#instead of just shoving it on my art blog :D

[helios-fallen]

3laf michael concepts? unsure if i'll go through with it but :]

[meggie-moo]

Why this thought still occupies my mind, what other hs fanfictions you'd recommend? You proved to have a very good taste

OKAY IM SORRY THIS TOOK SO LONG, but i wanted to make sure it was good!! :D and i had my thoughts sorted lol!! i would definitely recommend looking through the tws of each fic as well! :) but here it is >:)

(i mainly read for rosemary and davekat, but i throw in some other fun ones as well 🕺 i’m also new to homestuck, so i haven’t read that many yet. so most of these are the incredibly popular ones. which are very much popular for a reason!)

davekat:

How to Lose a Lover in 10 Days or Less: A Comprehensive Guide to Becoming a Future Romantic Failure by Wertiyurae (finished)

synopsis: h retelling of the romcom, “how to lose a guy in ten days” karkat has to write an article about how to lose a guy in ten days, and dave has a bet that he can find a guy to take to his sisters wedding. very silly :)

thoughts: there’s so many moments where i was cringing SO HARD. but it’s such a fun time, especially if you like cheesy romcom retellings. like karkat trying desperately to lose dave is so funny 😭 (you will see later that i am a big fan of cheesy romcom stories, so i’m sorry LOL).

Nothingbound by bluberi (unfinished)

synopsis: a retelling of the romcom, “you’ve got mail” karkat is a local bookstore owner, and dave’s brother is a chain bookstore owner, and is moving in across the street. the only solace karkat seems to find is in his online friend, who is actually his enemy all along. angst ensues, drama, enemies to lovers, slowburn etc etc. :D

thoughts: speaking of romcom retellings… this one is unfinished, but the chapters there are so much fun. i adore the art that goes along with it. and just how silly, and angsty it can be. the dave and karkat are SPOT ON. and same with all the other characters. i especially enjoy rosemary, and the ones who work at karkats book store :)

Doc Scratch's School for Supernaturally Gifted Adolescents by medical (finished)

synopsis: humanstuck superhero au. dave and his friends get a mysterious letter to attend a supernatural school.

thoughts: literally in my top three favorite homestuck fics of all time. this is so much more than just a davekat fic, like it’s a *whole* story. there’s also incredibly prominent rosemary, like they are not just shoved to the back. again it’s so thought out, and incredibly tropey. and all the characters are handled so well. it’s so incredibly fanfiction, but in the way where you can’t stop reading it. it’s popular for a reason, and very much deserves that popularity. i’m currently making my friend buddy read this with me <3

A Discussion On The Meteor (finished) (mspfa)

synopsis: short mspa story discussing karkats sexuality. i wanted to throw in a visual one for fun :)

thoughts: very sweet!!

Giving a Sweet Wretched Flying Fuck by strawberrystardust (oneshot)

synopsis: dave and karkat mix some sick beats on the meteor 🕺

thoughts: SO SO CUTE. i will recommend you try literally any fic by strawberrystardust, they are all incredibly, and they are such an amazing writer. please look into the tws for their other fics, but i literally cannot recommend them enough :)

rosemary:

YEAHHH, new couple time 🕺

Love Letters in Digital Ink by tactfulGnostalgic (finished)

synopsis: rose owns a popular occult blog, kanaya is a fan. kanayas family moves in next store, and rose posts about her.

thoughts:

TOP THREE HOMESTUCK FICS AGAIN. this one is SO SILLY, it captures everything about rosemary perfectly. the cringe fail of it all, the rose thinking she’s a therapist but instead just over sharing her family’s issues online. it’s so funny, and well written. and i say this as someone who HATES first person pov in fics. it is done incredibly well. like, this author manages to pull it all off. rose’s blog post are so funny, and it will have you smiling like a fool the whole time. this and doc scratch school, and house of dirk are definitely like fics id want you to read the most out of this list!! :)

Kiss Her You Fool by Paech (oneshot)

synopsis: rose tries to get kanaya to kiss her

thoughts: incredibly cute, i love them so so much. rose lalonde will forever be a mess, and i love that for her <3

courses of action, best and otherwise by MisPronounce_and_MisAccent (oneshot)

synopsis: rose is convinced she’s in a war with dave, of which one is “gayer” to win she fakes dates kanaya.

thoughts: ajdhajhshej, this one is so 😭😭 like vrisrezi is also there and they are all failing, they are all a mess. the synopsis makes it sound more serious, but they are in meteorstuck, and it’s just very very funny LOL

miscellaneous

this is for fics/other fanworks, that are either 1. a couple i haven’t read enough for them to have their own category, 2. stories focused around non-romance!!

if you’re looking into getting into some mspfas, i’d recommend these :) (though i haven’t finished them myself lol!!)

Act 8 (unfinished i’m pretty sure) (mspfa)

synopsis: basically a, “what if” different ending to homestuck. what if, instead of winning, they let their alpha selves win, and they had to stay in paradox space for the time loop? etc

thoughts: i have not finished it, but it’s honestly so well put together. it really gets you feeling bad for characters, like gamzee?? poor little guy etc. the art is amazing, and it really does just feel like a continuation of homestuck!!!

Karkat Goes to a Convention (unfinished?) (mspfa)

synopsis: just like the title says, LOL.

thoughts: i’m not sure if this story is really my jam, that being said, it’s put together WONDERFULLY. like it’s incredibly popular for a reason. you can tell so much work went into it, and just a really big love for homestuck and it’s community. while also being really creative :) (i also haven’t finished this one either, so maybe my thoughts could change!)

House of Dirk by imarriedacherub (unfinished) (visual!)

synopsis: sitcom of dirk and caliborns life as a married couple. and their son/son in law is coming over for dinner. shenanigans ensue

thoughts: OKAY, so i know this is the fic that prompted the ask, lol! which means i’ve already recommended it. but i decided to add it so i could post my thoughts! :D i did not have any feelings towards dirkuu when i first read this, but now whenever i see anything dirkuu i’m like, “omg…the sitcom couple…” ITS JUST SUCH A GOOD FIC. i keep overusing the word incredible in this post, but i will use it again. because this fic really is just *that good*. i made my friend voice act it out with me on call once, and it was very fun LOL. this is my final top 3 in my top three homestuck fics 🕺 again really popular, but popular for a reason. just so much thought went into it, and the execution was perfect.

Trying Something New by strawberrystardust (oneshot) (jaderezi)

synopsis: terezi and jade go on a picnic date! :)

thoughts: have i ever thought about shipping terezi, and jade before? admittedly, no. is this fic absolutely adorable?? yes, very much so!!! literally they both deserve the world, and it’s so cute to seem them interact with each other. again just a very very sweet fic :)

homestuck v2 (mspfa) (ongoing!)

synopsis: different new generation kids!! davekat fanchild comes in and messes up timelines.

thoughts: the art is so good!! i’m really looking forward to where the story goes, and i love the designs. davekat having a child named, “mary-su” is hilarious as it is genius. also babe coelho seems so beloved!!!

—————

i’m sorry this was so long!!! and maybe a tad bit ramble-ly, lol!!! but i hope you enjoy these, because imo they are all very good and fun (i mean i did recommend them, it would be funny if i didn’t think that LOL), like people are so talented and skilled. it’s honestly amazing. everyone who makes fanworks are truly outstanding :) thank you so much for the ask, and again i’m sorry it took so long to answer, but i wanted to be thorough >:)

[lone-fractured-throne]

✧ ♚ Welcome to my Echo Chamber ♚ ✧

Hey, hello, hi, greetings, those kinds of introductory words…

My name is Shayde, or E8, or lone-fractured-throne, which ever name works. I decided that I will make a personal blog of my own away from the main co-host's tumblr… mainly so that I have it available when I switch in to my gmail.

Here's some basic stuff to know about me personally:

Name: Shayde / E8 Pronouns: he/him Gender: vaguely masculine… I'm a man, but I'm also just existing. Likes: weirdcore + similar aesthetics, dark academia, chess aesthetics, art + drawing, medieval times, nature Fandoms…?: I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream, Fear and Hunger, Shotgun King … will probably change tbh, my interests in that department are shaky boundaries.

If you're confused about what I've said in the beginning, that's alright. I am one of many alters from Bugcast Radio, a system that may or may not be a mix of traumagenic and endogenic… we have not been diagnosed by the way. Follow your own DNI if you do not accept endos or generally gatekeeping who can be plural, simple enough. Feel free to block me if you do the previously mentioned, I'll also block you on sight if you trespass this boundary by shoving it in my face. Sorry about the rude wording… I get really heated about the subject.

Below this text is tags to look out for when I either post or reblog things, it's really long in my opinion so if you need to see what tags I use, click below.

personal tags:

shayde: All marks of my existence starting 8/24/24 go to this tag. e8 makes a post: Self explanatory, it's for whenever i make a post on tumblr… like this one! e8 makes art: Ah yeah, I'm an artist too… I do share a similar (if not) the same style as the main co-host so it might be confusing to see which one of ours is who's. e8 reblogs things: Also self explanatory, I like to see the cool things on the funny hellsite. :3 e8 commentates: I will sometimes say something in reblogs or tags, and I personally want to keep track of that. any [- text here] tags: Additional tag addendums. - If they show up in reblogs, they'll follow after the commentary tag… (unless it's from the old days) - If they show up in my posts, they won't have the commentary tag since it's in my blog in the first place

plurality tags:

bugcast radio: That's our system name! Any shenanigans with my roommates will get placed in this tag. :D >? from the other side: There may be times where I show up in the other account instead. After all the main co-host shows up a lot more often and a bunch more of their socials are used in general… so in a pinch, I might post there instead. plural posts in the wild: General reblog tag for plurality posts.

warning tags:

>! wallowing in the abyss (vent): I know I shouldn't do this online but sometimes I just do so, any outbursts in emotion go here… do block the tag if you don't like this kind of stuff. >! content warning(s): I know that certain stuff that I might reblog might fall into things that will make people uncomfortable so i try my best to put up content warnings… they're usually in the post themselves but let me know if I put inappropriate labels on your work.

archive tags:

>> archive (year): Any posts for that particular year go there. >> old posts and old tags: Specific tag for posts or comments I've done in the past before I split off from the account, may feature the others.

[borisvonshweet]

I posted 349 times in 2022

That's 232 more posts than 2021!

210 posts created (60%)

139 posts reblogged (40%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@wunderbud

@clown--wormz

@moonsfantasyworld

@inthetags

@lefanartist

I tagged 221 of my posts in 2022

Only 37% of my posts had no tags

#fnaf - 35 posts

#oc art - 34 posts

#fnaf security breach - 17 posts

#the owl house - 17 posts

#poppy playtime - 16 posts

#fnafsb - 15 posts

#cuphead oc - 15 posts

#huggy wuggy - 15 posts

#huggy wuggy oc - 14 posts

#poppy playtime oc - 14 posts

Longest Tag: 120 characters

#hello! my name is the devil or demon! and apparently i am a satanic and unholy being because my name is actually lucifer

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

Hey! Fnaf Veterans, Let's confuse the newbies Vincent

49 notes - Posted January 9, 2022

#4

I'm very pissed, why? Because people a r e i d i o t s. So this is droopy loopy a new Wug i had made and i showed it to a few people. And a couple of them said he looked like a sloth or a monkey instead of a bear. like Wugs dont have ears??? How am i supposed to make him look like a bear. I didn't wanna change his tail cause that is what made him Droopy so I had to do the only other thing possible to make him look like a bear so people stop calling him a sloth or a monk

Frankly I don't really like him anymore because of it. I even said "Assupmtion of an Artist's work is an insult" Which when it comes to characters it really is because it says we don't see what you are going for we see this. Now I would have got it if they where just confused but no they continued to call em a sloth or monk even tho they knew He is a bear I Don't know if im in the wrong but just Annoying

56 notes - Posted February 16, 2022

#3

Montgomery? no Mont

62 notes - Posted February 8, 2022

#2

Peepaw viben

63 notes - Posted January 16, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

What If: Freddy and Monty switch roles?

First of... Monty would be that one weird uncle that would take you out and buy you some fries on the way and you'd go an hang out while you're at a bar -Assuming Monty has the same belly compartment Gregory would Hide in there. - "You did a great job kiddo, stay safe out there, I reckon ya come visit me in mah swamp pit when things calm down if they ever dp" -Monty is just protection the other animatronic don't go near him ever because gator, he big, and he aggressive and he will stop at nothing to keep Gregory safe -Monty has heelies soooooo he can make a speedy escape if you get spotted -Freddy would roam the main stage, he would just stomp right after you -" Where are you going super star? We need to get you out of here" -During the gator golf scene all 3 of the animatronics team up to push Monty off and into the water which doesn't work. -When decommissioning Freddy, you must shove him into one of the gator golf pits to get his feet for Monty so he can be quicker

105 notes - Posted January 3, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

[freebooter4ever]

Guardian Of Queens: Ahkmenrah/OC that takes place a few months after the first movie when everything is still a little new to our golden boy. Ahk is actually 17 in this, both characters are ace, there is a lot of fluff and sillyness, and art talk, and Ahkmenrah getting the worship he probably knows he deserves (Pharaoh!) that the movie didn’t give him. And basketball, because it’s the only team sport I know and Larry seems exactly like the kind of guy who if given the opportunity would create a sports tournament using famous historical figures on opposing teams just for shits and giggles a’la Hexwood.

Anyway I’m dedicating this to @zacksfairest who even after a decade of my blog still wants to read my writing?????

Setting the scene: it’s the winter of 2006, when the days are short and nights come early, and a sarcastic teenage artist is furiously sketching the stuffed animals in the Museum of Natural History, hurrying before they get kicked out at the end of the day...

The museum is closing and I'm packing my pencils into my case, when I feel a sudden strange gurgle in my gut. I recognize the feeling, and I know what it means.

"Hey D?" I ask my friend kneeling on the floor next to me, who is also hastily stuffing her art supplies into her satchel.

"What?" she asks distractedly, "We stayed too late, we gotta go or the docents will glare at us."

D's biggest fear in life is making other people angry at her, and number two is secondhand embarrassment. I'm the same way so we get along well.

"You know how you said I shouldn't have eaten food off those street carts? Because of what you saw in the storehouses?" I ask.

"Yeah…?" D looks at me.

"That food might be coming out of me sooner than expected…" I stand up and the slight stretching suddenly makes the need more urgent, "much much sooner."

The look of horror on D's face tells me everything.

"Bathroom options outside the museum…?' I ask, though I know it's futile.

"Closest one would be Central Park but that'll take at least a ten minute walk, maybe a five minute run," D says.

"Absolutely no running will be happening," I wince and try to take a step. My stomach gurgles stronger. Any movement is clearly dangerous.

"Just go in the museum," D pulls out her very wrinkled and folded ancient Natural History Museum map, "I'll meet you outside the museum doors and tell anyone who asks that you're lost." She circles the nearest bathroom with her blue pencil and shoves the map in my hands. D is the expert here, she grew up in the city. I'm just taking a college prep course for the summer.

Speed walking to the bathroom while trying to keep your butt clenched is not very dignified, but speed walking while also skulking around corners to avoid being caught by docents or guards is even less so. I barely make it in time. Somehow the body knows when relief is near, and the closer you get, the harder it is to hold everything in.

I will not repeat the noises I made once sitting upon the toilet, but suffice to say any passing museum staff member might have thought someone installed a new waterfall in the restroom.

Having the runs in a public bathroom is a real shit show.

It hurts, for one thing, and the rough low quality paper only makes things more raw. I lose complete track of time, focusing instead on making sure there is absolutely nothing left in me. It comes in waves, each slightly less painful than the last, until finally they subside. I wash my hands thoroughly and stumble towards the bathroom door. And then open it a tiny crack. I peek outside.

Nothing in the hallway - no movement, no noise, no museum guards. I open the door fully and almost step into the hall, when suddenly an RC car zips past my feet and scooters around the corner. I barely have time to process this unexpected intrusion before I hear a loud rumbling, like an earthquake. Except I'm no longer in California, I'm in New York where the ground doesn't shake...it couldn't possibly be…

A giant mass rumbles past the bathroom door so fast it's almost a blur. I slam the door shut and throw my body against it to keep it that way.

I fumble my shitty emergency cell phone brick out of my bag and dial D's number with shaky hands.

"Are you still alive?" D asks, "It's been a half hour! I thought maybe you fell in!"

"I'm really sick, D," I tell her anxiously, "I'm hallucinating dinosaurs."

"Like real dinosaurs or 'heffalumps and woozles' style animated dinos?"

"One real dinosaur. It ran past the bathroom door…"

"You're still in the bathroom??? Why are you still in the bathroom? We need to leave!"

"There's a dinosaur out there!"

"Dude, the sun's gone down!" D says frantically, "You know my parents hate it when I take the subway after dark."

"I know, I know," I sympathize, "You go home, I'll be fine."

"You're seeing dinosaurs, you are not okay."

"I don't think it was a full dinosaur, just like the skeleton, so it can't eat me, it's okay."

"Pretty sure teeth are bones. Even if it doesn't digest you, that's still a lot of mashing for your body to go through."

"Wait, I hear voices!" I hiss over the phone and press my ear up to the door, "And keys jingling. I think it's a security guard now."

"No more hallucinations?"

"No more hallucinations," I whisper back, "I'll wait till the coast is clear and run to the nearest exit. You take the train home, don't worry about me"

"Okay, but call me the minute you get out."

"I will," I promise. I click the phone off and shove it back in my bag. My bag I clutch to my chest, hoping to stop it from rattling or thumping or making any noise at all. And then I strain to listen at the door. Once I am certain there's nobody immediately outside, I push through and walk quickly down the hall.

The museum is a maze. I think I get lost, but I can't be too sure because all roads must lead to an exit eventually, right? In the end, it's the noise that draws me to the correct hall - a loud ruckus as if someone's having an after hours party. Potentially my lucky break because if there is an event happening, I might be able to slip out unnoticed as an anonymous guest.

I sneak onto the mezzanine and position myself behind a pillar. I'm just about to lean around the pillar and look out over the balcony when from out of nowhere a basketball sails past my head. The ball nearly hits me. I quickly duck into my hiding spot, and watch the basketball ping off the wall, hit the railing, and bounce slowly toward my feet.

I can't believe someone just threw a basketball inside the Museum of Natural History. In a room full of glass...and decorative sculpture. Where they won't even let you take large backpacks if you're not an artist.

Somewhere beneath the mezzanine I hear a bemused voice say, "Good enthusiasm, but maybe try a little less force next time, Atilla."

"I shall retrieve the ball," another voice says politely - too politely. This must be a golden retriever, goody-two-shoes, rich kid type. It's all in his accent. And I know the type - if this snitch finds me, I'm in trouble.

I jolt forward, still trying to stay hidden behind the pillar but also painfully aware someone is about to come pick up this ball any minute now, and I will be caught. My nerves are frantic, and I keep staring at the basketball as if it will turn into a magic eight ball and give me answers, but no luck. And the next thing I know someone behind me is politely clearing their throat.

I sit back down on my ass, lean back against the pillar, and look up. A few feet away stands a beautiful boy resplendent in royal regalia. He does look like the snitching type. Our eyes meet, and honestly he looks as dumbfounded as I do. His jaw drops in a sort of adorable gape, and he sucks in a deep breath, clearly about to tell me off or launch into a lecture.

I cut him off before he can start. I use my foot to gently roll the ball towards him. He looks pretty stupid, so maybe he will take it and go.

He expertly traps the ball with his foot when it reaches him. He bends down, picks the basketball up daintily using two hands and only touching his fingertips, and straightens. And then looks me in the eye, nods regally, and says, "Thank you."

I nod back.

He leaves as mysteriously as he arrived - in a stunning swirl of orange fabric that blows a gentle breeze at my face. He smells nice… like some kind of flower I can't name. And he's got gold on his sandals. Who the fuck puts gold on flipflops?

I crab-walk in the direction he came from, trying to remain hidden. I'm not bold enough to stand up in full view behind the balcony, but I am mollified by the brief encounter with cosplaying rich boy. Bold enough to dare to try and get a better look below. I can't see anything over the large railing, so I instead scoot my ass to the top of the staircase and crouch there.

It's a full on party happening downstairs.

The beautiful boy is no longer holding the basketball. He gave it to a short security guard and is now standing to the side while the security guard explains about free throws. There's a regulation height basketball hoop hooked up to the ceiling on one end of the hall. Someone marked court lines on the floor in painters tape. I get the feeling that this security guard might be in more trouble than me - absolutely none of this looks legal.

"You gotta make it swish!" the security guard explains. He takes a shot and the ball bounces off the rim.

"That was more of a 'clunk'," the beautiful boy observes skeptically.

"Yeah I know, that's not what I meant to have happen," the guard retrieves the ball and sets up for his next shot, "Swish!" This time the basketball bounces off the backboard and goes soaring.

The boy, transcendent in his orange outfit that matches the ball, lightly catches it, and throws it back to the guard.

"Swish!" the guard repeats, as he shoots again, as if saying it will make it happen. This time the ball at least bounces off the backboard and makes it into the hoop.

"Was that a swish?" the boy asks.

"No," the guard is getting irritable. He hands the ball to the boy, "I think I've demonstrated enough. You try, Ahk."

The boy - Ahk - takes the ball by his fingertips, and launches it into the air. His regalia and cape lifts when he does this. He's not wearing a shirt.

The basketball sails in a smoothly beautiful curve and falls straight into the basket with a very sexy 'swish'. No rim, no backboard, just net. I'm a little impressed.

"How…?" the security guard's jaw drops, "You just…????" He pantomimes the ball soaring.

"It's a simple matter of hand eye coordination and a swift calculation of the optimal angle to arc the ball through the air," Ahk says knowledgeably.

"Yeah but… You just...you made it swish. Shot the ball right into the net, like it was nothing," the guard protests.

"We built the pyramids, Larry," Ahk tells him flatly. With perhaps a hint of sarcasm.

"I think you've been holding out on me," Larry argues, "No way was that your first try."

"I have never held a basketball in my life," Ahk explains, "For one thing, it touches the floor regularly and princes were never allowed to come into contact with anything as vulgar as the unblessed floor, even by proxy. For another thing, throwing a ball is infinitely easier than throwing a spear accurately from a moving chariot."

"So what you're saying is you have experience. That's it, you can't be on my team anymore, it would make things uneven, you have to join Atilla," Larry says.

"But I want to be on your team, guardian of Brooklyn," Ahk looks crushed.

"Atilla needs you more. The guy can't shoot for shit," Larry points at a beefy looking man covered in furs.

Ahk pouts - an unbelievably adorable expression - but he obediently walks over to the other side of the 'court' and stands beside Atilla. His cape swirls around him as he turns to face Larry again. I briefly wonder how he's going to survive a basketball game wearing it. All it would take is a well placed foot on the hem and the boy'd be down for the count. And who would even notice the foul under all that swirling.

I'm so busy staring at his cape, and then at the Atilla guy, and wondering if Atilla overheats underneath all that leather, that I don't notice Ahk eyeing me till it's too late.

"Larry, did we get a new exhibit today?" Ahk inquires casually.

"Not that I know of, why?" Larry asks.

"Because there's a girl staring mutely at us from the top of the stairs. I don't believe she's figured out how to speak yet," Ahk replies and points straight at me.

"Ah shit," I curse under my breath. My muscles go into flight or freeze mode. They conveniently pick freeze.

Larry immediately looks my way. He recognizes that I do not belong to their creepy possibly illegal larping party and yells "Hey!"

Flight kicks in. I take off running down the stairs. I can see the museum entrance forty feet away. Larry looks slow and old, I'm sure I can beat him. I hit the bottom of the steps and see him coming from one direction. I spin around the opposite side, shoot out from behind the staircase, and sprint across the hall.

I can hear the old man security guard behind me yelling "Stop!" I am certain I have him beat, I am well ahead of him, dodging each of the strange creatures and people loitering around watching the basketball lesson. Until finally I reach the entrance doors. And collide into them with a painful thud.

The doors are locked.

I probably should have seen that coming. I shake them. The doors rattle mockingly. I shake them some more. It doesn't give. And the mechanism for locking goes both ways. I need a key.

Who the fuck needs to lock doors of a museum from the inside?? To keep something in? Someone?

"I tried to tell you," Larry comes up behind me. He sounds winded. I was right - he is old, "You're not in trouble but you can't leave. The doors are locked for the night."

"Don't you have keys?!" I demand.

"Yes but I really shouldn't unlock the doors. You have no idea how risky it is. We already lost Lewis and Clark that way," He tells me.

"Just let me out, five seconds to open and close the door," I beg.

"You're underestimating how sneaky these guys are, I'm sorry. You're stuck in the museum for the night," Larry apologizes. He at least sounds genuinely sorry, "Hey, it could be like a museum sleepover! Most kids have to pay top dollar for that."

"I'm not a kid, I'm seventeen," I grumble.

"Sorry, most seventeen year old kid's parents have to pay top dollar for that," Larry corrects sarcastically.

I glare at him angrily. "Isn't it illegal to keep underage kids against their will?"

"Pretty sure it's also illegal to be in the museum after hours," Larry taunts, sounding more childish than me, "What exactly were you doing, huh? Causing trouble? Trying to rob the monkey? Impossible at this time of day because trust me, after sunset, you do not rob the monkey, he robs you."

"I was in the bathroom," I cross my arms and glare harder.

"Well, that sounds like a load of shit," Larry says. He doesn't believe me.

"Oh it was," I insist, "Loads. Loads and loads of shit. Greenish too."

"Ooookay, don't need to know the specifics," Larry says, clearly regretting his inquiry, "How about you come over and watch the basketball game, huh? If you get tired, there are lots of blankets and pillows in the sea life wing where Teddy and Sac are holding a meditation retreat under the whale."

"Why under the whale?" I ask.

"Because whale noises are apparently really soothing to the human body's circadian rhythm or something," Larry says with a shrug, "I don't know, go ask them if you're curious." And he turns back to his basketball lesson without a second thought.

I follow him and sit cross-legged on the edge of the 'court' to watch.

The Ahk boy smiles at me and gives a shy wave.

I glare at him. This is his fault. He can take that stupid pretty face of his and shove it. Even if he is good at free throws.

"Okay, Ahk, we have to work on your dribbling," Larry says as he reclaims the basketball from an ostrich doing it's best to swallow it.

"Do not treat me like some snot nosed kid," Ahk says snottily.

"What?" Larry screws his face up in momentary confusion, and then realizes, "Oh…no," Larry corrects, "Not like snot dribble...like...dribble. Bouncing the ball…" He demonstrates.

"On the floor?" Ahk scrunches his nose in distaste. I can see him mentally counting every time the dribbled basketball smacks the tile.

Larry seems tired, "Look, if the museum had an ancient Egyptian priest mummy we'd solve the floor problem with a blessing or something. But we don't, so you'll have to make do."

"And dribble on the floor?" Ahk sighs.

"Yes, bounce the ball on the floor," Larry agrees, "Up and down. It's not hard."

"That still looks vulgar," Ahk says.

"Vulgar?" Larry asks.

"You are caressing that ball inappropriately," Ahk says.

"No, I'm not caressing...I'm dribbling!" Larry argues. He is a very combative individual. He bounces the ball to Ahk, who catches it and drops it on the floor. It doesn't bounce back high enough to dribble it.

"It's called palming the ball and it's bad form when dribbling," I interrupt, getting up from my seat and walking towards them, "You'll get a carry if you do that. Here let me." I steal the basketball from the fancy golden boy easier than taking candy from a baby.

"Anyone can make a basket," I say while dribbling effortlessly, "but to execute a perfect layup?" I jog towards the hoop, aware of the placement of my feet in the back of my mind, but at this point the technique's been so drilled into me it's almost natural. One swift jump at the end of my run, and I lob the ball up. It hits the square corner, bounces into the rim, circles once, and falls in.

"Why are we murdering a 'layup'?" Ahk interjects, looking confused.

"Okay that layup was pretty good," Larry tells me grudgingly, "Atilla, we found you a new team captain."

"My dad had dreams of me being a basketball player," I explain, "I was freakishly tall as a twelve year old."

"Yeah I was never blessed with that gift," Larry states the obvious.

"I see that," I nod.

Ahk chuckles at my comment.

Larry gives him a look like 'really?'.

"She speaks the truth," Ahk shrugs, "Even the shortest statues built of me would dwarf you." He raises his hand high above his own head, and then lowers it down to Larry's level.

"Teenagers," Larry mutters. He grabs the ball and passes it back to Ahk. "Your turn to dribble."

Ahk drops the ball to the ground again and pokes at it with his fingertips a few times before it thuds to a stop.

"Okay, that's a start," Larry says encouragingly, "Uhhhh, how about you," - he points at me - "...help Ahk out with the dribbling, and I'm going to try and drill it into Atilla's head that shooting hoops requires finesse?"

I accept my new role as assistant basketball coach without enthusiasm. The golden boy does not appear to have any passion for sport, and even less interest in basketball specifically. He stares at the ball as if he's never played a game in his life.

"I much preferred soccer," he informs me as I come up to him "Kicking things feels more cathartic than dribbling,"

"That's only cause you haven't learned yet," I tell him. I grab the ball from his hands and start dribbling it beside me. "Dribbling is all about control. You make this ball go where you want it to. You know everything about the ball, its size, its spin, its pressure…" I palm the ball and squeeze it between my hands, "well...actually...this basketball is kinda squishy, we'll have to get Larry to find us a pump. But my point is, if you control the ball you control life."

Ahk narrows his eyes at me skeptically, "That's a lot of expectations to place on a tiny orange sphere."

"I know," I shrug and continue dribbling, "But as a bonus you look super cool when you get good enough to do this." I bounce the ball through my legs and continue dribbling with my opposite hand seamlessly.

"That is pretty 'cool'," Ahk agrees, looking mildly impressed. He uses air quotes around the word cool, as if he's not yet convinced about the word's slang meaning.

"Try to steal the ball," I tell him with a grin. I continue dribbling at an even pace and position my body between him and the ball.

Ahk sighs and looks long-suffering, "I miss the days when I never had to steal anything. People just gave me whatever I wanted."

"Yeah, okay, I guessed you were spoiled," I laugh, "but there is no way in hell I am giving you this ball. If you want it, you'll have to take it."

"Maybe I don't want the ball," he crosses his arms and offers a counter argument, "I will graciously allow you to keep it. I do not covet worldly goods."

"Oh sure you don't, 'holier-than-thou' boy," I mock him.

"I am holier than you. I am holier than anyone, for I am a descendent of the gods," he declares.

"That's a lot of expectations to place on one tiny golden boy," I tease him.

He narrows his eyes at me.

"Come on," I urge him, "don't be a chicken."

He lunges forward to grab the ball, and of course fails as I pivot and switch hands. He tries again, and I once again maneuver the ball out of reach. After a few more doomed tries he finally stops in front of me and puts his hands on his hips.

"All right," he orders, "teach me the magic of dribbling. Show me how to control the ball."

I smile and do exactly as he says.

Ahk turns out to be a decent ball player once he puts his mind to it. He learns fast, and he is light on his feet. By the end of a few hours he is dribbling competently and smiling ear to ear.

"Awesome," I say as he steals the ball out from under my elbow.

He laughs and kindly hands it back to me. We still have to work on passing. The boy is far too soft to properly send the ball whizzing straight into his teammate's arms.

"Hey, can I see your hand?" I ask, reaching out my own.

He stares at my hand with wide eyes.

"I want to show you something," I explain, "I swear my hands haven't touched the floor."

He gives me a suspicious look, "You are making a joke, aren't you."

"Yes of course I am," I say, "You saw me literally sitting on the floor a few hours ago, of course I've touched it. Why's the floor such a big deal?"

He thinks about this. I can see the gears behind his eyes working, weighing the pros and cons - an open book, this one. After a few minutes deliberation, he stands straight and proudly extends his hand.

I take his hand in my own and spread his fingers apart. "See how our hands compare?" I ask. I place our palms together and lay my fingers against his, "Your fingers are as long as mine, but your hand is much wider. Means it's going to be easy for you to do this…" I drop his hand and palm the ball, holding my hand face down so the only thing keeping the ball from falling is the grip of my fingers.

He watches me intently, and then politely holds his hand out for the ball in order to try himself.

"Start by holding the ball in both hands, and press your palm fully to the surface," I carefully adjust his right hand grip, "Squeeze with your fingertips, and then let go with the left."

Ahk does as told, and magically the ball stays in place.

"Holy crap, first try!" I exclaim, "See, I told you this would be easy for someone with your hands!"

He beams at me. My praise elicits an expression of such joy and excitement, it's no wonder he's a quick study. I imagine every teacher in his life tried to constantly find something new for him to learn just to see him that damn happy and fulfilled.

"Good job, Ahk," I say.

He tries to move his hand, and fumbles the basketball out of his grip.

"Woah," I catch the ball as it tries to bounce away, "It's harder to palm the ball and move it at the same time. Even you will have to practice that, Mr. Naturally-Large-Handspan."

His smile broadens, and he reaches towards me. And then a loud ear splitting tone beeps over the loudspeakers. When the tone finishes, "In A Gadda Da Vida'' begins.

The whole hall breaks into chaos, everyone starts running at once.

"What?" I spin around in confusion, trying to make sense of the sudden spurt of activity this noise caused.

"That's the alarm to warn us we only have seventeen minutes of life left," Ahk explains kindly, "When the song ends, so do we."

"What?!?" I exclaim louder.

"We return to our exhibits and become lifeless once more," Ahk says.

"Exhibits…?" I echo.

"Walk with me?" Ahk takes a step towards the stairs and cocks his head, "Larry's got his hands full right now, so it must fall on me to explain."

"Okay…?" I follow the boy up the stairs and down a few hallways, "So you're really from Egypt?"

"I was born there thousands of years ago…" Ahk smiles and holds his hand out for me to step into the Temple of Ahkmenrah.

"Ahk...Ahkmenrah...you're the…"

"Pharaoh, yes," Ahk interjects. He looks delighted by my surprise and sudden comprehension. I get the feeling he enjoys mystifying people.

"How…?" I ask. As soon as I step inside his room the two Anubis statues turn to face us with very real, very dangerous looking spears. "Oh!" I freeze.

Ahk chuckles and says something in his old language. The guards stand down.

"Wow…" I drift forward and then pause before my hand connects with the priceless artifacts, "Can...can I touch."

Ahk nods his consent regally.

I reach out and place my palm on the guard's knee. "Wow," I repeat eloquently.

The guard bends down so his head is about at my height, and places his hand gently on mine. I touch his cheek, and run my hand up his face in awe. "I always wanted to be able to tell sculptures how beautiful they are," I say.

I swear the guard's cheeks crinkle under his eyes like he is smiling.

"They can understand me?" I turn to Ahk in wonder.

He grins and nods.

"You're amazing!" I gush at the guard, "I spend hours - days - studying the lines and shapes you create in three dimensional space. Thank you for surviving all these years and representing centuries of composite artistic knowledge."

The guard inclines his head lower in deference.

I glance back at Ahk, worried I might have said something wrong.

The boy's grinning at me again, looking especially pleased with himself. "Come, see my tomb," Ahk orders and sweeps regally past me in his cape.

"Your tomb? ...oh...hell," it finally dawns on me what all this is adding up to. I walk into the antechamber and sure enough, Ahk is climbing into the sarcophagus in the center of the room. He wraps his cape around himself rather tightly.

"It gets a little chilly in there," he explains when he sees me watching, "All that stale air."

"You're going to die again?" I ask in a little bit of panic, "Please don't."

"I don't have a choice," he gestures to the wall behind his coffin and smiles at me benignly, "This tablet brings me and the exhibits to life at night. But the minute the sun rises, the spirits return to slumber."

"I know," I tell him, "I figured it was something like that, I just had to say it. That I don't want you to go yet."

He smiles at me brilliantly. There's an innocent enthusiasm to his eyes that I'm pretty sure has always been unusual even in ancient times. It's hard not to feel bitter and shriveled in the face of all that open kindness.

"Do you close the lid?" I ask stupidly, staring at the person-shaped hunk of gold leaning against the tomb wall.

Ahk looks at it too. "Yes," he says sadly, the light in his eyes dimming.

Our conversation slows. It's a little odd talking to him when he's sitting upright in his coffin. A little too vampiric for comfort. "Do you need any help?" I ask. Probably another dumb question - he dies every morning, of course he needs help. More professional help than I could offer. And belatedly I realize it might be rude to be hanging around till he kicks it, maybe this time is private, maybe he wouldn't want anyone to see his lifeless body, maybe I should have left a half hour ago - what am I even still doing here, inside the museum after it already closed?

"Help would be greatly appreciated," Ahk says warmly. He looks at me like I just offered him the world.

I can feel myself blush, which is stupid. Shouldn't he be used to people offering him the world? Being a Pharaoh and all?

"The lid is not difficult, but I always have to do it myself because Larry is too busy with the other exhibits," Ahk explains quietly, "Would you do it for me?"

"Yeah, sure, of course!" I say, and in my enthusiasm to show how helpful I can be, I immediately start lifting the lid and shifting it closer.

He stops me with a hand on my arm, and his eyes earnestly beg. "No...," he says.

I drop the lid like it's hot lava.

"I mean...close the lid after I'm…gone," he explains, "...I don't like being locked inside there while I'm awake."

"Of course…I can do that…" I stammer, embarrassed that it hadn't occurred to me. Of course he wouldn't want to be enclosed in a tiny dark space while alive. Who would?

"Thank you, guardian of…" he waits for me to fill in the blank. His hand is still touching my arm.

"Um...Queens?" I offer.

"Of the Queens?" He repeats with surprise, "A venerated position!"

"Oh!" I exclaim, "No! Not those kind of Queens. Not any kind of Queens at all, really. More of a place."

"Ah...a place where queens reside," Ahk concludes. He lies back in his coffin and gets settled.

"No, not that I know of...I mean princess Di might have driven through Queens during her tour in the 90's, but she's really the only royal anyone cares about anymore and…" I start babbling.

"You live there?" Ahk asks, "Among this Queens land?"

"Yeah…" I say.

"Then I know at least one person of royal comportment resides in the valley you speak of," Ahk grins.

"Oh, no no no no no," I protest, "No I'm not royalty. In fact my great-great grandfather was a groundskeeper for some upper crust asshole in my family's home country, and he fell in love with the asshole's noble daughter, and the asshole was so angry that the lovers escaped to America to become my ancestors, but it also meant they lived in a one room shack in the appalachians and mined coal…" I shut up when I see Ahk's brilliant smile is back on his face. His eyes are dancing in amusement and I realize… "You're teasing me. You know I'm not royalty." He's not as stupid as I first thought. In fact, he might be a little clever.

He chuckles. He closes his eyes and leans his head back, and he must know something is happening, because he's ready. But I'm shocked when his body fades like a gradient from head to toe. Now he's the shriveled one.

I swear my soul leaves my chest as well, watching it happen to him. There was so much life there - more than the average human - and suddenly it's just gone.

"Ahk?" I ask, though I know he can't answer, "Ahkmenrah?"

The boy's smile is still on his face. A small comfort - knowing that instead of him pulling his own lid over and disappearing in darkness, he was laughing this time. But the room is suddenly so, so empty. I can feel the futileness of even talking to him like you would a ghost. He simply is no longer there.

I drag the coffin lid over his face and secure it. And then I think about him waking up in that tomb alone. And how maybe it takes Larry quite some time after finishing with the others to get to Ahk's exhibit and let him out. And I examine the hinge mechanism locking the lid in place. Unlike Ahk, this hinge holds no hidden cleverness. It's new and was obviously constructed by the museum.

I dig into my art supplies bag and pull out my palette knife. The hinge is glued to the side of the coffin rather than screwed in - probably to avoid putting holes in the solid lid. I wiggle my knife into the gap between the hinge and the coffin and slap at the knife handle. Slowly I chip away at the glue until the bottom half pops off. I do the same to the hinge at the foot of the lid, and then stand back to survey my work. At a glance the lock appears to be still closed. Unless anyone inspects it closely, no one will know, and this will let Ahk come and go as he pleases.

Satisfied that I've done at least one small thing to try and ease the unfairness of this boy's strange existence, I collect my bag and go.

~*~

YES ok if anyone likes this it may be continued...

@diasimar @edteche2​ @poptod​ @perpetuallymywinchesters​ @zodiacaldust​ @actinggalkate​ @cactusnumber73​ @bearkare​

[morning-might-arrive]

Here’s the continuation of my last post. Thank you so much to everyone who liked and reblogged! This is becoming a lot longer than I thought, so there will be another part soon. Feedback is appreciated!

A series of misunderstandings involving a limousine and Spectra’s blog lead Jackson to the realization that he has way more friends than he thought.

Wednesday

Jackson sighed as he silenced his blaring alarm clock. 7:00 am. As he walked to the bathroom to get ready, he was suddenly struck by a memory.

“It’s nothing personal, normie. You just look like such a freak.” Manny told him as he shoved him off of the lunch table. Jackson looked towards the other mansters, but they said nothing. So they all agreed. Even Clawd. 

He cringed. He’d had to eat lunch in a bathroom stall that day. He looked at his reflection, desperately wishing he could change it. He sighed and got dressed. He had to leave early since he now had no car and his parents weren't home. He plugged his headphones into his phone. Holt had gotten them into this situation, only fitting that he deal with it.

Holt Hyde cursed under his breath as he walked to school. Although the weather was warming, mornings in March were still frigid. He sighed in relief as he approached Monster High.

“Heya there, sweetpea,” Operetta drawled in greeting as Holt waltzed through the front doors of the school. 

“What’s good, Oppy?” Holt responded, his usual loud and energetic self even at the early hour.

“Just peachy keen like always, hun. Say, you seen the Ghostly Gossip lately?” She asked.

“Nah, we usually stay away from that garbage ever since that story about us and Frankie. Humiliated the poor ghoul and almost tanked our relationship. It really ain’t cool what they're doin’.” He replied nonchalantly. 

“Oh. Okay. Well sugar, you know you can tell me anythang you wanna, right?” She continued.

“Uh, yeah, sure. Thanks Oppy.” That was kinda weird for the rough and tumble ghoul to say, but honestly Holt was just glad their botched attempt at dating didn’t mess up their friendship. Oppy was a cool ghoul. 

“What’s the word, cool cats?” Came a new voice.

“Johnny!”

“Johnny.”

Johnny spirit sauntered casually down the main corridor of Monster High, and students jumped out of his way as if he had the plague. He put his arm around Operetta’s shoulder. “Hey, babe.”

Holt snorted. “I’ll never get why everyone lets you float around like you own the place.”

Johnny shrugged. “Guess they don’t have a choice. Besides, I never see you doing anything about it,” he replied with a bit of challenge in his tone. Holt rolled his eyes.

“You know you don’t scare us, Spirit. Anyway, it seems like Oppy’s got you on a leash without our help.”

Johnny bristled at that “Y’know Hyde, I’m gettin’ real sick of-”

“Why don’t we scamper on down to the catacombs and finish that new song we been workin on, sugarpie?” Operetta cut in. She really didn’t want to deal with a fistfight this early.

The couple walked away and Holt made toward the auditorium. He found the symphony on stage setting up and dashed up to join them, plugging his guitar into its amp. Jennifire was nearby greasing the corks on her clarinet. He huffed and sat down next to her.

“Another run in with the phantom pianist?” She asked, not even looking up.

“That guy is such a jerk!”

She chuckled and shook her head. “You boys are so easily provoked; I may never understand it. My brothers were just the same. He has done not to insight your anger.”

Holt really hated to admit it, but she was right. Johnny really didn't scare Holt, and he knew a little better than to try that tough guy act on Jackson. Plus, it was kinda funny seeing guys like Heath and Manny faint when he walked past them.

“Your emotions run like wildfire, I am very impressed you came to terms so easily with your end.” She continued.

Wait. What. “My what now?”

“Of course, it must be so hard for you to talk about. I am sorry.” A tear fell from her eye and promptly turned to smoke upon hitting her face.

“Jen, are you okay?” Holt asked, facing her.

She smiled. “Yes, I will be okay. So kind of you to think of me.”

“Okay, Okay, enough chit chat. Places people!” The director yelled as he approached the stage. Well. That was weird. Holt took his place in the stool beside the amp and looked up as the director began counting them off.

After an awkward hour of rehearsal, they were dismissed to second period. Holt emerged out into the crowd of students in the hall. Jennifire was nowhere to be found, so he made his way toward the art room. His Spotify playlist suddenly changed to a song by Pierce the Veil. He pulled out his phone to skip it and saw he had a message from Jackson. He scoffed. If D-low had told him what was wrong, would he be asking? JJ could be so oblivious. Maybe it was just a normie thing. 

He took his usual seat in front of his canvas and continued his painting for this week. 

“Psst, Holt.” he heard a whisper. He turned and met the shiny magenta eyes of retired popstar Catty Noir. “We’re turning up at Cleo’s place on Saturday, you in?”

“Yeah totally- oh, nevermind. We can’t make it, we kinda got a...thing that day.”

“Oh,” she said, looking kind of taken aback. “It’s that soon?” 

“What was that?”

“ I said I’ll see you soon!” she hastily corrected herself as she got up and turned in her painting, promptly leaving the art room. Man, everyone's acting off today. He touched up his work and quickly followed suit.

He basically had the rest of the period to himself, so he decided to riff on his guitar for a little bit. He couldn’t do it in the building anymore ever since that one time Headmistress Bloodgood caught him, so he moved to the front steps and set his bag beside him.

“Hey Holt!”

Holt turned towards the front of the school. “Frankie Fine-Stein! Where have you been hiding?” Her skin glowed a light mint green and her eyes sparked in the sun. Just as bootiful as ever. She sat on the step beside him.

“I was actually just in the library. I found this book about the original Jekyll and Hyde. It was way harsh; It said that Edward Hyde trampled a child in the streets of London, is that true?”

“Nuh-uh! Those stuffy normie’s didn’t like that grandpa’s were different so they dragged their reputation through the dirt!” Holt declared passionately. “Some of the people they charged him with killing didn’t even exist in the first place! Then they made Dr. Jekyll out to be a complete basket case and threw them both in jail! That is until they got bailed out by our great-great-grandma, Lucy.”

“Oh, man. I didn’t know any of that!” Frankie replied. She actually knew all about it, she had heard the exact same thing from Jackson before. They were both incredibly salty about the smear campaign launched against their great-great-grandparents that made their family flee to America in the first place, and you could hardly bring it up around them without a passionate rant. Frankie felt a little bad about bringing up something she knew was a sore subjet for them, but she had to make sure Spectra and the other ghouls didn’t get caught. It was for their own good, right?

Her phone buzzed in her lap and she glanced down. “Spectra got something, meet us back in the library.” Clawdeen. Frankie jumped up. “Sorry, Holt, I really gotta go.”

Holt watched her go in curiosity. He checked the time and quickly jumped up himself and dashed back inside the building. The only way to not be late now was to go through Section C, the so-called “vampires only” hallway. It really irked them when other monster’s used it, but he didn’t really care when it was either that or detention. As he made his way through he felt someone glaring at him, and met eyes with a large group of the former prep-school vampires. He braced himself, but instead of giving him grief like they usually did, they just let him pass. They were acting weird, but so was everyone else. Oh well, he didn’t really have time to think about it now.

Holt’s third period was Chemistry 2 with Mr. Hack. No thanks. Science was never his strong suit. Plus, there was seriously something off about this particular teacher. He just took a little too much pleasure in the cutting open of living things for Holt’s liking. He pulled out his phone.

“Keep an eye out. Today’s been weird, Bro.” He typed the message out and then disconnected his phone from his headphones. The world went dark.

Jackson blinked a few times. What was that ringing sound? “Oh, shOOT!” He bolted through the closest door- which just happened to be the right one- and took his seat as the bell finished ringing.

Mr. Hack passed out a hefty amount of worksheets to the class. “Okay class: no whispering, no talking, no looking around, no coughing or sneezing, no you can’t use the bathroom, and if I catch you on your cell phone the whole class gets detention. You have until the end of the class to complete the worksheets or it's a 0 for today.”

Everyone groaned. Good old Mr. Hack. Charming and likeable. Jackson tried to ignore the stares and whispers in his direction as he did his work. He knows he’s different, don’t they ever get tired of reminding him? Were they all paying more attention to him than usual, or was it just his imagination? He blazed through his work in about 20 minutes, it was just some simple thermodynamics equations. He looked up and noticed that Mr. Hack was asleep. Typical. Half the class were on their phones and the other half were talking amongst themselves. He pulled his phone out and saw Holt’s message.

Huh. Maybe it wasn’t just his imagination then, everyone was acting a little odd. Granted, every day at Monster High was pretty weird. Last week they had lost their school crest in a rollerblading contest and the school nearly toppled over, so maybe he could just ignore whatever this was.

The bell finally rang for lunch. He set his work on Mr. Hack’s desk as he jolted awake and practically ran from the room. He shot Clair a text

“Okay, transportation is set and decorations bought. Am I forgetting anything?”

“Measurements, goofy.” She responded almost instantly.

“Oh, right. I can get a tape measure from the woodshop teacher and get them during lunch.”

“Have you told the other monsters about Saturday?”

“No. I just don’t know how they’ll react, y’know?”

“Aren’t they always telling you about how you don’t belong? So why would they care?”

“Yeah you’re probably right. It’s just a difficult situation.”

“Yeah, I hear you. Let me know how it goes.”

Looking down at his phone, he didn’t notice Draculara until he bumped her as he passed.

“So sorry!” He exclaimed. 

“It’s alright.” She reassured him as she walked away. She made her way to the library where her friends were already gathered around in a circle. Spectra floated in the center.

“What’s this all about?” Draculara asked.

“While Frankie had Holt distracted, Spectra looked in his locker.”

“Well what did she find?” Cleo demanded.

“Just this. It appears to be a receipt for some kind of car rental.”

Clawd glanced at his phone. “Heath says Jackson is in the boys locker room right now taking measurements of himself and writing them down.” He told the group.

“Then what Spectra said is true.” Fraknie finally admitted. The room fell into extended silence.

“Well we can at least show Jackson he means something to us.” Draculara spoke up.

“Yeah,” Frankie agreed, “we can do something nice for him and Holt.”

“What are we going to do? Hijack the gym and throw a huge party during lunch?” Cleo asked sardonically.

“You’re on a roll Cleo! It’ll be closed tomorrow, but we can do it Friday!” Clawdeen agreed.

Cleo smiled. Very well then. Friday would be a day for the monster history books.

[unholyplumpprincess]

Won’t Say I’m In Love

A commission for Anonymous with a trans dude and Loba!

Summary: In which reader is Loba's sugar baby/friend with benefit who she loves to shower gifts upon. When reader starts expressing interest and complimenting her, realizing she gets flustered when the attention is turned to her, it makes courting her and making it. Obvious they'd like more a little more difficult. Nothing that can't be solved with a little bump n grind, right?...Right?

Reblogs > Likes. It costs zero dollars to reblog :D

Minors and ageless blogs dni or you will be blocked!

Fandom: Apex Legends

Relationship: Loba Andrade/Reader

Warnings: R18+/NSFT, Loba is a trans woman and her bits are referred to as cock/dick, Reader is a trans man with top surgery and no bottom surgery and parts are referred to as cock/dick/hole, reader is penetrated, sugar mommy relationship BUT WITHOUT THE MOMMY INVOLVED, FWB to romance, talk of transitioning and the stuff that comes with it, Loba nuts in ya, aaaand fluff!

Words: 5.1k

_______________

Loba, to you, was everything.

Perhaps that’s a bit of a stretch. But in times like this, you can’t imagine her out of your life. Not when her smile is etched into your memory, dimples on her cheeks and pearly whites reminding you of a wolf’s. Or how her eyes narrow dangerously when you tease her, a smile playing on her lips as she coos to you to hand over the last treat in the kitchen before you run squealing after you shove it in your mouth. Loba, hot on your heels.

Life with her came natural after being in each other’s good graces for so long.

Well.

If you called ‘fuck buddies where she buys you things all the time’ good graces. A certified sugar mama.

~Rest under the cut~

Your meeting had been a business strict one at first. She was the girl people went to when things were stolen from them or they had specific desires. In your case, a precious family heirloom had been stolen from you by Hammond. That family member that had been working on cracking a code to work into their system had mysteriously disappeared, leaving you with a precious family ring that you cherished. Yet, somehow, it had gone missing, the only lead being of a ripped jacket by the window with an H symbol on it.

Loba was a person you’d heard of who could get anything from anyone, and when you’d found her, given her all the details and your own sob story. She’d hummed, drawing her manicured fingers across your cheeks and cooed about how pretty a gem you were yourself. When your cheeks had flared red, she’d smirked, patted your cheek and told you that it would be done within the week. Since she was going that way anyway.

When you’d received an anonymous text fit with a wolf emoji, you’d hurried quickly over to the underground area where she’d resided. The neon red lights had looked beautiful on her, made her look dangerous in the alleyway where she’d sat upon a box as if it were a throne. You thanked her a million times over, offering money, even some other jewelry that you’d been given that you had no need for. Yet you knew it was expensive.  

Loba had refused, and instead had risen from her spot where she’d been sitting. Circling you like you were prey and making a mention about how she knew you were struggling to keep your apartment going, how it would be dangerous for you to go back. Not knowing how or why she brought it up, at first you bristled, holding the ring close to your chest in fear she would take it.

But, instead, she offers you her gloved hand, a smile on her face and a tilt to her head. “As I told you when you had arrived, you are a beautiful gem yourself. I could take care of you. Would you like to be the new addition to my collection?”

At first, you’d been flustered, a little shocked, and suspicious. But now? Now it all made sense.

Loba loved to shower you in gifts and compliments. She’d always called you the prized jewel of her collection. A collection that you’d seen and wandered through numerous times by now. Of golds, silvers, diamonds, arts, priceless artifacts, all the riches in the world for the woman who had everything. And she had almost everything. Including a found family.

With Loba, you, and Jaime? You were your own family. The trio out in the world with a home base and all the riches you could have ever wanted- thanks to Loba, that is. Not that it was hard for her, one of the best thieves in the world. Her jump bracelet made that much so easy. And she always loved to gift you things from her finding that she thought you would look pretty in.

Whatever you wanted.

The first time she’d offered you something, a beautiful pearl choker, you’d kind of laughed with a flushed face. No one had ever gifted you jewelry before, let alone been delighted TO give you it. But when you reached for it, she teased you, holding it just out of reach and said she’d like to put it on you. Resulting with her manicured fingers lightly brushing your skin as she stood in front of you, hitching it behind your neck with ease and gently curling a finger underneath the front.

She’d tugged you closer that day as your face burned, head tipped up to look at her. Loba had already been tall, but when she wore heels it was even worse with you. Yet, she’d grinned, tilted her head, eyes flickering down to your lips and murmured, “Do I get a little gift in return?” With such softness, eyes twinkling with mischief.

It wasn’t as if you two hadn’t been playing essentially gay chicken this entire time. You were obviously sexually into her, as she was to you. So, with your lips quivering, you’d nodded, murmuring back, “Anything you want.”

“That’s what I like to hear, sweetheart.” She’d cooed before pressing the softest kiss upon your lips and leaving you wanting more as she pulled back and gently patted your cheek.

And you were left to watch her saunter off, eyes falling to her ass without thinking about it and your fingers touching your lips where you felt the slickness of her gloss lingering.

From there, the teasing escalated. Until your relationship developed more into a ‘friends with benefits’ situation or even a ‘sugar mommy’ situation. Sans the calling her mommy part, wasn’t really your thing. She gave you gifts, showered you in them really, and in return you two had some killer sex. You figured it was a win all around for you.

When you got pretty things to adorn your body with, and you got to hold onto a headboard with your head thrown back as her mouth made quick work of you. Where was the loss in that scenario? Well, maybe the lipstick stains on your inner thighs or...or...

Or maybe you knew exactly what it was. Because after time went on, your sexual feelings finally revealed themselves to actually be disguised romantic feelings. Cracking open like pouring light whenever she walked into the room and you had to push them down and swallow your pride.

That’s where your loss was.

It had started pretty small a few months ago. You just started to notice different ways Loba dressed, or how she had her hair some days. Some days her makeup would change and you would compliment it genuinely, only to have her black lipstick covered lips playfully smirk your way and offer for you to try it out personally.

Hey, you weren’t complaining about walking around with a kiss print on your neck or cheek.

But you were mentally complaining about how fast your heart had beat at such a simple action. How you’d touched your cheek when she wasn’t looking and smiled to yourself like you were some sort of schoolboy incapable of reeling in your crush.

You mentally groaned to yourself. You were NOT about to ruin anything for her.

Loba, you thought, deserved love and happiness. You contemplated that maybe...just maybe you could be the one to give that to her. But, you knew her, you knew her very well for that matter. If affection was genuine, she’d become flustered and nervous and try to find a way to turn it sexual or into a flirt. She could flirt her way through anything, but if you so much as tucked her hair behind her ear and told her she looked pretty that day, she’d almost choke and try to turn the situation back.

You tried to give back what she gave you, trying to adore her, only to have her try and hide her flustered appearance by trying to flirt you up. Or slamming you against a wall and cooing about how you were pushing her buttons.

She was good at hiding her emotions in a way you wouldn’t expect her to. Instead of shying off or shutting down, Loba had learned to laugh her way out of situations and compliment you. Pinching your cheek and calling you sweet. The love- the romance she’d been deprived of didn’t go unknown to you. She didn’t trust easily, and she was happy with you and Jaime being her family.

At least, that’s as far as you knew.

What you didn’t know is that her feelings matched your own. That every extra glance you stole her way, she noticed and tried not to think anything of. But sometimes, sometimes when she was fucking you, she imagined you holding on tight to her and murmuring sweet nothings. Or instead of coming to her room for a ‘nightly visit’, that you’d spend the night and let her hold you quietly in her arms and wake up to see you just the same.

Mutual feelings that neither of you knew the other had.

Eventually you figured you needed to own up to it. And that’s what you were trying to plan right now. It’s with a breath that you come to the decision that maybe you could...show her instead.

Yeah, yeah that sounded better.

So, when Loba comes home tonight, smiling brightly as she swings a beautiful diamond necklace around a finger and announcing to you and Jaime, “Mama’s home, boys! Did you miss me?” With fondness in her voice and her eyes flicking over you to hint that she had a gift for you- that is when you decide now is a good time to strike.

After dinner is had and Loba has put her necklace in a beautiful glass case to admire it, you come towards her little den area. It was a big, rounded room, wall to wall full of her jewels and findings. Ranging from pearl necklaces to priceless artifacts. Beautiful art pieces were hung on the walls all around it with lights to ensure that the jewels down below would glitter and gleam in any lighting. You rest yourself on the doorway as you watch her, admiring her from afar as she looks to the sparkling necklace with glee in her eyes.

“Ah, so beautiful. Don’t you think?” Loba sighs at her necklace, before her eyes flick up to you in the doorway. Her eyes sparkle with that same look from earlier, mischief dancing in them as she saunters up to you slowly. As if a predator with its prey. You’d lie if you said your heart didn’t skip three beats.

“Yeah, I think you are, actually.” You coyly respond, going so far as to flutter your lashes as she rests an arm beside your head. Her grin is amused, rolling her eyes and using her free hand to gently grab your chin, tilting your head this way and that. Always inspecting you.

Her prized possession.

“Ha-ha, very cute. How many times have you tried that one, love?” She teases, tapping her manicured nail on your cheek twice. You smile fondly at the nickname, pretending it didn’t make you near about squirm out of your spot. But your heart lurches in your chest when she speaks much softer, tracing along your jawline with her fingertips. “I have a gift for you.”

“I was going to tell you the same thing.”

That piques Loba’s interest, her mischievous look pausing for surprise to overtake her features. Her glossy lips part in surprise, her eyes moving from the stare on your lips to flick up to your eyes as her brows furrow briefly.

She looked adorable.  

Fuck.

“A gift? For me? Isn’t that my job?” Loba laughs a bit, taking a step back and cocking her head, her long braids following. She looked just like a puppy. You swallow down your racing heartbeat as you try to figure out how to bring it up.

“Later- in the bedroom.” You promise. A familiar phrase that makes her pupils widen, a smirk falling to her face instead, a bit more confidence to her purr as she affectionately pinches your cheek.

“I eagerly await your acquaintance tonight, then. But, for now, let me show you the ring I found you, darling!”

You’re going to die.

--

The ring she’d found you had been gorgeous- she'd yet to gift you a ring yet. Loba once had said that seemed a little too intimate of a gift. You never asked why, but now that you’ve been gifted one, looking at the gold band with a beautiful simple style with three gems in each twirl of its vine-like look.

Well, you can’t help but think either she’s gotten used to you or maybe...maybe it had a purpose.  

Either way, it helps you feel more confident about what you’re going to try tonight. Walking with a bit more confidence as you head to her bedroom. You hardly have the time to knock before she’s opening the door, yanking you inside, and pushing you against the door to kiss you.

Loba is stripped down for the night. Her twin braids traded to let her curly hair down, the ombre look towards the tips of her bright red hair reaching about mid-back and splaying around her beautifully. Her outfit has been swapped to something a bit more practical of a black lacy bralette and stretchy short shorts, revealing her long legs and the beautiful vine-like tattoos with flowers curling on her outer thighs, edging up her hips to her waist.

Your hands come up, but are immediately caught by her. Her fingers lace in yours, pulling your hands to rest beside your head against the door as you moan into her mouth. Your reward is a soft laugh, her teeth nipping your bottom lip before trailing her glossy, full lips over your chin, down your jawline to your neck.

“Wait, wait-” You manage to breathe out when her lips press to the length of your neck. Immediately Loba pauses, releasing your hands and backing up. Concern and confusion in her eyes, but you quickly let out a laugh, “No, no, I mean- I want to try something different tonight...if that’s okay?”

“What like- bondage?”  

You about choke, head thunking back against the door as feeling your cheeks warm as you try to think of how to word it. It’s kinda of hard when she’s now idly kissing at your neck, lips parting to suckle on a sensitive spot of yours that makes your hips jerk. But you manage to breathe it out, “I want to take care of you tonight.”

Then it’s Loba’s turn to choke. Pulling back away from her spot to give you a curious look, if flustered. Her own face is red, looking apprehensive about the idea, but you quickly add in. “If you don’t like it, truly don’t like it, we’ll stop immediately, okay? I promise.”

And then you have her. Just with that extra security.

“You better make it worth my while.” She huffs almost in an embarrassed tone. But her voice is playful, despite the way you notice how she swallows and her smile doesn’t quite reach her eyes. And you know it isn’t the fact she doesn’t want it, it’s because she’s used to being in control. And not that you don’t like her taking control of you but...

Sometimes you just wanted to treat her right. Show her how much she meant to you.

You suppose sex was better than trying to sit her down for a conversation and talk about your feelings with eye contact involved and your running mouth.

You start gentle with her, leading her to the bed and guiding her to lie down. You start with something simple as a makeout session. Straddling her hips so she can feel the heat of your body through your sweatpants and t-shirt. You lean into her, cupping her cheek and pushing her hair from her face as you kiss her so gently, stroking your thumb over her cheekbone. You make sure not to let her guide the kiss, but let her grab your hips, feeling her fingers slide under the waistband to touch your skin.

When you lick into Loba’s mouth, her breath hitches, her hips coming up to press against you and you follow the motion by pressing down to give her some pressure. Your own breath is shaky when her hands slide down to your ass under your pants, tugging you gently to get you to grind.

Control- normally you’d follow like the good boy she’d claimed you to be but...

You immediately part from the kiss, delighting quietly in how she whines. However, delighting even more when her eyes shoot open and she whines louder when you take her hands and pull them above her head. You interlock your fingers, hovering your lips just out of reach when she tries to lean up and get at you again, but realizing quickly that she can’t. Loba groans.

It’s quiet submission when her head rests back on the pillow, a shaky breath leaving her lips as her eyes fall to your mouth. She pouts her prettiest when you give her a look, huffing under you and rolling her eyes. “What? Do you want me to say ‘please’?”

“It’s a start to getting what you want, Ms. Andrade, don’t you think?” You tease in a mocking tone, causing her eyes to narrow up at you. There’s another huff from her, her fingers flexing in a nervous way in your grip. You wait patiently above her, eyes sparkling with mischief.  

“Pl-...” Loba pauses, swallowing before shakily exhaling through her nose. Her eyes flicker to the side as if flustered, rolling upwards as if trying to will herself to speak. You try to ignore the way you feel her cock jerk under your ass, but you can’t ignore the pride you feel knowing she liked this.

“Please, please do something more. Please don’t tease me? Aren’t I good to you, baby?” She begs her prettiest, ending it with a shaky noise, her cheeks flushed red and her lips pulling into a pretty pout that you can’t help but kiss to soothe away her embarrassment.

You murmur sweet nothings against her mouth that you hope she doesn’t catch as you kiss your way down her neck. You only need to scoot down her body a little, moving to fit between her legs rather than straddle her.

You let her hands go, watching with delight as they stay right where you put them as your own pull up her bralette to reveal her chest. She’s got nice breasts, rounded and about a C cup. You know from her talking about it that she’d gotten them filled in the past, all decorated with pretty silver barbells through each nipple and her underbreast tattoo curling between her chest.

You press your mouth at the freckles dotting the upper edges of her breasts, nosing your way down the path of her flesh until you can gingerly cup her breast. You relish the way her breath hitches in anticipation when you mouth at her nipple, pressing soft, fluttering, wet kisses until she whines softly under her breath.  

She really can’t blame you for drawing it out, right? For adoring every inch of her? You’d never been able to seen her like this before, how she squirms, trying to be good underneath you and not take over. It’s the best you could have asked of her. To try.

You smile against her skin before you take her nipple into your mouth and begin suckling. Letting your tongue flick back and forth over it to feel the shape of her barbell idly. Loba’s sounds are soft, gentle little sighs as her hips gently press up against you to get some pressure. You hum against her in reply when her hand rests in your hair, gently stroking and pressing to encourage you to touch her more.

A moan escapes her lips when you let your teeth gingerly scrape across the sensitive flesh, coming off of her with a wet pop. You nuzzle between her chest with a soft sigh of, “You’re so beautiful.” Your tone dripping with honesty as you kiss down her ribcage, towards her abdomen.

Normally she’s talkative during sessions like this, liking to pull your hair and show you who’s in charge. But now when you look up, all you can see is her head turned to the side, her cheeks red and her lips parted to shallowly breathe. You’ve never felt prouder of yourself.

When you reach the waistband of her short, you peer up at her under your lashes, gently tugging at the band. “Can I take these off?”

“Please.” She replies, completely unprompted with a shaky breath following and her eyes peering open to look down at you. Her gaze makes you feel hot, your chest bursting with adoration that you can only hope your eyes mimic.

You gently pull them off and toss them to the side. You move to sit up on your knees, gently rubbing at her thighs as your eyes flicker to her cock. She was about six inches long and uncut with foreskin only reaching just under the head. She’d shared with you that she was thankful that the future medical technology allowed her to decide the option on being able to get hard and remain fertile. Just as you’d shared you were thankful that getting top surgery had become less dangerous over so many years in the making.

Small things to share with her in those quiet moments you two could relate to each other.

Now, you run a hand along her inner thigh, sliding over her shaved mound as you quietly ask, “What are your feelings on penetrating me today?” To let her know in turn you wanted that. Of course, if she didn’t, you’d happily find your favorite cock and strap it in.

“Please,” She says again, practically music to your ears by now. “I want to be inside you- let me touch you, little pup, please? I’ll be on my best behavior.” Loba’s voice is near desperate as she looks down at you. Sitting up on her elbows to see you better. Your face flushes at the nickname, almost tempted to scold her for it, but the way she looks at you...

Her eyes are full of something you’ve seen before. Never taking the time to see. Adoration. Her pupils are blown wide, her lips parted and her eyes roaming across your frame before coming back to your eyes. Her brows furrow briefly, this desperate look crossing her face as she tries again, “Let me see your cock, baby, let me taste you?”  

It’s filth. Yet she sounds so fucking soft when she says it that you can’t help but swallow down a whine.

In a matter of moments, you’re stripping from your clothing. Your sweatpants get tossed with your shirt, but before you can get to your underwear Loba is already helping you out of it. Her fingers eagerly grab your hips, but she learns quickly because she doesn’t pull you. Letting you move your own body until your thighs can frame her face.

You reach down to pull on your mound, exposing your cock to her. You’re hard already, your hole drooling with slick from the excitement from seeing her so open earlier. Loba knows how you like it, hooking her arms around your thighs to hold you as her eyes go half lidded to watch your face. You swallow thickly, biting your bottom lip as her tongue runs from your hole, up to the underside of your dick in a fluid swipe.

Kitten licks like that repeat a few times, being mindful of how sensitive your engorged cock could be right off the bat. You shakily exhale through your nose when her lips part, letting the piercing on her tongue rest on the underside of your clit and her breath fanning across you hotly.

When she finally takes you into her mouth, you let out a moan and use your free hand to rest in her hair. The smile you feel against your wet flesh should make you flustered, but not as much as when she looks up at you under her lashes with such adoration. She lets you take the reins, gently humping against her mouth and taking things at your pace. It’s the most control you’ve had in a while, but your mouth starts working before you can even think, “Fuck- you’re so beautiful, babe.”

The blush that reddens her cheeks fuels both her own motions and your mouth as you moan low in your throat just to hear her moan low back at you in turn as she licks up your cock. “Good- good that feels s...so good-” You don’t expect her to react so well to your voice, let alone praise. But you feel her nails dig into your thighs, able to see the way she parts her lips, glossy now from your slick and seeing it stick to her tongue-

It’s too much.

There’s almost a rush as you squirm out of her grasp to move down to her lap to straddle her again. You’d tell her to finger you, but one look at her nails proves why that’s a hassle. Thankfully when you sink your own fingers into yourself, you find your walls are wet and pliant. But for good measure you still ask her for the lube to prep her own cock. Stroking her cock whilst you rest on her thighs, able to watch her eyes flutter and how her fingers twist into the pillow she’s got her head on.  

“Ready?” You ask, pulling yourself closer so you can slide your cock against hers, sandwiching it between your sex to grind back and forth against her. Loba quickly nods, her hands moving to grab your hips and squeezing eagerly, but you hum again. “I asked you a question.”

“Yes! Yes, yes, baby- yes, I want it, I want you, please!” Loba all but whines, her look frantic again as she gently pulls you. You follow the motion, lining her up before sliding down onto her with a gasp.

Loba’s reaction is immediate, always so sensitive when you envelop her. She’s got her nails pressing into your hips, her face contorted and her head tossed to the side with pure pleasure written across her features. It makes you feel proud that you could just do that with your body, that you’re the one making her look like that.

Your emotions are swelling up in your chest.

You push them down for the sake of resting your hands on top of hers on your body. Squeezing them and feeling your heart race when she maneuvers so her fingers can intertwine with yours. Your breath hitches, but that can easily be passed off for your hips grinding on their own, grinding your fat cock against her mound and feeling the way she shifts in you.

Her soft moan and the way her fingers squeeze yours make you dizzy.

Don’t think about it, you remind yourself.

Your breath quickens as you lean forward and begin riding her. Only pulling yourself up an inch or two and sliding yourself back down onto her cock. Your toes curl, squeezing her hands a bit tighter and about whining when she starts to pull her hands back. But you figure out why when she holds them up at about her waist level, lacing your fingers with hers to give you more leverage to fuck yourself onto her.

Don’t think about it, you again think to yourself, your brain clouded with lust and adoration.

“You’re so handsome,” Loba mumbles out, and when you finally urge yourself to flutter open your eyes, she’s looking at you. She’s panting softly, brows furrowed in a look of pleasure. You swallow the whimper in your throat so you can instead move yourself to almost lie on top of her. Letting her hands go to rest your arms on either side of her head and bringing her into a kiss.

Her hands slide over your body then, sliding down your sides to your hips, to your ass to graciously grab as you fuck yourself onto her. You moan into her mouth, feeling her follow the motion with her own soft noise in her throat.

Don’t think about it, you try so desperately to tell yourself as the knot forms in your stomach.

You have to break the kiss, tucking yourself into her neck. Loba is holding onto you now, her hands resting flat on your back and dragging her nails down your skin. You whine into her ear as your inner walls clench, your cock humping against her shaved mound and keeping your body extremely interested. It comes tumbling out before you can think of it, “Fuck- fuck, fuck, shit- Loba, Loba-”

Don’t think about it, don’t think about it, don’t think about it-

“I love you-” Loba whines in your ear, causing your heart to near about beat out of your chest thinking you’d imagined it. But you feel her lips move against your neck next time, “I love you. Let me- ah- let me cum inside you, baby, please, please, please-”

It’s all a blur. The way your chest pounds and how hard you cum. You can hear her cumming not soon after you, her nails sinking into your back and her teeth sinking into your shoulder to quiet down her beautiful moans. You think you’re dehydrated, your brain must have lost oxygen at some point- but you felt it. You heard it.

As you two are coming down, you urge yourself to sit up in her lap. Watching as her hand slides through her hair to push the strands from her face, how her chest rises and falls with her breaths, trying to make it out in your head as you open and close your mouth like a fish.

“What?” She laughs, reaching up to gently cup your cheek. “You weren’t going to say it, I figured--”  

“You knew?!” You cry out, flustered and feeling your own face heat up in embarrassment- yet relief floods your chest.

“I had a feeling.”

“A feeling?!” You cry out again, this time more distraught. But it quickly dies down when her thumb brushes along your cheek bone, urging you to lean into her touch and settle down. Though you see the look in her eyes of almost uncertainty- worry perhaps.  

With a shaky breath, you turn and kiss her palm. “I...I love you as well, ya know?”

“I know, baby.”

“Don’t be so smug about it!”

Her melodic laugh is quickly smothered by the pillow you throw in her face, only for you to nearly get knocked off her lap when she takes it and throws it right back at you with a victorious cry.

Fuck you love her.

[blueporl]

This is probably going to be a super silly question, but I can't find your rules anywhere, I wanted to request a character fusion

that’s not silly at all! i appreciate you asking :D

my rules can be found here (they’re under the same page as the post “about the artist” links to, which ive edited to say “about and rules” because i realize that can be confusing)

and if that doesn’t work, i’ll shove em under the cut!

General

> feel free to draw fanart of my ocs from over on my toyhou.se! > drawing fanart of my AUs is allowed too > feel free to @ me in the fanart instead of submitting!! > no anon hate, or even hate in general– though (actual) constructive criticism is welcome! hell, y’all can even just straight up leave compliments if you feel like it, though i won’t answer ‘em) > if you’re a NS/FW or ki/nk oriented blog you won’t get blocked but i will not do requests for you > no NS/FW or kin/ky fanart unless we’re friends (and i mean friends, not just talking occasionally), as i am ace > i’ll do monthly challenges like Goretober and Mermay, but at my own leisure. forgive me if i post stuff late!!

About Requests

> keep in mind they won’t be my highest priority and may take a long while depending on what it is > spam me with requests if you’d like! just know that, whoever they’re from, they’ll likely take a long time, as stated above. > feel free to request art of ships, though i’ll be checking the source material before i consider it > i beg of you– do NOT ask when a request will be finished or how it’s going. especially don’t ask me to do it faster or something. feel free to ask if im doing it at all, however.

Things I won’t draw:

> Full N/SF/W (shippy/flirty/pin-up-y stuff is mostly acceptable) > characters from anime (might have a few exceptions, depending on the source’s art style) > anything with dozens of details (a few here and there i could try to replicate or just simplify but there’s a point where it’s too much) > of course, nothing illegal either (inc/est, pe/do stuff, etc., while anything to do with gambling or drugs will be tagged accordingly) > absolutely nothing to do with fet/ishes or ki/nks (v/ore, feet, bond/age, infl/ation, etc., etc.)

Things i enjoy drawing (and will subsequently take more requests of):

> character fusions (not limited to Steven Universe at all) > fandoms i have in my fandom tag list > simple/cartoon-y characters (Kirby, Pokemon, Lucas, etc; cuz they’re easy to translate into my style)

[laketaj24]

Heat II

Author’s Note: One week without Vikings, and I’m low critical sad. I planned on writing more than just this for Vikings today, but my wrists are killing me! The first part of this Fic is here Heat I  Taglists and Requests are Open!!! Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoy it!! Warnings: Smut.

He called his home a den, but it seemed nothing like it to you. The home at the foot of the mountain was large and recluse, and you liked it that way. You had no reason to leave the cabin; all you could think about was him. But tonight, Ubbe had plans; he wanted to leave the house take you to a party his brothers were having in the city. You slipped on the red dress and the high heels that made your butt pop and then pulled your hair into a high bun. Ubbe appeared in the doorjamb and watched. “We are to Harald’s place in the city. You’re nearly out of heat, so you will be safe there.” You smiled. You still did not have a clear understanding of the whole world you’d been sucked into; you only understood that you didn’t want to leave his side, that was enough. “This will be fun. What are we to do there?” ��Dance, drink,” he paused as a grin covered his face. “Fuck. Leave your panties here; you won’t need them.” He winked. “I need some help.” you bit your lip. Ubbe walked towards you, and his hands slid up your legs and tugged down the red silk panties. They dropped to your ankles, and you stepped out of them. He shoved the panties into his pocket and adjusted your dress. “Let’s go before we never leave.”

Harald’s home was huge, the columns on the front porch towered up three stories. Ubbe knocked once on the door, and Harald was there with a drink in his hand and a smile on his face. “Ubbe! You made it.” He glanced over to you, accessing your attire. “With a friend, I see.” “This is Y/N.” Ubbe’s hand wrapped around your waist, and he pulled you over to him. “Hello.” you beamed. “Come in, both of you.” You were not sure what you expected when you entered the home, but there were people packed in from wall to wall. The smell of the alcohol and smoke-filled your nose, and then the hum of the base from the music followed. This was a party, party. Ubbe seemed to be at home as he placed a chaste kiss on your forehead and left you standing in the foyer. He moved over to his brothers, and the banter between them all started immediately. What the fuck were you supposed to do now? Your eyes searched the room in search of a haven, anywhere, or anyone that could keep you from looking like the fool in the middle of the fucking foyer. “He left you alone?” The familiar voice of Ivar started you. He placed his hand at the nape of your back and appeared beside you. Ivar was the Beta, and his scent riled you like Ubbe’s sometimes, this was one of those times. He smiled and stood in front of you with his hands, now clasped behind his back. “How have you been Y/N?” You had only seen him when in the presence of Ubbe, you didn’t want to be alone with him; there was a sheer chance you would not be able to control yourself. “Well, Ivar.” You sighed in relief at the sight of a familiar face. “How about you?” “Better now.” “Is that so?” “Precisely so.” Ivar moved closer. “My brother taking good care of you?” “Until just now, yes.” “He’s mingling… I suggest you do the same. I will mingle with you if you want?” Ivar’s invitation seemed aimless, and you accepted. You started to walk towards the bar. Your mouth had dried, you could not tell If it was from Ivar or not. He smelt of sandalwood, and something sweet and everything in you liked it, fuck that, loved it. “Do you miss your work?” “Not really.” You admitted. Ivar took the two cups of the drink from the bartender and handed you one. You sipped the fruit drink, tasting the punch of the rum after the first swallow. It was strong, but maybe alcohol was what it was going to take for you to loosen up. It took four drinks, but after that fourth one, you were no stranger to the dancefloor. Your hips moved against Ivar’s, and his hands rested on your waist. It felt comfortable, safe oddly. But you didn’t have time to think about that, you just wanted to feel nothing beneath the green lights of the room and lose everything. Ivar’s hardened cock brushed against your ass, and everything in you told you to back up, but instead, you arched towards him running the line of your ass down his cock. You dress lifted, and he slipped his fingers up your thighs. Not a bystander noticed Ivar’s subtly movements, but you did. He moved with knowledge; he never touched your pussy, only your slick thighs and the lips. “if he ever treats you wrong…” You felt his smile on the back of your neck. “I would love to have you.” There was no answer from you, you could only feel him leave, and Ubbe emerge from nowhere with his eyes locked on you. “Here. Now.” He stood in the kitchen with his arms folded over his chest. Truth be told, you’d rather not. Ivar left you alone to face the wrath of something that he started. He moved his finger for you to come to him once more, and your feet betrayed you. You maneuvered through the crowd with your eyes on him. “There you are.” You smiled. “Wipe that fucking smile from your face.” He growled. The smile was gone. “What? You’re angry.” “I’m angry because my brother’s fingers were up your fucking dress!” he hissed. “Well, I’m fucking angry too. You left me in the middle of the fucking room as if I knew someone here! You left, and I made do with my time.” You folded your arms over your chest. “We can both be mad.” This would be your first fight, but you were no stranger to them. If anything, the strip clubs had taught you it was how to stand your ground and stand your ground you would do. “You think you can talk to me like that?” His brow cocked, he was confused and so were you. “Why the fuck would I not be able to?” Ubbe groaned, his deep voice showed every sign of aggravation. He stared at you for a moment, and the smile covered his face before he pushed you over the counter. “There are several things I will tolerate, but disobedience is not one of them.” His hand clutched your neck. He pushed your straps down onto your shoulders, and suddenly you were bare. The party blared on beside you; the door was even open. “Did you leave your panties at home, ass you were told?” “You took them off.” you scoffed. You acted annoyed, but every part of your body called for him. “Not right here.” you pleaded. “Ubbe.” “It is alpha,” he said. “What you don’t like an audience, Y/N? You allowed Ivar to finger fuck you in front of them. Shut up.” Once again, he gripped your neck and leaned closer to you. “You like my fingers around this pretty neck, don’t you?” You did, you wanted him to choke you harder. “Yes, alpha.” you rubbed your ass on him. “I don’t think you deserve to be fucked, to be honest.” He said these things, but the strain of his dick against his jeans fought against him. Ubbe wind his hips against your hips. “This is your last night in heat,” he whispered. “I could have snapped Ivar’s neck and threw him against the wall for even thinking he had the right to touch you.” You snaked your hand to his pants and pulled on the zipped. His dick wanted to be free, and you wanted him to fuck you, so this was an easy fix. Ubbe slapped your hand, and you whined. A literal protest escaped from your lips, and his grip tightened. “You are impatient.” he leaned over you, and you could feel the warmth of his cock. He pulled the head down the line of your ass and then to the wet entrance of your pussy. “You don’t deserve this,” he said before slamming into you. Every time was like the first with him. His teeth grazed the line of your throat, and he began. He knocked you forward to the sink. Your hands held fast to the counter, all while throwing your ass back at him in a circle. “Did you want to fuck Ivar?” “No.” You mewled. “Only you, alpha.” “Say it for him to hear.” Ubbe lifts you from the ground holding your legs in his arm, your back flush against his chest, and his cock still fucking into you madly. “Ivar likes to fucking watch anyway.” And he was right, Ivar stood in the door of the kitchen. He stared directly at your body as your breast bounced every time Ubbe fucked into you. “Beautiful, isn’t she.” Ubbe’s arms pulled your legs higher. “See how pink this pussy is… how wet she is… who is that for Y/N?” “You.” “Who am I?” He pushed you down on his cock, but you could feel his eyes barring into his younger brother. “Alpha.” You screamed as the tingles of pleasure surged through your body. “Fucking right.” The guttural growl shocked you, but you could feel the anger teeming from Ivar. “Get the fuck out, Ivar.”

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[edgydepressedchoicesthot]

Act of Courage (Noah/MC, Lucas/MC)

Summary: It shouldn’t feel like this, after all this time. We won, didn’t we?

No, Josh realized. We didn’t.

In which a survivor contemplates what was, what is, and what could have been.

ao3 link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24061654

@ladyseaheart1668, @marmolady, @it-lives-in-westchester

A/N: Between work, college, and my f*cked up head, finishing this up took a lot longer than it should have. I'm trying to make writing into my coping mechanism, so that I'll do it more, lol ;D

I have one more fic I promised on tumblr, an AME one I'm gonna work on. I'm also gonna try to go back to my ES novelization, so stay tuned for that for its continuation.

————————

The two of them were at Josh’s place, waiting for Ava, Andy, Dan, and Lucas. Lily was sick in bed and Stacy was visiting her grandma out of town, leaving Noah and Josh waiting for the four others while they drew figures in the dirt in the yard with sticks and talking about anything their minds jumped to.

“Hey, Noah?”

The boy turned towards his friend.

“Yeah?”

For a moment, Josh, who was as lively as ever seconds ago, was being uncharacteristically quiet.

“Do you…like anyone?”

“‘Like’,” Noah repeated. “Like I like you and Jane and the others? Or you mean like-like?”

“Um, yeah” Josh nodded, blushing. “Like-like.”

“Then no,” the other boy shrugged. “Stacy, Lily, and Ava are fun to hang around, but I don’t like-like anyone.”

“What about,” Josh began hurriedly, but slowed down. “What about boys…?”

“Huh?”

“Do you like-like any boys?”

Josh was beet red. Noah was just confused.

“No,” he shrugged. “I’m a boy. It’d be weird if I liked-liked a boy. That’s what my mom says though.”

“Right…” Josh looked hurt. “Right, forget it.”

Noah wanted to ask why his friend looked so sad.

He hated it when Josh got upset. Unlike Jane, who’d get mad, Josh would be quiet, pouty, and would go off by himself, refusing to ever acknowledge what made him upset in the first place.

But before Noah can say anything, the doorbell rang and their friends poured inside.

Noah forgot that Josh even asked him any question about who he liked.

It was something they’d both forget in the years to come, a memory of the conversation fading into a small feeling.

————————

After reading Lucas’s texts, Josh shoved his phone into his pocket. His smile started to fade as he continued down the road, focusing on his surroundings.

It really is a beautiful day, Josh mused.

And he hated it.

The sun shone through the trees in a way that reminded him of an image you’d find on a tourist pamphlet.

It made Josh think about how the only thing this town is good for is being fake.

Like how the town somehow fooled themselves into thinking everything was just a freak animal attack.

But the more he thought about it, Josh guessed he couldn’t blame the town for that. Having to deal with the truth might actually be more of a clusterfuck than it all happening.

It was all a question of why.

Why did this all happen to them? Why was he the one who had to find Redfield’s shack?

All he had to do was keep his goddamn mouth shut about some stupid fucking rock floating all those years ago…

It’s my fault.

Josh scoffed.

Like that’s big news.

And when it was time to pay the piper, Josh was too much of a coward to do anything…

Shoving his hands into his pockets, Josh forced himself to think about something, anything else.

His mind wandered from the date Lucas promised they’d have before he went back to his university, to that new video game Lily’s been raving about, Stacy’s latest Pictagram post about celebrating another perfect score on an exam, Ava’s latest binge on occult books in the library, Andy whining about how he just wants to be free of high school already, Dan’s updates on his new art blog…

…Noah crying, apologizing…

Josh wiped tears from his eyes as he kept walking.

————————

Noah always envied Josh.

He was a charismatic go-getter where Noah was shy and bookish. Josh always got stickers that came with having a perfect score on spelling tests, ones that Noah just passed by never more than five points. Josh was brave enough to make the first move in befriending him and Jane, and began their circle of friends the same way.

Noah not only hated how he was too wimpy to ever say any of this out loud, but also that he held this kind of resentment towards one of the best friends he’s ever had.

Noah hated how nervous he feels around Josh too. How he can’t help but constantly compare himself to him.

Josh was like the sun; radiant and bright and impossible to miss, and Noah had felt like the grimy earth beneath it.

But everything changed after Jane died.

Their whole group of friends changed. They started to see each other less and less, and eventually, they never saw each other outside of school.

Having different classes in middle school widened the gap between them, leaving silent nods as the last bit of interaction they had.

Soon, even those were gone.

Even after they all fell apart, Noah couldn’t help but notice Josh.

Before, Noah had always seen Josh happily chatting with at least one person.

Now, Noah never saw him hang out with anyone ever again. He was like the dusty remains of a star that went out.

There were times Noah wanted to reach out, to see if they could be friends again, to hang out, laugh together, be together-

-and Noah would stop himself when he came short of any reason Josh would want to talk to him.

————————

“You look like shit.”

“Hello to you too, Ava.”

Josh was semi-thankful that his shift at one of the town’s few fast food places started early in the morning. Only a handful of people stepped in here for breakfast, and none of them were impossible to deal with. So, for a few hours, Josh could enjoy a bit of peace before the lunch rush.

And it was always good to see a friendly face.

“Alright, fuck the pleasantries then.”

Usually.

Ava stretched her hand at Josh and waved it dramatically.

“In the name of the Dread Goddess Hekate, get me my usual.”

Josh punched in the register an order for an apple pie and a milkshake.

“That’ll be $2.78.”

Wordlessly, Ava hands him money and Josh went in the back to get her order.

“Talked to Tom today,” Ava said. “He looked really interested in the stuff I found in Cora’s shack. Maybe he can be my apprentice or some shit.”

“A witch’s apprentice?”

“Turned him down. Teaching is a rock bottom I’ll never hit.”

“Cuz the teacher’s at school we sooo great.”

“You get it.”

Josh finished up, pie in a paper bag and milk in hand.

“So, you talk to people,” she asked before he held out her order. “You’re social like that. Everyone’s gonna be at the memorial tonight, right?”

“Yup,” Josh nodded. “All seven of-”

Josh stops himself, remembering what happened to the seventh.

Ava’s face went steely, and for a moment it looked like she had a lot to say.

“Hand me my order,” she sighed. Josh obliged.

Before Ava walked out, she stopped and did a half turn. Josh sees several shifts to and from anger and sympathy.

“Tale care,” she said before leaving.

————————

Noah couldn’t remember the last time he and Josh talked.

So, when Josh sat next to him at the pep rally, he hoped his quietness came off as indifference, and hid his anxiety about the whole situation.

Josh didn’t seem to mind, since he started talking semi-comfortably. He was mellower and less gloomy than he used to be, and Noah felt the familiar jealously that was always the third companion amongst the two.

The pep rally ended after the blackout, Josh called everyone to meet after school, and four of them were stocking up on makeshift weapons.

When Josh told Noah that he won’t leave him again, he let himself believe it.

Noah halfheartedly thanked Josh, and for a second was afraid his sort-of-friend would take offense.

But instead, Josh smiled at him, and Noah felt like he was looking at sunshine.

A warm feeling bloomed in Noah’s chest, and it stuck around even when they were done talking and gone back to looking for weapons.

Noah remembered the warm feeling later on, when he noticed how Josh’s face was red when he was close enough to Lucas, how he stammered a bit more when the two were talking.

Noah wasn’t as dumb as he was as a kid. He knew that Josh liked Lucas. He also didn’t want to believe he was feeling jealousy, because of what it implied.

It wasn’t until during Britney’s party that Noah started to ask himself where these feelings for Josh came from. Was it sometime after everyone drifted apart, and their absence leaving an ache in his heart? Or was it before, when they were younger, innocent, and still friends?

After the party and after Josh revived his hope for the future (something he’d been doing well the past few days), his own personal devil reared its shadowy head, and signaled the end.

In the near future, while they were all forced to play the game again, Noah would wonder if anything could have happened to keep this whole mess from happening.

If he just told Redfield to fuck off, or just ignored him (no, her).

————————

“In school,” Andy said with a mouth full of pizza. “You froze up every time you had to present something. And up there, you didn’t break a sweat.”

Josh was taken by surprise when Stacy’s mom called him up to say a few words (he didn’t even think the town’s mayor even remembered his name). Surprisingly, where there was usually quick breath and sweating, there was just emptiness.

His mind flashed to Cora when he was up, about how she risked her life to help them and went to warn them while she was injured and dying.

And then it went to Noah.

He kept his part about Noah as brief as possible, and stepped down the second he gave his last “thank you”.

Josh would like to say that Lucas’s hug and quick kiss after the memorial made him feel better, but after talking about Noah, he couldn’t shake the feeling like he was betraying him.

“I get a lot of speech practice when dealing with customers from hell,” Josh finally answered, shrugging.

“You mean Ava?” Andy snarked.

“Andy, don’t be mean,” Lily scolded

“You think I take offense to that?” Ava grinned evilly. “I go there on the weekends.”

Josh finished his Graveyard, and turned to Lucas, right next to him.

“Bartender, one more.”

“One for me too,” Stacy smirked, wiggling her empty cup.

“I think you’ve both had enough,” Lucas said in mock seriousness.

“How can you stand to drink those?” Tom asked. “I almost hurled taking a sip!”

“That’s it, you’re dead to me,” Stacy pouted theatrically.

“Aw, come on,” Lily nudged Stacy with her shoulder. “We all just pledged our eternal devotion to each other five minutes ago!”

And just managed to avoid talking about Noah…

Noah could be here. Right now.

Maybe not here though. The others might still hate him, maybe not, but at least he’d be alive. Maybe everyone would even slowly come to stop hating him.

He could find a way to pay for culinary school. He could open up the diner he talked about…

And I wish I could just stop thinking about those last moments…

Josh has vague memories of blushing and being embarrassed around Noah when they were younger, but he didn’t think it had meant anything.

Every time Josh started thinking about his...crush, if he could call it that, he’d just start thinking of Lucas, and guilt of betrayal would stab at his gut.

Josh’s eyes drift over to Dan, who’s been silent the whole time, aside from giving halfhearted laughs and accepting Graveyard refills…

…along with bringing up the one who’s been on Josh’s mind for a while.

“Well…not the whole group.”

Josh remembered that this night would end, and that everyone would go back to dealing with their trauma.

Not alone. Please for the love of god not alone.

He felt like some kind of traitor again, for feeling this awful around people with whom he should be happy.

It shouldn’t feel like this, after all this time. We won, didn’t we?

He remembered the panic attack he talked Lily through by phone after Britney called him, begging for help. He remembered Ava’s blank face as the signs of a flashback started to show. He remembered the bags under Stacy’s eyes as she drank more coffee than was healthy. He remembered the late night texts from Andy faking small talk when he couldn’t sleep and needed some anchor to reality. He remembered the way Dan finally admitted with tears that he wasn’t fine, was anything but fine.

And he remembered seeing the thing that used to be Noah in the ruins, looking back at him with those white eyes before vanishing.

No, Josh realized. We didn’t.

————————

Seconds ago, Josh had gotten Noah out of Redfield’s (no, Jane’s) control as he was seconds away from being stabbed.

He goaded and taunted the monster they all feared since childhood, and fended it off with a whistle.

So this should be easy, right?

Taking Jane’s place so she could finally be free of the hell she spent nearly a decade in.

“I’m sorry, Josh,” Noah sobbed. “Please…please tell my mom-”

“Wait!” Josh said shakily. “It doesn’t have to be you!”

“Josh, please, it had to be me,” Noah begged. “Let me do this. Let me fix my mistakes.”

“NO!” he screamed. “Don’t you dare! Let me do this! Let me take her place instead!”

Except…

Josh didn’t say any of that.

He wanted to stop Noah, he wanted to so much, but no matter what, his throat wouldn’t obey.

When it mattered the most, all he could give is silence.

If the two of them were any closer, their faces would touch. Unfallen tears pooled in Noah’s eyes, filled with regret

Josh didn’t know what to do. He wanted to scream at Noah. He wanted to hug him and never let go. He wanted to punch him.

But Noah acted before Josh could.

His lips weren’t soft, but warm and gentle, and soon turn salty when tears hit their lips. Neither of them knew whose.

“I’m sorry,” Josh lost count of the number of times Noah’s apologized today. “I just…I needed to do that. Just once…”

Those are the last words Noah ever said as a human.

————————

The night ended with everyone promising to see each other tomorrow, and soon after that.

And so, here were Josh and Lucas, waiting together on a bench on the sidewalk for Josh’s mom to come pick them up and give Lucas a ride to his house.

Despite everyone parting with the unspoken promise of this goodbye isn’t for good, Josh couldn’t help that irrational fear that the opposite would be true, and they’d all fall apart over again.

“You good?” Lucas pulled Josh out of his thoughts.

“Huh?” he mumbled dumbly.

“You’re squeezing my hand pretty hard there,” Lucas shakes his hand holding Josh’s, and he finds out he’s right; Josh is squeezing Lucas’s hand like some kind of lifeline.

“Sorry,” Josh says sheepishly as he eases his grip, but Lucas gives a gentle squeeze, keeping him from pulling away.

“Hey, you’re alright,” Lucas says before Josh can apologize any more.

Josh smiled at him, not trusting himself to speak right now. Unfortunately, it just gave way to an awkward silence.

“Josh?”

“Yeah?”

“You know you can tell me anything, right?” Lucas asks.

“What…” do you mean, Josh wanted to say, but he just didn’t have the heart to lie to his boyfriend’s face.

“I know,” Josh sighed.

And he did. But that was a different story than being able to do it.

“I’m here for you. So is everyone else. And if something’s been on your mind, we’d all listen if you wanted to talk.”

Josh wanted to.

He probably needed to.

Josh remembered Dan, how he desperately needed someone to talk to, how he needed help, and what happened after he didn’t get it (it wasn’t his fault, it was mine).

But what could he possibly say?

Is it okay for me to have lingering feelings for someone else? Someone who betrayed us and led us to a monster? Someone who’s a monster now himself? Someone almost all of you understandably hate?

There’s no way he can bring that up. Not to his friends, not to his boyfriend.

“I don’t wanna talk,” Josh sighs. “Could we just…be here…? If that makes any sense?”

“It doesn’t,” Lucas jokes. “But it’s a good thing I’m a mind reader.”

Lucas put an arm around Josh, pulling him closer.

Josh rested his head on Lucas’s shoulder and closed his eyes, enjoying his boyfriend’s presence.

In the future, when Josh finally found it in him to talk, he’d be able to go back to the cabin. Against all advice, he’d look for Noah in the shadowy figure that haunted the woods. And he’d find him. And soon after, Josh would be able to help more people who were forced into a world of monsters like he and his friends were.

[ebaeschnbliah]

M O N S T E R S   I N C

________________________________________________________________

... and it’s stunning similarities with Sherlock BBC

MONSTERS, INC  is a computer-animated comedy from 2001, produced by Pixar Animation Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Pictures. A modern fairytale, so to speak. I stumbled across this movie by accident while researching the ‘221b door’ tag on my blog and found an old tweet from Arwel Wyn Jones (x) posted during the filming of Series Four.  Watching the movie turned out to be quite the eye-opener.  :)

It’s not so much the plot of that movie but rather certain images which remind me strongly of Sherlock BBC. A lot of images, to be precise, but also some dialogues and one distinct voice. Watching MONSTERS, INC really left me speechless at times.

Related posts:  The Monsters are loose  (initially I’d chosen to name this post ‘Monsters Inc’ but that was before I watched the movie)   Overlaps    Playing with skulls (soon)   Laughs or Screams, additional informations

The ‘monster post’  is waiting below the cut for the fearless  ….  :))))

For anyone who hasn’t seen the movie:  MONSTERS, INC mostly plays in Monstropolis, a city in a parallel universe. The only places where the monster- and the human-world can connect, are the closet doors in children’s beedrooms. Here skilled monsters - the ‘scarers’ - appear at night to harvest the screams of terrified kids. Just like in the human world, the majority of the monsters aren’t evil, nor mean they any harm to the children. Monsters are actually more scared of human kids than the kids are of them. The harvested screams are badly needed because they provide the energy which is necessary to power the monster’s world. And because children are constantly becoming less easily scared, the screams decrase more and more, which means that an energie krisis threatens.

Initially the storyline for MONSTERS, INC  had been a different one though:

Pete Docter's (director and writer) original idea revolved around a 30-year old man dealing with monsters, which he drew in a book as a child, coming back to bother him as an adult. Each monster represented a fear he had and conquering those fears caused the monsters to eventually disappear.  (X) 

The logo of MONSTERS, INC,  the powerstation where screams are harvested to light the Monster’s world, combines the symbol of the eye and the letter M. I simply can’t help unsee a certain similarity with the logo for TheGameIsNow. That’s quite thought provoking, to say the least. 

The two leading characters in the monster world are scarer James P. "Sulley" Sullivan and his best friend and roommate Mike Wazowski, who is also his assistant at work. A big blue, fluffy guy wearing horns and a short, one-eyed, green guy who prefers to sit in a green egg-chair …. a bit similar to the one from the stagnight scene inTSOT.

Sulley holds the top position among all the scarers of Monstropolis. With military-like training Mike takes care that his friend stays in best form. 

Hey! Less talk, more pain, marshmallow boy! Feel the burn! You call yourself a monster?

The most successful scarers are celebrated like stars. Everyone knows them. They can’t go anywhere without being recognized and asked for autographs. And when they enter their company it looks like a hero parade. 

Future scarers have to undergo a special training in a high-tec simulation room. Here they are taught everything of importance, including the art of scaring children most efficiently in order to get the perfect scream. 

Listen to the lady in front of the surveillance screens who teaches screaming (at 01.40) …. but beware … she sounds an awful lot like Eurus Holmes ….

And this is the big boss, the chairman of MONSTERS, INC … Mr. Waternoose. He is very proud of his job, which has been passed down through his family for three generations. He acts as Sulley’s mentor and holds great faith in him as a scarer. Additionally …. he reminds me very much of Mycroft in TAB.

The monsters believe that harvesting screams is enormously dangerous, because children are deemed to be toxic, that their touch could kill them. Agents of a special task force - the Child Detection Agency - are on constant alert to neutralize any contamination with objects belonging to the human world. 

As soon as anything suspicious has been detected, the ‘big bad bouncy red alert’  goes off, cameras zoom in and then CDA agents enter right through the skylights to take care of the problem. Like AGRA in Tiblisi , really! I couldn’t help a yelp watching this little scene below ….

And then ..... shaved by AGRA … sorry, by CDA, of course ….  :))))

The day comes, however, when the unimaginable happens and a human child enters the monster world. And Sulley, the most famous scarer of all, is almost scared to death. I’m really tempted to call this an ‘Eurus-efffect’ ...

Thankfully, Sulley also has a heart of pure gold. He overcomes his fear - a little bit - and takes the human child home. His partner Mike is definitely not amused but helps anyway. Courageously, the friends prepare for the worst case scenario ...

Sulley, the Viking, with shield and horned helm and Mike, who seems to have ransacked the kitchen Cabinet instead. The little ‘killer-girl’ though is completely unimpressed ...

The evening starts rather chaotic, which results in some remarkable accidents …   I guess I know now where the idea of shoving a big pack of cigarettes into Sherlock’s mouth comes from …. and maybe Sherlock’s spraying attack on the CIA agent in ASIB as well.

Finally the situation calms down. Sulley beginns to supect that human kids might not be toxic after all. The little girl has a real crush on the fluffy, blue monster. She believes Sulley is a big cat and starts calling him ‘Kitty’. Looks like ‘killer girl’ is a cat lover. :)  Against Mike’s advice, Sulley decides to give the girl a name as well. He settles for ‘Boo’ because she likes nothing more than to scare him.

And Boo likes to draw …. Spoiler: Boo doesn’t burn down the house.

Eventually Boo gets tired. A trace of goodies (not breadcrumbs) leads the little girl to bed.

By the way: The book based on the film gives Boo's "real" name as Mary Gibbs, the name of her voice actress. (x)

The architecture of Mike’s and Sulley’s flat … the wide arch in the living room and in Sulley’s bedroom (Mike’s bedroom is never shown) … instantly reminded me of the very similar structure chosen for the 221b Baker Street livingroom set in PILOT.

What would any fairytale be without a good old-fashioned villain. In this case it’s a villain who looks suspiciously like a Chinese dragon. And naturally, where there is a dragon there needs to be a dragon slayer as well.   

Randall, the dragon-like monster is one of the most wicked characters in Monstropolis. He works as scarer but holds only the second place on the company’s success-list behind Sulley. Randall’s envy is huge. He is driven by his desire to displace his opponent from the top of the list. One can safely say that ‘murderous jealousy’ is a good description of Randall’s motivation. But his plan to capture the all-time scare record, only scratches the surface of his sinister agenda. 

But before it comes to the ‘slaying’, the nasty reptile tries to torture Mike, to find out where the missing human child is hiding. 

Randall:  SAY HELLO TO THE SCREAM EXTRACTOR!   (Jim in TAB:  Well, say hello to the virus.)

This is what Randall has created in a secret lab to prevent the looming energy crisis of his world … a machine to harvest the screams of children by force and not through the acting skills of trained scarers. Mike’s unimpressed answer to this realisation: 

Mike:  WELL, SOMEBODY'S CERTAINLY BEEN A BUSY BEE    (Mycroft in TEH:  You have been busy, haven’t you? Quite the busy little bee.) 

That’s not a joke … and the way down to the secret lab looks strikingly familiar as well ...

Needless to say that Sulley arrives just in time to rescue his friend … but that’s not the end of the story and also not the end of similarities with Sherlock BBC. 

Some nice little images in-between:  a fish mobile from Boo’s bedroom in which Sulley gets tangled up in, a toy train, a toy ship and a toy plane from the high-tech simulation room. Rater similar items can be detected in Sherlock BBC as well (TST, MHR and TFP). Especially the plane reminds me of the one Eurus’ plays with near the brook.

More familiar images:  

the prominent display of the letter M - often in combination with an eye 

a precious littel thing ... Boo, who wears pink underneath her disguise as monster, hides in a bin

a rather ‘big G’ painted on a wall

And there are eyes wherever one looks ...

Even contact lenses can be found ...

Mike’s love interest is a lady with hissing snakes for hairs, who works as receptionist in their company …. 

At one point the hero’s life is threatened by a deep fall, caused by his opponent, Randall, the nasty ‘dragon’. 

Seeing Sulley’s life threatened, Boo overcomes her fear of the reptile-like monster. She attacks him violently. This gives Sulley the time he needs to get out of the critical situation. 

And WOW!!! What changeable creature this villain is ……. even Jim ‘I’m so changeable’ Moriarty would be inmpressed. 

Randall’s exceptional talent for any kind of masquerade is also demonstrated in a little scene involving a portrait of the company’s chairman, Mr. Waternoose.   

The face of a chairman, covered by something related to a dragon … this reminds me instantly of TBB and Sir William, the former chairman of the bank, whose face had been covered with the yellow spray-paint, applied by a member of the Yellow Dragon Circus. 

To their dismay, Sulley and Mike discover that Randall isn’t just a jealous colleague. What is far worse, the changeable villain doesn’t work alone. His partner in cirme turns out to be none other than Mr. Waternoose, the big boss of the company. The two of them intend to use Boo for their experiments with the scream extractor, while Sulley and Mike get banished from Monstropolis and are sent into exile .. to the Himalayas. No return expected. 

There is no plane involved as in Sherlock’s case, but strictly speaking, the way in which the ‘sending into exile’ happens, can indeed be seen as a variation of ‘flyihg’ … 

Snow falls at the place where they land, somewhere in the Himalayan mountains.

While the Himalayas, more precisely Tibet, is closely connected to Sherlock’s hiatus after Reichenbach, the falling snow can also be found in TAB, the place Sherlock finds himself in, as a result of his ‘going into exile’ at the end of HLV … London in the winter 1895. 

And it doesn’t take long before the dark shadow of a scary creature falls over them … a seemingly monstrous creature which is covered all over in ‘bridal white’ fur  ….

May I introduce you to ….  Yeti, the ABOMINABLE snowman!

"ABOMINABLE"!  CAN YOU BELIEVE THAT?  DO I LOOK ABOMINABLE TO YOU?  WHY CAN'T THEY CALL ME THE ADORABLE SNOWMAN OR...OR THE AGREEABLE SNOWMAN, FOR CRYING OUT LOUD?  I'M A NICE GUY. 

He is really a very nice guy and helps Sulley and Mike to get back where they came from and where they are badly needed by Boo. Randall is not amused but this time it is him who looses the game.

Yeti’s nickname was inspired by the Abominable Snowman from the 1964 animated special Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (X).  Knowing this, one could view that bridal-white character also as a sort of Christmas connection. :))))

And have I mentioned those horns?

Some more lovely images:  a shot from the inside out of a small box (without a severed head in it though), no fire-extinguisher but it looks like one, silhouettes behind glass, safety helmets (X) and ... flickering screens ….

At the story’s finale, the simulation room from the beginning - a bedroom on a stage with a ‘fake’ victim lying in it and with a moving wall - I’m not kidding - becomes the ‘confession room’ for the main culprit. And of course, every word of his confession gets recorded. Somehow this reminds me strongly of another scene … another film … what was it again? It’s on the tip of my tongue ….

It turns out that chairman Waternoose had already been under close observation by CDA undercover agent 001 - code name Roz (not AMO). An elderly, quite steely lady, who turns out to be his superior. Waternoose gets arrested and Sulley becomes the new chairman of MONSTERS, INC.

Now the time has come for Boo to return to the human world. Sulley takes the little girl back through the closet door into her room, where they part after a big good-bye hug. 

Then the closet door which leads to her bedroom gets shredded, to prevent any future contact. But Boo’s short visit to the monster world had a huge impact. It proved that a child's laugh has ten times the power of a child's scream. The energy crisis of Monstropolis is solved. From now on laughter is harvested instead of screams and the power generated this way, is enormous. Mike turns out to be best harvester for laughs ever. 

Because Mike knows how much Sulley misses the little human girl, he collects and secretly reassembles the pieces of Boo's shredded door so that it can be activated again. 

The End

The song "If I Didn't Have You" won the Academy Award for Best Original Song.

Mike: ♪ But I must admit it. Big guy, you always come through. I wouldn't have nothin' if I didn't have you. ♪ Mike and Sulley: ♪ You and me together. That's how it always should be. One without the other don't mean nothin' to me. Nothin' to me. ♪

Sulley: ♪ I don't have to say it. 'Cause we both know it's true.♪ Both: ♪ I wouldn't have nothin' if I didn't have... I wouldn't have nothin' if I didn't have... I wouldn't have nothin' if I didn't have you. ♪ Mike: ♪ You! You! A-E-I-O... That means you. Yeah. ♪

And doesn’t this almost sound like …. ‘just the two of us against the rest of the world’? 

Hopefully you enjoyed the rather long ride. I can highly recommend this movie to anyone. It’s so much more fun watching it with ones own eyes than just reading a summary. This said, I leave you now to your own deductions. Thanks for reading that far. :)

August, 2019

[seungmop]

KTH - Timewarped

prompt : ( Taehyung x Reader ) You get lost while exploring the woods with a couple friends, this unknowingly leads to you going back in time and meeting the love of your life. The only problem is that, of course, you can’t stay.

genre : romance , angst , time travel au

word count : 5k

muse insp : Christina Perri - A Thousand Years ( spotify , youtube )

note : if you’ve seen this story before, it’s because it was on my previous blog, jungtookthejams. i’ve moved it to this one because i worked so hard on it.

disclaimer : i did my research for this fic, some of the information is true while some of it is made up for the sake of the plot.

---

It was a normal day for you, at first. You woke up in your queen sized bed, rolled around in the soft sheets and comfortable blankets for about an hour, then finally decided to get up and make some breakfast. You ate by yourself, then sat on your couch and watched some Korean dramas.

Just a normal Saturday.

Your friend, Mina, texted you, asking if you wanted to come with her and her boyfriend into the woods for a night. Her boyfriend was into supernatural stuff and the like, so this didn’t surprise you.

Y/N: yeah, whatever. As long as i don’t third wheel the whole damn time

Minass: lmao ok, meet us at the 7/11 at 7pm. We might stay the night

Y/N: wtaf

Minass: u’ll see! It’ll be fun!

Y/N: leave me be, peasant. I’ll be there

Minass: :D

She was really too much sometimes, but you loved her nonetheless. And so, you began to gather some belongings into a small bag to take with you. Your phone, its charger, a few articles of clothing, and your water bottle. With that, you sat back down and waited until it was time for you to get dressed and leave.

* * *

Mina was waving at you from her boyfriend’s car in the parking lot when you arrived. You couldn’t help but chuckle as you walked over to the black vehicle, welcoming yourself to sit in the back seat.

“Hey, Y/N,” The boy in the driver’s seat greeted you, flashing you a small grin in the mirror.

“Hi, Kennah,” You smiled back at him as you fasten your seat belt, getting comfy in the leather seats, “Thanks for letting me come.”

“No problem,” He responded as he began to drive down the road.

“Y/N,” Mina giggled, “How are you?”

“I’m okay,” You murmured, “Glad to have all my projects and essays done for midterms.”

“Ugh,” You friend groaned, “I still have to finish my essay on the Goryeo Dynasty. Can you go over it with me? You’re a history nerd!”

You sighed, “All right, I’ll quiz you on what I know off the top of my head. First of all, what year was the kingdom of Goryeo established?”

“Um,” Mina mumbled, “908 CE?”

Shaking your head, you sighed, “No, no, it was 918 CE. Who established it and was the first king?”

“Oh!” Mina smiled, “I know this one! It’s-”

“Taejo,” Kennah cut her off, smirking, “King Taejo.”

Mina pouted and stuck her tongue out at her boyfriend, making you chuckle, “Correct. Now, Mina, who were Taejo’s three sons?”

“Okay, um, Namjoon, Taehyung, and.. Seokjin?” The girl stuttered, seeming unsure of her answer.

“Yes!” You grinned at her, “Which one of the three was the crown prince, and later went on to become one of the greatest rulers in Korean history?” You smirked internally; it was a trick question.

“The crown prince was Kim Seokjin,” Mina explained, “However, he never became king because he was assassinated before he could, he was age twenty-five at the time. Instead, Kim Namjoon, the second oldest, went on to become king when he was twenty-nine, and he went on to become one of the greatest rulers in Korean history.”

You clapped excitedly as Kennah went to hold Mina’s hand while smiling at her.

“Well done!” You exclaimed happily, “Now what happened to the youngest, Taehyung?”

“Kim Taehyung was more interested in writing and art than politics. The books Professor Choi made me study actually said that he resented being a prince! So he preferred to stay low and work on his art. He was happy, at least, to not be the crown prince. He became a famous artist later in time, but during his own time, he was more of a loner. He still got married, an arranged marriage, but it was said that he wasn’t happy with the marriage and didn’t have kids at all. His art and literature became famous much after his passing.”

“Yes!” You giggled, giving her a high-five, “Who’s the nerd, now?”

“Still you,” She stuck her tongue out at you.

         * * *

“All right,” Kennah chuckled, pulling into a section of dirt beside the forest, “We’re here.”

“Wonderful,” You mumbled, “We’ve been in that car forever. Where even are we?”

“Sorta near the border,” Mina responded, getting out of the car with you and Kennah following her, “The Manwoldae Palace, or what’s left of it, isn’t that far from here. Cool, right?”

“What,” You laughed, leaning against the car, “You think the ghosts of the royal family are here?”

“Maybe,” Kennah grinned, looking into the dark forest in front of you all, “Come on, let’s go.

“I regret this already,” You sighed, following the couple into the darkness. But within minutes of stepping foot in the woods, you lost sight of them.

“Hey, guys?” You called out, “Can you come back here? Mina, can I grab your sleeve? I can’t see shit.”

You, however, got no response.

“Guys?” You called out again, gripping your bag in a slight panic, “This isn’t funny!”

Absolute silence greeted you. Beginning to freak out, you pulled out your phone, only to realize that you had no signal. Groaning, you covered your eyes with your hand and sighed.

“Okay,” You mumbled, “If I just turn and go back the other way, I’ll get to the car and I can wait for them there.”

So, you set off the way you came, using your fully-charged phone (you’d kept it on the charger in the car) as a flashlight to guide your way out of the condensed, dark forest. Swiping branches out of your way, plants nipping your legs bare legs (you only wore a plain black shirt and combat shorts with a pair of boots), and getting smacked in the face by several leaves, you attempted to navigate yourself back to the car. After minutes of walking, you became uneasy as the trees seemed to become endless. Shouldn’t you be back at the car by now?

Suddenly, a thick fog rolled into your vision, making it even harder to see. Was it even supposed to be foggy tonight? Hell if you knew.

Squinting your eyes as an attempt to see through the mist, you staggered forward, when your foot caught on something and you were sent tumbling down onto the hard ground. Groaning in pain, you lifted your head and used your hand to blindly search for your phone. The second your fingertips touched the cool plastic of your mint coloured phone case, you took hold of it and used a nearby tree truck to pull yourself up and balance yourself on.

Huffing, you turned your focus back ahead of you and continued trekking, the light from the flashlight on your phone illuminating your path. Or, the fog in your path. The light was useless now, but better than walking in the pitch black dark. You continued to walk, silently cursing Mina for dragging you into this mess until something odd came into your scrutiny.

Was that a.. palace? An ancient Korean style palace?

There was no way, the remains of the ancient Goryeo palace may have been near where you and your friends decided to explore, but no one has built a recreation of the palace, especially not near the original location.

Deciding to shrug it off – who cared? Where there’s any type of palace, there are probably people who can get you out of here – you continued walking through the woods to get to the large structure. Around it were torches; real, on-fire torches. You had to give it to the reenactors, they went all out to make sure it was olden-like.

You turned off your phone’s light and stuck it back in your bag as you approached, there were two men dressed as ancient guards standing in front of the palace gates. One saw you walking towards them and seemed to do a double take before pointing the tip of his spear at your throat as you were about to speak, blood almost trickling down your throat.

The other guard glared harshly at your pathetic figure, “Halt. State your name and business, why are you at the Manwoldae Palace at this ungodly hour?”

Eyes slightly wide, you took in their appearance and words. The Manwoldae Palace was destroyed sometime in the fourteenth century, it was burned to the ground and there was no recreation of it as far as you knew. What were these men talking about?

You gulped, “Um, my friends and I were going to explore the woods a little, but I ended up getting lost. Our car shouldn’t be far from here-”

“What is this ‘car’ you speak of, outsider? Why are you at the palace gates? Do you wish to do harm to the royal family of Goryeo?” The guard with the spear to your throat pressed, shoving the sharp tip further into your skin.

“N- No!” You squeaked, “I- I am simply lost.”

“Lost?” The other guard narrowed his eyes, “Where are you from?”

“Seoul,” You said in response, “I came from Seoul.”

“There is no such place!” The first guard hissed, “I shall kill you.”

“P- Please,” You stuttered in fear, your eyes wide, “Please don’t hurt me!”

Before anything else could happen, a smooth, deep voice punctured the air, “That’s enough, men. I shall deal with the girl.”

You looked behind the guard to see a tall man, his attire obviously royal-like. He looked down at you with a soft smile.

“Yes, your Majesty,” Both guards responded, going back to their original posts. The princely figure made his way in front of you and gently took your hand, pressing a kiss to it, “Good evening, my lady. I am Prince Namjoon of the Goryeo region, under King Taejo’s rule.”

You blinked, your mind hazy. He looked exactly like the artwork done of Prince Namjoon. Was this some type of fucked up dream? Did you pass out in the forest?

He let go of your hand and slid it up to your shoulder, gently guiding you in front of him into the palace. You decided to play along, still not sure what was going on.

“I am L/N Y/N, your Majesty. I am sorry for intruding on your palace so late at night-”

“No worries, Ms Y/N. You are lost, yes? We will make sure you get home safely. Where are you from?” He coolly responded, smiling as you looked in awe around the palace.

Holy hell, you thought, the detail! They got every little intricate detail down about the palace’s structure and decor.

The gold, the candles and torches, the velvet carpets; they had it all.

“Seoul,” You mumbled, still dazed.

“Seoul? I have never heard of such a place.”

Whipping your head to look at him, your eyebrows furrowed, “It’s the capital city of South Korea.”

“South Korea? Where is that, exactly?” He seemed genuinely confused, his expression similar to yours.

“Here!” You had the urge to yell, however you swallowed that urge and licked your lips nervously, “It is far from here. I wish to not go back, I fled to escape my cruel family. If you allow me temporary hospitality, I will repay you with whatever I can get my hands on upon leaving to support myself on my own.”

“I see,” The prince nodded, seemingly deep in thought, “I will let my family know of your presence. For now, I shall lead you to a room to stay and.. Change,” He glanced down at your outfit, making you bite your tongue from shooting a snarky remark in response, instead looking down with an embarrassed blush on your face with a nod.

         * * *

You sat on the large, plush bed and stared at your hands. What was happening? Were you really in the tenth century?

Were you ever going to see your friends and family again?

You sighed and slid your hands down your face, biting your lip. This was all too much to take in. Maybe if you sleep, you’ll wake up tomorrow in the woods. Or better, in the car.

Looking over at the nightgown on the dresser, you nodded, making a mental decision, and stood up to slip into it.

         * * *

You never did get any sleep that night.

Now, it was a week later, and you sat in the private garden with the youngest prince, Taehyung, listening as he rambled about brush strokes.

“For outlines of things or thicker areas of colour, you use thicker, more bold strokes. Then, for detail, you use a smaller, thinner brush for lines of the same..”

You never thought the loneliest prince was so outgoing and a conversationalist. He was so fun to be around, by far your favourite of the three, and he was bubbly and cute. He didn’t seem like the type to be a prince, nevermind the prince of Goryeo!

Of all your studies of Goryeo, you never imagined it would be this beautiful and wonderful. The doctrines, recreations, and artwork really did the era no justice.

“Y/N? Are you even listening to me?”

You jumped out of your thoughts to turn your head to Taehyung with a sheepish smile, “No, I’m sorry.”

He sighed and chuckled at you, “Always in your own little world. I’m glad my father allowed you to stay with us. You’re different from other women.”

“Oh?” You mumbled, looking down a bit. He hummed and nodded, “Yeah. You’re more straight-forward and easier to talk to. It’s like you don’t care about gender, that just because I’m a man doesn’t mean we can’t sit and have a conversation. Especially despite my status.”

You bit your tongue from making a remark about how people are equal despite gender and that everyone’s human, that no one shouldn’t be able to not have a conversation with someone else because of their gender or status-

“I like having you around.”

Your head snapped up to look at the prince, who was grinning down at you, “You’re not uptight like my brothers or any others from my family. I feel like I actually have a friend.”

You gave him a soft smile and gently set your hand on his arm, “I’m so glad you think so. I think of you as a friend as well, I’m grateful to have you during this hectic time in my life,” You sighed.

The young man hummed, “What is your story? Namjoon didn’t tell me much.”

Sliding your small hand down his arm to set it back down on the stone bench the two of you were seated on, you sighed. Of course, you couldn’t tell him the truth – or could you?

No, not now. Maybe later on, if you stay long enough. Then again, it’s not like you knew anything about time travel to leave anytime soon anyway.

“I am the daughter of a nobleman. He had lots of riches, but he was cruel. Behind closed doors, he beat my mother and I. So, I took my mother and we ran. My mother died during our journey, but I didn’t stop. I stumbled upon your palace and a guard almost killed me, but Prince Namjoon came along and took me in before I could be killed.”

Taeyhung’s eyes were slightly wide, “I see. How awful... I’m sorry that happened to you.”

You gave him a pained smile, “No worries. What happened, happened; it cannot be undone.”

“That is true. Let’s change the subject, yeah? I’m of my twenty-first year, and you?”

It took you a second to realize that he was asking for your age. But once knowing that he was twenty-one, you also immediately calculated the year you were currently stuck in.

Taejo was born in 877, and founded Goryeo in 918, making him thirty-one years of age when he did so. He had his first son, Seokjin, when he was twenty-eight, and Namjoon when he was thirty. Then he had his youngest, Taehyung, when he was thirty-one. That meant that the current year was 939 CE. You bit your lip upon remembering that Taejo of Goryeo died in 943 at age sixty-six, and Kim Seokjin died in 940 at age twenty-five.

All the more reason not to get attached to anyone of the royal family, or anyone of this time. You were going to have to go home eventually.

“I am of my twentieth year,” You murmured.

         * * *

You’ve been in Goryeo for a month now. You smoothed out your dress as you greeted Prince Taehyung at a bridge near the palace.

The youngest prince and yourself had grown very close in your time here. You didn’t like to think about it. Especially now that you were catching feelings for him.

“Y/N!” He called, a large smile on his face as he gently set his hands on your arms, “How are you? I just finished an inscription I’d love for you to read over for me!”

Taeyhung wanted to be an artist and a scribe. You saw that the doctrines and biographies of the prince that you’d read did not lie – this was truly his passion.

“I am well, Taehyung, and I’d love to read over your writing. I’m sure it’s just as amazing and beautiful as the last one I read.”

“You flatter me,” He giggled, taking your hand, “Come, I wish to show you something!”

You laughed as he tugged you along, blushing lightly from the contact.

He lead you to the stables, where he let go of your hand and held the reins of a horse instead. The majestic creature had been saddled and ready to go – he must’ve prepared this.

He grinned at you and you gave him a nervous smile in return. Namjoon had attempted to take you on a horse ride a couple weeks ago, and it did not end well. You had to scrub mud out of your hair for fifteen minutes straight.

Taehyung took you by your waist and lugged you on the horse, making you squeak and hold onto the saddle for dear life. He laughed at your uneasiness and hopped on behind you, taking the reins in his hands and gently willing the horse to begin walking forward.

“You’re cute,” The prince muttered, looking down to give you a cheeky smile.

You blushed lightly and puffed your cheeks, “Did Namjoon tell you what happened last time I was on a horse?”

“Yes,” He answered coolly, “And Namjoon can’t ride a horse to save his life. He’s very clumsy, the last person I’d trust to take me horse riding. Relax, I’ve got you.”

You sighed and nodded, leaning back into Taehyung’s chest and watching the scenery as the two of you rode down a path. The silence was not awkward, but comfortable. You felt the young man set his chin atop your head at a point in the ride, and smiled to yourself.

You were enjoying this too much.

Your smile turned bitter.

         * * *

Three weeks later, you found yourself in the royal library, looking in the ancient books for anything that could help you get home.

You were starting to fall in love with this place, and you couldn’t allow yourself to do that. You had a family back home, and it would be wrong to leave them. It would be even more wrong to possibly alter history further than you already have.

Your biggest problem, one that you had to face, was that you’d fallen in love with Prince Taehyung.

While flipping through the pages of the olden literature, you found an old legend; a natural phenomenon that seemed to cause something not-so-natural.

It was said that the sun became too powerful for eyes to bear, causing anyone who looked right at it to go blind or have severe sight problems. It happened once in a blue moon, and once, during this strange occurrence, a woman dissipated into thin air while standing on a bridge. The very bridge you met the prince on a few weeks ago.

It didn’t take you long to figure out what this was; a solar eclipse. A partial solar eclipse.

Instead of the area getting dimmer, which it does in the slightest, the sun seems to become more powerful as staring into it can burn your retina and/or your cornea.

If you remembered correctly, this happened over Goryeo on the seventeenth of September in 939.

That was in two days.

Suddenly, you knew; this was most likely your way home.

         * * *

Later that night, you called for Prince Taehyung to join you in your room. You paced back and forth until a soft knock rang out, causing you to take a deep breath before opening the door. There stood the prince in all his glory, his face seeming worried.

“Are you all right?” He asked frantically, looking at your appearance.

“Yes,” You responded, biting your lip, “Come in.”

You closed the door behind him when he walked inside and sighed, facing him, “I’ve been lying.”

“W- What?” He croaked, his eyes wide.

“I am not from a place far away. Well, I am but... I am not from this time, Taehyung. The city of Seoul is not that far from where this palace stands, but it is more than one thousand years in the future.” You explained, searching his eyes for any signs of hostility.

“Are you saying you’re from the future? Y/N, did you hit your head or something? Shall I take you to a doctor?” He moved to hold your hands, still worried.

“No, Taehyung. Here, I- I can prove it,” You pulled away from him to fish out your bag and old clothes from where you stashed them all that time ago under the bed, lying them on top of the mattress.

“That clothing, and that bag. They are not from this time. Have you ever seen anything like them?”

“I-” The prince stammered, shaking his head, “No, but it could be from another country. Not the future.”

You huffed and opened the bag, taking out the contents: more clothing from your time, your bright pink water bottle, your phone, and its charger.

“What are those?” Taehyung asked, leaning over them.

You took your phone and powered it on, causing the man to jump in place as he watched the Apple logo appear on the screen.

“This,” You said, “Is technology. It’s called a phone, specifically an iPhone. That rubber-like chord, there, gives it power. See? Tell me this isn’t futuristic.”

The ancient prince blinked, watching as the device powered on, “I.. cannot give any other explanation. I suppose it would also explain why you suddenly showed up at the palace... I believe you,” He turned his gaze to meet your eyes making you smile.

You set the phone down and gingerly wrapped the man in a hug, which he returned enthusiastically.

“Taehyung,” You mumbled into his chest, “I have to go home soon. I have to leave.”

He let go and held you by your shoulder, pushing you back only slightly, “Soon? H- How soon?”

“Two days,” You mumbled, looking down.

Taehyung’s face crumbled as he stared at you with pained eyes. He took his hands off of you and reached into the pocket of his silk robes, “I.. wanted to give you something. I was saving it for.. A little later on, but now I want our time left together to last.”

You snapped your scrutiny up at him, “What.. What is it?”

He fished something out of his pocket and held a ring between his fingertips, it was covered in emeralds, rubies, and other rare jewels. Your eyes widened as he smiled shyly, “This belonged to my mother. She told me to give it to the one I wished to marry. I want to marry you, Y/N.”

You blinked, attempting to register the situation. Of course, in this time, there wasn’t really courting; it was marriage. Usually arranged marriages, like the one Taehyung was supposed to get later in life.

“I’ve grown to be attached to you... And I want- wanted to spend the rest of my life with you. But now, I want you to accept the ring, not to marry me, but to take it back with you and... Remember me.”

Tears welled in your eyes as you nodded, stepping closer to him once again, “I’ve developed romantic feelings for you as well. I tried to push them away because of course, my departure is inevitable but I just.. Can’t.”

Taehyung stepped closer to you as well, so that your chests were touching, and gently slipped the ring on your finger while searching your eyes with his, “I’ll never forget you, okay? None of us will.”

“I’ll never forget you all either,” You sniffled, tears beginning to fall.

The prince gently shushed you, wiping your tears before cupping your face and planting a soft kiss on your lips.

You were going to miss him. You were going to miss Goryeo.

This was going to be harder than you imagined.

         * * *

After looking into the books a bit more, you discovered the exact time and place you had to be to leave for good. And so, at high noon, you changed back into the clothes you arrived in and snuck out of the palace, knowing that anyone who saw you would order you to change immediately.

You let the king know the night before that you would be making your departure. You thanked him for the longer-than-planned hospitality and quickly scurried away, intimidated by the founder of Goryeo.

You asked Taehyung to meet you at the bridge before you had to leave, and as you arrived and saw no sign of him, you sighed. You couldn’t wait; it was now or never.

You stepped in the middle of the bridge and looked at the partial eclipse, the bright sun hurting your eyes. You watched as your fingertips began to disappear and bits of solar light surrounded your body.

This was it.

Suddenly, you heard a loud, deep voice call your name. An all too familiar voice.

Whipping your head in the direction of said voice, your eyes widened upon seeing your love running towards you, tears in his eyes.

“Taehyung,” You mumbled as he hugged you, careful not to knock you out of the spot you had to be in to leave. He sobbed on your shoulder, you would’ve run your hands through his hair, but they, along with your arms, were disappearing.

“I don’t want you to leave. Please... Don’t leave me.”

“I have to,” You cooed, “I’m sorry.”

He released you from his death grip, watching as you dissipated before his very eyes.

“No,” He whimpered, capturing your lips in a needy, passionate kiss.

He let out another sob as he pulled away, watching as your crying figure continued to fade.

“I love you,” The prince whispered, watching you with helpless eyes.

“I love you too,” You gave him a soft smile through the tears.

And then, you were gone.

         * * *

It’s been a year since you travelled to the time of the Goryeo Dynasty. You wrote a very successful book titled Through Time, There Was You. You’re currently at a signing event which includes a Q & A session, which is taking place right now.

“Ms L/N! Was there an inspiration for this book?” A woman asks.

You smile brightly and hold the microphone to your lips, “Yes, in fact, there was. A personal experience, followed by the painting done by Kim Taehyung of the Goryeo Dynasty. His most famous piece, of a maiden disappearing while standing on a bridge, surrounded by lights. The one titled ‘Her,’” You play with the jewelled ring on your finger as you wait for the next question, twisting it and running your opposite thumb over the emeralds.

A middle-aged man asks the next question, “You mention the Goryeo Dynasty a lot in Through Time, There Was You. Do you have a connection to it?”

“Ah,” You hum, thinking, “Not directly, no. But I have always been fascinated with it and any of my friends can tell you that I’ve always been a history nerd, especially when it comes to Goryeo. You could even say I went there once,” You grin cheekily.

“Okay,” The manager of the event says loudly, “We have time for one last question. You, young man with the blue jacket in the back.”

Said man makes his way to the front with a microphone in hand. Upon seeing him, you furrow your brows a bit. He looks awfully familiar, if only you could place it...

He has dyed dark brown hair that’s a bit long, like a mullet. Smooth, tan skin, and even lips that curl into a boxy smile. He’s wearing ripped jeans with a silk dress shirt, black Gucci shoes, and a blue Gucci jacket. You’ll hand it to him, he has style.

When his teary eyes meet yours and his voice rings throughout the library, your eyes go wide and you almost drop your own microphone as tears well in your eyes as well.

“Do you believe in reincarnation?”

You bite your lip as the two of you gaze at each other for a few seconds. You know then; it’s Taeyhung.

You then break out into a huge, dumb smile, and bring the microphone back to your lips, “I do now.”

---

masterlist / rulebook / request

[ryuki-blogs]

Tagged!

By @didyousaysciencefiction​!

Nickname: Ryuki is a nickname my 12 year old weeb self came up with and I still use it 12 years later for some reason. But I tend to shorten it to just R these days. :”D

Star sign: Scorpio

Height: 163 cm. That’s...  5′ 4″ I believe. I am a hobbit.

Last film I saw: I re-watched Interstellar yesterday.

Favorite musician: I will go with IAMX because reasons

Song stuck in my head: currently it’s Detach from Interstellar soundtrack

Other blogs: My art blog. And my original art blog. I have a few others but they are secret. (mostly inspo/aesthetic blogs)

Do I get asks?: From time to time people stop by to discuss headcanons. Feel free to do so! :D

Blogs following: I follow 15 blogs but I have some I don’t follow but check on regularly. This blog currently has 511 followers and I am not sure why and how :”D

What I’m wearing: old Nightwish t-shirt, blue sweatpants and black socks with pink hearts on them. (I am drinking tea from mug with astronauts on it if anyone’s curious.)

Dream job: I hope I get to work in field I study but who knows. Animator working in a studio is the best option so far. (probably too good to be true but who knows!)

Dream trip: Space. (Elon Musk, Virgin Galactic, hello? JK, I don’t have money but still!!)

Play any instruments: I’ve actually played recorder (flute? I still don’t know how you call that thing) for 9 years! I even switched from soprano one to tenor after a few years when my hands got big enough for it, can you believe that?

Languages: Slovak, Czech (does that even count?), English, I also had German and Russian lessons but I don’t remember much. 

Favorite food: halušky s tvarohom (gnocci with cottage cheese, my fellow Slovaks are weeping)

Favorite songs: Full Moon by The Black Ghosts, Mt. Washington by Local Natives, Oh Beautiful Town by IAMX (and lots of other IAMX songs, honestly), The entire Interstellar and Blade Runner 2049 soundtrack

Random Facts

I was left handed but my grandma forced me to use my right hand instead before I went to school so I am right handed now

I dismantled a Kinder Egg toy car when I was four and shoved a tiny steering wheel up my nose that took my grandpa who was babysitting me an hour to take out

I love plushies. I have four plushies in my bed at dorms. I have nowhere to sleep.

Not tagging anyone this time but feel free to do this! ♥

[attract-mode-collective]

Exactly 79 Photos & Videos Concerning The Game Boy (plus other handhelds)

So... hope you’ve all been following me on Twitter, which is more or less the unofficial new home for Attract Mode. Mostly cuz Tumblr’s days are, alas, numbers, plus I haven’t warmed up to Medium as much as I had hoped to. Though I’ve actually spent the past two months republishing every single post that contains mainline Game Culture Snapshots, so it has remained somewhat useful at least.

Now, for a while there, I had been compiling every single thing tweeted. But because I’m now so damn active on that end… plus I’m busier than ever with other projects… I’m way behind with those digest posts, and the very idea of playing catch up legit gives me anxiety. Yet I have been sharing lots of cool things, which all deserve to be in the blog proper… and because a lot of them are specific to the Game Boy, I figure, why not just focus on that?

Like the above, which is a technique for producing full color photographs via the Game Boy Camera, and yet another thing that I can’t believe hasn’t made the rounds!

Sticking with Game Boy photography, here have a pair of mods that will greatly enhance picture quality. The first involves mounting SLR lens onto a Game Boy Camera (via ekeler.com)...

And the second has one shoving a Game Boy Camera into a SLR itself (via @MaxKriegerVG)...

As someone who was into video games as a kid, and also interested in photography, the Game Boy Camera was the first camera I was able to call my own. Am pretty sure this was the case for others as well?

I also remember seeing this ad in Nickelodeon Magazine (which I would eventually writer for, not too long later) and being absolutely gob smacked (via nintendroid.org)…

Though as much I loved Nintendo brand of FUNtography, I would quickly discover… as did everyone else I also assume… that taking pictures is serious business (via @PolandNintendo)…

Not only did I have a Game Boy Color, but I also had the Game Boy Printer (I still own both, for the record). Unfortunately my snapshots from Link’s Awakening have long since faded, but as with many things, you can find copies online (via gameandgraphics.com)…

Speaking of the world of print, coming soon is a handy guide to Nintendo handy game machine (via miki800.com)…

That one magazine ad featuring Princess Peach catch your eye as well? Well here’s a much better look at it (via suppermariobroth)…

I love handheld gadgets of all kinds, yet some of the popular ones confuse me. Like Hudson’s Shooting Watch; it makes no sense to have a gadget that can detect button presses without a game attached. Guess I’m not alone (via instagram.com/kazzycom)…

A realization I made while sifting through Game Boy related content is how popular the color yellow is with many. Cuz Pokemon? Anyhow, the final post from a blog that specializes in gorgeous photographs of gorgeous hardware, which I just brought up again very recently (via hard-aware)…

How your parents used to trade Pokemans online (via melonjaywalk)…

And no, Game Boys weren't the only things that one could connect to keitais ya know. And yes, Game Boys aren’t the only portables I’ll be showcasing (via anthony10000000)…

I own quite a few VMUs and am always looking to expand my collection… but nothing yellow, sorry. Instead, I want the one covered with dolphins (via anthony10000000)…

So my new favorites artist is Eri Kitamura, and not just cuz she makes pretty looking Game Boys…

She also makes pretty looking girls playing Game Boys (well, this one is technically listening to music)…

Was originally going to post the first thing from Eri that caught my eye, which is a Game Boy with a girl on it, but instead here’s a Game Boy with a girl on it playing a Game Boy…

Time for two more videos from the same individual responsible with the process for producing color photographs at the very top. And it’s what everyone has been waiting… specifically the backlit Game Boy Color mod everyone has been waiting for.

The process is detailed in this two-part video, and here’s the first one (it’s about 50 minutes long cuz spoilers: this shit ain’t easy)…

And here’s part two, which is ONLY 40-ish minutes long…

The author of the videos actually has a store, so if the process seems a bit too daunting, you can purchase a pre-modded unit for $250. Actually, this one is $260, cuz of the dual shells. Quite the price tag, yet somehow totally worth it (via instagram.com/esotericmods)…

Now might be a good time to mention how… remember that GBA with the GameCube finish from eBay a few months back? Well, I decided to get the one that resembles a Super Famicom, something I’ve been lusting over for years.

Well, here’s what the aforementioned seller had in his listing…

And this is what I got instead…

Yeah, that green shoulder button is not the right shade. After some complaining, I got the seller to admit that the one in the picture was hand painted; he didn’t know where it get ones that it’s exact color as on a Super Fami controller.

He also had a no refund policy, yet I bitched & moaned enough to warrant an exchange, for another Cube-esque model, one sans the stick. Cuz it’s comparatively boring to look at, here’s a version with the stick…

Again, mine just has the standard d-pad. As for my replacement… the colors of the A & B buttons are not an exact match, once again. But it’s close enough (am mostly just sick of dealing with that guy, aka johnnys_merchandise, whom you should all avoid btw), plus I have started to scour AliExpress for replacements.

BTW, my failure to obtain a modded handheld that channels another form of hardware has me wondering if I should go for something completely different instead (via instagram.com/wakuwakuisland)…

Up in the mountains, flower bloom amongst Game Boys & Game Boy Colors, whereas deep in the forest, you’ll find mushrooms and Game Boy Advances (via pxchinko)…

Some say memories are fuzzy, though for others, they're leafy (via lyosphe)…

I’ve looked all over for tinycartridge's original post, but no luck, so you can all instead have my personal copy of the earthy wallpaper that was shared years ago (and which I still to this very day)...

The Game Boy Micro, DS, and DS Lite are like family, and like siblings, there can the occasional squabble (via benkyo-es)…

@frankcifaldi: When I met this guy in 2003 and he told me he was going to make an extensive fan site about the Supervision, a Taiwanese Game Boy knockoff, I was like "sure dude." 15 years later he actually launched the thing??

Meanwhile, the Game & Watch Perfect Catalogue just came out, with the full low down on all 59 models. BTW, had no idea there were 59 in total until @ionadisco mentioned it…

How Game & Watches were sold in America; I fondly recalls this ad in-between the pages of Amazing/Spectacular/Web of Spider-Man (via suppermariobroth)…

And how Game Boys were sold in Japan, one day one apparently, which would explain this salesperson’s rather perplexed demeanor (via flashbak.com)…

Silly as it sounds, and as silly as he looks, the US version of Firebrand is nonetheless a warm & welcoming face from my childhood (via nintendometro)...

Mario dropping a knowledge bomb (via suppermariobroth)…

Here’s Peach seemingly kicking Toad’s ass in Super Mario Bros Deluxe, which I’ve been meaning to tweet for a while now, but now seems like the right time & place for obvious reasons (via nintendometro)…

A cute comic about someone finally beating a game after ten years, or at least I believe that's the case (you know, language barrier and all; via @desune593)

Sailor Moon seems to enjoy handheld gaming more so than in the arcades (via uglygreenjacket)…

It saddens me that ravages of time is robbing me of my precious memories, including the names of 90s anime, hence why I had to ask on Twitter who exactly is this (answer was Tenchi Muyo; via shxtfased)...

It’s SethEverman, just playing some pokemon blue…

Speaking of music, it again saddens me that I wasn’t about to make the trip to Japan to catch chiptunes at Square Sounds, and various associated venues. At least @bit_shifter_ took this great snapshot of Glomag at Cyberpunks Osaka…

Meanwhile, here in NYC, we actually still have record stores. And you can grab Josh’s latest release, his first in 12 years(!) at Rough Trade (via bit-shifter)…

Though back to Japan; attended Square Sounds would have also afforded me the chance to check out Tokyo Game Show, where I could have gotten that VMU shaped USB drive that was being sold at the Sega booth (via miki800)…

A few weeks before TGS, there was an earthquake in Japan, in northern island Hokkaido. Many were left without power, but one person was able to keep up with the news, thanks to an old DS peripheral that basically provides bunny ears (via kotaku.com)…

On a semi-related note, here’s someone watching old ECW VHS tapes on their Game Gear (via heavyelectricity)…

Sorry, but the only other thing I have that’s related to Sega’s Master System on the go is this gif from a pizza ranch salad dressing (yikes) commercial, which was cross-promoting Sonic Chaos (via sonicthehedgeblog)...

I have no idea why I'm so amused by this Getty Image of a Neo Geo Pocket that was confiscated at summer camp. Or perhaps no explanation is needed? (via hellomrkearns)…

Speaking of the Great Outdoors, here’s my buddy Steve enjoying some Mario Kart 8 in the middle of a forest (via instagram.com/vitaminsteve)…

And speaking of Mario Kart on the Switch, Bowser seems like a pretty cool dood to have a car trip (via suppermariobroth)…

The Switch is so beloved that people are doing fan art, not for any particular game but the simple the act of playing with it (via annazees)…

Granted, one of the best things about the Switch is all the different ways in which one can play (via kanekoshake)…

If you enjoy your Switch on the go and are looking for a way to store games… and are a diehard Breath of the Wild fan as well… plus if you have access to a 3D printer (via miki800.com)…

It’s a tribute to Star Wars… games… all of them… featuring Princess Leia focused on her DMG (via deviantart.com/robduenas)...

BTW, do you still have your Game Boy? If not, here ya go (via anthony10000000)…

When the realization hits that your Game Boy Color library is incomplete (via @Bootleg_Stuff)…

Back to my buddy Steve, who visited the Primark at the Staten Island mall and took pics of the game related apparel that, sadly, were no longer in stock by the time I was able to swing by. With the one thing I really wanted being this shirt…

This pair of Super Mario Land X Air Jordans is only $1,350.00 (via miki800.com)…

I’m sure you’ve seen him already, but for the sake of completion, here’s that grandpa from who rigged this bike with 11 phones to become a Pokemon Go master (via bbc.com)…

Yet another sign of our times, literally (via fuckdragonballz)…

This image features a PSP and a MacBook, both of which are from the mid-2000s, yet feels very late 1990s/early 2000s. Why? Those USB cables (via jcgraphix)…

And last but not least, here’s Paris Hilton with her DS in 2005 (via @ParisHilton)…

[wannawrite]

Double Trouble

who?: Wanna One’s Kang Daniel, Nuest W’s / Pd101’s Kang Dongho genre: 🌺 type: bullet point blog navigator. • weeks leading up to prom, someone has been dropping love letters into your locker • you’re certain about who you’re prom date is going to be....or are you? rae, @lalisalsa, requested this and she really loves angst so I’ll try to make it v v angsty >:) HOPE YOU AREN’T DISAPPOINTED BEB sorry this is so short and delayed and kind of sub-par, I’ve just been extremely busy and exhausted. - Admin L 

disclaimer: photos used do not belong to me and all credit goes to their original owner 

• Who? • You needed a name. • Who had been the person dropping secretive love letters into your locker? • The envelopes were a soft, baby pink spritzed with a flowery, dreamy perfume and containing words written on creamy paper that would make anybody’s heart flutter. • they made your heart beat terribly fast and redness rush to your face immediately • all of you friends would snicker and tease you about the mystery sender • NDOSHSKDH WHO IS IT • THIS IS SO UNFAIR • again, this is set in a high school - junior college AU bc I am BLAND and unimaginative • the first letter came in when it was about a month before prom • and it wasn’t signed or stamped with some mark that signified who the secret admirer was • but it came nicely packaged and clearly, a lot of effort was put into it • love makes you do peculiar things • anyway, you were shocked, stunned, brain unable to process that someone had written a LOVE LETTER to YOU • sounds pathetic but uh...not everyone gets this on a daily • you haven’t gotten one in...7 years?   • LET ME REJOICE IN PEACE • haha • those kindergarten love letters count okay. yet, I never received any rip my love life since the start • i :) was :)) unlikeable :))) romantically :)))) anyway :))))) • if anyone tryna fall in love for the new year, do hit me up • I’M KIDDING • or am I? • is the sender serious playing games with you right now? • You’re on the brink of losing it • okay, let me read out what your secret admirer sent • a small excerpt because everyone can keep their secrets ;) • ‘one day, I hope you’ll come to accept my feelings for you. I can only hope my dreams of us together would come true.’ • ‘humbling myself to finally look into your eyes and confess my love in person.’ • *add 5-7 more lines that I was too uncreative to write* • I’m sorry, I’ve never professed my love to anyone before • okay maybe...once? but that's a story for another time • and - how unromantic of me - I did it over text so uh...0 experience • WHAT DOES THIS ALL MEAN? • HAS SOMEONE HAD A TREMENDOUS CRUSH ON YOU • FOR SO LONG THAT THEY CONSIDER IT LOVE • how adorable • you find them lovable already • unless they’re some creepy, stalker/serial-murderer • racist • misogynist • okay you get the drift • you had clutched the letter close to your chest, feelings stirring up inside like a whirlwind • warmth rushing to your face as your trembling fingers fought to tuck the note into your backpack - out of everyone’s sight - and lock up your locker • without taking out your books for the necessary classes lmao • if you were a cartoon character, there would be a crown of hearts floating over your head and the beating of your heart would be the main bgm • ‘hey y/n,’ your close friend and table partner, Choi Minki greeted with a grin on his face, his navy school bag slung over one shoulder, hands shoved into the pocket of his school slacks. ‘Ready for class?’ • brain: no No nO NO I’LL NEVER BE READY • you: yupp! :D super ready!! Ever ready!! ✨🌸💖🌸✨💫🌸💕💖 • you: boRN ReADY 😫😫😤😤👏🏼😭💯💯👅👅🤣🤣🤣 • brain: MISSION ABORT MISSION ABORT YOU WON’T BE ABLE TO FOCUS ON CLASS WITH THIS SECRET ADMIRER ON YOUR MIND • *sobs for eternity* • well uh what the hell happened in maths class??? • you were 90% sure that all the curious stares from your classmates were due to the fact that your eyes were glossed over, clearly in some sort of la-la land. you rested your chin in your hands, lips letting out a dreamy sigh once in a while • ‘MATH NOTES’ was scribbled in a pink Midliner - art marker - at the top of your notebook page but other than the date, the lines were left blank • your mind was too busy focussed on a different date • even Minki was having a hard time figuring out what was wrong with you • *poke poke* • ‘hey, can I borrow a stapler?’ • *no answer* • instead, he spots a couple of different coloured hearts scrawled on your notepad • ahh • love virus • I love Nu’est with all my heart • ignored, Minki moves on to ask Aron - the classmate sitting in front of you - for a sharpener • Aron’s brows furrow in confusion when he sees you, then he laughs it off, shaking his head. • ‘ahh, who is it that has taken our dear friend’s heart?’ • I’ve been reading many webtoons recently bcI’vebeenquitestressed��and I can totally imagine how this would look like • especially with the blushes! • uhm who were you? you rarely ever dozed off or daydreamed in class. This was a huge first for you • the bell finally rang and Minki had to shake you out of your oblivion • the sides of your forearms were neatly decorated with Midliner ink, signed by Choi Minki • ‘huh?’ • ‘let’s go! We’ll be late for chemistry!’ • I sense chemistry between my secret admirer and me • THIS MUST BE A SIGN • THEY MUST BE IN MY CHEMISTRY CLASS • your sneakers slap against the tiles, the sound of the impact echoing down the hallway as you race towards the laboratory • dishevelled, you and Minki arrive just before your teacher does and you scramble to take a seat • both of you end up sharing a bench with Hwang Minhyun and Kim Jaehwan, right behind Kang Daniel, Ong Seongwoo, Ha Sungwoon and Yoon Jisung • HYUNG LINE • Minhyun texts you often so you don’t have any qualms with sharing a bench • he just doesn’t have any shared classes with you or Minki, or Aron,,,or Dongho this term :((( • but, intimidation creeps upon you when you realise you’re surrounded by members of a popular clique in school • Minki is friends with all of them so he pays no mind and probably doesn’t sense your ‘I’M FREAKING OUT’ signal • however, as soon as class starts, you’re back to meddling with your suspicions on who the letter sender is • suddenly, your ears pick up soft taps on your bench and you’re snapped back to reality • or is it? • because Kang Daniel, turned his seat around to face you, eyes twinkling with a smile • ‘hi, uh...could I borrow your periodic table for a second? I forgot mine in my locker.’ he asks, ears reddening the slightest bit • still entranced by his gorgeous features and suave tone, you absent-mindedly hand him your print out, not realising you’re checking him out • what a view • I could stir up some chemistry between me and you • *holds up stirrer* • enough puns pls they’re so bad anyway • his eyes scan over it for a second before he writes down his answer and returns the paper back to you • ‘thank you! oh, I’m Kang Daniel, by the way.’ • SWOON • cue Minki and Minhyun’s amused, muffled giggles • ‘oooh heHeHEhEHehE >:)’ • you introduce yourself • then return to work • but your eyes sweep over Daniel’s desk, and it seems as if he’s hard at work, penning something down • it doesn’t have anything to do with chemistry • because he wrote the title as ‘the love I want to confess’ • OH • MY • GOODNESS • !!!!!!! • brain: stop stop stop!! It doesn’t necessarily mean ANYTHING! DON’T MAKE A FOOL OUT OF YOURSELF • yeah, you decide to listen to your head, pulling your lips into a tight smile as you try to refocus your attention on your worksheet • Minki wants to stab you in the heart with a stray pair of vernier calipers he found • probably from a physics class kid who walked into the wrong lab and dropped it • you don’t die and make it back safely • at home, you keep the letter, tucking it away from prying and curious family • hope rises as you fall into bed and pull the covers over your head • but no letters are present in your locker the next day • and the next • and the next • ....and the next • until, one day, you don’t expect anything anymore • studies have taken over most of your thoughts • you’re just about ready to go prom outfit shopping with your friends when you remembered you had left your notes in your locker • an identical envelope tumbled out of your locker • it landed on the floor with a loud thud • or was the sound from your heart? • again, I shall reveal a small portion if this confession • ‘getting ready for the big day already? well I hope you’ll only be dancing with me.’ • ‘never worry about my identity, you’re inching closer to me everyday.’ • more clues • well, recently, you had made friends with a transfer student, Jeon Heejin, hung out after school with Minki and Aron and gotten Kang Daniel’s number • on Thursday afternoon, Dongho and Kyulkyung had invited you to go bowling and that was how you spent your afternoon • hm • at least you managed to form a group of suspects • it had to be one of them • there was only time left to wait and see • 1 week and 4 days before prom,,, • I’m sorry I’m skipping over a lot of plot development and elaboration :((( • this time was different, the sealed envelope was waiting for you on your desk • and it just happened that you running late that day, stuffing your breakfast sandwich into your mouth as you dashed to your table, shoelaces untied and uniform unkempt • you paid the latest love letter no mind, tossing it into the bottom of your school bag, it lay there, forgotten • until,,, • ‘hi, do you have the textbook? Can I borrow it?’ Dongho whispered as he bumped into you in the corridor, probably on the way to his next class empty-handed • rolling your eyes in a playful manner, you unzipped your bag with the intention of taking your textbook out • uh...looks like you need to be a tad bit more organised in that department • schools supplies were jumbled up in your bag, a couple of items fell out of the open flap • including the letter from the secret admirer • puzzled, Dongho picked it up along with the rest of your things • ‘ooh, a secret lover?’ he teased, eyes speckled with curiosity • immediately, you yanked the envelope out of his grip with a blush seeping onto your face • ‘n-nothing! you’ll be late for class!’ you called, shooing him off before he could say anymore • thankfully, your friend was kind and understanding enough to let the matter drop • you managed to make it through the day without much problems. school was rather eventful, you got a chance to bond with Daniel and Minhyun over lunch because Minki was sick • ripping open yet another packet of jellies, Daniel whined, brows furrowed, ‘hyung, are you sure you can’t make it next week?’ • next week? • Minhyun sadly shook his head, biting his bottom lip in an upset manner. ‘I’m sorry Daniel. I have some committee things to settle at the time of your game.’ • game? • oh, pre-prom activities • Daniel sighed in disappointment, he chewed on a candy to calm his feelings • ‘wait, you can invite your new friend. It’ll be a first and it’ll be more fun!’ Minhyun suggested, gesturing to you in an attempt to cheer Daniel up • Daniel went from staring into space to excitedly chatting about it • words you caught: prom, basketball game, hyung always goes to cheer me on, the rest of my friends are coming but it isn’t the same • ‘woah, woah!’ you uttered, putting your hands up in a gesture for him to slow down. • ‘so are you in?’ • YES. I DOVE IN HEAD FIRST • ‘sure I don’t mind going.’ • the boy practically jumped across the table to embrace you tightly. ‘ • ‘wear my jersey!’ • uHM WOAH I KNOW WE’VE BEEN FRIENDS FOR THREE WEEKS AND TEXTED AS MUCH AS I TEXT MY NU’EST FRIENDS BUT WOAH • ‘of course! If you don’t mind.’ • ‘thank you! I love you so much!’ Daniel yelled before continuing on about how much he was anticipating the game • i  l o v e  you so much • is it Daniel? • you gaped in shock, sitting in silence as the beats of your heart drowned out anything else • Daniel • Daniel was the man in love with you • that was the only thought that plagued your mind for the rest of the day • hmm what did that letter say after all? • ‘one more week to the dance, looks like a I’m cutting it really close. Apologies. You’ll see soon.’ • ‘Don’t worry. If anything, I’ll be the one dateless at prom. You’ll always find a knight in shining armour in me. Let’s not joust anymore’ • ‘Kiss me in A summer Night dream? I’m thinking of only you, my Gem.’ • so romantic • I’ve found out that I absolutely have 0 talent in writing love letters • tbh these are so creepy I would be calling 999 already   • my love life only taking Ls • SUSPECT ACCUSED • SUSPECT GUILTY • SUSPECTED: KANG DANIEL • geez he really put effort into these and only reveals his name now wow • for that, I shall wait to text my reply hehehehe >:) • wouldn’t it be better to talk to him in person? I’ll call him to go out later • ahh, he’s busy training for Monday’s game • we can talk then! :) • your family nearly dies of shock when you burst through the front door, a skip in your step and screaming out incoherently • they don’t question your strange behaviour though • something magical is gonna happen at the game and you’re sure of it • clad in Daniel’s jersey, you make your way to the school stadium the following week, itching for the big surprise, your lips tugged into a gigantic smile • students start to fill in the sports hall, gossiping excitedly and predicting how the friendly game would play out • even Heejin attends the game, face pink and hair tucked into a coral beanie. She offers you some chips • Daniel’s most likely still gearing up for the game so you agree to sit with her on the bleachers to watch. • just as you approach the busy stairs, someone calls your name loudly from behind causing you spin round and nearly knocking into the broad chest of a cheerful Dongho • ‘I didn’t think I would be seeing you here,’ he said, pleasantly surprised. His gaze flickered to your shirt - Daniel’s school team jersey that is. ‘How supportive of you! So sweet. • *head pats, dad boyfriend smiles* • Dongho and Daniel would so get along! You could pretty much feel your heart soaring with elation • This is perfect! All I’ve wanted in life! My friends and my future boyfriend let’snotgetaheadnowshallwe to be close friends too! • Suddenly, just as you were about to gush about Daniel and his undying love, Dongho grabbed your hand. • ‘c-can we head outside for a second? I need to talk to you about something urgent.’ • ‘ATTENTION LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, THE GAME WILL BE STARTING SOON...’ • you grimaced, wanting to be the first one to catch Daniel’s eye when he emerged onto the court • ‘sorry, but we should take our seats, I’m sitting with Heejin, come join us. You know her, uhm, the transfer student, physics-‘ • you jumped as loud airhorns sounded to announce the arrival of the teams • Dongho quickly hustled the both of you to your seats • the crowd of students started cheering wildly when your school’s team emerged led by Lai Guanlin • your screams were the loudest when Daniel stepped out of the shadows • his charming gaze bore into yours, a smile gracing his features • HEART BEATING STARTS ACCELERATING • HE DOESN’T BREAK EYE CONTACT EVEN AS HE ACKNOWLEDGES THE CROWD • WHATTA MAN • ‘it was me.’ A familiar voice whispers into your ear • WAIT WHAT? • your eyes go wide like glossy marbles, confusion beginning to stir within you • No, I could be wrong. I barely heard him anyway. I’ll ask later • ‘I was the one who sent those letters to your locker.’ • w h a t ? • no way • ‘it isn’t Daniel.’ • Daniel smiles at you one more time as the referee begins to signal for them to take their positions • your grip tightens around the hems of his precious jersey • you aren’t sure what to make of the sudden situation • Dongho • What’s his last name? Kang • Daniel • Another Kang • The Kang twins daddies  • two Kangs, one of them has been sending you love letters • you want to believe it’s Kang Daniel, your new friend and crush • but it’s the boy who has been your friend for so long you don’t exactly remember for how many years • thud thud thud • looks like you’re caught between the two Kangs • Dongho’s eyes are begging you to believe him, trust that he’s telling the truth • Daniel’s eyes are clear, bright, they aren’t ones of deceit • ‘I-I....’ • you can’t seem to form a coherent reply • your lips seal shut, forcing your jaw that fell in shock to close • the referee blows the whistle, Dongho’s eyes don’t leave yours • the crowd drowns all other noises, yet all you can hear is the thudding of the ball, the sound of your fragile heart crashing against your ribcage • Daniel? • or Dongho? • let the game begin

[daniellethamasa]

Hey all, Dani here.

Wow, well I guess here we are at another wrap-up post where I end up combining my weekly wrap-up and my monthly wrap-up. That doesn’t happen too often, but it makes things a bit more fun/chaotic for me.

Umm…what have I been watching recently? Gosh, I don’t even know. My days have been starting to blend together. Oh, I can tell you what I will be watching very soon…as in the next day or two. First up, “Critical Role” is back tomorrow for episode 100. They have been off the air since like March, and it will be nice to watch some of my favorite voice actors play D&D again. And then on Friday “Hamilton” is dropping on Disney+. I have been wanting to see this show for four years now, and while this won’t be in a theater watching a live performance, it will be the main cast and is a recording of a live performance. So I’m super excited about that.

Most of my weekly wrap-up stuff will be discussed below, like what I read in the last week, and what I’m hoping to read soon. So I guess I’ll just talk about what I’m currently reading.

As usual with my monthly wrap-up, let’s start off by checking in on my overall goals for the year.

Reading: Well, I finished 27 books in the month of June, so I’d say it was another pretty decent month of reading…though 6 of those were single issue comics, 4 of them were volumes of manga, and 5 of them were children’s picture books. Still, I read a few incredible reads, and only a couple just okay reads, so I’m going to say it was a good month. So that puts me at 154 books read for the year so far, which I think is pretty great.

Blogging: I did all right on blogging this month. I’m still trying to figure out my time management so I can get things done in a timely manner, because I can admit that some of my posts have gone up late, or I’ve finished them and thought they were scheduled for publication and instead I guess I just hit save draft, so it doesn’t go up when it’s supposed to…and then I don’t realize it until days later. That hasn’t been fun. But I will get it figured out. I still have a lot more content to send your way. Oh, and because I’ve been busy and it has continuously slipped my mind…I hit 800 followers…I think it was a few weeks ago. THANK YOU SO MUCH!! I honestly can’t believe that my blog has that many people following along. And to go along with that excitement, I reached 1,000 blog posts a couple weeks ago as well, which also feels like a pretty big milestone.

Writing: Well, with juggling two jobs and reading and blogging, my writing somewhat got shoved to the back burner. BUT I am happy to say that I’ve just started the Colorworld Creativity Club over on the Colorworld Live VIP group on Facebook, and it is a place for people who are working on creative projects–whether that is poetry, novellas, short stories, novels, screenplays, music, artwork, etc–to get help working through any blocks, as well as a place to have a support system to hold us all accountable for actually making progress on our projects. I’ve set myself a goal of 20,000 words to write on my novel for the month of July. Now let’s hope that the CCC can hold me to it.

Conventions: While in-person Gen Con was canceled, they are holding Gen Con Online on the same days, so that should be pretty interesting. Plus, Damian and I booked a hotel room in Indianapolis for those Gen Con Online dates, so we can get out of town for a few days (and have lovely reliable hotel internet). We’ll probably still do a few of our usual Gen Con stops as well, like going to the comic book store–obviously staying as socially distant as possible, and wearing masks in public. And we’re still hoping that Cincinnati Comic Expo in September will still be good to go. My friends at Colorworld Books have actually started doing Colorworld LIVE convention style events just about every week, sometimes two a week. They gather up three or four awesome voice actors, hold a livestream panel, then a VIP panel for anyone who buys some signed merch, and of course you can get shirts, metal art prints, and more with characters these actors have portrayed. It’s pretty cool.

Okay, now that the general month wrap-up is over, let’s go ahead and jump into the specific reading wrap-up. As always, if I have a review up already then I will include the link to it. So, let’s go over everything I read in June.

The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas — 5 stars

Super Adjacent by Crystal Cestari — 3.5 stars

Kingdom of Souls by Rena Barron — 4 stars

The Mermaid, the Witch, and the Sea by Maggie Tokuda-Hall — 3.5 stars

The City We Became by N.K. Jemisin — 4.5 stars

The Wedding Date by Jasmine Guillory — 5 stars (review coming July 21)

Vox Machina Origins Series II #1 by Matt Mercer, Jody Hauser, Olivia Samson, Msassyk, and Ariana Maher — 5 stars

Vox Machina Origins Series II #2 by Matt Mercer, Jody Hauser, Olivia Samson, Msassyk, and Ariana Maher — 5 stars

Vox Machina Origins Series II #3 by Matt Mercer, Jody Hauser, Olivia Samson, Msassyk, and Ariana Maher — 5 stars

Vox Machina Origins Series II #4 by Matt Mercer, Jody Hauser, Olivia Samson, Msassyk, and Ariana Maher — 5 stars

Vox Machina Origins Series II #5 by Matt Mercer, Jody Hauser, Olivia Samson, Msassyk, and Ariana Maher — 5 stars

Vox Machina Origins Series II #6 by Matt Mercer, Jody Hauser, Olivia Samson, Msassyk, and Ariana Maher — 5 stars

Pride by Ibi Zoboi — 4 stars (review coming July 7)

Spellhacker by M.K. England — 4 stars

Black Clover Vol 21 by Yuki Tabata — 5 stars

My Hero Academia Vol 24 by Kohei Horikoshi — 5 stars

Akata Witch by Nnedi Okorafor — 4.5 stars (review coming July 2)

Otaku by Chris Kluwe — 4 stars (review coming July 16)

Beach Read by Emily Henry — 4.5 stars

My Status as an Assassin Obviously Exceeds the Hero’s Vol 1 by — 4 stars

Edens Zero Vol 2 by Hiro Mashima — 5 stars

All the unicorn books above — 4 stars

The Proposal by Jasmine Guillory — 5 stars

Now it is book haul time, and I’m starting with my digital book haul, because I picked up quite a few e-books this month, due to sales, or physical books being back ordered, or because I have a bunch of books to read for blog tour reviews. So I’ll go over my digital haul before jumping into my physical haul.

Okay, now for the physical haul.

Next up is the OwlCrate Unboxing.

Finally I suppose it’s time to talk about my July TBR. Unfortunately I don’t have a completely set TBR for this month. There are a handful of books I need to read for review, and then I have stacks of books that I’ve been eager to read for a month or so now, and just haven’t had the chance yet. So I have a bunch of options.

Here’s some reads I can definitely say that I’ll be completing in July: Mayhem by Estelle Laure (I have a blog tour review coming July 14th), Shielded by KayLynn Flanders (review coming July 18th), Lobizona by Romina Garber (blog tour review coming July 28th), and Spells for the Dead by Faith Hunter (Nell Ingram #5, blog tour review coming July 30th).

Other than that the above books might be what I pick up…but it might also be wholly mood dependent. I’m not sure.

How was your June? Let me know some of your favorite reads of the month in the comments, and I’ll be back soon with more bookish content.

June Wrap-Up and July TBR/Weekly Wrap-Up (71) Hey all, Dani here. Wow, well I guess here we are at another wrap-up post where I end up combining my weekly wrap-up and my monthly wrap-up.