. Maybe it was just your own brain making stuff up.

“I don’t think you could ever love me.”

“Herm- Y/N-”

“I think I want to be alone right now.”

“Oh.”

She looks like a kicked puppy.

You want to leave. But you can’t bring yourself to.

“It doesn’t matter that I love you?”

You take a step towards her and the door. You can’t decide which one you’re stepping towards.

“Because I do. I love you. I was literally about to step up there grab you off of that chair myself. I-I was so jealous. Like embarrassingly jealous. I think I discovered things about myself,” she laughs quickly before sobering up again. “And I just… I just want you.”

She steps closer.

“Please just say you love me back.”

“I do love you, Dani.”

Her eyes soften.

“But I need to, like, think about myself for once. Seriously. So I can’t… I can’t do this right now. As much as I want too.”

The silence stretches out.

“Say it one more time,” she whispers, finally looking away from you, eyes fixing on the floor.

It’s easy to say because it’s true.

“I love you, Daniela.”

—-

When you leave the bedroom, tears are streaming down your face. You’re not looking where you’re going, too busy trying to keep mascara from running down your face. It’s no surprise when someone says your name and softly stops you.

“Manon,” you say, taking a deep breath. Dani still hasn’t left the bedroom you were in.

“What happened?” She asks, in a way that tells you she’s not demanding, but simply open to listening.

“How much did you know?”

You’re not sure how much of what you did Dani told her friends.

“I know you guys were having sex,” she says, cautiously.

“Mhm.” You laugh dryly. “And we just confessed our love for each other, so, yeah.”

Her brows furrow. “Wait. Then why-”

A door behind you creaks open and shut.

Manon looks up and you can tell by her reaction that it’s Dani leaving the bedroom. You can feel her eyes on your back.

“I’m gonna go,” you mumble, slipping away from Manon and into the crowd of people. She hesitates but doesn’t stop you.

You lose yourself in the anonymity of the crowd.

Manon draws Dani into a hug, comforting the brunette as she does her best not to cry. “Babe, what happened?”

“She loves me,” is all Dani can think to say. Because that’s all that matters.

—-

You wake up the next morning hungover. Your head pounds, you can hear Jackie throwing up in the bathroom, and you remember everything.

How good it felt playing that game. How good it felt to know that Dani loved you. How much it hurt to know that you needed to step away to love yourself.

You stare at the ceiling, unmoving, listening to Jackie in the bathroom and trying to will away your own nausea. When she comes back, she flops onto your bed which makes your head scream.

“Jackie!” You moan, putting your hands over your eyes.

“What happened with Dani?”

“Damn. No hi? How are you?”

“Girl.”

After the talk with Dani, you had quickly found Jackie and left with her… without some of your clothes. You hadn’t wanted to talk about it last night, but it was obvious something had happened. You felt like you had been drowning, on the brink of death, and had finally been returned to air. All you wanted to do was sit here and breathe… even though you yearned for the touch of the hands that were drowning you.

“Y/N?” She pries, gently. She’s laying on her side, tucked in next to you with her head on your shoulder. “I saw her drag you off. What happened after that?”

You sigh.

“She… told me she’s in love with me.”

“WHAT?!”

“JACKIE!”

You hiss, digging your hands into your temples as she groans too. After a minute of recovery, your headaches have both faded back to their regular dull stabbing.

“Sorry. But what. The. Fuck. I fuckin’ knew it, first of all.”

“Oh, well that’s nice for you,” you remark sarcastically.

“And… why isn’t that good?”

“Because I hated myself when I was with her. You were literally the one who told me that she shouldn’t make me feel like shit.”

“Okay, true. But half of that stuff you were freaking out about was in your head. Babe, it was obvious she was in love with you.”

“Well why didn’t you tell me?!!”

“I literally did.”

“Whatever,” you mumble, not emotionally ready to handle that. “I think it’s pretty over. Or it will be over, once we get over each other.”

“But.. you’re in love with each other? I think you can learn to love yourself while she loves you too. Actually, that may be helpful. Like, I can tell you you’re beautiful, but I am not going to kiss you. Sorry.”

“Rude,” you gasp.

“Like, you’re hot, but Dani would kill me. I saw her while we were playing. She was pissed.”

“She told me she was jealous,” you admit.

“She wasn’t just jealous, she was, like, crazy possessive. She did not stop looking at you the entire time. Except for when she started arguing with Manon. She looked like she wanted to kill everyone in the room and then fuck you.”

She pokes you.

“Girl, that’s kinda hot.”

You stare at the ceiling.

“That’s okay. I know you like it.”

“Anyways,” you sigh, ignoring your best friend’s giggle. “I think I just need some time?”

“That sounds like a question, babe.”

“Because I don’t know!” You sigh. “I don’t know what to do.”

“Okay, well, I guess you should take some time to think. But I am team Dani, just so you know.”

“Thanks, Jackie,” you roll your eyes, wincing when it aggravates your headache.

“You do know you fell asleep in her hoodie though, right?”

You sit up on instinct, looking at the hoodie in shock. It’s hers. The one she put on you in the bedroom.

“Fuck.”

Your stomach turns.

“Fuck.”

“I’m supporting you from over here,” Jackie says as you run into the bathroom.

Dani: I hope ur not too hungover this morning.

Dani: If u ever need anything I’m here. Always

—-

The next time you see Daniela is after your Monday class with Professor Davis. Luckily, he was tame today, because you and Daniela always cross paths in this hallway.

You go the same direction at the same time. She always finds you in this hallway and walks you to your dorm. It used to be something cute that made you feel special. That made it easier to pretend like you were really dating.

When you exit the lecture hall, the first thing you do is look at her. She’s walking down the hallway, but looking straight ahead in an almost unnatural way. You hesitate at the door.

You watch as she finally gives in, sneaking one glance over to your lecture hall as she walks past.

Your gazes lock immediately.

Someone walking out of the classroom bumps into your back. You don’t even acknowledge it.

She looks away first.

Then glances back again.

—-

Matty places a McDonald’s bag on your desk.

“I’m sorry about not taking care of you guys on Friday.”

“It’s ok, Matty,” you say, grabbing the fast food bad from him and smiling at the correct order. “Thank you very much.”

Despite the shit you and Jackie sometimes give him, he really is a good guy. And by frat standards, he’s an angel.

“If it makes you guys feel any better, you were both really sexy.”

“Thanks,” you smile.

“We know,” Jackie says at the same time.

“A few of the guys already asked me if I can throw another party with strip poker again,” he laughs.

“Maybe we should perform again,” you joke.

“For real?” Matty asks, face turning serious.

“No,” you roll your eyes.

“Oh. No, yeah, that’s cool. A few guys asked for your guys numbers, too. But I shut that down.”

“I dunno,” Jackie starts, picking at a throw pillow in her lap. “I think Y/N needs a little something-something.”

“About Dani, right?” Matty asks. “I saw you two getting pretty heated but you disappeared with her before I could get over there.”

“Well,” you sigh, and Jackie lays back in her bed with a loud groan. You ignore her. “You know how we were having sex, right? Turns out we were both in love with each other. But I thought she was just kinda leading me on and I felt like shit, so now I’m like… taking space, I guess.”

“But you’re both in love with each other?” He frowns.

“Not the point. I need to love myself.”

“Sure,” he mumbles. “We are throwing another one this Friday too. We forgot it was the chapters birthday on Friday, or else we wouldn’t have thrown the last one.” He glances at you with a smirk. “Wanna make sure Dani’s there and then pole dance?”

You laugh.

“Sure!”

“Wait, for real?” You roll your eyes at his serious face.

Jackie throws a pillow at him.

“Obviously not, Matty. God, men are so stupid sometimes.”

“Damn, okay. Will you post again, Jacks?”

“Of course,” she smiles. “And Y/N- I think a distraction could be good for you. A one night stand, you know? Either to forget about her or make you realize that you’re meant to be with Dani. I prefer the second option.”

She smiles.

You glare back.

“Whatever. We’ll be there.”

—-

You: hey I still have your hoodie

Dani: keep it

You: Idk if that’s a good idea

Dani: keep it anyways

Dani: I’m not giving up on us

“Okay, so,” Jackie starts, looking up from your phone. “First of all, oh my god that is so hot. Second of all, I don’t think you should say anything else. Leave her wanting more, you know?”

You sigh, taking the phone back from her and looking at the text chain. Not only did she infuriatingly text back 10 seconds after you texted her, like she was just sitting around waiting for you to talk to her again, but her chasing you did feel… kinda good.

You understood why Dani did like a little bit of a cat and mouse game. It feels good to be wanted.

—-

This outfit feels like you’ve accidentally played another game of strip poker, and every time you lost, you had to take a pair of scissors to these tiny shorts and purple top marked with cut outs, showing so much skin you feel like you should pray just for wearing it.

You hug the wall. You’re not drunk enough to feel confident yet, and Dani will probably be here, and you think about her more than you should for someone who just walked away from her.

Jackie finally comes back, handing you two shots.

“Hey!” She scolds, watching you try to pull up and down on your outfit simultaneously. “Stop that. Now drink and be fun again.”

You sigh.

“I probably shouldn’t be using alcohol as a confidence booster.”

“No, probably not.”

You scan the party. Still no sign of Dani or any of her friends.

“You’re looking for her,” Jackie teases. “I can tell.”

“Shut up,” you mumble, hiding behind the now empty shot glass.

“Did you, like, want her to prove that she loves you?”

You toy around with the idea. “Maybe? Is that bad? That I don’t even know why I’m doing this?”

“No, because I know.”

You look towards her with a smile, but her face is serious.

“You’re overthinking it. You were sad when you were with Dani because you thought she would never choose you. Then she chose you, you got scared, but you want her back.”

She leans in closer.

“You need to get out of your head and let her prove that she loves you.”

“Jackie,” you groan, too overwhelmed.

But you know she’s right. You keep staring into the crowd, hoping she’ll pop up again. Remembering how good it felt to know that she wanted you until that self-sabotaging sadness and anger took over. Remembering the way she kissed you. The way she grabbed you. The way she said she wanted to take you off of that chair.

Jackie slaps your ass.

“Come on, girl! You look sexy! Go dance, and I’m sure as soon as she walks in she’ll be sliding all up on you.”

The alcohol is slowly starting to make you feel a little looser…

“I’m not going alone.”

Jackie grabs your hand.

—-

The dance floor is decidedly unsexy. There are green strobe lights making everything look kinda sickly, it’s hot, you’re sweating, and you’re surrounded by a bunch of hot and sweaty people.

It doesn’t help that half of these frat boys are practically seven feet tall and looming over everyone else, either.

Jackie had abandoned you a while ago, but you were okay with that.

You feel good.

You feel eyes on you.

It makes you feel like you did on that chair.

And it helps that you’ve had like 10 more shots.

A body appears behind you, hot skin pressing against your exposed back- you immediately know it’s not her. You turn around only to find some random frat boy with an unbuttoned shirt grinding up on you.

He grins.

You’re drunk and lose your balance, and he immediately swoops in to steady you.

“Remember me? I’m the guy you stepped on last week.”

You do laugh at that.

“That was you? Well, thanks.” Too busy thinking about her to really look at him.

He leans forward, breath hot in your ear.

“Wanna give me a private show?”

You pull back, stomach sinking, awkward smile on your face.

“Thanks,” you start, putting your hands on his chest to slowly try to push him back, his hands remaining tight on your waist. “But no thanks.”

“Come on, you know you want too, sweetheart.”

And the only thing you can think is that it’s not in Spanish.

Suddenly his hands are pushed off of you and replaced by familiar hands, by hands that you would know anywhere, the hands that could drown you and you would still want more.

“No touching,” she says to him, a faux gasp in her scolding tone. Her fingers splay out across your hips. You can practically hear the smirk in her voice.

He looks between the two of you.

“Threesome?”

“Ew,” you automatically blurt out.

Dani hums.

“I’m not big on sharing.” Her arms wrap around you tighter. “You can go now. She’s good here.”

“Whatever,” the guy, who never even told you his name, says before ducking his head in embarrassment and disappearing into the crowd.

But you’re too focused on the way Daniela is touching you. She kisses your neck and your entire body shudders.

“Every time I see you at these parties you’re always getting someone else’s attention.”

She needs to stop whispering in your ear in that tone of voice.

“Dani,” you start, but your voice is breathy. You’re shaking in her arms. You think it’s anticipation. “What are you doing?”

“I told you. I’m not giving up. But I’ll stop if you really want me too.”

You don’t speak.

She smiles and kisses your neck again.

“That’s what I thought.”

You place your hands over hers.

“Dani.”

It’s a warning. To her. To yourself.

“Hermosa.”

You told her not to call you that. But she’s obviously testing your boundaries… and you don’t say anything again.

“I’m sorry,” you suddenly breathe.

You can feel her confusion against you.

“Wh-”

She barely gets the word out before you whip around in her arms, plant your hands on her cheeks, and slam your lips onto hers.

She kisses you back immediately, her hands running up and down your sides like she’s trying to touch as much of you as possible. Like her hands are covered in paint, and the more of you she touches the more that everyone can see you’re hers.

That you never stopped being hers.

Both of you are hungry and the kiss is just as messy as the last one, except this one is so much sweeter because you both know you won’t ever go back to what this last week has been again. You’ll never let her go again. She’ll never let you go again.

She starts kissing your cheek, moving down to your jaw, your neck, mumbling something.

“Espléndida,” she keeps repeating. “Beautiful, hermosa, you’re so beautiful, so beautiful…”

“Dani,” you say, staring into the green strobe light across the room and letting the dots burn across your vision. You would be okay with going blind if she was the last thing you got to see.

She bites down hard on your neck. You gasp but pull her closer, your hands tangling in her curls.

“I want you to be mine,” she says against your skin, kissing the red mark she just made. “Please be mine.”

It hits you.

She’s begging for you.

Daniela has never begged for anyone in her life. Not Daniela, perfect Daniela either her perfect hair and outfits and mouth. With her perfect words and the way she speaks Spanish when she’s losing herself in you.

There are people all around you. You can barely hear her over this loud uptick in the music, and she’s whispering into your ear that she wants you, all she wants is you, her hand curling around the base of your neck.

Another hickey slowly forming.

Someone taps your shoulder.

“What?” You mumble.

“Um, guys,” the voice says, slightly sheepish.

Dani lifts her head from your neck, cheeks flushed with… jealousy?

“Can you not?” She immediately hisses without even seeing who it is.

Megan and Lara stand in front of you.

Megan is at least trying to hide her laugh. Lara is just doubled over hysterically crying.

“I don’t know if you guys noticed.,, but a lot of people are looking at you and you’re basically fucking in front of everyone.”

You finally glance around, nameless faces immediately turning away and staring at anything else.

“Um…” you start, feeling your cheeks heat up.

“We’re clearly busy,” Dani answers for you.

“Okay, damn, Miss Possessive,” Lara laughs, holding her hands up in mock defense. “Nobody is gonna take her from you.”

Dani hasn’t moved her hands from your neck and your waist.

“Just leave us alone,” she groans, throwing her head back, voice slightly whiny. “Seriously, guys.”

“All I’m saying is your car is literally parked outside,” Megan shrugs.

Dani blinks. Grabs your hand.

“We’re leaving.”

Lara stops you, putting her hand on your shoulder.

“Wait, Y/N. Do you feel safe?”

You burst out laughing.

Dani tugs you closer to her.

“Shut up, Lara!”

Her cheeks are red as she drags you through the party, ignoring your laughter, she only stops to let you snatch a mostly empty bottle of vodka you insist on grabbing… sensing you may need some liquid courage to get through this conversation.

But you hope there isn’t a lot of talking.

Dani’s red Mustang is parked a little ways down the street, and you don’t talk the entire way there. You’re trying to hide the bottle of vodka in your jacket, and she’s intently holding onto your hand.

The sun is setting. The sky is painted dark purple and pink.

The car is eerily quiet. It’s definitely different in the light. Without the anonymity of the dark, you feel as exposed as you did during the game. But the way her gaze lands on you- she makes you feel held and loved even when the console of the car separates you.

She makes you feel as heady as you did performing for all those people.

You bring the bottle to your lips and choke down a disgusting sip before handing it to Dani. She does the same.

“Dani,” you start, but your breath hitches when she reaches over and puts a hand on your thigh. Like it’s casual. Like it’s meant to be there.

“Yeah?”

You take a breath. You have to say this now, because everything about her makes you want to climb over and kiss her. Hard.

“I’m sorry.”

She frowns.

“Why? You don’t have to be sorry, baby.”

“Dani-”

“Wait,” she stops you, squeezing your thigh so you look at her instead of your hands. “Can I say something?”

You can’t stop looking into her eyes. Her entire face is full of real, earnest honesty.

You nod.

“You… told me that you felt like you weren’t good enough for me.”

She pauses. Your heart sinks, but you nod again.

“So it’s my fault. I should have showed you I loved you better.”

“No,” you sigh, looking away again. “You didn’t do anything. No- I mean- you did everything right. It was all me being stupid. I was just…” it takes you a second to say the word. “Insecure. Really insecure. And then I got scared when it got real. But I love you, Dani. And I’m sorry I ran away.”

She grabs your chin, softly angling your face toward her. She’s smiling.

“You came back. That’s all I care about.”

“I did.”

You smile.

You lean forward to kiss her, but she leans back, biting her lip.

“I’m not gonna kiss you, baby. Not until you say it.”

“Say what?” You ask.

The way she tucks your hair behind your ear. The way she makes you feel. The way she holds you. The way she kisses you. The way she’s so kind, so smart, so talented. The way she’s everything you’ve ever dreamed of.

“That you’re mine.”

“I’m yours, Dani,” you breathe, watching as that feline look crawls its way home onto her face.

“Yeah?”

“I’m yours, Daniela Avanzini.”

Her lips part, corners of her mouth still curled up, and she leans forward achingly slow- then stops.

“Hermosa, I spent a week without you and went crazy.” Her hand moves higher, toying with the end of your jean shorts. “We’re going to need some rules.”

“Rules?” You smile. “Maybe I don’t feel safe.”

She squeezes your thigh like a warning.

“I think you like me like this.”

You don’t respond, and that’s answer enough.

“First of all, clothes like this are for me only.”

She kisses your jaw, lips lingering there.

She’s right. You do like her like this.

“Second, you need to talk to me. I don’t want you to ever feel like that again, baby. You’re mine and I’m yours. I’m not going away.”

You nod. “I will, Dani.”

The way she cares about you makes her even sexier.

“And please, for the love of God, Y/N, don’t ever play a stripping game again.”

You laugh together, leaning forward until your foreheads are touching.

The kiss is sweet and soft. It’s not rough or angry, or charged with insane amounts of desire. It’s the kind of kiss that you don’t have to think about, because you know you’re gonna do it again and again.

She pulls back with a smile before reaching next to her and pulling her seat all the way down until she’s lying flat.

Her cropped shirt leaves her stomach exposed, and you have to tear your eyes away from her.

She pats her thighs.

“Sit, baby.”

You make your way over the console, heart continuing to beat faster and faster until you’re straddling her, her hand resting comfortably on your ass.

She grabs the vodka and hands it to you.

You can feel her watching the column of your throat as you swallow, a drip of liquid trailing down your lips and chin in your haste to get the burning stuff down your throat.

She tucks your hair behind your ear again and this time- she lets her fingers linger. Openly.

She sits up, her tongue darting out onto your sweaty skin, lapping up the trail of vodka until she reaches your lips, leaving one final chaste kiss there.

She grins. She’s like a cat. But she’s yours.

“I think your girlfriend should get one of your infamous shows. Right, mi hermosa?”

“Of course, baby.”

You smile, reaching down to slowly undo the buttons of your shorts.

—-

#daniela avanzini #katseye daniela #daniela x reader #daniela avanzini x reader #daniela avanzini x female reader #daniela x female reader #katseye x reader #katseye x female reader

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not-so-innocent-bi-sander · 3 days ago

Text

Okay so.. here’s a thought I’m dealing with I guess.

I saw Thomas posted a video today about being part of people’s nostalgia, I haven’t really ever watched his videos on YouTube besides Sides stuff and his short little psuedo-vines.

But I kinda wanted to know what he had to say about it.

***TLDR- I got thinking about how I made so many friends via this fandom and the lack of content has really pushed everyone to move on, which is totally chill and just how being a fan works, but it also kinda bums me out?***

Anyway gonna ramble I guess

So I watched it to see if he’d mention Sides stuff at all, which he didn’t really. It was mostly about Vine. But i decided to see on his channel if he’s really mentioned Sides stuff any time recently.

I’m pretty sure the length of time between the most recent full episode and now is longer than the time between me joining the fandom and that most recent episode.

And he has some little stuff, songs and funny little skits or whatever. The incorrect quotes and the hear me out cakes, the YouTube Shorts.. I watched a couple of the incorrect quote videos and I genuinely laughed. I miss all that.

Basically all my closest friends that I have I met because of this fandom. And it just kinda bums me out that it all sorta fizzled out the way it did. I think like.. if a new episode dropped tomorrow, a lot of us would all watch it. But several people I know have probably moved on entirely, which I have no judgment about. It’s just kinda a fact of things. I don’t know where I’m going with this I just like.. it feels weird that I’m sorta on the other side of something that was such a huge part of my life and still affects my life to this day.

I still have writings and fics I want to finish, just because I want to finish them. I love writing these characters, and I don’t know if it’s because they’re just good frameworks or if it was just because it was my first fandom as an adult and I felt like I was better at writing than I had been before… or maybe it’s because I feel like my writing greatly improved because of how much I wrote them.

I know I’m not losing my friends just because we have different interests now, even though I think that was a concern for a long time. But I just don’t know what to do with this feeling.

I haven’t tried to write anything in so long even though I like doing it, and I don’t know if it’s because I feel like everyones moved on - and if I post something the only responses I’ll get are “I’m not into this anymore don’t tag me in it” even though not needing responses and just doing things I like because I like it has long been something I’ve wanted to be better at - or if some part of me doesn’t want to? I think it’s mental health and general exhaustion, but I don’t know. I think I’m gonna try.. maybe tomorrow I’ll try and just do a little something. See what happens. I don’t know

I still read my old fics sometimes, it’s been so long since I wrote themthat I forgot a lot of the details and it’s kinda like I found a fic written just for me. It’s not really about the source material anymore, I just like all these little guys I’ve been making up stories about for years and years.

It’s nearly midnight and I’m in bed just trying to get all this out on my phone. If you read all this, thank you. Sorry it didn’t go anywhere?? I don’t know I just.. that’s the stuff I’m trying to think on right now.

#sanders sides #Jordan said a thing

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linderosse · 2 days ago

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Heya folks! I'm Lin! Some of you may know me as the author of a humble Zeldas-meet comic series called the Wielders of Wisdom, part of my larger Zelda AU called Wisdomverse.

Every creator has different views on how content should be interpreted, and I figure I should make mine clear for folks who are interested, as well as clarify some things about the Wisdomverse and the history of its creation and influences. These are just some of my thoughts on the series and fandom as a whole with respect to my comics; I'm taking this opportunity to state them in text form.

Extremely, extremely long post. Folks who know me know I like writing longposts-- this is even longer. You have been warned!

Please feel free to read or ignore as you wish— if you’re here for my artwork, no worries! And if you’d like, there’s a tl;dr section at the end; please feel free to skip to it.

As always, I reserve the right to edit parts of this if my views change, or if I'm convinced otherwise. And as always, I welcome everyone else’s thoughts on the matter.

Why I Create:

I began the Wisdomverse because I love the Zelda series.

I've been a Zelda fan for nearly twenty years now, and have completed every single mainline game, plus a fair few of the others, and 100%ed a few of them or played challenge modes as well. The Zelda series has its flaws and it definitely has some inconsistencies. But each new game continues to amaze me nonetheless.

Wielders of Wisdom, part of the Wisdomverse AU, is a comic series that features the Zeldas summoning each other to help deal with different problems in their own eras. As a tactical RPG superfan (FE!!! TriStrat!!!) and a huge fan of fairplay mystery plots, I wanted to write a story featuring Wisdom at its core. I've now been working on the Wisdomverse off and on for about two years, maybe a little more, though theories and characterizations from much longer ago have made it in.

I am super glad that my comic has brought people to Zelda. It’s so cool to hear that people started playing the games because they saw my artwork.

I have a story I want to share, and mysteries I want the characters to solve. I look forward to continuing it.

The Influence of LU

On one hand, the Wisdomverse began as an LU spinoff.

I created the Wielders with the LU Chain in mind— not necessarily based on LU canon, but based on mine and others’ versions of the Chain at the time using our interpretations of the Zelda games themselves as source material. The core characterizations of LU are brilliant, and I love them— particularly the combination of Links that make up Legend and Four. I had seen Link-meets before, but combining Links was a novel idea to me. It allowed me to express my love for the lesser known Zelda games just as much as the popular ones.

And folks, LU sparked so much Zelda fan content, which was difficult to find at scale before. I was there in the old-ish days (not the truly old days, I must admit), writing Zelda fanfic and reading it on FFnet (under a different username which shall not be named 😆). LU made it so much easier! The comic is great too, but the framework revitalized my love of the Zelda fandom.

My characters in Wisdomverse still use the LU fanon Zelda nicknames as a tribute to all of us LU fans out there. I came up with everything else about the girls, but not their nicknames. I was there for the tail end of those discussions, and adopted the nicknames because I can't see the Zeldas any other way now. I can, of course, explain why we chose each and every one of those nicknames. But the nicknames do not belong to me; nor to the creator of LU. They are a creation of the LU fandom. Shoutout to those guys, y'all are great.

Characters of my Own

On the other hand, I… have actually seen folks assume that all my work in personalizing the Zeldas for my comics, writing their characters, rebalancing and clarifying their powers and abilities, setting up their stories, and designing their outfits and jobs to make them as unique as possible— that this was all done by the creator of LU as well. I have been sent angry and confused DMs because I made certain decisions, like making Tetra and Phantom different characters, like they are in the canon games, despite Wind also representing Spirit Tracks in LU. Or making Legend and Fable twins when Jojo confirmed they’re not related in LU— ironic, considering that it seems to be the opposite sentiment that sparked the newer discourse. This is actually why I made that info post about it a year or two back, if anyone is wondering.

These assumptions were a little sad to see, of course. I understand the frustration when one's work is attributed to someone else. I wasn't really offended by the mistake, though. It is reasonable, in a fandom as large as Zelda, for ideas to be misattributed. Most folks understood completely when I corrected them. The ones that didn't, I simply ignored.

Fans

In fact, in my experience, LU fans have almost always been super polite and excited to learn new things about the franchise, or learn new headcanons and ways to connect the dots between canon elements. Writing “The Secrets We Keep” is a lot of fun, because I know quite a lot about the games, and I get to work it into the story and hear people go, “Oh, I didn’t know that! And you’ve connected these two things? That’s so cool!” I love getting to see that side of the fandom.

Many LU fans I’ve met also know a ton about the franchise— I never thought I could learn so many new things about a series I already know very well! From glitches and exploits to theories about the origin of weapons and materials; I love hearing it. Some of it has been incorporated into Wisdomverse :) (but not the glitches and exploits; that would be cheating XD).

As I said, the very few folks that were rude, I ignored. That’s to be expected in any group of people.

Building on Others’ Ideas

I myself have used headcanons that belong to other people. Shoutout to raycatzdraws and snowylynxxx for their Spirit design that I iterated on. I definitely wasn’t the originator of the Legend|Fable siblings hc, or the hc that Wild had a sister, etc. Of course, I know the reasons and canon source material for all those hcs. But I no longer know who first connected the dots to come up with them.

Fandom is hard to source. Heck, I’ve seen some people who came to Wisdomverse through other sites assume that I created LU (of course I did not). One commenter on a YouTube video even assumed that Fable’s Cane of Somaria from the Wisdomverse was inspiration for the trirod in the actual Echoes of Wisdom game. (I wish! The Cane is simply a canon item from ALttP/OoA; I promise I had no hand in EoW’s development). Such is the way of life in a convoluted fandom. Ray said it best in a comment somewhere I still remember— we’re all out here playing a game of fandom telephone.

Fandom Telephone

As I’ve been saying for years on stream, that’s one of the things I like best about the Zelda fandom: the fact that there are so many interpretations of everything, and all of us build on each others’ work. The Silmarillion and MDZS fandoms are the same way (shoutout to fandoms where the source material contradicts itself and fans interpret things however they want 😆). Unlike in a normal game of telephone, however, the result at the end of the line is still just as valid as the original message. It’s about creativity, not accuracy. A game of telephone is boring as hell if everyone just perfectly repeats the initial phrase. Variety is the spice of creation.

I personally prefer intentional variety based on interpretations of the games' canon. In fact, I tend to stick as close to canon as possible while telling the story I want to tell. Folks who've read The Secrets We Keep are probably used to my long Game Notes for each chapter.

But accidental variety works too! You don’t have to stick to canon if you don't want to! And no one at all should be enforcing that.

Gatekeeping

I've finished every mainline Zelda game. I have 100%ed many of them, and played some on challenge modes. I know all popular timeline theories by heart, including of course my own timeline for Wisdomverse. I can probably list the titles, release years, and consoles of most Zelda games, plus tons of other useless trivia. To be clear, I knew most of this before discovering LU.

I’d like to think I’m therefore qualified to say: let everyone write or draw or play what they want!

You are still a fan if the only Zelda game you’ve played is Breath of the Wild! You are still a fan if you’ve never played a Zelda game and just love LU! You are still a fan if you’ve never read LU either and are just vibin’ with the characters on AO3! You are still a fan if you don’t know what LU is but think the Wisdomverse girls are cool!

You can check my old posts to confirm that I’ve said this over and over again— I ain’t here to gatekeep the Zelda fandom. No one should be. There is no excuse for anyone to belittle someone for not knowing a detail about the games. Or for having a particular viewpoint on the series. The Zelda fandom has always been a wholesome place, and I know we can keep it that way.

And since tons of Zelda and LU fans are just as knowledgeable about the series as me, if not more, I’m sure all of us are happy to tell folks anything they’d like to know— only if they want to know it, because there should never be requirements to be in a fandom.

Perhaps because I’m from the Silm fandom, I am used to this sentiment. I’ve read the Silmarillion four times, but tons of folks just read the wiki pages or fics and are totally accepted into the fandom. I personally believe Zelda— any fandom, really — should be just as open and free.

Is Wisdomverse still a part of LU?

People have been asking me this for a while. I’ve responded to it in the past, but my answer may have changed slightly.

LU is a great story, and I have to give Jojo massive credit for the amazing framework, designs, and characterization. The core characters that make up the LU Links still match the Wis Zeldas, of course, and The Secrets We Keep is still very much continuing starring the LU Links as I envision them.

But many things about the Wisdomverse have deviated from LU canon now— not because I have changed them, but because I adopted these traits into my stories long before Jojo clarified them about her Links. At this point, the Wisdomverse Info page clarifies all theories that differ from the games themselves, not just LU. Jojo has made decisions that fit the story she wants to tell, and I have made different ones that fit my story.

In Wisdomverse, Spirit and Phantom exist separately from Tetra and Wind, like in Zelda canon. Shadow and the FSA manga are also canon, because the plot fits neatly into Four's character arc in the games. TotK is canon; I have already released my future Wild and Flora designs. The events of Hyrule Warriors are canon. The visiting Links that accompanied Legend in Triforce Heroes are Silent and Hyrule. Legend and Fable are twins, because I follow the ALttP siblings theory. And my comic Echo of the Past has made it quite clear that Echoes of Wisdom and Cadence of Hyrule are canon as well, and I have plans for them :).

There are probably more changes as well; these are the ones I can remember off the top of my head. As far as I know, none of these things are true anymore in base LU.

Some of these changes were imposed to make my series more accurate to the games. Some of them were imposed because that was how I viewed the series, long before LU even existed. And some of them were imposed so I can tell the story I want to tell.

Tagging

I have been using “wis sun” “wis echo” “wisdomverse” “wielders of wisdom” etc tags for my stuff for a while now.

Echo of the Past, for example, is entirely my own thing, and has no LU influence or characters whatsoever. The idea to combine EoW, CoH, and AoL into Echo was mine and mine alone. Silent, Echo, Dawn, and the Prince are all my characters, and are using my designs and personalities. I don’t think that counts as LU anymore, so I removed all the LU tags when posting. I don’t mind if you want to tag it as LU when reblogging, though! From a practical standpoint, that only helps me out XD.

To be clear, when I use the LU Link designs, I will still tag the post with their info. The creator deserves credit for their design, and folks who chance upon the art deserve to know I did not create the LU Links.

This means that I am possibly the one creator that isn’t technically writing/drawing LU but is kind of okay with my posts being tagged as LU.

But please also tag them as Wisdomverse. I put a lot of work into my characters. I want people to know that.

And please don't tag other creators' works as Linked Universe. I allow it at the moment because of the specifics of the Wisdomverse, and the fact that I want to credit LU for the nine Link designs I'm using along with my Zeldas. I don't think any other creators with separate AUs allow this.

Building off of my Works

That said, I hope no one feels like I am imposing my views over the LU characters— or even my Zeldas.

I stated that I view Dusk as ace, for example, and that Fable is lesbian. But if you want to use the Wisdomverse framework, summoning system, and characterization while shipping Dusk with Midna, or Fable with Legend or something, be my guest!

I personally don’t mind anyone interpreting my characters in any way as long as you’re aware that I believe differently. I may even state that I personally disagree with that part of the interpretation, but that’s totally fine! Do what you wish! If you were inspired by me, feel free to tag me— I love it. Other creators may not share this opinion, and that is also completely valid, but I love to see people build on my ideas, even if they’re taking their own spin on it.

I only ask that folks don’t directly ship the Zeldas with each other, because no matter what canon you’re using, they’re all direct descendants of each other, and that… gets a bit icky. I actually personally don't mind Linkcest (not a fan, but not opposed to it), but the LU creator has requested that folks don't ship their Links and I respect that. I guess if you want to ship the Links that I designed: Spirit, Silent, or post-TotK Wild... go for it? I obviously ship those three with their Zeldas, but I ain't about to stop folks from making a really, really strange crackship XD.

TL;DR

Can’t deny the massive influence LU has had on the Zelda fandom as a whole. I appreciate it!

However, it is a bit sad to see my ideas credited to LU sometimes.

The Wisdomverse has deviated quite a bit from LU at this point, and is sort of its own thing that sometimes uses the LU designs and characterizations for the Links. 2.5/11 Links in Wis use my own designs. All 11 Zeldas use my own designs.

I don’t mind if you tag Wis content as LU when applicable! Please also tag it as Wisdomverse though— I’d appreciate that :).

LU fans have almost always been very knowledgeable and polite to me in the past. Shoutout to the LU fandom. Y’all are great.

Anyone who wants can be a Zelda fan! No gameplay required, and no gatekeeping allowed.

Anyone who wants can make fan content interpreting my work in any way; I will not be offended!

The Zelda community has always been a wholesome place to me, and I hope to see it continue that way.

Congrats on making it this far— or for skipping to the tl;dr’s :).

Thanks for reading, and see you around!

Masterpost

#wisdomverse #wielders of wisdom #zelda #lin thinks #lin responds

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zeropro · 3 hours ago

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Q&A Corner: Autobot Base

Wanted to try and clear some of my inbox before moving on to the next phase of the story. (long post warning)

It's gotta be Bumblebee, tho he and Wheeljack are chill. The Dinobots trust everyone inherently because they are the strongest and also a little stupid.

Jazz is like, just as cautious as Red Alert, but instead of getting anxious and paranoid he stays cool and relaxed about it. He's keeping just as close an eye on the Decepticons roaming the base as anyone, you just wouldn't know it if you didn't know Jazz. And everyone knows Jazz.

I get a lot of asks about random characters, and I cant really draw all of them, but I like the idea that Cosmos is chilling at some amusement park. Kinda like in EarthSpark, but like consensually haha. I bet he's great with kids.

They're divorced. Ratchet didn't approve of his malpractice and Pharma didnt approve of his personality.

No one will ever find out what happened between Starscream and Cryak if Starscream has any say in it. And he won't refuse a spark exam, it just gives him anxiety and he has a hard time with them. He'll do it but he might have to hold someone's hand.

I don't think it hurts to roll around in vehicle mode, but it's possible it hurts when transforming. Bumblebee can join the chronic pain gang.

Probably my fault, not my best writing if I have to be honest. The dialogue in that comic didn't quite get across what I wanted, I cringe a lot when I look back on it lmao;;; (Also yes best not to touch him or stand too close)

Well Bee is the Autobot leader and Starscream thinks himself the Decepticon leader, so it makes sense they'd work together. Prowl, Jazz, and Red Alert def notice something else going on there and are torn between wishing Bee would be just a little less trusting of the war criminal and hoping this is doing some good for Starscream.

I actually love when fics explore this. I don't think the Autobots are perfect or anything, I'm sure there is still animosity there for sure, but the leadership doesn't rely on fear to maintain power and I think the contrast wouldnt be lost on Starscream. If nothing else it puts into stark contrast just how far Megatron has fallen (heh heh).

Yeah Megatron isnt doing great after coming back online. I think the coneheads left specifically because he started taking it out on them in lieu of Starscream. I don't think anyone wants to be there anymore but it can be really hard to leave. Soundwave is still loyal, he can sense the nuance of what's going on inside Megatron and it makes it hard to turn his back on one of the most important people in his life.

I'm certainly going to try (it's a canon event!)

That would be so very cute, but it wouldn't happen haha.

Of course he misses them, but he's a big boy, he wont cry (maybe in his sleep).

They didn't know he was there. Fireflight got lost and they kinda just stumbled across Thundercracker's house while out looking for him and started bothering him.

I think we all could use a break and a nap mayhaps...

They barely know each other, like coworkers that work on different floors of the same office building.

I'm sure he knows there's a difference. Probably doesnt realize they're cats and not, idk, a bear or something. He didn't really pay attention to Earth creature taxonomy until very recently.

Sunstreaker doesnt feel bad about it because I dont think he had full intention of killing an unarmed incapacitated mech. He was more using intimidation to keep Skywarp from warping out and attacking him, he totally woulda killed him at that point, or at least tried to. Skywarp doesnt hold it against him tho, it was war, it happens, he prolly woulda killed him back if given the chance.

Skywarp also hasn't seen or spoken to Thundercracker since then. Skywarp was really really mad when Thundercracker originally defected from the Decepticons, and he doesn't really understand why Thundercracker wont talk to them. It's complicated. He also just hasn't really thought about going to see him. Keep in mind they've been with the Autobots for a little over a year, so not a very long time.

It's fun how many people were worried for Swindle. I can at least say he didn't really deserve it this time. Man's out here thriving under capitalism but Megatron needs his combiners.

Soundwave is of average size, Megatron is just huge! Soundwave and Starscream are the same size.

They didn't lose Soundwave, they know where he is. They can go visit him any time. And no one has to take care of them, they're full grown adults haha. Honestly, the Autobots are used to them spying on them in their walls, they're probably just like "at least they're running around out in the open where we can see them now."

I think the only other notable one is Defensor. I don't have any plans to include Defensor.

No thanks, that's weird. :P

Stay tuned!

#transformers #long post #q&a

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yellowf1nch · 18 hours ago

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Minors do not interact, slight suggestive themes (vague mentions of sex/intimacy)

This is about the game lore, so potentially spoilers but nothing that necessarily comes for anyone's routes except Skylar

Edit: I finished speaking all the lore points in game, a more comprehensive and less speculative post can be found here.

Actually getting lore from Skylar (for those who haven't and are interested), realizing that nothing physically connects the player and the dateables (aside from perhaps real sensations regarding pain/hearing or vision), but any kind of intimacy is more like the consciousnesses are merging, so... more akin to mech pilots. A spiritual/metaphysical connection. The dateables are also existing in a slightly different reality, the dateviators are actually functioning as a kind of quantum bridge/translator to not only allow the dateables to manifest in our reality, but to give them a recognizable form and-- to let them be able to communicate with us, as apparently they speak an entirely different language... [so no, you are not actually pleasuring yourself on your furniture, but if that's how you want to imagine having fun in a fictional world, that is of course, your prerogative :)]

For those that would take an interest, this could potentially mean the dateables are all completely inexperienced with human intimacy (this is backed up by the fact a lot of their cultures/quips/etc. are similar but very different to ours), so navigating that first time as humans would be potentially very tender and new for them. [Although many seem to be very knowledgeable, just a fun idea.] Their being from a different reality also explains how they eat/where they keep possessions/where they go if they aren't being drawn forth by the dateviators, and how some are able to have mild space-time altering abilities (like being able to take you to places by changing your physical size). The dateables also exist on an entirely different time scale, some being canonically hundreds of years old, though physically (and I presume when they are Realized) are not. This is also how some characters have families, places of origin, or other backgrounds that are well beyond the scope of the house the player lives in. Their physical components, that exist in our reality, can be from Norway, Italy, Russia, etc., but as "people" they reside in an adjacent reality.

[Now for some of my own hypotheses, reading far too much into the "suspension of disbelief"]

It can also explain how some characters have multiple instances (Dorian, Abel, Lux, Wyndolyn, Curt&Rod, Shelley, etc.); basically existing at the same time in multiple places. The slight shifts in Dorian's personality are [I personally believe] him simply compartmentalizing and acting in ways that are more needed for where he is. For example, Tiny Dorian is an instance of Dorian that isn't of the same dimensions as normal, so his complex and behavior express his frustration in not being able to appear as he normally does (imagine trying to talk to someone through a window, versus a keyhole). Someone like Amir, however, has only one kind of physical appearance because he is less one for changing himself to suit different tasks. It may be Amir is also more of the reflection itself, as opposed to the mirror.

This can also be used to explain how only sometimes do objects seem to be able to hear/see the player's interactions with other objects, but not constantly (they have to be intentionally doing so); and, how the dateables are able to see/hear/feel the player interactions without the dateviators, but still can't interact with the player in that way (so it's not like the player bumps into Koa as a man every time one sits on the sofa).

[Many more questions about this. This was just some information I thought was interesting to mention for anyone who didn't get it in game. If you write/want to imagine things to be otherwise, I am not the arbiter of what is right or wrong, it is all fictional :) For those who don't know where to find this information, talk to Skylar! In her "menus" select the options to chat to her.]

[Spoiler!! This is also how you unlock a friendship/love ending with her.]

Here is a follow-up post for this lore.

#date everything game #date everything #date everything x reader #date everything dorian #dorian date everything #skylar date everything

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joooooniecore · 2 days ago

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After all this time - Chapter 11

Your friends have been successful enough to drag you out of your workaholic routine for a vacation out of country.

The only problem? Your long term crush who actually used to be your best friend is also going there. And he is bringing his girlfriend, your ex-female best friend.

What could go wrong? Right?

✧˖* pairing: ex-bestfriend!mingyu x f!reader

✧˖* chapter count: master-list

✧˖* genre: ex-best friend mingyu, friends to strangers to friends to lovers, fluff, angst, slow-burn, smut.

✧˖* playlist: spotify playlist

✧˖* full work warnings: resurfaced old feelings, toxic relationship(not between the main characters), angst, confusions, resentments, past misunderstandings, a very slow burn

✧˖* explicit warnings: penetration, explicit language, cursing, bodily fluids, praising, body worship.

✧˖* author's note: oh no a cliffhanger! i had to okay. its not because i hate everyone who is reading this story but there has been a lot thats going on in my life currently. i have been planning a move out of my childhood home as y'all know and so i am unable to really sit down and write it properly. now i am not someone who puts half ass efforts in writing and calls it a day. i want the angst to really stand out so i will be writing it in the next chapter, in a better way because we all deserve an angsty passionate confession after the torture of 10 chapters. so please wait a little more. i might even post the final chanpter before the next monday. thank you for always supporting. i really love the comments you guys put under the stories. i love y'all so so much!!

--- love, artemis.

✧˖* tag-list: @ana-marais98 @chezsofia @ppaia @mingyuisthevictimofsvt @tokitosun @iarayara @cheolliesvt @seungcheolsblackcard @alohacrispyrn @minhui896 @callmemadhatter @xxluvzrrrx

COMMENT TO BE IN THE TAG-LIST!<3

You woke up from the constant ringing of your phone. The ringtone annoying you as you fumbled a bit before finally reaching your phone that was on the bedstand.

“Hello?”, you mumbled into the receiver, your eyes still closed.

“___? Are you still sleeping?”, came Jihyun’s voice.

“Yes. Why?”, you said as you slightly opened your eyes to check the time. It was almost afternoon.

“Oh my god! I overslept!”, you panicked a little before sitting up and then realizing that you don’t have office.

“Calm down young lady!”, came Jihyun’s voice with a giggle.

“Yeah. Sorry. What happened?”, you finally asked Jihyun.

“Just asking whether you would come to the party or not”, Jihyun finally said.

“Party? Seungcheol’s house?”, you asked, eyes widened by the news.

“Yes.”, Jihyun said.

“You guys have returned back, right?”, you asked, finally settling down.

“Yes, just returned.”, Jihyun said.

“Quite a bold picture you posted there by the way.”, Jihyun giggled a little as she teased you.

“Yeah. It was Jeonghan’s idea and Steven was mischievous enough to play along.”, you said with a sigh.

You weren’t really sure if you did a good thing by putting up a picture of your hand beside his on the dinner table but it was a great idea of proving to the world that you have moved on. You are not normally someone who goes around proving people things but the way Maya had reacted needed to be tamed so you did what you could do. Showed her that you don’t really need Mingyu anymore, which was an absolute lie.

“Mingyu was fuming when he saw it.”, Jihyun’s voice cut through the thoughts in your head.

“Huh? What?”, you asked dumbfoundedly.

“Yes. I saw him seeing the picture, grinding his teeth and then closing his phone before a frustrated sigh.”, Jihyun explained in such a casual voice that you almost beleieved she was joking.

“You are joking right?”, you asked.

“No. You can ask Jeonghan too. He was with me.”, she said.

“When did this happen?”, you were too curious to know.

“Today morning. When we were waiting for the flight at the airport. He sat a little away from everyone. Me and Jeonghan were loitering when we saw him check the picture.”, Jihyun explained the whole incident.

“So basically, you both were spying on him.”, you rolled your eyes but smiled fondly.

“Sort of but hey at least you got the information.”, Jihyun laughed which made you laugh too.

You both talked for another half an hour about what you both will wear and then decided to meet outside of Seungkwan’s house, before driving to Seungcheol’s house.

The rest of the afternoon went along fast, as you freshened up, and decided on which dress to wear.

Unbeknownst to you, a phone rang somewhere in another part of the same city you live in.

“Hello?”

“Seungcheol hyung, it’s me. Mingyu.”, Mingyu’s voice came out more strained than he tried.

“Yes Mingyu-ah, what’s up?”, asked Seungcheol as soon as he heard the difference in the younger’s voice.

“I-I broke up with her. I did it.”, his voice was shaking but he was determined to not cry.

“What? Oh. Are you okay?”, Seungcheol was now fully attentive of every exhale that came out of Mingyu’s mouth.

“Yes. I mean, can you meet me?”, Mingyu asked, the tremor in is voice evident.

“Yes of course. Where are you?”, asked Seungcheol as he grabbed his keys.

“Very close actually. I am in the ___ café, near your house.”, there was some shuffling on the other side.

“Yes, okay wait.”, Seungcheol dashed out of his door and within a few minutes was in front of the cozy café.

He quickly got in and searched around a bit before his eyes landed on the slouched figure at the farthest corner of the room. He passed through several rows in the busy café and was finally standing right in front of the younger.

“Mingyu.”, he finally said as he saw the younger raise his head in a slow manner.

“Hyung.”, his eyes were watery as he tried to control his tears.

“I did the correct thing, right?”, Mingyu asked as soon as Seungcheol settled down.

“Yes. She was cheating on you Gyu.”, Seungcheol softly mumbled as he tried to sooth the heartbroken boy.

“Even I know that. But we have been together for so long. I think I got used to her presence.”, Mingyu explained after taking a deep breath.

“I know. I understand that. It’s completely normal to feel this heartbroken even if the relationship meant nothing during the ends.”, hearing Seungcheol say that calmed Mingyu down a bit.

He really wanted to forget about this. All his life he has stopped himself from feeling guilty for never confessing to ___ and he used to make himself believe that Maya was the one for him but now seeing how she sucked the life out of him was tough to watch. He really wanted to scold his younger self for not choosing ___.

“I doesn’t matter anymore.”, Mingyu finally said in a small voice.

“What do you mean?”, Seungcheol asked, a little confused.

“Didn’t you see ___ Instagram story?”, Mingyu asked as he took out his phone and showed him the screenshot.

“I don’t think you should believe everything you see.”, Seungcheol tried to explain without giving away the fact that it was all a stunt.

“I will come off as desperate if I confess now.”, Mingyu’s shoulders slumped even lower if that was possible.

“What’s the worst that can happen? She says no. But at least you will be able to get over the thing.”, Seungcheol said.

“Are you sure? Should I really confess?”, asked Mingyu.

“Listen, your friendship with her is anyways ruined after the stunt Maya pulled. I just want you to get this over with. Talk with her. She is far more intelligent than all of us. I just know that she will understand.”, Seungcheol was trying so hard to not spill the truth but Jeonghan had warned him. He was in no way allowed to tell Mingyu that the date meant nothing to ___.

“Okay. I will talk with her today at the party.”, Mingyu seemed to look determined. Seungcheol heaved a sigh of relief as he patter Mingyu’s back and ordered coffee for both of them.

The evening came earlier than intended. You were almost ready as you slipped into the sage green dress that you have saved for this occasion. Your cheeks burned red when you remembered how Mingyu had paid for this one. It was a bold move, to wear the dress someone else’s boyfriend bought for you but you were feeling rebellious today so you decided to show up in this one and make Mingyu regret every decision he has ever made.

The makeup was subtle, your bold red lips making a statement. You decided to leave your hair as it is, the soft waves cascading down up to your waist in a dramatic fashion. You wore your diamond earrings. You had the exact color heels to go with the dress which made you extremely excited. After finally getting all dolled up you decided to call Jihyun.

“Are you ready?”, you asked as soon as the call got connected.

“Yes. I am almost out of the door.”, Jihyun said as she screamed for Vernon to get moving.

You giggled as you ended the call and decided to head out too. The walk to Seungkwan’s place was short but it took you a bit more time since you were wearing pointed heels and the weather was cold.

You reached within fifteen minutes as you rung the bell to his apartment.

“Oh my god you look gorgeous.”, Seungkwan gasped as soon as he opened the door.

You laughed a bit as you entered the warm apartment.

“I am shivering.”, you confessed.

“That can’t be it. We need shots.”, Seungkwan dramatically commented as he rushed inside to bring out a shot glass and some vodka.

“What? Before the party?”, you laughed as you settled down on the couch.

“Yes. At least one shot. You will be warm and not that drunk.”, Seungkwan explained as he poured you a shot.

You chugged it in one go, your face crinkling from the strong taste as you laughed along with Seungkwan.

“Wow that was intense.”, you said as you kept the glass on the coffee table.

“Let me prepare one for Jihyun too.”, he excitedly commented.

After taking a few shots, you, Jihyun and Seungkwan were finally ready to go to the party.

Your heart was beating fast because you knew you were going to see Mingyu and Maya there. Every minute of it felt like running away, going to your home, lying in the cozy blankets and watching sappy romance movies till midnight.

Seungkwan might have noticed your discomfort as he pulled you right towards him in the cramped space of the hired car.

“Don’t plan on running away. This is a party of your close friend, not Maya’s.”, Seungkwan reminds as you huff a bit for you have been caught red handed.

Running away felt like the best option but all your life you have ran away from problems. Fights and quarrels have always scared you, as they give you panic attacks, so running away has always been your plan A. But now you have to be strong, and face the consequences. You can’t avoid Mingyu forever, even if that means making him realize what kind of shit person he has been dating.

“I won’t.”, you said with an assuring smile.

The party was going on in full swing. Seungcheol has invited some of his colleagues too and your group of friends. He has always been a very shy person when it came to making friends, so it makes you happy when you see him surrounded by friends that he has chosen.

“Happy New Year’s Eve Cheol!”, you screamed over the music as you hugged the man in front of you.

Seungcheol beamed, his dimples making an appearance as he engulfed you in a warm hug. The hug not only felt celebratory but also a gentle reminder that he is always here with you and that you can stop running away from your problems. You gently smiled as you detached yourself from him before stumbling into Jeonghan.

He was looking extra pretty with a shimmery top and white leather pants.

“Now you look like a piece of art sir.”, you smiled as you threw yourself into your office best friend’s arms.

“Don’t even start. You look gorgeous as fuck. If I were straight, I would have proposed you right here.”, Jeonghan giggled.

You enjoyed the compliments as it made you feel a little bit more comfortable in the way you were dressed. You have always been a little less comfortable in your skin whenever you dressed in something out of your comfort zone but your friends never failed to push away your insecurities.

You got introduced to some of Seungcheol’s colleagues including a man named Dokyeom and he was the bubbliest person you have ever met. He was all lame jokes and giggles which was entertaining to watch.

“Hyung has said a lot about you.”, he said.

“All good things I believe?”, you asked back with a smirk.

“Yeah mostly.”, he said with a wide smile.

“Are you enjoying the drinks?”, he asked again, leaning a little closer for you to hear clearly but maintaining a respectful distance.

“Yes, a little. I am not planning on getting drunk tonight.”, you mumbled.

“Planning to finally confess?”, Dokyeom said with a silly smirk.

“Even you know about that?! Great!”, you said with a huff as heat crawled up your neck because of embarrassment.

“I love talking about love. So, it’s kind of adorable.”, he laughed and you smiled along with him. It was easier to smile around him as he was just silly.

“I think the man of the hour is here.”, Dokyeom said as he rushed away from you before you could question his statement.

You turned around only to meet your eyes with Mingyu. He was looking extremely handsome. With a maroon red shirt, the first three buttons unbuttoned and jeans. His hair was shorter than you remember and was styled perfectly. His eyes met yours. You have known him for the longest time and you saw the flicker of something unknown in his eyes. You tried to avoid his gaze, acting like you haven’t noticed him but he was approaching you, with steady steps and a determined face.

“Happy new year’s eve, ____.”, he said as soon as he was right in front of you.

“Same to you.”, you said as you averted his eyes and tried to involuntarily search for Maya. You have no wish to again listen to her rude remarks.

“She isn’t here. We broke up.”, Mingyu said as he minimized the distance even more.

“What? Why?”, you asked, clearly shocked.

“For you.”, he whispered as he dipped his head right beside your right ear, a trail of goosebumps breaking out in the skin of your neck.

“You don’t get to say that now Mingyu!”, you could almost feel yourself getting enraged.

You have waited so many years for him to realize how toxic Maya is. You have waited for the response of your letters. You have waited for some kind of apology. You have waited for him for ages. And now, after you have decided to move on, he is standing here with that stupid smirk on his face as if he has done you a favour by breaking up with his long-term girlfriend.

“What?”, Mingyu dumbfoundedly looked at you and that made you even more angry.

“I need some air.”, you said as you yanked your hand off his grip and walked out into the balcony, unbeknownst to the fact that Mingyu was already following you.

click <<here>> to go to chapter 12(finale)!

✧˖* end notes: posting every monday! do suggest me ideas if you have any. also do like and comment!! it gives me motivation to write better.<3

#seventeen #kpop fanfic #mingyu #mingyu fanfic #mingyu fluff #mingyu imagines #mingyu seventeen #mingyu smut #mingyu x reader #mingyu x y/n #mingyu x you #mingyu x oc #kim mingyu

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bullet-prooflove · 1 day ago

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Shawnstown Planning Part Two: Plotting A Series And How It Connects To Future Publishing Stratergy

Since people seemed really interested in the previous post about developing Shawnstown, I thought I’d add in the next stage of the process - plotting a series and how certain things tie in to publishing if that's something you want to do in the future.

So we’re gonna delve into the way my crazy ADHD brain does things and some publishing stratergy things for you to think about when writing your work.

Up until earlier this year I was a ‘pantser’. I hated plotting out my stories, I found it boring and it kinda sucked the soul and enthusiasm out of me. It was a process I really struggled so I just didn’t do it but that really fucked me over when it came to writing longer pieces of work like novels.

With short fiction you can contain a certain amount within your head when writing them, the end of the project is always in sight.

With longer fiction, it’s a marathon not a sprint, you can lose track of things because you’re trying to spin so many plates which can send you on tangents you don’t need to go on or generate a pretty big plot hole. This can waste time and be pretty frustrating.

A series is an even bigger marathon and it can seem unmanageable at times because it’s so big to work with. The key is to break it down into bite size chunks and this will help you with your individual stories too. (you’ll see why in the next post)

With the way my mind works I have to colour code everything because that’s the way I attach value to things. I also can’t work vertically < no idea if this is an ADHD thing or if I’m just wired weird. I need to see every thing laid out side by side to process the info as a whole. If it’s out of sight it’s out of mind.

So I created this table so I can work like that because sometimes as I’m writing in Box 1, I get an idea for Box 2/Box 3 and it doesn’t mess with my flow popping to the side to write the thing in, the way that scrolling down the page and searching for the right space would. I just pop in and pop out and carry on what I’m doing.

As you can see there are three headings

Book Number: Character – This is the column the general plot goes into (we’ll discuss that in a sec)

Links To: - This is the column that can help you decide what book comes next in your series if you are a little unsure on order.

Tropes: - If you are looking to publish – You’ll want these as people love to know what tropes are in a book and it works well with the Amazon algorithm and keywords.

What To Put In Each Box and Why They’re Important:

Book Number: Character

You probably won’t have title yet because you have basic ideas but not a full grounded story in your head that’s why I start with the book number and the main character.

We then add a basic outline – I work in short bite size sentences because remember we’re plotting a series here, not a novel (although these point help with the novel plotting but that will be a different post) I need to be able to look at this at a glance and go yep, I know whose next, why and what we’re doing. Also it gives you flexibility if your not a plotter.

The basic outline:

Status Quo: What is life like for the MC normally – once you have this firm in your head, you’ll know how to fuck it up for them with your inciting incident.

Inciting Event: The thing that changes the status quo, that disrupts the MC’s bliss. – Usually occurs in the first chapter or the second, if you have a memory kinda thing as the first chapter.

Knife In The Table: This is what stops you having a soggy bottom in the middle of the story, it’s the surprise that changes everything. It’s the equivalent of being at a dinner party having some really nice, dull conversation and someone thrusts a bloody knife into the middle. Questions arise, why is it bloody, who is stabbing the knife? Why did thy stab the knife into the table? Every story needs to have this otherwise they have a dull middle.

Ending: This is the goal, you must know where you are heading otherwise your writing yourself in circles.

Links To:

Utilising this will help you work out the layout of your series and sometimes the time line too.

You’ll notice I added some interactions that Pope has with different characters in this, that helps me gauge the order of the books.

For me I knew that out of any other character in the series Pope is going to interact the most with Sammy, the two of them bond over the skatepark, build it together, they’re going to become friends. Out of all of the others he’s gonna be the one the audience see the most, the others they’ll catch glimpses of, so that means they’ll want to learn more about him.

So it makes sense Sammy is the next book because that relationship has already been developed and if we were looking to publish it properly that’s the reason people are going to pre-order Book 2, they want to know more about Sammy, how he ended up in town. – which also means in Book 1 we can start foreshadowing little bits to get the audience interested and preordering Book 2.

Stuff like ‘I have a crazy ex’, ‘Something happened the baby, something really fucking bad’ questions that get answered in the second book, that wets their interest.

Also people love Easter Eggs and seeing how they're fav chars are doing. So in Sammy's story by having Pope babysit Nate, it shows how far Pope's come esp if he mentioned maybe he's thinking about trying for one of his own in the future.

It also helps generate interest for future books with readers see a flash of another character through the books, like the mayor. We'll see glimpses of him throughout the four books beforehand, that will leave people wondering what's going on - meaning they'll want to see more of him by the time his book comes along.

Tropes:

If you are thinking about publishing you’re gonna need to make a list of these and for me the best time to do it is during the planning stages or as you’re writing the story because when you have the completed package you’re so aware of the other details that you can’t see the tropes through the trees.

Why you need these?

Two main reasons:

Amazon - The Amazon algorithm works on keywords that people type in and if they’re looking for their next read in their fav genre, it’s usually a trope so ‘single dad romance’ etc so identifying your tropes is key to getting discovered as is putting them in the Title Caption for your book (see image below as an example)

This book is more likely to get picked up by the search for terms as motorcycle club romance, short reads and single dad.

Marketing – People like to know what they’re getting into, they don’t want to feel like they’ve wasted they’re time when thy get half way through a book and realise there’s a pregnancy trope and they really don’t like pregnancy and choose to DNF it. < this can lead to a bad review.

It can also work the other way, where if someone is a massive fan of grumpy x sunshine, they’re more likely to pick up your book because they know it contains they’re fav trope. Which is why people do posts like this:

In the next post we'll be looking more into plotting a novel and how it can work for you as pantser.

#shawnstown #stan rosado #stan rosado x reader #clayton emerson #clayton emerson x reader #jack abbot #jack abbot x reader #mountain man idea #charlie reid #charlie reid x reader #pope cody #pope cody x reader #andrew pope cody #andrew pope cody x reader #andrew cody #andrew cody x reader #the pitt #chicago pd #animal kingdom

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oddsandends58exe · 3 days ago

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FINALLY... THE COMPLETE LORE OF ODDS – EXPLAINED!

including her canine traits, her relationship with Kondraki, and everything in between!

I'm so happy to present this to you, since I worked really hard and it's my first time writing something like this in English! your attention would mean so much to me ^_^

her slightly updated ref sheet. odds' lore below👇

Disclaimer 1:

This post contains deviations from the established SCP canon (OOC, OC x canon, or altered canonical events — for example, Iris is in the Foundation's containment not after her boyfriend's death but since childhood). If such changes in a universe where "there is no canon" deeply upset or irritate you, I strongly advise against reading this post. You won't enjoy it, and you'll only waste your time and nerves.

Disclaimer 2:

Aside from Odds, this post also features other original characters of mine (and not just mine). I won't delve into their lore here, as they're meant to have their own dedicated posts (though I doubt I'll ever get around to writing them).

So, what do we have here? Yet another self-indulgent SCP OC with animal traits, who also gets shipped with a canon character. Oh, the horror. If even that hasn't scared you off—congratulations. But how did we even end up like this?

CHILDHOOD AND WHY SHE'S A "MUTT"

Meet Lizochka Krasnova. She was born in 1983 into a fairly wealthy and privileged family. Her mother seems loving at times, even spoiling her, but occasionally acts completely differently — yelling at Lisa and scolding her over trivial things. Unpleasant, but mostly tolerable. Strangely, she often speaks of Lisa’s father as a wonderful, perfect man. Lisa finds this odd: If he’s so great, why do they argue all the time?

Speaking of her father — they rarely see each other, and when they do, he's cold toward her. It's like he's been disappointed in her since birth, though Lisa can't understand why.

Truth is, Lisa rarely spent time with her parents. Most days, she was left with nannies and servants in their big house. She loved when they showed her their "tricks" — stretching their limbs, growing taller or smaller, sprouting fur, spikes, or scales, sometimes even swapping their faces for animal muzzles or monstrous forms. But her father was the best at it: he'd shift into a massive, wine-red beast with sharp fangs, like a wolf or a hound. Usually, they transformed to fight "bad guys" or when they gathered in the grand hall — where Lisa was never allowed. She was curious about what happened there, but also afraid — terrifying sounds came from behind that door. Sometimes, it caused her nightmares.

Still, she thought this ability was incredible. But, unfortunately, she couldn't do it herself. Maybe that's why her father looked down on her, calling her a disappointment and a disgrace. Sometimes he even blamed her mother, muttering that their daughter lacked the right gifts "despite all his efforts."

Then, at six years old, Lisa decided to change things. She wanted to prove herself to her father — to finally earn his approval. She'd just learned to read, so she sneaked one of the "magic" books, determined to learn transformations like him. Through agonizing pain and small amount of blood loss, she managed a partial shift: dog ears and a tail. But the effort drained her, and she collapsed beside the book in a small pool of blood.

She woke up later in her bed. The servants nursed her back to health, but after that, the books were kept away from her. Worse, she couldn’t undo the change — and her "performance" didn’t impress her father. He just smirked and said the look suited her: "Like a mutt, begging for scraps of approval."

GOC

Four years had passed since then. Not much had changed. Lisa still spent more time alone than with her parents, who were always busy. Her father kept belittling her, while her mother continued to idolize him despite their constant fights. Over time, Lisa realized her mother didn't really love her — she just cared out of obligation.

She also learned that her father's "business," which funded their lavish lifestyle, wasn't exactly legal. She didn't know — or want to know — the details, but the knowledge disgusted her. Not that she could do anything about it. From the nannies, she pieced together what this "magic" was that everyone around her seemed to wield. Her parents, she gathered, worshipped some ancient entities that granted them these powers. The nannies rambled about "Karcists" and "the Flesh," but by then, Lisa had stopped listening.

Then, one day, while wandering the woods near the mansion, she heard loud, terrifying noises from the house. Terrified, she hid, waiting for the chaos to end. When silence finally fell, she crept back toward the house.

The scene outside was horrific: blood and corpses everywhere. Among the dead were servants and soldiers —ones she’d never seen before, their uniforms marked with a blue star. Inside was the same — blood, death. She'd seen corpses before, but this time, fear truly gripped her: she was completely alone. Her parents' bodies were nowhere to be found, so she clung to the hope they were alive and would return. Her room was untouched, and she barricaded herself there, waiting.

Less than two days later, new people entered the mansion. More soldiers, but with a different symbol on their uniforms — not a blue star. Lisa braced for the end, but...

SCP-2408-1B

From that point on, Elizabeth (as the Foundation staff preferred to call her) was placed under SCP Foundation containment with the designation SCP-2408-1B.

As she grew older, she learned the truth about her father, Grigory Krasnov —a former member of an anomalous criminal organization and the Sarkic cult known as the "Hunter's Black Lodge." Later, he broke away from the Lodge to establish his own faction, where occult practices played an even greater role.

Beth also discovered the reason for her father's perpetual disappointment. While her mother was pregnant, she had been subjected to rituals and experiments in the hopes that Elizabeth would be born as a "Second Ion" — a figure that would have allowed her father to rally more followers among Neo-Sarkites and solidify his power. Needless to say, the plan failed.

Her father and everyone from her childhood were, in essence, instances of SCP-2408-1. But because Elizabeth was "defective" (unable to achieve a full transformation), she was classified as SCP-2408-1B. Those who could freely shapeshift and revert to their original form were designated SCP-2408-1A.

CONTINUING CHILDHOOD IN THE FOUNDATION

Elizabeth was placed in a standard humanoid containment cell at Site-17, furnished with a bed, dining table, and bathroom. As additional amenities, she was provided with a television and VHS tapes containing films, TV series, and children's programming — including the Garfield cartoon series. It was through repeated viewings of this show that she acquired the nickname "Odds" (after the character Odie), which Foundation personnel subsequently adopted. Elizabeth herself didn't object to the name — in fact, she preferred it, as her real name carried painful associations with her family. By now, she felt nothing but hatred for her parents, blaming them for her current circumstances.

Despite her frequent complaints, Odds' living conditions within the Foundation were reasonably comfortable. She was provided with meals, clothing, basic entertainment, and even a standard education program that included socialization components. However, both her academic performance and social integration were poor. While instructors noted that Odds wasn’t unintelligent, she regularly refused to complete assignments or "forgot" about homework, earning a reputation as a lazy student. For her part, Odds viewed the teachers as hypocrites who underestimated her abilities.

Efforts to socialize her proved equally unsuccessful. Even in childhood, she developed a difficult, antisocial personality. She harbored particular resentment toward Iris (SCP-105), a girl one year her senior with whom she was often placed in shared lessons. Odds' irritation only grew when instructors praised Iris — diligent and capable — constantly emphasizing her "potential" and value to the Foundation. Though Iris herself attempted to reach out, Odds consistently responded with hostility and avoidance. This one-sided rivalry and envy of her more accomplished "colleague" would persist into Odds' adulthood.

Due to her poor socialization and abrasive demeanor, Odds never made friends as a child. She preferred solitude and the laptop gifted to her on her 14th birthday (naturally, with restrictions and monitoring). Her interests in alternative music and anime cultivated a self-image as "mysterious" and "special"—a persona that only further alienated those around her, a trend that would continue well into her future.

BEGINNING WORK AT THE FOUNDATION

After receiving a basic education within the Foundation, Odds' future had to be decided. She was granted Level 2 clearance and assigned to clerical work. Since she no longer required containment as an object, Odds was "evicted" from her cell — only to be relocated to... a repurposed storeroom. This cramped space now serves as both her living quarters and workspace, which she leaves only for hygiene, meals in the cafeteria, and work duties. The meager salary she earns goes toward online shopping, cementing her lifestyle as that of a reclusive "hikikomori", occasionally muttering snide remarks about her coworkers (though quietly enough to avoid being overheard).

Over time, Odds has managed to accumulate her share of detractors. One such figure is Dr. Iceberg, who earned a sharp rejection after an attempt at flirting. This might have been a routine incident for him, had it not been followed by a torrent of insults from Odds. Since then, mutual disdain has festered between them — both view the other as arrogant and self-centered. Iceberg dismisses Odds as rude and stupid, while she retaliates by mocking his failures in both his personal life and career.

Her relationship with the legendary Alto Clef is no better. Though no open conflict has erupted, Odds considers him a detestable, irritating man. Clef, for his part, regards her with indifference — crude remarks from women don't bother him. His opinion of Odds aligns with the general consensus: an arrogant yet cowardly loudmouth.

Despite her misanthropy and "no one appreciates me" attitude, Odds has, against all odds, somehow made friends. Her first ally is Dr. Venera, a cheerful Foundation philologist and her polar opposite. Shared interests in music and anime brought them together. Venera even occasionally coaxes Odds out for walks (during which Odds must hide her canine traits). Over time, Venera noticed Odds' volatile mood swings — from joy to rage or depression, sometimes culminating in self-harm. She discreetly removes sharp objects from Odds' room. Though they often quarrel, Venera recognizes the buried kindness and empathy in Odds, believing she needs professional help. It was Venera who dyed streaks of Odds' hair pink.

Her second unlikely friend is Dr. Nevus, a biologist who once barged into Odds' room unannounced to collect fur samples from her ears and tail. As it turned out, Nevus had taken a keen interest in the SCP-2408 anomaly and decided to study it — and Odds — in detail, conducting an impromptu interview. Odds' initial fury, especially over being compared to a dog during the "interview," as she despises being reduced to an animal, gave way to shock when Nevus apologized sincerely for that — the first time anyone had done so. They soon discovered their personalities aligned: both relish gossiping about disliked colleagues.

But everything changed the day...

ASSISTANT TO DOCTOR KONDRAKI

By age 25, Odds was still shuffling paperwork at Site-17 — but her productivity had plummeted. Noticing her slacking, Foundation management decided to punish her by assigning her as an assistant to Dr. Kondraki. Everyone knew working under him was a trial by fire. Though the 38-year-old researcher had achieved impressive results in his three years at the Foundation, most staff feared him, considering him insane. Leadership hoped his strict oversight would finally whip Odds into shape.

The news didn't thrill her. She'd never crossed paths with Kondraki before, so on the eve of her first day, she gathered intel. Her friends warned her: the doctor was harsh, rude, and occasionally dangerous. This terrified Odds — for all her own rudeness, she feared people stronger-willed than herself. The only silver lining? Learning that Kondraki had once beaten the shit out of Clef, whom she loathed. That earned her respect, but did nothing to quell her dread.

On her first day, Odds timidly entered his office and introduced herself. Kondraki had either forgotten or ignored the memo about his new assistant. At first glance, he found nothing unusual about her — he was used to subordinates treating him with fear or caution. Only her dog ears and tail (which he initially mistook for part of a "furry" costume) and the ridiculous nickname "Odds" annoyed him. He handed her standard paperwork and sent her off. What he didn't expect was that the moment his new assistant left the room... she felt a sudden, inexplicable flutter. His slightly disheveled appearance and commanding voice had inexplicably charmed her. She hoped it was just a passing fancy, but...

Under Kondraki's supervision, Odds did start working harder — at first out of fear, but soon, her motivation shifted. She began striving for perfection, desperate to impress him. The more time they spent together, the more she fell for him — his confidence, his intellect, even his looks. Her infatuation grew so intense she rationalized his most deranged stunts (like riding SCP-682): "The ends justify the means... and casualties happen every day here anyway." A hypocritical take — she'd have crucified anyone else for such recklessness.

But Odds also saw virtues in Kondraki others missed. In his own way, he did care— about anomalies, from butterflies to harmless humanoids. Under his oversight, their containment conditions had genuinely improved. He even supported a three-year-old son from a past relationship, despite the complications. That also earned her respect.

Her friends were baffled. Both Venera and Nevus —who'd clashed with Kondraki themselves — saw him as a sloppy, alcoholic brute and couldn't fathom Odds overlooking his flaws. Their attempts to talk sense into her only pissed Odds off; she took it as unfair criticism.

Soon, everyone noticed her attachment. Iceberg was perplexed; Clef was irritated by her constant presence around his frenemy. Only Kondraki himself seemed oblivious — which pissed off Odds sometimes. Still, he appreciated her diligence and integrity. Unlike others, she neither feared nor resented him. Her behavior stroked his ego: she kept his office tidy, brought him coffee, reported on Site gossip, listened. She indulged his ramblings about fencing, photography, and music, joined him in complaining about colleagues, and never disagreed.

But Kondraki's paranoia couldn't ignore the red flags. Her unwavering support for even his most unhinged ideas felt off. Soon, he began suspecting she'd been planted — to gain his trust... and then eliminate him.

CONFESSION

Kondraki decided to share his suspicions about his oddly devoted assistant with an old acquaintance. He laid out his theory: this had to be a cunning O5 Council plot to eliminate him. His three-eyed companion just stared at him in disbelief — he was certain Konny knew exactly how Odds felt and was deliberately ignoring it. As a longtime friend, he spelled it out plainly: no one had given Odds any secret missions. She was genuinely, hopelessly in love.

The revelation stunned the photographer. If he set aside the paranoid theories, it all boiled down to a simple explanation: his assistant was head over heels for him. Even Kondraki struggled to believe it. Sure, beneath the disheveled exterior, he'd kept some of his looks — in his youth, he'd had no shortage of partners. But now, with his temperament? Behind the narcissistic facade lurked a deep self-loathing. Though he outwardly claimed to deserve better, he knew he was a terrible person. That belief had only solidified when the one person he'd ever truly loved — the mother of his son — left him because of his vile behavior.

On the surface, the solution seemed simple: just tell Odds outright that nothing would happen between them. But Kondraki faced an unexpected problem — he'd grown too attached to her. He knew how fragile his assistant was; a cold rejection could trigger a full breakdown. To his own surprise, he didn't want that. Odds wished him well, and he… found himself reciprocating. Finally, he admitted it to himself: Yes, he was in love too. He'd been certain that after Draven's mother, he'd never love again — that it was for the best, so he'd never hurt someone he cared about. But he'd been wrong, and now he had no idea what to do.

Then, one day, as Odds stood in his office, Kondraki called her over for that conversation. She expected work-related questions, but instead…

He confessed he knew about her feelings and apologized for taking so long to realize. Then he tried to explain why he'd be a terrible partner: the power imbalance, his smoking and alcoholism, his temper, his untreated bipolar disorder. Odds, ever the apologist, brushed off each point with a "nobody’s perfect." Eventually, Kondraki gave in and agreed to give the relationship a chance.

Odds was over the moon — what had begun as an anxiety-ridden talk turned into the best day of her life. Kondraki, in his own way, was happy too. He longed to experience mutual love again, but a part of him still feared how it might end.

IN A RELATIONSHIP

To others, little seemed different — except perhaps that the couple became slightly more tactile in their affections, though both naturally shied away from public displays of romance. They preferred tender moments and whispered sweet nothings in private, deliberately avoiding being "that couples" (though they occasionally used overly sweet pet names as a joke, just to amuse themselves).

Odds' behavior toward Kondraki changed minimally — she simply grew more open about her feelings and even more attentive. The real surprise was Kondraki himself, who shocked everyone by showing unexpected softness. Though not as demonstrative as his girlfriend, he reciprocated her care and — to universal astonishment — even displayed gentleness. Odds' friends, while still wary of him, were pleasantly surprised he wasn’t completely an asshole with her.

They spent more time together, sharing interests. Kondraki introduced her to literature (Odds was particularly struck by psychological horror and postmodernism) and regaled her with travel stories. If they ever got vacation time, he dreamed of taking her somewhere. Odds, though a homebody at heart, loved the idea. In turn, she eagerly shared her music with him. While Benjamin didn’t vibe with all of it, he appreciated some — like select tracks from Aphex Twin, Odds’ favorite artist.

Odds no longer lived in a storeroom but in Kondraki’s apartment, which — thanks to her efforts — was now significantly tidier. She also spent time with Benjamin’s son, Draven. She genuinely tried to make the boy happy, though she worried he dislike her when he grew older. Her deepest fear was that her mood swings might harm him, just as her own mother's instability had hurt her. But Kondraki always reassured her during these moments.

Yet their relationship was not perfect. Like any couple, they had issues. Odds sometimes got pissed off over trivial matters, provoking Kondraki's temper — after which one of them would apologize, and Odds, in tears, would beg him not to leave (even if the thought hadn't crossed his mind). Other times, Kondraki acknowledged her anger was justified — like when he overindulged in alcohol. His untreated bipolar disorder added complications: during depressive phases, he grew distant, making Odds spiral into panic that he'd fallen out of love; during manic episodes, he could be overbearing, grating on her nerves.

They knew this couldn't continue. Breaking up, however painful, felt like too easy an out. They still loved each other deeply. Odds and Kondraki made a choice: if they wanted to stay together, they had to work on themselves. So, gradually — and with the help of long-overdue therapy — they began changing for the better.

And so they carry on. Their love pushes them to become better people.

#my art #ref sheet #scp #scp foundation #scp oc #scp original character #oc #original character #odds #oddsverse #oddsdraki #oc x canon #self ship #selfship

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