#me: huge event in life ...anyway listen to this music

[hyuneskkami]

h.h ✦ so good ! ༄.°

𝒽wang hyunjin x f!reader

masterlist . . . ✰

𓆩♡𓆪 𝒶n : ayyy dominoooo merry christmas (it’s literally exactly 12:00am here) 😋 this fic is not even christmas-related, but it is hyunjin-related and that’s the only excuse I need to post it ☝️ this is the longest fic i’ve ever written (oneshot), so I hope it’s not too dragged out </3 I wanted to split it into 2 parts but decided against it. 👺 anyway!! this is me spreading cute and comfy!hyunjin as well as crop top!hyunjin agenda (esp after that solo mv?! babygirlism is OFF the charts w that fit ✨). well! merry christmas again! may your christmas be filled with streaming the solo mvs and christmas evel <3 this fic is dedicated to mori ( @serendipitous-girl )’s friend (if youre seeing this, HIIII!!) ❇️ enjoy~~ 💗🥟 (:

𓆩♡𓆪 𝓌arnings + tags : fem!reader , trainee!dancer!reader , idol!hyunjin , reader is 18 and hyunjin is 19 years old , ot8 mentioned , reader has (playful) beef w chan , one remark about reader thinking she’s heavy (if you think that way too, js know that i love you and i’d work out enough to bench press your weight ok) , crop top!hyunjin agenda , hyunjin is a CUTIE PATOOTIEEE , cheeky gentleman!hyunjin , also the last icon on the top is reader’s outfit described at the start of the fic / you can find reader’s stage outfit in the reblogs of this post >.< ;

𓆩♡𓆪 𝓌c : 3.8k

I was getting ready in a short top, cargo pants and v-strings, first thing in the morning today. 

I was packing my stage outfit in my bag when my uncle called me. I switched the call to speaker mode, and continued packing.

“is my little star almost done packing?” he asked, and I could hear the smile in his voice. 

“yup! i’ll be at the venue in 20 minutes,” I said.

“great, i’ll see you there.” he hung up. 

I resumed my stray kids playlist, and the muscle memory to the choreography of the songs kept kicking in as I tried to finish packing. their new comeback album, HOP, was way too addictive to listen to.

I ended up being 10 minutes late—with my shoelaces barely tied—to the venue because I got too invested in my one-woman-concert.

as soon as I got down the car, it was surprising not having any cameras flashing in my face.

my uncle was hosting a premiere for the newest k-drama he had directed. he was quite the talk of town, with multiple blockbuster dramas credited to his name. 

he normally loved all the attention from the world. though, this time, the paparazzi was not allowed to the event since it was his last premiere before retirement. 

in lieu of the special circumstances, he declared the event a no-paparazzi only-vip one. and I was the most excited, which was an understatement, because the loves of my life were going to be there: stray kids.

well, it would be a little bit of an exaggeration to call them that, but they were my ult group, and they were all going to be there today.

during production, my uncle had asked me who I thought would be fit to be responsible for the soundtrack of his last drama ever, and I suggested stray kids to him, half as a joke. he ended up taking my suggestion, and so, as the music directors, stray kids were invited today as well.

the venue was an outdoor stadium, set for a proper viewing and many performances on the huge stage in the centre. 

lots of staircases and escalators went up and down the rows of seats and soft couches sat at the bottom, closest to the stage. 

I checked my seat number and found that it was in one of the first rows of couches near the stage. I made my way towards it and fell comfortably on the seat.

the stadium wasn’t completely filled yet, but it was already buzzing with gossips and such. I could spot a few friends of my uncle, who were all directors or producers, as well as the stars of the drama. I left my bag in my seat, and got up to greet the lead actors. they were a few years older than me, and had perfect chemistry with each other, even off-screen.

after chatting for a while, something else caught my attention in my peripheral vision.

well, more like someone else.

the members of stray kids had gotten out of their vehicle, each one of them looking as handsome as the rest.

my eyes strayed to chan and hyunjin in the corner of their group.

I met chan’s eyes, and bowed a little bit. he smiled back at me.

I tried to catch jeongin’s eye on the other side, but failed, because he was yapping to lee know about something quite excitedly.  

hyunjin was wearing a black tank top and a leather biker jacket, paired with dark cargo jeans and boots. the jewellery on him was absolutely perfect for his outfit and him, and his hair was styled beautifully. I knew stray kids had a performance sometime today, so he must have been carrying his stage outfit with him, just like I was. our eyes met for a second, and I let out a little gasp. he tried to smack away han, who was saying something loudly in his ear with a huge grin on his face. I turned around to continue talking with the other cast members who had gathered. 

after a while, everyone was asked to settle down in their seats, as the entertainment performances were about to begin. I made my way back to my seat, happy to see my bag still there. 

as I flopped down onto the fluffy couch, a taller figure towered over me. their shadow fell across my face. I opened my eyes to be met with hyunjin’s face.

“hi! i’ve got the seat beside you,” he smiled down at me. I stared at him in shock for a second, even though I had seen him countless times before, but just from a little farther away.

“right. yes- sorry, hi!” I stood up suddenly, bowing my head a little, and extending my hand. he shook it with a firm grip, and we both sat down.

a few performances went by, and the crowd started to chat again.

“I feel like I know you from somewhere… have we met before, by any chance?” he asked, turning towards me. our knees were touching a little bit now. 

“i’m actually a trainee, at jype,” I said, smiling a little.

his eyes lit up with recognition. “oh wait, y/n? your group practices in the room beside ours, doesn’t it?”

“yes, actually. how do you remember that?” I asked, a little shocked by the fact that he knew of my existence, and my name as well. 

“ah, I remember seeing you talking to chan, when you guys grabbed some ice cream from the vending machine in the first floor,” he recounted. “chan was telling me all about your group, after that. especially about you, actually.” I blushed a little bit, at the thought of chan remembering me enough to mention my members and me to hyunjin.

“what did he say? nothing bad, I hope,” I laughed. 

“well, that’s a secret,” hyunjin said, covering his mouth as if to shush himself. I groaned. 

“he better not have said anything stupid, then.”

hyunjin chuckled and continued. “he also told me about how he was your babysitter for a while, when you were younger?”

“oh, he was an absolute bully! he was barely 3 years older than me, but he acted like he was a 30-year old who knew everything. pompous ass.” I muttered the last part under my breath. 

hyunjin snickered. “sounds like chan, honestly. felix talks about him just like you do. I think lixie and you would get along well, then.” I laughed under my breath, exhilarated at the thought of even an opportunity to meet the other members. 

we continued talking for a while, when it was announced that the fire show would be starting. delighted, I whipped out my handcam to record it. it always sounded like a fun thing to watch, but i’d never been to any fire shows before. 

the entire show was amazing, but my arms were starting to get sore from holding up the camera for so long. hyunjin peaked at me, and stole the camera from my hands, holding it up, pointed towards the stage. 

“relax, i’ll hold it for you,” he whispered. my heart fluttered at the proximity between his lips and my ear. thinking nothing of the shiver sent down my spine, I left my handcam in hyunjin’s care, enjoying the show. 

there were lots of other entertainment segments, considering the event was supposed to last almost an entire day. there were lots of breaks in between for food, as well. 

at one point, I had fallen asleep on the soft couch. I kept moving around to get comfortable. the lights from the acts on stage were too bright, so I turned my body and head to the side, away from the lights. I threw my hand around something stable, and fell deeper into slumber. 

when I woke up from my quick power nap, I felt something against my palm. I opened my eyes to find my hand over hyunjin’s torso. he was leaning back, legs spread apart, body slowly vibing to the show on stage.

at my movement, he turned around slowly, looking at me. 

“got your beauty sleep, princess?” he asked, smirking a little. beneath my hand, that still rested over some part of his chest, I could feel his heart practically beating out of his body.

“dude, are you okay?” I asked, sitting up, ignoring his question. I moved a bit to place my hand flat against his chest. he had taken off his jacket, and was now in just a tank top. “your heart’s beating so fast. do you need to get away from the lights or something?”

“oh, no, i’m fine,” he mumbled, turning away a little bit. 

“you sure?” I asked, narrowing my eyes at him.

even though we’d officially only met today, I felt comfortable around him. comfortable enough to talk to him, like i’d speak to any friend… which made sense, because we were sort of the same age. 

“yes, yes, mother,” he rolled his eyes at me. I gave him a side-eye, and we turned back around to watch the next set of performances. 

during one of the breaks, my phone rang with an incoming call from my aunt.

“y/n-ah, can you make it to the seventeenth floor fast? your cousin is so clumsy, she spilt juice all over herself and I need some help with her,” she said. I could hear the desperation in her voice through the phone, so I agreed.

“yeah, imo, i’ll be there. I think I have your seat number too, so don’t worry about it.”

as I stood up, hyunjin pulled me down immediately. “where are you going?” he whispered.

“my aunt needs some help with her daughter. she’s just three years old, and cute as hell of course, but she’s quite a handful. i’ll be right back, though,” I told him.

“i’ll come with you, then,” he said, getting up. I was surprised for a second, but nodded anyway.

I stood up and was about to close my ‘phone’ app, but paused at the screen. did I give him my phone along with my handcam, at some point? i’d forgotten about it, if I had. 

hyunjin had saved his contact number under the name ’hyune 🥟’.

“i’m curious, do you give out your number to every girl you meet?” I asked, joking, as we began making our way up the stairs. 

he turned back to me and then turned forward again, “nope. just the pretty ones.”

my heart fluttered at his dialogue, but I quickly regained my composure. “hyune, that’s so cheesy, oh my god.” I rolled my eyes at him.

“whatever,” he laughed. “don’t I get your number too? just so we don’t lose each other in the crowd.”

I was shocked, yet again, at the thought of the hwang hyunjin asking for my number, no matter what the reason.

he passed his phone to me, and we fell in step beside each other. I entered my number in, and saved it as ‘n/n 🌊’, before handing it back to him.

we made it to the seventeenth floor soon, both of us half-dancing to the music playing and talking to each other. when we reached my aunt’s row, though, she wasn’t there.

I asked the people nearby if they had seen a woman with a child in their row, and they said that she had left just a minute ago, with some staff members. 

I thanked them, and hyunjin and I decided to make our way back to our seats.

before we could start going down through the stairs, a security guard stopped us both.

“who are you two? don’t you know it’s the vip section down there?” he asked, gruffly.

“…i’m hyunjin? from stray kids?” hyunjin replied to him, as sassy as ever, and turned towards me to roll his eyes in mock-offence. 

“okay, well, what about you, miss?” he asked me. I had forgotten my tickets in my bag, which was still on my seat. 

I made eye contact with hyunjin, and he somehow seemed to understand that I didn’t have any other proof.

“i’m… uh… with him,” I replied, unsure. 

the guard looked at me suspiciously, narrowing his eyes. 

suddenly, hyunjin yelled, “who’s that running, over there?!” and pointed behind the guard. 

he turned back to see, and in the same second, hyunjin wrapped his fingers around my wrist, as we took off running down the stairs. 

we were sprinting down rows of stairs, laughing, almost breathless, but we could still hear the guard running behind us. 

“wait, wait,” I pulled hyunjin’s shirt from the back. “i’m going to trip, my laces are untied.” I breathed out. 

he shook his head, and picked me up bridal-style. “just tie your shoelace like this, he’ll catch us easily, otherwise!” he rolled his eyes, as if it was an obvious thing to do. 

by the time we were running down the next few sets of stairs, I had finished tying my laces, and we had also successfully lost the security guard. hopefully, he didn’t think of us as a threat too big to report to his boss, or whatever. 

hyunjin was still carrying me, as we were still walking down. 

“are you sure you don’t want to put me down now?” I asked, hesitating a little bit. “I am pretty heavy, I suppose, so-”

“of course you’re not,” he smiled softly at me.

the sun was just setting and the sky was a canvas of orange, pink, and purple. all the hues were reflected on hyunjin’s face, making him appear like an illuminated angel.

“hey…” I started. “would you mind if I recorded a video of the sunset, and… this?” I gestured between him and me. “I guess this is probably one of my favourite memories till date, and I… yeah. I want something to remember today by.” I let out a breath, wondering if i’d crossed the line by asking him if I could record him carrying me. it does sound like an awkward, weird and creepy request.

to my surprise, he nodded. “yes! you have to send it to me too, because I could say pretty much the same thing.” he grinned down at me. 

I smiled happily, and took out my phone. I took a few pictures of the sunset first. then, I flipped to the back camera, zoomed out to 0.5x, and extended my hand. I clicked on the ‘record’ button, recording hyunjin, and the light falling on his face. he smiled at the camera once, and then started making funny faces. I slapped his chest lightly, and we started laughing.

(much later, when i’d rewatched these videos, I noticed hyunjin looking at me with his eyes filled to the brim with love. just smiling at me throughout most of the video.)

we started talking to the camera like a vlog, and I flipped it after a while to show the sunset. it was absolutely ethereal, of course. 

we had almost reached the last few sets of stairs, so hyunjin set me down slowly. 

I thanked him quietly, ending the recording. “pretty sure i’m never forgetting this day.” I laughed lightly. 

“nooo, don’t thank me at all. I had so much fun, unexpectedly. it was cute,” he winked.

I turned away suddenly, heat rushing up my neck for the millionth time during the same day. I grumbled a little, and we continued talking to each other on the way back to our couch in the front row. 

I was telling him about my other friends who were STAY, and told him that they’d be very jealous to find out that I had been at such an event and met him.

“i’d love to meet your friends one day, they all do seem like fun people,” he said.

“oh my god!” I exclaimed. “I really hope you do. it’d be so cool.”

my phone dinged suddenly, and I looked down to see a notification alerting me about my upcoming dance performance on the centre stage for the day.

I bid hyunjin goodbye, letting him know that i’d be back after a while, and that I had to leave. 

would he be surprised when he’d see me on the stage? would he like the dance? I kept asking myself millions of questions.

he pouted for a while, but soon let me go, understanding that it was something important. 

I grabbed my bag from my seat, and rushed backstage. 

seeing the staff members waiting for me, I felt a little less nervous. familiar faces always had that effect, didn’t they?

ᯓ★ hyunjin’s pov . . .

I was back at my seat, continuing to watch the performances.

it was nearly 10 in the night already, and the crowd was getting more and more hyped. 

the other members and I were set to go on stage in about an hour for our performance, and we were all relatively ready, except for our outfits and makeup.

the last few performances were the most anticipated ones, usually. this time, I had forgotten to check the schedule to see who else was performing before us tonight. 

the lights dulled, after a song ended. a spotlight shone, and a girl was standing facing the other way. she was wearing a white button-up, a cropped vest, and cargo-jean pants. her belt shone with a row of stars and rhinestones. she truly gave off a ‘stray kids’ vibe, and would probably fit right in with our concept too. her hair reminded me of y/n’s.

the music began, and she turned around at the beat. I realised two things, simultaneously: first, that it was my solo song ‘so good’—the one that we had released just a week ago—that had started playing. and second, the girl on stage was y/n.

my heart burst at the sight of her. she had sunglasses on, and a black tie was loosely draped around her neck. her jewellery went absolutely perfectly with her outfit and vibe. 

I was awe-struck when she started dancing. they were the same steps I had been performing for so many weeks, but when she did them, they looked… ethereal. she did the isolations so well, and her flow was unmatched, much like an ocean wave.

her rings and bracelets glinted in the light continuously. her expressions were a perfect match for my song. she was pulling off the choreography exactly how it was, if not better. 

if I hadn’t already fallen head over heels in love with her, I certainly did now.

she executed the dance break choreography flawlessly. I was almost envious of how good she looked doing my dance. the lighting enhanced how beautiful she looked. an angel descending from heaven, perhaps. 

still in awe, I didn’t notice her performance ending, and the crowd was going wild. apparently, lots of people knew who she was. 

“who is she?” I asked the old couple sitting behind me. 

“oh, the girl who was just on the stage? she’s the director’s niece. an absolute beauty,” the woman replied, smiling fondly. 

“that she is,” I mumbled, and thanked the woman.

I got a notification from felix, saying that chan was looking for me backstage. I quickly made my way there, hoping to catch y/n too.

thanks to my occassional good luck, she was there, resting on a couch in the makeup room. a staff member was hovering around her, cleaning her makeup. the thin layer of sweat on her face was glistening under the light.

“hyunjin!” she called out, sitting up suddenly.

I smiled and walked towards her, gesturing at han—who was nearby—to wait for me.

as soon as y/n stood up, I hugged her. “that was so beautiful,” I muttered into her hair.

she pulled back a little and smiled at me.

“i’m so happy you liked it. I was kind of nervous-”

“y/n?! that was amazing! It literally looked exactly like hyunjin’s dance style!” jeongin said, running towards us. I rolled my eyes at the intrusion, but let it go soon since it was just jeongin.

I paused suddenly. “wait. how do you know her?” I asked him.

“oh, noona got me chocolates on my birthday, and since then we’ve been hanging out a bit,” he said. I turned to y/n, who was nodding in a very ‘as-a-matter-of-fact’ way.

“i’ll leave you two to talk now, but jinnie hyung, the stylists are waiting for you. we need to get ready,” he said while walking away, and I nodded.

“ah, I see how it is,” I teased, narrowing my eyes playfully. “stealing the maknae’s heart before mine, huh?”

she burst out laughing. “you’ve got it all wrong. innie’s just a little brother to me.”

I felt a little relieved at that.

I saw the rest of the group trickle backstage one by one, each offering her their compliments, remembering her from the jype building.

felix hugged her and exclaimed how proud he was of her performance. “no wonder hyunjin’s been texting us about you nonstop today,” he added with a cheeky grin. I shoved him playfully, slightly blushing.

as the chaos died down, the staff called us one last time to prepare for our performance.

I turned to y/n, and asked a bit hesitantly. “will you still be here after the show?”

she nodded, her smile lighting up her face. “of course. I wouldn’t miss it for the world.”

I stepped closer, leaning in so only she could hear. “good. I still owe you one for making my heart race like that.” her blush was as beautiful as ever, and it gave me the courage to add, “do you want to grab a coffee, or something, after the event?”

“I’d love that,” she said softly, nodding, her eyes meeting mine with a spark that made my heart race, yet again.

as I walked towards the stage with my members, I couldn’t help but glance back at her. she was watching us, her expression proud and supportive. she threw a thumbs up in the air.

I knew that this day wasn’t just a moment of chance or luck. it was the beginning of something beautiful.

ᯓ★ bonus ending: y/n’s pov . . .

after hyunjin’s performance with his group and my excessively loud cheering and screaming, there were still quite a few performances left.

unbothered, hyunjin and I snuck away from the stadium, and roamed outside, looking for coffee shops close by. it was too late, so the roads were mostly empty.

there were a lot of hands-brushing and staring-at-each-other moments too.

under the city’s twinkling lights, watching korea’s night life with him, I couldn’t help but wonder what galaxy i’d saved in my past life to be lucky enough so as to meet someone like hyunjin today.

kozumesphone © 2024 | don’t repost my works onto other platforms, or edit and post them even on tumblr, without asking me first • don’t steal my works, steal my heart instead • reblogs and comments are more than appreciated !

[thewayitalknj]

The Song That Follows

Modern!Eddie Munson x Female Reader

Summary-A love song from one of your favorite movies seems to follow you wherever you go and starts to play into your real life ; Prom is just around the corner as well. Word Count-6.7k Warnings-Friends to lovers ; A mention of sleeping together but none is written ; Takes place in 2023.

Quick Notes-Well holy crap, here I am writing for the first time since 2011 probably? I'm a bit rusty, but I hope you enjoy! Just a funny side note, Mrs. K is based off of a real life teacher I had in high school. She did come to my prom drunk (LOL). She also did ask my friends and I to help for the extra credit for a school event but we kindly declined. :) (also I'm insanely obsessed with this song, I hope you love it as well!)

You - Hey! I’m in need of your assistance for the next Photoshop Challenge for Photography, can you meet me in the computer lab after school?

Jonathan - sure, no problem. I’ll see you then!

As the final bell of the day rang you made you way to the computer lab to meet Jonathan, grateful he was willing to help considering you hated asking your own teachers questions yourself. You knew senior year wasn’t going to be easy but as the end of the year started getting closer and closer you couldn’t believe that you and your friends were off to college. Soon there would be one more lunch together, one more after school meet up and one more meeting in the computer lab.

“Hey you finally beat me.” You say walking up to Jonathan who’s waiting for you outside the door.

“Last class was right around the corner, you ready to tackle this assignment?”

“Let’s do it.” 

Time passed as you and Jonathan worked on your homework together. Your objective was to take a photo but add in a random object, then having to take said random object out of the photo with editing. You both were concentrating so hard you didn’t even notice your Sociology teacher, Mrs. K, walking up between you two.

“Good afternoon!”

“Hey Mrs. K, how are you?” You ask smiling. Mrs. K was one of your favorite teachers. She was defiantly a little off but was still the life of the party during class.

“I’m doing well missy thank you for asking. I’m so glad I found you both together, I need to ask you a possible favor.”

“And what would that be?”

“I’m head of the prom committee this year and in need of more volunteers. Just a few students to help out with small things for the night.”

“Ah, and what’s in it for us?” Jonathan asks, smirking.

She laughs and shakes her head. “You know me too well Mr. Byers. Extra credit. I’ll let you know a few weeks before what your jobs will be and it will go towards your final grade of the year. I’ll even knock off some final questions.”

“That’s really nice of you to ask us for help Mrs. K but I already have plans on prom night.” You answer with a pretend sad look on your face. You knew you never wanted to go to prom. You hated getting dressed up, wearing makeup, hell doing your own routine in the morning was frustrating enough.

“Plans already? Prom is another month away how do you already have plans?”

“They just happened to fall on prom night. Look, can we talk it over and get back to you?”

“Sure, I’ll be at the front desk working. Thank you both for your consideration.” With a huge pat on the back to the both of you, she walks away.

“I’m just as confused, how do you have plans already set in stone?” Jonathan raises an eyebrow.

“Like I said, they just happen to fall on the same night as prom. I wasn’t planning on going anyway.”

“Well, let’s think this over real quick. Save your file.” You quickly save your edited work and turn to Jonathan. “This is easy extra credit. Who cares if we have to listen to terrible pop music and dress up for one night. We could even ask Nancy, Eddie and Robin to help too. We can all go as a group. It might be worth it.”

“Nancy and Robin would be on board, Eddie is another story.”

“Why?”

“I know him, okay? Prom is not his style or the place he wants to be.”

“But it’s extra credit. Like I said, easy extra credit. I’m in. How about you?” You thought about it for a moment. He was right, it IS super easy extra credit. Your grade could use a pick me up, and it would be a fun night with friends regardless.

“Okay, you convinced me. Let’s go tell Mrs. K when we’re done editing.” Once you heard the announcement of the computer lab closing you both approached Mrs. K and told her you were in. She was very delighted and thanked you a million times and gave lots of hugs. 

Now the difficult part is coming up, canceling your plans to volunteer on prom night. I’m sure the news will be taken lightly considering the situation, what could possibly go wrong? Tomorrow couldn’t come soon enough, right?

Your locker slams shut. “YOU WHAT?”

“Don’t raise your voice on me Munson.” You turn around and begin to head down the hallway towards the lunchroom.

“Come on, we’ve had these plans for months. We made a vow-”

“Yes yes I know we did.”

“And you want to fall to the broken conformity that is…fucking prom?!” You stop and turn around again this time facing him yourself.

“Look Eddie I’m sorry but this is the easiest extra credit you can receive. You have Mrs. K too why don’t you sign up as well. I’m sure you of all people need the exert credit.”

“Wow, ouch.” This time he takes the lead in walking.

“Well it’s too late, I’ll be there. I still think you should go. Our whole group is going to be there so it won’t be like you're alone.”

“That’s not really the point-”

“Then can you please for one night not be the kid who thinks he’s too cool for school?”

“Still not the point but I’m ending this conversation now.”

“Yeah yeah, whatever.” You both enter the lunchroom and find Nancy, Robin and Jonathan at your usual table.

“Whoa, what’s got your panties in a bunch?” Robin asks Eddie.

“This one,” Eddie points to you, “has canceled plans with me.”

“Oh, whoa is me.” Robin has always been the one for dramatics and you softly laugh to yourself while getting your lunch out.

“Did these plans happen to fall on prom night?” Jonathan then asks.

Eddie rolls his eyes, clearly annoyed even at the word. “Yes they did. Why? Are you to blame for this?” 

“Blame for what? Is this about Mrs. K’s extra credit volunteering?” Nancy interjects.

“I am to blame for this then. Yes, Mrs. K asked us yesterday in the computer lab and we accepted.”

“She asked Robin and I in class today. We signed up too, figured it would be fun.”

“Nancy, you have an A already you don’t need the extra credit.” 

“Yes that’s true but after she told us you two were helping we thought we could go as a group to stick together.”

“My thoughts exactly. See?” Jonathan smiles at you and the girls. Eddie slumps in his chair and sighs.

“I’ll just be alone, in my room, with my guitar and uncle in the other room as he watches reruns of Wheel of Fortune all night.”

“Come on Eddie, can’t you suck it up for one night?” Robin shakes his arm and pouts as she speaks. “It will be a lot of fun. And we can all hang out afterword.”

“I don’t know guys I really don’t want to.”

“Just give it a thought okay? I bet you could use the extra credit as well.” Nancy says.

“Jesus Christ…”

Hey I still feel bad about changing our plans, can I please make it up to you?

1 New Notification 

Eddie - what do you have in mind??

Well I was going to ask if I can join in on Hellfire for the rest of the month but considering I almost killed our whole party in one of our last sessions I don’t think I’m ever welcomed back.

…yeah Dustin and Lucas are still mad about that…can we just have our movie night some other time?

Absolutely! What works for you?

Next Friday?

Perfect, see you then! :)

Movie night was an essential part of your friendship with Eddie. Every other Friday you would get together and watch one of your favorite films. This time it was Eddie’s trailer with you bringing the snacks and choosing the film. And after another long boring day of school you were exited about spending the night with your best friend.

After knocking three times Eddie rushed to the door to let you in. “About time, what was taking so long?”

“I over bought, get ready for your freezer to be full again.”

“Hey, I’m not complaining. Wayne will be happy about it too.” He steps aside to let you in, putting all your bags on the counter.

“Speaking of, where is my favorite long lost uncle?”

“Working per usual but he says hello.” You and Eddie spend the next few minutes getting everything set up. Snacks on the coffee table while the oven baked your favorite appetizers. “Alight so it’s your choice tonight. What streaming service are we using?”

“Amazon Prime.” You answer, grabbing the remote and loading up the app on his TV.

“Hm, different.”

“Eddie Munson, get ready to watch one of the best film of the 80’s. Personally, one of my favorite’s. Not only is it one of my favorite’s but the soundtrack is perfect is every single way.”

“Okay, so what’s it called?”

“Streets of Fire. A rock and roll fable.”

“If it’s one of the best movies of the 80’s why have I never heard of it?”

“Have I also mentioned it is very underrated?”

“Well now you have. Okay, press play.”

“With pleasure.” You press play and the movie begins.

An hour and half seem to pass like it’s nothing. You knew you were going to enjoy the movie but was curious to how Eddie would react. Every so often you would steal some glances at him, and his eyes never left the screen. Hell he never even got up to go to the bathroom or to get more food. “Well…what do you think?”

“That was…wow.”

“Wow good or wow bad? You’re killing me.”

“You weren’t kidding. I loved it. Why isn’t it more well known?”

“Beats me. My Dad showed it to me a few years ago.”

“Why didn’t you show me sooner?”

“Dunno, just came to mind one day and I figured it would be perfect for a movie night and well, here we are. Plus like I said the soundtrack is one of my favorites, I listen to is constantly.”

“Good choice, good choice.” He nods his head in approval and you smile. “Come on, let’s get this place cleaned up.” As you both continue to tidy up you can’t help but think of how Eddie won’t be joining you and your friends for prom.

“Hey.” He looks at you. “Are you sure you don’t want to come to prom with us? It really is going to be fun.” He just laughs and shakes his head. “Eddie…”

“I’m not going hun. I’m sorry, I just don’t want too. None of you can convince me otherwise.” You accept defeat. As much as you want him to join you you know it’s going to be difficult to talk him into going. It’ll take a miracle to get him there. So you figured from that point on you shouldn’t waste your time. 

The end of the night arrived and it was time for you to head back home. You give him a quick hug and he watches you walk back to your car. When you safely enter he closes the trailer door. As your phone connects to car, I Can Dream About You by Dan Hartman pops up as your first shuffled song. “Huh, that’s funny.” You sing along to your favorite song from Streets of Fire and drive on home.

2 New Notification 

Nancy - I’m sorry but Robin is about to text you about dress shopping, just wanted to warn you.

Robin-HEYYYY WE’RE GOING DRESS SHOPPING TODAY AND YOU CAN’T TELL US NO SEE YOU LATER OKAY BYEEEEEEEEE.

“I can’t believe you pulled me out on a Saturday to go dress shopping.” You, Robin and Nancy are standing outside your local mall.

“Ladies,” Robin turns to you both, “I’m what you would call a fashionista.”

“You most certainly are not-” “Far from it actually-” You and Nancy answer at the same time.

“Okay okay, I get it. But you will thank me later when I help pick out your dresses. Now, let’s go girls.” She struts herself into the mall. You and Nancy (again at the same time) roll your eyes and follow right behind her, passing all the local shops until you reach the dress shop.

“This is my own personal nightmare.” You whisper to yourself.

“Heard that, and trust me. Don’t you trust me?” Robin asks.

“NO.” Again, you and Nancy speak in unison.

“Please stop doing that, it’s freaking me out. Now, leave me to my duties. I shall be back in a jiffy.” Nancy takes a seat at the front of the store while you lean against the glass wall.

“Do you really trust her with this shit?” You look over at Nancy who’s scrolling through her phone.

“Honestly no, but we had no choice but to be here or we wouldn’t hear the end of it. So let her have her fun. Who knows, maybe she’ll find us some good choices.”

Turns out Robin was good with fashion if she put her mind to it. She picked out a few dresses for Nancy which she tried on, settling on the third choice. Once it was your turn, Robin led you to your dressing room, closing the curtain. “Um, Robin there’s only one dress in here.”

“I know, try it on. I have my reasons.” You look over the dress, touching it with ease. You admire how pretty it really is and thought you would pick it out yourself if you saw it on the rack. You quickly change out of your clothes into the dress, only to find your having trouble with the zipper. 

“Hey, need help with the zipper. Can’t seem to reach.” You open the curtain and Robin quickly helps, then taking a step back.

“Whoa.” This time, it’s her and Nancy speaking at the same time.

“Whoa good or whoa bad?”

“Whoa good. Look at yourself.” You turn around towards the mirror and step onto the pedestal. You were never for dressing up but this dress was just, perfect.

“Damn Robin, you out did yourself.” You complaint her work, turning around and admiring how the dress fits you perfectly.

“I told you, I have my reasons.”

“And those reasons were?” 

A familiar song starts playing in the store.

“Well for one, the dress is just you. And two-”

“Wait, wait sorry. Hold on.” You point your finger to the speaker and smile. “Sorry, I just love this song.”

“Okay, random.”

“What song is it?” Nancy seemed curious.

“It’s called I Can Dream About You. It’s from the 80’s, it’s actually from one of my favorite soundtracks.”

“What movie?”

“Streets of Fire? Why are you questioning me so much?”

“Because I knew this sounded familiar. Mike was listening to it in his room. When I asked him about the song he said Eddie told him to listen to it.”

“He, he did?”

“Yeah, he said they all started talking about movies and Eddie brought it up. He said he watched it with you-”

“WHICH leads me to reason number two,” Robin interrupts, “this dress will knock Eddie off his feet.” 

“Very funny Robin.” You step down and cross your arms.

“I mean Robin isn’t wrong, Eddie would love this on you.” Nancy agrees, looking you up and down.

“When did this fantasy about Eddie and I start?”

“Oh please, we’ve all known since we were like 15. You belong together, and we all think it.”

“And we all is…?”

“Everyone in our group, even Eddie. But of course he won’t admit it himself because he’s stubborn and men never admit their feelings.”

“Robin-”

“Hush,” she covers your mouth “it is my mission to get you both together by the end of senior year. Also,” she uncovers your mouth, “this song is clearly a sign.”

“Okay Robin you’re loosing it-”

“Oh come on! Don’t you think it’s coincidental that you hear this song while shopping and then learn how Mike was listening to it after you just happen to show Eddie this movie a few weeks ago?” She perks her head to the side, she once again, wasn’t wrong.

“Well-”

“Tell me I’m wrong.”

“You’re not. And after Eddie and I watched it, it was the first song to pop up on my shuffle.” Robin raises her arms to the sky.

“See?! It’s fate. It’s going to happen I can guarantee it. I will work my magic. Now, let’s go pay for these beauties.” She once again struts her way this time to the cashier.

“And do you have a say in all of this?” You ask Nancy.

“Well, the dress is gorgeous. And I also think you and Eddie belong together. That’s all.” 

“Awesome, great thanks. Can you please unzip me?” Nancy helps as you make your way back in and get dressed back into your normal attire. 

Senior Week had finally arrived, which meant prom was on Friday. Today was a half day for the senior class. It was also the day you found out your special jobs. Thankfully being the wonderful teacher she is, Mrs. K kept you and your friends together and assigned you to help decorate apart of the gym the morning of. Your last event of the day was lunch. “So, what’s this big news you have to share Jonathan?”

“Wait until Eddie comes and I’ll let you all know.” After a few minutes, Eddie sits himself next to you taking out his headphones.

“Sorry, got held up in the library working on an assignment. What’s your big news?”

“I have a surprise for you guys.”

“And what would that be?” Nancy asks.

“Argyle is flying in from California to go to prom with us.”

“No way?!” “That’s awesome!” “Sweet!” Everyone seemed super excited about Argyle flying in, except for Eddie.

“Well, I’m sure you all will have fun together.”

“Come on Munson, you seriously don’t want to come?” Robin sticks out her lip.

“No no and fuck no. You can keep trying but nothing is going to convince me to go.”

“You suck, you know that?”

“Nothing new.” He states.

Jonathan jumps back into the conversation to change the subject. “Yeah, he’s really excited about coming. He can’t wait to see you all.”

“We’re excited to see him too, it’s been so long. FaceTime and Zoom can only do so much.” You say.

“True. So, how was shopping for your dresses?”

“It actually went pretty well. Turns out Robin has an eye for fashion when she puts her mind to it.” Nancy answers.

“What do the dresses look like?”

You begin to answer, “Well mine is-”

“NOPE. Keep your mouth shut!” Robin yells.

“The heck is up with you?” Eddie asks.

“It’s all a surprise. You’ll have to wait until Friday to see how we look.”

“But I’m not even going.”

“Then you’re missing out.” Robin says matter-of-faculty. You knew what she was doing and you hated it, but you also wanted to see what the outcome would be.

“Whatever, you guys have fun. I’ll be home if you change your mind.” He says to you, picking up his stuff and leaving. When he was getting up he unlocked his phone and pressed play on a song popping in his headphones, you caught a quick glimpse of it and your eyes went wide. After he took a few steps away, they all look at you confused.

“What?” You ask.

“Why did it look like your eyes were going to budge out of your sockets?” Jonathan asks, concerned if anything.

“Oh, nothing. I’m fine.”

“You look like you saw a ghost just now. What gives?”

“I said it’s nothing-”

“You sure you’re okay?”

“Yes, thank you though.”

Robin smirks. 

Prom Night approached a lot quicker then you expected. Senior Week flew by so quick you now found yourself at Nancy’s house with Robin getting ready. Peter Gabriel’s Your Eyes playing through the speakers in her room. You spent most of the morning at school getting your extra credit in with Mrs. K and other classmates. When 2pm hit the clock she dismissed and thanked you all for your hard work. Jonathan agreed to pick everyone up along with Argyle.

“I’m so tired from earlier I don’t think I’m going to make it through the night.” You say.

“Oh you’ll be fine. Once we all get there your energy will pick up.” Nancy says. You nod your head and continue working on your makeup.

“And that was Peter Gabriel’s Your Eyes on 102.7, hits from yesterday and today. I’m Michelle, your DJ for the next few hours. The all request zone is coming up, so call in or shoot us a text to get your fav songs on the air! I’ll be back after these messages.”

“Hm, that sounds fun. I’ll be right back.” Robin says as she exits the room.

“What does she mean?” Nancy asks.

“Beats me, maybe she’s going to the bathroom.” A few moments pass as Robin enters back into the room with a smile on her face, a few minutes pass until the DJ begins talking on the radio again.

“Alight everyone and we’re back. We had a few calls and texts coming in. I want to kick off our request zone with a message from a young lady named Robin! She called in for a message for a friend, quote ‘Please change your mind, you won’t regret it. She’s going to look stunning and gorgeous and you know you’re going to kick yourself for it.’ And with that, here’s her request ‘I Can Dream About You’ by Dan Hartman!” The song starts playing

“ROBIN WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK?” You scream, dropping your eyeliner.

“Hey, you never know, Eddie could be listening. Plus, let’s flashback to yesterday shall we? You know damn well what you saw on his phone. He was listening to this song when he got up and you saw it on his lock screen, wasn’t he?” You stare at her. “Well?”

“Wait, is she for real?” Nanny questions putting down her hair supplies  down, now entertained.

“…Yes. He was listening to it.” You admit, looking down at the floor.

“SEE? I knew it. Fate, it’s going to happen. He’s showing up tonight.”

“No, he’s not. I know him better than you, he doesn’t listen to the radio that much. Mainly just his phone. There’s only one good rock station in this town and it’s rare he even listens to that.”

“Well I thought it was worth a shot. I guarantee he’ll come. I can feel it.” You just shake your head and continue with your makeup. “Anyhow, ladies. Let’s get glammed.”

After a few hours cooped up in Nancy’s bedroom, you all found yourselves taking photos in the Wheelers living room.

“You girls look so beautiful, so grown up!” Mrs. Wheeler wipes away a tear while clicking her photo button multiple times.

“Okay Mom, that’s enough.” Nancy states.

“Oh one more please?!” DING DONG.

Nancy whispers a small “thank god” as Mrs. Wheeler gets the door to greet Jonathan and Argyle.

“What up my Hawkins family?!” Argyle enters with arms wide open. You, Nancy and Robin all run to him and engulf him in the biggest hug.

“We’ve missed you! We’re so glad you came for this!” You say.

“I’m glad too! Jonathan gave me an offer I couldn’t refuse.”

“Yeah yeah, you all look great by the way.” Jonathan bows to you all as Argyle follows along. Mrs. Wheeler insists on taking more photos together and you all agree because you can see she’s still so emotional.

“Okay, I’ll let you all go. You have fun, stay safe and text me updates please!” You all then give her a hug when you hear honking coming from outside the house.

“What the hell is that?” Ronin questions looking out the window. “Oh, no way.”

“Yeah, I came barring gifts my friends.” Argyle leads to the front door.

“COME ON SENIORS, WE’RE GOING TO BE LATE.” And there you see Steve, leaning up against a car.

“Oh you can’t just stay away from Hawkins even after you graduated can you Harrington?” You yell to him, walking out and meeting him.

“And miss all my friends going to their senior prom? Never, come here.” You give him a hug and look at the car. 

“Whose car?” Robin points to the shiny black car.

“Argyle rented it for you guys for the night, and I will be your chauffeur.”

“You didn’t have to do that.” Nancy says to Argyle.

“It’s no problemo, figured it can be my thank you to you all for the invite and for Jonathan letting me crash at his place so I didn’t have to stay at a hotel.”

“Look at the time, let’s get you guys to prom. I’m driving, so I’m playing DJ.” Steve opens the back door for everyone as you pile in and make your way towards Hawkins High.

Approaching the school was overwhelming. There were teachers, parents and cars everywhere. It took awhile for Steve to pull up to the entrance but you finally made it. After parking the car Steve turns around to face you all. “Okay kids, prom ends at midnight and I will be here on the dot to pick you up. No later than that okay?”

“Thanks Dad. See you then.” Robin says rolling her eyes, a specialty of her’s at this point. You all exit the car and make your way into the gymnasium. 

“Place looks great, our hard work paid off.” Jonathan states, looking around.

“You all did this?” Argyle asked in amazement.

“Well some of it yes.” You answer.

“Rad.” 

The night rolls on smoothly. You’re all horribly dancing to terrible TikTok hits and overplayed songs on the radio, but that’s not stopping you from having a good time. Although every time you would greet a fellow classmate, the majority asked where Eddie was. It hurt but you can’t say you didn’t try. You even tried to request a few songs to the DJ but he just looked at you like you had three heads. However when you requested Taylor Swift he was happy to oblige.

“I’m going to go get some water, anyone want any?” You yell over the music.

“No but we’ll meet you over by the tables, we need a break.” Robin says, pointing to where they’re going to be. You give her a thumbs up and head over to the water table, filling your cup and taking a huge gulp. Who knew dancing would take up this much energy.

“Hey there sonny!” Mrs. K comes on over standing next to you.

“Hi Mrs. K! You look beautiful.”

“As do you! How’s your night going?” Mrs. K seemed a little too upbeat and standing a bit too close. Smelling her breath you knew she definitely had a few to drink before arriving.

“It’s going great. We’re having a fun time.”

“Awesome! Hey, I meant to ask you all earlier. Where’s that Munson kid?” She looks around the dance-floor.

“He’s not coming. He had obligations set already.” 

“Ah, shame, I thought for sure he would be your date.” She playfully hit your arm raising her eyebrows.

“Yeah everyone seems to keep telling me that.” You take another sip of your water.

“Shame shame shame…” She begins to dance and sing, …”sHAME SHAME SHAAMEEE…”

“Here Mrs K,” you hand her a cup of water, “I’m going to go find my friends.” You quickly walk away and return to your group.

“What’s up with Mrs. K?” Jonathan asks.

“I think she may have had some drinks before coming in tonight.”

“Why am I not surprised?” Nancy laughs.

“Yeah I thought something was off about that lady. Is she always like that?” Argyle asks.

“YES.” You all answer in unison, laughing even harder. You all notice the DJ slowing the songs down, indicating it was time for some slow dancing to take place. You all look at eachother, shake your heads and sit on down. You start conversations about your senior year, how Argyle’s school year was back in California and small talk when you notice a familiar song starting to play.

 I Can Dream About You starts playing over large speakers.

“Oh my god, you have got to be kidding.” You say, shaking your head and placing it in your arms on the table.

“What?” Jonathan asks.

“Nothing, it’s this song playing.”

“What about the song?”

“Fate…” Robin says, looking behind you.

“What do you mean fate?” Jonathan was very confused.

“Fate for what?” Argyle was also very confused.

“Fate…” Nancy says.

“What is going on?! And how is the DJ playing this song right now?!” Nancy and Robin nod and point towards the opposite side of the room. You turn around to look and there standing across the way in a dark red button up, black pants and boots is Eddie.

“Holy shit…”

“FATE, I KNEW IT. GO GO GO.” Robin pushes you up. You straighten out your dress and begin to walk towards him. He begins to walk towards you and you meet in the middle of the dance-floor.

“Hey.” You speak first.

“Hey.” He answers.

“What the hell are you doing here?”

“Well, a little birdie told me you would look stunning and gorgeous and I just couldn’t pass up that opportunity now could I?” He takes your hand and spins you around to get a better look at you.

“Wait, you actually listened to the radio?”

“Glad I did this time.” Smiling he takes your hand, grabs your waist and you both begin swaying together to the music.

“I can assure you I didn’t put her up to it.”

“I believe you, Robin has balls.” You laugh and look back up at him.

“You look handsome by the way, I’m really glad you showed up.”

“Thanks, me too.” He says quietly. You both continue to dance together, soon enough leaning your head against his chest and listening to his heartbeat. You felt like you were on cloud nine, in a dream. Once the song faded out you separate but he pulls you into a hug, leaving a light kiss on the top of your head. You thought you were going to melt but kept it together.

“By the way, how did you get the DJ to play the song? I requested stuff earlier and he looked at me like I was crazy.”

“I may have slipped him a $20.”

“Eddie Munson you are something else.” You say. You grab his hand and lead him over to the table.

“You actually made it!” Robin gets up first pulling him into a hug followed by Nancy and then Jonathan and Argyle. 

“What made you change your mind?”

“Change of heart, that’s all. Plus it’s halfway over.” He shrugs. He wasn’t going to admit he heard the message on the radio, he didn’t want to give Robin the satisfaction.

“Are you surrrre that’s the only reason why? Huh Huh?!” Robin smirks. Now she’s having way too much fun.

“Hey, you guys did a great job by the way. Place looks awesome.” Eddie points around the room trying so hard to change the subject.

“Thanks, I think we did pretty good.” You say looking around as well.

“So, now what?”

“We dance some more. The night is young my friends!” Robin twirls and starts making her way back to the dance-floor.

“Actually it’s 11:15 so it’s almost time to go.” Argyle yells following her, as does Nancy and Jonathan.

“I was actually going to ask if I can steal you for the rest of the night after this is over.” You smile and look down at the floor. Again, cloud nine. Butterflies and all.

“Movie night?”

“Movie night.”

“COME ON LOVEBIRDS A FEW MORE SONGS PLEASE.” Robin yells, you shrug your shoulders grab his arm and pull him into the crowd against his will.

The stroke of midnight soon hit and everyone began to leave. You and your friends exit and find Steve leaning up against his car waiting just like earlier.

“Hey Munson, I didn’t know you were coming.” Steve says, shocked to see him.

“Yeah I didn’t think I was going to make it either but I did.” He says.

“Alright kids, where to? The diner, home, a party?”

“The diner please, I’m starving.” Argyle says.

“You’re always hungry Argyle.” Jonathan laughs getting in the car. Steve makes his way over to the drivers side.

“I’m going with Eddie, so I’ll see you guys tomorrow.” You tell them.

“Okay, drive safe!” Everyone says their final goodbyes as you and Eddie walk over to his van. Ronin leaves you with a wink and pointed finger guns, as you flip her off in the process. 

The ride back was calm, as music quietly played in the background. As you approach the trailer, you see Wayne exiting the front door.

“Hey Mr. Munson.” You say walking up to him.

“How many times do I have to tell you, it’s Wayne?” He laughs pulling you into a hug.

“I can’t it’s too weird.”

“Well would you look at you. Absolutely beautiful.”

“Thank you.”

“Did y’all have a good time?”

“Yes, yes we did. Glad it’s over.” Eddie answers walking over to you both.

“I’m glad to hear that. Well I’m off too work. You both have a goodnight, don’t have too much fun now…”

“Wayne come on…” Eddie sighs walking over and unlocking the door.

“It was good to see you Mr. Munson. Have a safe night at work.”

“Thank you sweetheart.” He nods his head and leaves. You follow behind Eddie and enter.

“I’m going to get you a change of clothes.” 

“Great thanks.” You sit on the couch and take off your shoes, thankful you no longer have to wear them any longer. Eddie walks back out with some clothes in his hand.

“Here you go, the bathroom is all yours. I’m going to get changed in my bedroom.”

“Thanks.” You make your way into the bathroom, only to realize you need help with the zipper. “Shit. Hey Eddie?”

“You okay?”

“Yeah I just need help with my zipper.” You meet him outside the door, he comes out in pj pants and no shirt. You immediately turn around to so your eyes don’t wonder. “It’s uh-”

“I see it don’t worry.” You feel him slowly taking the zipper down your side, holding onto the dress so it doesn’t fall in the process. Your breath starts to pick up and you have to talk yourself into slowing down. You’ve seen him shirtless countless times but this feels different. “Okay, you’re good.”

“Thanks again-” You start to walk back into the bathroom when you feel his hand catch your arm.

“Wait.” You turn around looking up at him. And before you could ask what he wanted, your lips crash. You’re shocked, excited and turned on all at the same time. This is something you’ve wanted, craved for a few years now. Constantly suppressing your feelings because you thought you were crazy, but this, you couldn’t even believe it. Without thinking you wrap your arms around his neck and move in closer, you swore time stopped. As you both part slowly, your dress falls to the floor. “Oh shit!” Eddie covers his eyes and turns around. “I promise I didn’t see anything.” You laugh and bring the dress back up covering yourself again.

“It’s okay. Um, I’m going to get changed now.”

“Yeah you do that I’ll find a movie.” You head back into the bathroom, lock the door and take the deep breath you were holding in. Replaying the moment in your head and doing a tiny happy dance in the process. Eddie gave you pair of pj pants as well with an old Iron Maiden shirt. You lay your dress over the tub and find some makeup remover in the cabinet. You knew Eddie sometimes wore a bit of eyeliner when he played his shows with Corroded Coffin, sometimes you even helped him out with his own fear of poking his eye. After taking off your makeup and cleaning yourself up you headed back out to the living room to find Eddie on his couch scrolling through Netflix. 

You slowly approach him. “Eddie?” He looks up at you. “I really don’t want to watch a movie.”

“I was hoping you would say that.” He gets up and practically runs to you once again connecting his lips to yours, quickly picking you up as you wrap your legs around his waist. You part from his and lean your head against his. “What took us so long?”

“Stupid teenager hormones? Peer pressure? Finally realizing your true feelings?” You answer.

“Sounds about right.” He laughs, kissing you again and walking you both back to his bedroom without breaking the kiss.

The morning sun was peaking through the window. You squint your eyes and look over at the clock on the nightstand. 8:25am. You rub your eyes and start to get up when you feel some extra weight on you. Eddie’s arm was wrapped around your waist, not giving you enough movement. You smile to yourself and bring yourself closer to him, only to feel him wiggle.

“What time is it?” He asked in a sleepy voice.

“Almost 8:30.”

“Fuck, that’s so early.” He responds pulling you closer.

“It’s really not.” You reply laughing at how sleepy he is. You reach over to your phone on the nightstand and see some text messages.

Robin-Are you awake yet??

Please tell me you’re awake I know it’s 8am but plz.

HHHEEELLLOOOO?

PLZ ANSWER IM DYING TO HEAR WHAT HAPPENED LAST NIGHT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I’m awake NOW. 

(unsent) Just please don’t call-

Too late, Robin started a FaceTime call.

“Buckley?” Eddie asks.

“Yup. Can I pick up?”

“Might as well. She should be the first to know.”

“Know what?”

“That we’re kinda official now?” You blush and pick up the phone trying to hide Eddie from sight.

“Hey Robin.”

“HOLY SHIT I’M DYING WHAT HAPPENED?”

“Robin calm down it’s still early and-”

“And we’re just waking up together in the same bed. Can we please call you back after we have some coffee?” Eddie comes into frame. Robin has the biggest grin and smile on her face.

“FINALLY! GUYS THEY DID IT. THEY’RE FINALLY-” Eddie reaches over and presses the hang up button.

“Hey-”

“Hey nothing. I want you to myself this morning.” He flips you so you’re facing him and brings you into a kiss. 

“Did you mean it?”

“Mean what?” 

“That we’re official.”

“Well I think the proper way would be to take you on a few dates, then ask you to be my girlfriend then sleep together but considering we went out of order I just kind of figured you wouldn’t mind.”

“No no, not at all.” You laugh bringing him back down for another kiss. “But I will take you up on that coffee.”

“Will do.” He gets up and starts to head out to the kitchen.

“WAIT.”

“What what?”

“Put some clothes on.” You say throwing him his pants from the night before.

“Yeah that would have been awkward when Wayne gets home.” He slips them on. “By the way, my alarm is going to go off at 8:45 so you can just hit the button.”

“Okay.” You get up yourself and find the clothes he gave you on the floor. As you’re getting dressed, Eddie’s alarm goes off with the radio going off. Right when the song begins to play, Eddie runs back into his bedroom and you just stare at the clock.

🎶 I don’t understand it, can’t keep my mind off loving you  🎶 

“You have got to be kidding.” You whisper.

“I uh, I think we have a song.” Eddie says, looking over at you.

“Yeah, yeah I think we do.” 

Thank You again for reading! Tumblr is still very new to me in regards to writing and posting stories so I tried my best to follow formats from my fav authors I've read over the last few months! Hopefully It wasn't too bad of a read! :) ❤️

[actuallykyogai]

for the character ask game: takaba!

Of course! I love Takaba!

My first impression-

Funnily enough, I've always liked Takaba. When I first read the manga, his initial appearance in chapter 146 interested me. Y'know, just some random comedian taking part in the Culling Games. I wanted to know more about his character, and we actually got that in 241, which was great.

My impression now-

If it wasn't obvious enough, Takaba's my favourite character in the whole of Jujutsu Kaisen. Probably one of my top 3 in all media now that I think of it. I also refuse to believe that he's dead, although his conclusion at the end of 243 was awesome. Takaba genuinely has an emotional affect on me, I relate to him a lot.

Favourite thing about him-

I mean, I like everything about Takaba. From his design, to his personality, to his dynamics with other characters. But if I had to name one thing, it probably would be his personality. He's a breath of fresh air in what's typically a more serious manga.

Least favourite thing-

I don't necessarily have a least favourite thing about Takaba. I would've liked to see more of his interactions with Hazenoki, such as when Hazenoki finally caves in and gives him some of his points.

Favourite line/scene-

To be brief, his introduction in 168/169, and the Fantasy (fanta-sea) scene in 242. But it's mainly the Fanta-Sea scene because is portrays such a pivotal moment in Takaba's life. Kenjaku was able to give him something he wanted for so many years, and he was able to just enjoy himself and be genuinely happy doing comedy with someone he liked being around.

Favourite character interaction-

Another shocker, Takaba and Kenjaku's comedy routine was something I really enjoyed. I wasn't expecting to like them together as much as I did (I was- and still am- a diehard Hazenoki/Takaba fan) but they managed to become by favourite duo! Their dynamics are great, two lonely people making company out of the other, giving each other what the other wanted in return. It's beautiful, I would definitely not be opposed to more Pinchan content in the manga!

A character I wish he'd interact with more-

Hazenoki! I think they would be a good comedy duo if Hazenoki was willing to cooperate. But he absolutely wouldn't. I actually would like it if he interacted with Yuji more. He'd be a great father figure...

A character from another fandom that reminds me of him-

Monkey D. Luffy from One PIece! Specifically Gear 5: Takaba's cursed technique reminds me of it.

A headcanon about Takaba-

I think he's a huge anime fan, as well as being a comedy fanatic. I suppose it's already kinda canon, seeing how many references we've gotten. Anyway, he's definitely a JJBA fan.

A song that reminds me of him-

To be honest, I don't normally think of characters when I'm listening to music. A basic answer would be Baka-Survivor by Ulfus. I feel like being extra different though, so I'll say The Ultimate Showdown of Ultimate Destiny by Lemon Demon. It's a pretty random and funny song, the unexpected events and references to characters in media remind me of Takaba vs Kenjaku.

Unpopular opinions-

I dunno if I have any really unpopular opinions about Takaba. He is fairly popular in the grand scheme of things. But most people don't have him in their Top 10 (power-scaling wise) so there's that '3'

Favourite picture-

There's a lot, but I chose this one ☆

[jeskoholic]

A Little Piece of You Chapter 18: Black Swan

This is a chapter from an on-going series. If you missed out on the previous entries, you can check my masterlist.

Previous chapter: The Ideal Girlfriend

Word count: 4,975

Tags: Male OC X Secret Idol, Mystery Girl, Library Girl, School Cafeteria Convo, College Scenario

Enjoy

---

Today marks another day that I spent away from United Kwangya, among all other days that I elected to do the same as well. After that one huge major event with regards to Dawn, it really opened huge ways and opportunities for me to catch up with my friends that are not from the new group chat. Yujin was a definite special case; I’ve never felt so grounded again after talking to a friend such as her. It was as if I was on another soft reset with my life that I can finally move forward with what’s given to me. Well, even with that, I still don’t know how else to come back with the rest of the group chat members, in the event that I really decide to come back anyway. Somehow the absence of closure between me and Soyeon is bothering me even in the smallest ways. I still find ways to be worried about her even if I know she’s not thinking the exact same way towards me.

I don’t exactly even know why I’m deliberately distancing myself from the group. I guess I’m shy and still possibly embarrassed with what happened with their friend but then again… it’s not as if it’s entirely their fault that we broke up. It must be a bad thing on their perspective, but I must admit that I am finding solace being away from the limelight that is them. That way I’ve been catching up on a lot of stuff that I can’t normally do when I’m with hanging out with them. The only thing bad was… how am I supposed to head back now that I feel like I’m so far off? I’m sure Kyungsoo might have gotten a bad impression towards me nowadays, especially when I practically declined all their invites for the past days the moment I lost my romantic link on the group chat. The drinking sessions were pretty understandable and yet even I repeatedly declined to share lunch with them, only to regret it later in the afternoon. That seemed to be a repeating cycle that they just halted from asking me again.

The skies were as bright as a day could possibly be. The usual carpet of clouds were absent from the early atmosphere as I boarded the train for the morning. Joohyun-noona, the hardworking woman she is, left me with a prepared meal for the day ahead as she dealt with her job so early on.

Honestly, she’s a huge reason why even with this seemingly lonely life, I don’t feel alone; being able to have some personal space with myself felt so powerful because of everything that was happening around me.

Here I sat again close towards the window of the train watching as the soft scenery pass by in front of me. With the soft barrage of ballad music, of course the idiot in me could feel like it was a scene from a drama, or for that context it was from those sad music videos. All of the things I’ve done to lead up to this point had started to come unto me or I guess everything just started to sink in. Listening to sad songs this early in the morning really was a bad idea but I can’t seem to get rid of it.

Nevertheless, I exited the terminal that morning feeling rather downtrodden. It was ironic, considering I was initially so enthusiastic to leave the apartment earlier that day for a bright morning stroll. Now, I feel like I am at that rainy breakup day again. It was one of those times that your inner consciousness start to get the better of you, with all the actions you did out of impulse starting to sink its teeth onto your skin, making you wonder if it was the right decision; including how different your life had headed to in case you chose the other path.

What the hell am I doing?

I need to fix this mood I intentionally created later within the day because I can’t stay like this until I go home. It would be worse than having to control an uncontrollable mood swing, especially when I don’t have that much of people to talk to. Considering most of my days recently were either anchored on studying (and eventually sleeping) at the school library or doing the exact opposite of that and heading on off a net café and play with Hyojong for what it’s worth… I just might do the latter to shake my mind off of things. I’m veering off into dangerous territory that I don’t have plans on visiting anyway.

“Finding a perfect person definitely involves a bound of luck as well as a good stroke of fate. You’ll never know when you’ll meet her, or if you’ve even met her already. The range of your destiny could be someone you’ve already spent a long time being with to someone you accidentally tripped over on the way home. It’s easier once you let your heart welcome it instead of your mind.”

I guess that works out like that. Of course, Yujin’s voice coming out of nowhere was a good plus especially on a time like this. Odd, but definitely welcome; it was better than me just indulging on my own thoughts.

Man, what am I even thinking about? I did those things for a reason. I’m here in my situation now because I chose it. I just need to keep things together and move on with what’s ahead. Yujin said it herself; it’s easier if I let my heart lead me instead of my mind. I seem to be using my head a lot recently, so I might as well think with my heart, I guess.

I made a mental note to message Hyojong to hang out on later on that day, as well as a reminder to not listen to sad, lonely songs when boarding a train in the morning. I hope that I won’t repeat this really drying start of a day anytime soon.

---HOURS LATER---

Considering he never really wrought plans to join anyone else in the lunch, as the noon approached, Yoon Jae-in struggled once again to find an eatery that would serve two purposes for him: be as quiet and as peaceful as it could in order for him to continue the series he began to watch, while in turn be on a secluded place that he can spend it peacefully without anyone recognizing him. In his head, he already was on utmost priority to finish the series, so he might as well go all in and generate a good atmosphere for himself. Of course, he had to give another excuse to Shinwon. As much as it really did not feel good to be shutting out on his original friends from high school, he wanted to think of it as some sort of a ‘recovery period’ even if there was not entirely anything he wanted to recover from, particularly on that doomed relationship with Jeon Soyeon.

Also, Jae-in managed to recover the mess of a mind he had earlier that day that he wanted to reward himself of what he originally intended to do earlier in the morning.

Yoon Jae-in exited the school library after spending the free time catching some unnecessary sleep, with the place unintentionally being his new best friend on recent days. Of course, with his last encounter on the school’s local athenaeum ending on an awkward note, it was bound for himself to be cautious. However, there was a part of him that hoped to see the girl he bumped once again; not to continue talking to her but to apologize on a better note and not on a short rush. It did felt like a stretch, including most of the thought he’s been putting just to evade the encounter with his friends, but he still wanted to count on the chances it came with.

That day, however, fate had other plans for him.

Noon approached on the clock and Jae-in still had no real idea where else he could spend the lunch on. All of the places he’s been through felt very dull on his taste buds with how often he’s been going there recently. His body, especially his tongue, craved more than just a similar taste. In a quick decision to cut all thought of places to head on to, he went with possibly the least interesting place to in for a North Liner: The school cafeteria.

Going back to NLIU’s cafeteria with his recent memory of Soyeon’s breakup there was perhaps the least motivating thing to have with him. However, in that current moment it was the most plausible option. Not only was it conveniently nearer than anywhere else, but also given a good spot he was practically invisible to the rest of the school. At least for that day, he could do and watch the planned series to let time pass a bit better. The best part was if it would unfold uninterrupted.

However, it was already established that fate had different plans for him. The chances of Yoon Jae-in getting what he wanted that day were as slim as it could get.

Apparently, the day he decided to head onto the cafeteria was also the day that the school’s athletes were practicing hard for the respective inter-school games. That unfortunately unleashed a huge load of people towards the cafeteria for their exclusive lunch courtesy of the university itself. With such a huge privilege given to them, Jae-in could see why most of the white-walled architecture of the cafeteria began to be filled with jerseys and uniforms of mixed white, blue, and gold scattered all throughout. It was difficult to even check on a vacant seat and table with the flood of student athletes all over the place. Jae-in could only imagine the non-athlete students already occupying the tables to be there way before the commotion even began.

Well, I guess things really went south this day. I don’t want to go to another place because I’m already feeling my stomach curl out of hunger, so I have no choice but to endure it.

Is there a place to eat here though?

As much as the place was filled with noises and commotion that he could even barely follow through, the queue line towards the lunch was far more open that he initially thought. In fact, he was not even standing five minutes onto the queue of four people ahead of him before he finally got to order. It was about in just a moment’s notice that he finally had a tray of seafood and all the good stuff that came with it. Now comes the harder, probably most important part of that lunch out which was looking for a seat to eat comfortably. But like anyone else, Jae-in thought that perhaps walking around like an idiot holding a tray of food on his hands ought to shake some of the occupants already sitting there, especially those who are done and have no business to be there any further in hopes of giving the seat to someone who actually needs it.

He persistently walked around the cafeteria but to no avail. It was perhaps where the canteen received the full saturation of the athletes, as everyone one else were seated in threes or fours with a potential vacant seat filled with all their bags stacked on top of each other. The only real option was to walk upward, ascending the metal stairs that headed to the second floor. Similar to most of the aesthetic of the university, it was a typical loft design wide enough to have two tables to stay close to each other, while still maintaining that wide spread view to the ocean of blue and white below.

Jae-in scanned the place once again, this time most of the seats were at least occupied by his fellow, non-university sports-affiliated colleagues. Despite that, most of the place was still filled with a lot of people with their friends and left no real opening spots for him to even dine with. As he treaded towards the other half of the overlooking terrace, he started to lose hope and begin to get desperate; wondering if there’s at least a good amount of people there who would not mind a third or a fourth stranger eating in the same table with them. He never thought that actually looking for a seat on the place he seldom went to would end up to be that stressful.

And then he found it.

There was a table at perhaps the farthest, most hidden corner of the cafeteria that only housed a single person with a vacant seat next to them. The table, for the most part, was filled with various papers and fairly familiar book covers. Jae-in turned towards the person seated… and his shoulders immediately sank.

…Or rather, his heart skipped a beat because he instantly recognized who the person was. He, however, did not expect to see her on a place like that, precisely on a time like that as well. Perhaps fate’s playful string-pulling brought him to that exact time to meet her once again.

This is going to get awkward, but I have no other choice. I’m already hungry and I need a seat.

Jae-in closed his eyes, gave one last sliver of encouragement for himself and then proceeded to head on off ahead to speak to the girl in a rather shivering voice.

“Umm… excuse me… do you mind if I take a seat…?”

---

My heart was pounding so hard inside my ribcage I could already feel it bursting out of my body. Who knew that asking for a small favour took all my courage into doing so? It kinda shows that I don’t do this too often to get practice.

Maybe she’d recognize me…. I don’t know if it’s better that she did or she didn’t.

As much as it took almost all of my effort to even ask that question out, the girl seated opposite me sat silently, clearly occupied on whatever she was writing on the table. Upon closer inspection I realized that she had her ears covered with earphones; the constant supply of music perhaps cleverly eliminating all sorts of noise that came from the cafeteria. It was probably something I would do as well, so I was not really surprised that she didn’t hear me. Well, the problem was how to reiterate the same message without sounding really rude. The girl was so immersed in summarizing a text from a book, including drawing what looked to me as interconnected hexagons; a discarded scientific calculator lay next to her papers housing a solution with eight decimal places after a scientific notation.

I moved to gently tap on the surface of the table, just enough to get my message across while not being entirely brash about it at the same time. She seemed to have gotten my message as she raised her head up, revealing a really beautiful face hidden behind huge, thin-rimmed spectacles as well as a crown of wavy, black hair. Her face was small, enveloping an eye-catching visual composed of a small face, heart-shaped lips and small details of beauty marks that added to her really alluring presence. She supplied me with a completely innocent and inquiring gaze which quickly unfolded into self-consciousness when she realized that I stood there with a food tray on my hand.

“Y-yes…?” she said with that same, soft-toned voice, almost barely even audible with the crowd of the cafeteria below. “Can I help you?”

“U-umm… sorry for disturbing you b-but… the r-rest of the place is full so I wonder… I w-was wondering if you’re with someone else…”

Holy shit my voice is creaking so hard I feel like I’m going to faint. How do I make it sound as if I’m not hitting on her?

“I mean… you’re the only table w-with f-free chairs so I w-wonder if there’s s-someone else… everywhere e-else is f-full so…”

The girl’s humble yet confused gaze lingered on my eyes for a good while before she caught of the situation and nodded softly. Her eyebrows rose as she did with her body, straightening herself up from the slightly slouched position she was in previously.

“Oh, of course… P-please go ahead. I’m not with s-someone. Please take a seat.”

“T-thank you…”

I was really relieved to find out that she was alone, but now that I was offered the free seat while she moved the rest of her books to give me space, I felt so shy all of a sudden. My body moved ever so slowly to fit my butt onto the stool, and I could have sworn my entire being was shaking down to my very core. I never figured that it was way more awkward to sit opposite her after just interrupting her out of the blue. She seemed so concentrated before I shook her off of her trance.

What should I do now?

Do I talk to her even if know that she’s working on something?

I placed my tray over the space she cleared for me and awkwardly shifted my chopsticks to begin eating. Initially, I expected her to delve back right into the work that she was doing and pay no mind to my presence there, which was fine by my part considering I was the one sharing a table with her. However, she instead shifted her gaze from the tables that surrounded us before knitting her eyebrows in another expression of confusion.

“Umm… I t-think you were d-doing something… P-please don’t m-mind me. I’ll m-make sure that I won’t make any noise, whatsoever.”

“Oh, no, please don’t think about it that way,” she said with a wave of her hand and then supplying me with a very gummy smile. “I am just surprised with how crowded the place had been since I came here. I have lost track of time since I ate about an hour ago.”

She’s been here for an hour?

“Yeah about that… there’s an event and the canteen is teeming with school athletes for their lunch. You know… athlete privileges and all that… Umm… t-the tables below were pretty much occupied by t-them so I… I came up here…”

“That’s… wow… I’m sorry for not responding to you on the first time,” she once again said. “I thought you were just passing by close to my table… I did not intend myself to be rude for not responding immediately or anything…”

“Oh no, please don’t… it’s totally fine. I’m… I’m already comfortably seated here so… I guess it is okay.”

Fuck, it feels so awkward to eat right next to her. It’s as if I just woke her up and there’s nothing she could do afterwards.

A prolonged and awkward silence ensued after that exchange, which mostly revolved around her organizing the stuff that ended up being messy while she was studying. It looked pretty normal to me, but with how frantic she was on gathering the right things to put on her bag, I thought that she was already leaving. I had that idea until her organizing eventually ended on a single notebook as well as a pen placed over the table. I felt really awkward paying attention to her that long that I merely focused back on my meal.

And then, the tables were turned. As I moved to eat the rest of my lunch, she already had her eyes planted on me. Her gaze was so strong that I could feel my senses tingling.

I raised my head up and our eyes immediately met. This time, her expression was curiosity painted over her face. She eyed me with concern yet it was so full of inquiry.

I really don’t know what else to respond to that so I just smiled and hope that I didn’t get any residue food sauce on my mouth as well as of my face.

Don’t make this weird. I have to ask her something.

“Is… is everything alright?” I asked out of curiosity as well as wonder.

“Oh umm… sorry… I… sorry if I stared too long but… okay, I need to ask you because you look so familiar… I feel like we’ve met somewhere that I just could not remember, but I could be wrong. Have we met before?”

There it is. I’m glad that she opened it up. At least it would make this conversation a lot less awkward…

“Actually we have… I’m actually the guy that bumped you at the library before.”

---

The young girl’s eyes widened in surprise, apparently dropping the pen she was holding down towards the surface of the table. She held her mouth with her right hand as she supplied Yoon Jae-in with a look of utmost shock.

“Omo, is that true? Are you really that guy from the library?”

“I… well I am,” Jae-in replied with a chuckle, mimicking her movements by placing his chopsticks on the now-empty food tray. “It’s… honestly it was a part of the reason why I elected to… to interact. I figured it would not be entirely that… first of a meeting, I guess…”

“Oh my, I’m so sorry I didn’t recognize you! I knew you had that sense of familiarity with you, and that you’re not just someone who had a familiar face to begin with… I knew it. I knew that I talked to you from somewhere; I just can’t quite put my finger on when we talked. Oh my, I should have known!”

“No, no, it’s fine… it was just easier for my part, I guess. It’s no big deal. Besides, you seem to be more…”

Jae-in glanced towards the bag that she had with her.

“…You seemed to be more occupied on a lot of stuff than me, so there’s that as well.”

Jae-in’s so-called ‘library girl’ returned his statement with another gummy smile, unconsciously tucking her hair behind her right ear until she eventually excused it with a soft head scratch.

“It’s… it’s nothing… It’s crazy that… that we met almost in the exact same way. We saw each other again when I’m occupied with all my academic stuff… you must think that I’m a book worm or something…”

“If that’s the case I don’t really think that it’s necessarily bad… plus, I don’t really think that way. We’re all looking for some ways to study, right? I guess I’ll just have to thank that you’re not doing it at the library during this time. At lease I got a seat for it.”

 “I can’t agree more to that… otherwise you’d end up eating while standing, right?”

With that, the pair of them smiled at each other and then proceeded to laugh.

I’m feeling so strangely at ease with this conversation. It’s amazing.

“So,” Jae-in opened up, now in better confidence with the comfort of the conversation. “I recognized some books you had a while back; including those when I accidentally collided into you before… are you studying in engineering as well?”

She nodded in response, rather enthusiastically that time which was followed oddly by a short silence.

“Yeah… I’m taking Chemical Engineering. How ‘bout you; are you in engineering as well?”

“Actually I am… I don’t think it shows that much but I actually am.”

“Ah, I had that impression about you. What major?”

“Haven’t quite decided yet but I’m heavily leaning towards Mechanical. It kind of interests me to do so.”

“I see… if you’re still not decided, does that mean you’re in your second year?”

“Umm… yeah…? You talk… as if you’re… not… are you?”

Jae-in’s  library girl nodded silently and rather softly, carefully retreating from her chair as she moved to recline on the backrest, all while taking her glasses off in the process. She then rested her elbow on the table’s surface and proceeded to support her chin with her palm. It was, especially to Jae-in, an act that was unexpectedly cute; quite more emphasized on the curiously amused expression that came with it. However, it made things a bit awkward in the silence, not until she finally spoke once again.

“I think, judging by the subjects alone, that I’m actually a year older than you… I can’t be sure.”

Oh, is that right?

Wait…

Fuck, I’ve been talking so informally since I began to sit with her!

I didn’t know that she was my noona!

“Oh sorry n—“

“Wait, I know what you’re thinking and don’t proceed with it,” Library Girl interrupted while raising the hand that was not under her chin. “It is fine and I didn’t find you rude. It made the conversation a lot easier to follow as well. And no, you don’t need to change how you talk to me. I’m quite young, maybe started school earlier than most would so I bet if I’m older than you, then it maybe just be a couple of months so no big deal.”

“A-are you sure about that…? It would not be weird…?”

She shook her head.

“It would be weirder if you decide to call me ‘noona’ now that I just asked you to drop it, wouldn’t it? It’s okay. I really don’t mind.”

“Okay then…”

RING

Whatever saves Jae-in thought after that sudden revelation, it was immediately flushed down the drain as he was interrupted by the school bell. Clearly, it was the hourly school reminder bell, quite more prominent now that he was in the main building of the campus. It was so shrill and loud that it stunned his ears for a short bit while it lasted.

To his surprise, Library Girl actually moved to gather the final pieces of her school supplies into one pile and carefully placed them back on the bag, along with the other books and research notes she had when Jae-in first arrive there. She then proceeded to brush her shirt clean, shook her hair off in waves to even them out, and then proceeded to speak to Jae-in once again.

“It was nice to finally meet you, but I’m afraid that I’ll have to go now. I actually was staying here to kill time because I have a bit of a free time before my subject. So, at least then you can enjoy the table to yourself.”

“Oh, no worries… thank you for letting me sit down and chat for a bit. At least I didn’t bump you again.”

She chuckled

 “At least this time, we mutually bumped into each other, right?”

She finally stood up and supplied him a smile once more like it was a farewell, and then moved to pick up her food tray devoid of dishes left waiting on the side.

“Wait, wait,” Jae-in interrupted. “Please just leave that. I’ll take care of it once I turn in mine. It’s just the least I can do to thank you for letting me share the table with you. I got this.”

“Alright, alright,” she replied as she withdrew her outstretched hand from the tray. “I appreciate that. You don’t really need to thank me, but I appreciate it nonetheless. I’ll be the one to thank you. I’ll be heading off then. Please enjoy your day!”

Jae-in and the aforementioned Library Girl mutually bowed in courtesy with the young girl replacing the chair she used back on the table’s seat. She then turned around the round perimeter of the table and passed Yoon Jae-in one last time, moving towards the very entrance path that he came in almost half an hour ago.

And then there was a jolt to the young man’s mind. For a split second, he felt his heart stop upon realizing a very vital thing he nearly missed on that very encounter.

“Wait, please wait,” he said once again. That time he finally rose from his chair and darted towards the young girl in attempt to still reach her. Luckily for him, she hadn’t really picked up her pace yet and the two of them met quite a few tables away from where they originally sat on. The Library Girl turned in place to face him once more, her eyes in visible confusion as her face was held in inquiry.

“Sorry,” Jae-in began with nod. “I didn’t get your name last time because I was in such a rush. I can’t just remember you to be the Library Girl from now on, can I?”

She chuckled in response, quite amused with the ample nickname given to her.

“That would be funny if you did remember me that way,” she replied as she finally stretched her hand, offering a handshake to Yoon Jae-in.

“I’m Mina… Myoui Mina. It’s nice to meet you…?”

“Jae-in… Yoon Jae-in…” he finished for her, taking the outstretched hand of Myoui Mina to finally shake it, honestly having her soft palms rest against his to be quite a relieving sensation.

“Yoon Jae-in… okay; I’ll remember that. I’ll make sure to remember you the next time we see each other as well. I’ll see you around, Jae-in. Please take care.”

“See you around, Mina.”

And then he stood there, watching the figure of the one Myoui Mina he just met withdrew her hand and pace out of the cafeteria after him. He didn’t café if he looked weird standing in the middle of the busy crowd or in the view of the currently dining students; he simply had that unexplainable elation upon finally knowing the name of the said girl from the library, finally having a face as well as a name he could include to his memory.

Myoui Mina… that’s a really beautiful name…

Next Chapter: One-Eyed Owl

[sparrow-in-the-field]

10 Question for 10 Writers

Thanks for the tag, @strangethings-everywhere!

1. Is writing a hobby or a way of life?

I mean technically it is a hobby, but can it not be a way of life too? Lol. Seriously though, I get like, grumpy or really down if I go too long without writing; it's my passion/creative fuel in life, so yeah.

2. A journal full of notes or a clean completed manuscript?

Clean manuscript. I don't really journal much; I have some stuff jotted down in my notes app in my phone, but most of my brainstorming just happens in my head lol, so then I write it down and edit it in manuscript.

3. Who or what inspired your writing?

I'm not really sure! As a kid I had a huge imagination, I loved playing pretend more than anything, so I think as I grew up, since I couldn't play anymore, I took to writing down the stories I thought up instead. In general though, I find music incredibly inspiring; I get my best ideas (and best writing too) while listening to good music.

4. Which is worse: Someone you ‘idolize’ reading your first draft or listening to you sing?

Oh lord, listening to me sing is worse. I can't sing! Lmao. I'm pretty happy with my writing, though, and like, if the person knows it's a first draft, they should be more lenient anyway lol.

5. Has writing from someone else’s POV changed your perspective?

tbh I don't super understand this question. Like I'm still the one writing it? so it has to be my perspective to a degree? I guess writing different POVs makes me consider things on a deeper level and to explore things maybe I don't instinctively think, but like, I still got there, so it's still kind of my perspective?? Maybe my brain is just broken lol sorry.

6. Tumblr, AO3, LiveJournal, or FFN?

ao3 my beloved! It's the only ff site I've ever used (I was a late bloomer to entering the world of ff, I didn't get into it until my mid twenties) and I can't imagine going elsewhere. Tumblr is fun to post shorter/less edited stuff on too though.

7. AO3 word count? And are you satisfied with it?

On my sparrow-in-the-field account it's 220,866. On my older ao3 account it's 944,120 (figures I lost inspo for that fandom so close to a milly lolol; maybe someday I'll get back to it). Yeah I'm satisfied! Who cares lol, I just write what I wanna write and it ends up however long it's gonna end up.

8. What movie/book gripped you irrevocably?

Ohh that's tough! I mean besides the obvious grip that tbitb has on me currently...I guess I'll say The Series of Unfortunate Events (the books). I'm kind of unusual as a writer in that I actually didn't like reading as a kid, and this series was like, the first time I truly enjoyed and was captured by books.

9. What’s the highest compliment you could ever be given, and have you been given it?

I'm lucky enough that it's happened a handful of times throughout my ff writing, but when people share with me that my fic was healing or gave them needed comfort during a hard time. I genuinely can't think of anything that means more to me than that; writing is so cathartic and healing for me, that passing on that love and support to the reader is just so incredibly special to me. I literally sit and feel so thankful when people share something like that with me, I never want to take it for granted.

10. What defines your writing style?

Dialogue. I write such dialogue heavy stories, it's what comes naturally to me. Long descriptions are the enemy lol. Trope-wise, I'm big on hurt/comfort and angst with a happy ending.

I definitely don't have ten people to tag lol but I'll at least tag @dogwooddiaries ! (no pressure though ofc)

[riordanness]

omg hi congrats on 800 again!!!! for ur event i have to go w i can fix him no really i can 😫 ok so the basics r i’m a cabin 4 ravenclaw infj taurus (i always start w these soz LOL) and also the ambivert final boss like genuinely i don’t lean towards introversion or extroversion and if the mbti had an a for ambivert i’d def be an anfj 🙏🏼 im a HUGE perfectionist it’s so bad actually i cannot function if something is imperfect i’ll lose my mind 😭 (i also have ocd so 🙁) when i asked one of my friends what the pros and cons of dating me are she said my perfectionism may cause problems LMAO😣😣😣 i get told im kind a lot so i like to believe thats true 🙏🏼 im super soft spoken which is a struggle cz im always having to repeat myself 🙁 (did a french speaking exam this year where i was recorded n when i say i was YELLING the entire time so that the recording device thing could pick up my voice….) im super super stubborn and persist in things until they go the way i want them to LMAO (this might be my fatal flaw) i refuse to settle for less in all aspects of life it’s either up to my standards or i’m not claiming it 😬 i LOVE LOVE LOVE reading and music those 2 r the most consistent things in my life !!!! for my type in men this may be a shocker but jason grace is an anomaly because irl + in other forms of media i tend to go for the dark haired sassy sarcastic funny guys (idk if you’ve read better than the movies but if you have wes bennett is a very good example of my type) some characters i’ve been compared to (because for some reason i get compared to a LOTTT of characters) are hermione granger, annabeth chase, rory gilmore (pre uni DUH), amy santiago, caroline?? from tvd? (idk her but my friend said i’m very similar to her so!) ummmm idk what else to include… i’m a HUGE germaphobe and get grossed out super easily LOL would rather die than go hiking or camping or anything like that soz demeter kid but not one w nature i just like flowers and gardens 🫣 i’m also super sensitive and have been told i’m emotionally intuitive!!!! i cry often about everything LOL soz if this is too long love u SOOO much 😚 also would like a pjo guy pls !!!

CYNTHIA HII (also idk why i always tag your other acc and not this one i legit always forget this url idk why 😭) anyways tyy soso much you’re actually the best fr

so. i put like way too much thought into this cause i didn’t want to just, like, stick you w jason bc that’s the easy answer yk?? BUT on that note, based on what you’ve said, i actually pair you with him?? like… if y’all were my friends irl i would ship you so bad fr.

you’re both perfectionists, tho probably in different ways yk, you bc of mental stuff and him bc he was raised by camp jupiter and literal wolves. so that would make it good for you both bc there’s nothing worse than being a perfectionist and living with someone who makes chronic messes (i can attest)

you’d both have really intuitive kindness and understanding of each other and others and that would bond you together soso well. also jason wouldn’t be a loud talker. like at all, so he’d be totally fine hearing you perfectly bc he’s used to quiet talking

neutral and very faded colour palettes for you both, light light blues and pinks and white and cream and gold everywhere (if you moved in together🤭)

jason would love to listen to you speak french btw

he does NOT strike me as a very outdoors person (in the hiking and camping and dirt way) he’d much rather sit on a porch with you and read than do any of that stuff (also he’s roman. they’re famous for their baths he would love being clean no germs here)

would totally understand your ocd and be soso nice about it like. this man would be so careful not aggravate you with unnecessarily untidy or uneven things like that.

music and book dates >>>

anyways y’all are cute i ship it so bad

[hospitalterrorizer]

diary486

1/25-26/25

saturday - sunday

up too too too too too too too late right now!!

working on music though. want to try and get a better guitar sound quickly on something...

not so quick but whatever. today has been good. it's all kind of fleeing from me now though i'm so tired. not a very eventful day save for the last little bit here where i've done up 3 songs, 2 now have basslines added, as well as overall sounding better. i think one has a guitar sound that is a little too 'near' the listener so i have to add some distance and i don't wanna mess with the mics on the cab sims so i think what i will do is do a bit more high passing on it, i think it has too much there.

i will transcribe my dream from my notes app now:

levels akin to donkey kong i was part of a family we were all sucked into a game or were playing a game or were part of one unknowingly? can't tell. vague. it was strange though, less like donkey kong maybe just like any platformer where the levels are mostly different kinds of places in nature. it felt somewhere between an snes game, a shitty dos game with huge chunky pixels, and real life. one level was a sledding level, we got up to dig something out of a hole, a giant and old tree, there was nothing beneath him, he begged us to not but we did anyways. snow was thawing on the path down the mountain, some parts huge tracks of mud, had to try and remain on the snowy path through the whole level. game ended upon finding a lost member of the family, a brother, but thinking of the dream now i can't quite tell, did we go into the game and materialize him in the first place, create this relative, or was he lost in the game. upon finding him, the game was claymation now, like those earthbound promotional images, maybe a touch rougher, the surroundings were of cheaper stuff, plastic trees etc., he was trapped on a tropical island, he had to come out of the game to put some double back inside (but now i think, was the double unleashed by the game, cannot tell, could not tell then either i think), he seemed sad to live again. a spinning purple cube, absorbed us all, placed us back in the real. the island was so tiny, 4 palmtrees, some tinsel-y bushes, couple people guarding him. he came through and the virtual him went peacefully. after this, someone told me a story, unrelated to these people. in arizona he went to a little town and got in trouble for staring. he said the town was situated in the 'glove' of arizona, a massive ravine where from another state a range of mountains sank into a long finger shaped rut or crevice, wide enough for towns and things, a long finger of god laid in clay set in the kiln. it took up half the state. arizona was nevada shaped and its southern border apparently touching idaho now, where the mountains crossed from to create this feature. in the rocky place a couple towns, we scrolled on google maps searching for the place he was trying to show me, we came across it shown as an icon of its most famous structure, originally a buddhist altar of some kind, featuring deities of all kinds, gods of houses and things, local deities convening for a greater sort of worship or something, it was the size of 2 cathedrals maybe, in width and length, shorter though, flatter with very few interiors, shapes of angkor wat, big spires and those beautiful curves, delicacy all across the stone, the gods were painted, matte blues of their skins, the same shade as the sky in the summer, all in that central worship region. near completion though, the designer of it decided he needed this to be for jesus, and so crosses appeared upon it beside all this everything else, gothic arches to more open sky, the sensation of stained glass captured in the shadows it cast with its odd shaped spires, some turned a little more gothic. at the summit of steps at the main altar area, two protruding round doors, metal with circles on them, like little armor plates, iron and bronze and without decoration, from the depths of torture chambers, one supposedly held the bloody corpse of jesus, the other an empty iron maiden awaiting anyone who would desecrate this true corpse with their eyes. he told me about staring for a long time at the two doors (behind this altar, sky, it was bloody and hot and the clouds were white snaking things between the spires of the structure), knowing one was empty and the other was not, and still incapable of making a move from a strange fear. explained he was raised by the strange faith that precipitated this building, both buddhist and christian, parents who could not find sure footing in any faith, he didn't believe anymore but the fear was still there.

a figure came up behind him, from a farm across the street, picturesque kind, red barn and hay and neat rows for crops, a little dusty and apocalyptic, pitchfork and straw hat and i could see him in overalls with the red setting sun behind him or not behind him truly behind the walls of the ravine the town was set in, they could not have seen the sun itself set, only that dazzlement in the skies where long red and radiant shafts finger at clouds turning them to bruised things, a sky of equal intensity to the strange worship place. the man said people with piercings should not go there. friend left. gf and i wanted to see this place, made her mom drive us. when we got there there, there was a large parking garage and beside this main structure a series of disks with painted animal statues/characters, holding the disks upon their backs, a spiral staircase through the center of that thing. they seemed like the kind of animals you would find in old archeological digs, clay pigs and red squat angry horses with bared teeth and wide eyes, all of it was stone. people were here, taking photos, wandering, not so many the place felt unspecial, it just felt how it had to be. i don't know. it felt like how a place that way would have to be. people would have to be there, a surprising amount of people in a relatively desolate place, making the desolation and uncanniness more apparent. a nearby stripmall, selling fried food, we went. a strange local kept touching my gf's hair, i told him to stop twice then hit him in the head with a water bottle, a plastic one, it made a conk sound. he looked shocked and hurt and waddled away. we were briefly afraid of the police. in the first part of the dream, it came to me writing this out after waking that this happened: we ended up in a cute cafe somewhere in the space of the game world, but it also felt real, perhaps it was a simultaneous thing, it had things about how awful men are all over, books and things on the wall, etc., someone seemed hurt and i wondered about that, something else came then to me:

the plastic uniformity of pine trees in the dream... legolike, arranged into disks until you get close, too close, right before the thing it blossomed into total detail.

that's that dream. i am probably going to become preoccupied with this worship-thing. and the town. it had a sensation like how the fallout games make the desert feel. does that make any sense? empty and strange, accurate desert feelings.

here's a lovely song. i hafta sleep though, not much to say though,

so,

byebye!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[aggressive-depressive]

...hmm. parts ramble under the cut.

I'm pausing math homework for a moment to pursue this train of thought... but I am the oldest near-continuously active part in our system. I was probably the first part to split post-barrier collapse rather than come forward as a pre-existing part; most of the others who emerged around the same time fall into that second category, even if they didn't realize it at the time.

Keelin, the host at the time, is gone. Most of the recognizable parts from their era are dormant or so deep inside as to be unreachable. We occasionally hear from Kevin, sometimes Sol, and Sam, when things get really bad in specific ways, but that's it. Claire is, apparently, within reach, but she's so silent it's like she's not even here unless someone directly calls for her or is making a stupid decision. She was never a frequent fronter anyways, and I don't know if she already existed when she first recognized herself as separate. I know the exact event that caused me to split, I remember the first time I fronted and I remember kind of instinctively knowing who I was. I scared the hell our of our partner.

It's something I'm aware of in the back of my mind, but I'm finally here in a capacity where I can listen to my music again, and I'm adding songs for the first time in years. Every song I add, I have to scroll down through a long, long list of playlists in descending order by date, and I'm close to the bottom. Most of these playlists belong to parts that haven't been around in years, with very few exceptions. It's a sobering reminder that it's been almost half a fucking decade since the barrier collapse and subsequent explosion of parts and trauma intrusions. Half a decade.

I've been here for half a decade.

Our life is entirely unrecognizable; there's nothing that hasn't changed in some way or another. I live across the province. I am almost fully no-contact with both of my parents. We feel like we have a future and a direction, when for most of the last five years, it had been a tooth and nail battle against our mind to stay alive. We couldn't see anything outside of the howling pain inside and the constant trauma loops. And now it's different. A huge amount of system stuff has been figured out and we're relatively stable.

I was born out of a need for protection, for someone who wouldn't crumble or break when faced with conflict or danger. I did that for a damn long time. I'm not needed in that capacity anymore... in fact, my presence as a protector would be detrimental at this point. My violent impulses and tendency to bite first ask questions later are not needed when the people in my life are safe people, or at least not a danger/perceived danger to us. In protector mode, all I see is danger. I will bite indiscriminately.

So I guess I do math, now. I listen to music, allow other parts who aren't going to start fist fights to handle our interactions with the public and be present to solve conflict in their own way, usually with more grace and constructiveness than I am capable of.

It's... hard to wrap my head around all of these changes. I guess it's nice to still have some use left in me, otherwise the system structure would have replaced me already.

[scover-va]

I need to know more about Michael's mom... Is she a cool mom?

SHE IS A VERY COOL MOM janet afton you will always be famous. to me

Im taking this as a chance to finally ramble abt her anyways so Janet's core inspo when designing her was to avoid 2 key things. Don't make her like Immortal & Th Restless's Clara (due to clara representing michael, not mrs afton, so i wanted to avoid that), and don't base her too heavily off of Ballora. I still have ties to Ballora's character (a music-based theme, blue-centric colour palette, im sure there were more basic ideas but everything else is more hc than themes to keep up) due to my hc thingy of each Funtime having ties to William's wife + kids, but yknow.

But yeah. Funky lady who played bass guitar + did backup vocals in a band during her high school and college years. Literally her and William dating can be summed up by "Seriously, what do you see in that guy?!" "He makes me laugh." bc she was and is WAY out of his goddamn league. Not just bc of the whole serial killer thing he was just an even bigger loser in college. Normal people dont develop a crush on a woman after she nearly breaks your nose and makes you bleed, William /j

But yeah uhh. I also dont like the idea of her being absent or neglectful purely because I got way too attached to her (i was originally gonna do that just to make things easy for myself but. Pretty lady,,, I am a very simple lesbian what can i say) so like. She obviously wasnt the greatest, most fantastic mom to ever exist given she was kinda maybe sorta well aware William was making some weird fucking clowns, but like. Hey. She tried. Also side note my reasoning for her being absent during the whole. Yknow. '83 event (and just evan's bday in general) is bc Evan + Elizabeth are twins and Elizabeth demanded a girls-only trip for her bday, and Janet promised Evan she'd do something just as special for him when she got back. That never happened bc he died lmao loser /j

But yeah uhh. Shes got a lot of regrets. Wishes she coulda done a lot of things better. Kinda dies with those regrets. Ive seen people say that one of fnaf's charms is that no character is 100% good and i LOVE that, and wanted to keep it up with Janet. Good mom and overall a good person, however made some bad decisions along the way and whatnot.

Im still working out specifics (ive been slowly working on a lil private fic abt her and william meeting + their early relationship) but uhhh. Minor notes that dont get their own paragraphs is that William sampled her voice for Ballora so yay easy voice claim, she had an on and off relationship with her band's lead singer (her name's Bev), her birth name is actually Janice Schmidt but if you call her Janice she'll knock at least 2 of ur teeth out, she's a runaway teen and got adopted by this older couple bc her home life kinda sucked (idk specifics yet), and also girlie has an extensive criminal record of minor angsty teen type charges. Also teen Mike dying his hair and then 2020's Michael's hairstyle are both kinda references to Janet's hair because he wnated to look less like his father. Thats all ty. No read more bc you WILL look at my mrs afton post, boy /j

Actually no theres more that im remembering as i write the tags and edit a few details. Back to her and William because god im insane about them. So for starters it. Well i was gonna say Janet was def the first to flirt but i think William definitely developed a crush first and they only kept talking bc of said crush so its kinda up for debate. Anyways yeah at first it was a HUGE sorta like "Well he's funny especially when I fluster him so this can be just a fun lil thing" but because they chatted more they def kinda like. Clicked more. William was a huge fan of listening to her music (from. a distance. he looked kinda like a creep but at least janet only misinterpreted it once) but like *specifically* janet he didnt give a fucking shit abt the rest of the band. Uhh. They had their first run-in and janet kinda. Well. Punched him in the nose before he cleared up that he is NOT a pervert or anything weird like that (bc a guy that looks older than he is staring from a distance when there is a clear crowd he could join kinda gave janet the Wrong idea), then they later bumped into each other in the hall and chatted for a bit, then they kinda just kept "accidentally" running into one another. Uhhh. Some cigaerette-themed flirting and a house party later, yay dating :] can you tell where the current cut-off of the fic is /j Also idk how to put this down properly but they are both runaways and can kinda. Get that vibe from one another. Literally Michael is like some fucked up abomination of the both of them between the troubled past + weird situationship thing + runaway stuff + a lot of minor details that arent important rn. I just. Yeah Janet means the world to me go thru her tag on my blog for some art. Not all of my janet art is posted but the non-posted stuff is all concept work/doodles or just. Shit im too embarrassed to post lmao. Anyways NOW im done ty for reading

[thoughtsforsoob]

hi! can i request a txt matchup please?

i'm a 4'11 female with long black hair and dark brown eyes. being comfortable in my body has been a journey tbh but i'm really liking my smile recently: i have a smattering of dimples on my cheeks which i feel makes me stand out! i have horrible eyesight so i wear thick glasses (this year it's been round purple ones). my style is usually pretty casual (comfy over any other aesthetic haha) but occasionally i'll put on a cuter outfit if i'm going out with a friend or have another more formal event.

i'd consider myself an ambivert because i love making friends, but am often the quietest person in the group. i try my best to be kind and empathetic towards everyone (which can lead to me becoming more of a doormat than i'd like haha). i can be a sensitive soul and really appreciate the people in my life that take the time to listen to me and talk through things that make me emotional.

i'm a huge writer and reader and am looking at ways to pursue that in the professional world. i listen to a lot of music all the time (kpop, western singer-songwriters, and indie/alt pop are my go-tos!). i got into scrapbooking and bracelet-making last year so i have a lot of those materials lying around. i love connecting with people online and in person: sometimes not the best at responding but i think of so many people fondly anyway :)

hopefully that's enough info to be helpful. congrats on 200 followers and thanks for doing this! <3

a/n: thank you for sending in a request, anon! hopefully this will be up to your expectations! I also want to apologize for this taking me so long to release. I have no no creativity lately and have kind been forcing myself to post but hopefully the writers block goes away soon! anyways, please enjoy and feel free to request anything you'd like in the future :D

I match you with...taehyun!!

hehe I know the photos are not a matching set or anything but I love these pics of him :(

I feel like your personalities are both similar but different enough for you two to not get bored of one another.

I think one of his favorite things about you would be your creativity. He loves that you enjoy things like writing and reading and just overall, having creative hobbies and interest.

He finds it really sweet when you create anything for him (he would be hinting at you making a bracelet for him and when you finally do it, he feels like crying but holds back)

he loves hand made gifts because to him, they have more meaning than anything that could be bought because you put time and effort into it.

besides that, I also think he finds it so cute that you're as small as you are

he also thinks your glasses are quite cute, even if they are thick

I feel like he's really good are reading your emotions so since he knows your an obvert, he will immediately be able to tell if you're excited to be in a social setting or if you're forcing yourself

he, in my opinion, is the same way. He likes to be around other but not for extended periods of time.

I feel like he is someone that doesn't show his emotions often but when he does, chances are it's going to be with you around

you make him feel safe but he would never express that out loud

he's just so happy he has someone to tease and send silly selfies to

I think he would also be empowered by your ambition to pursue anything create and have your own occupation

he needs someone that can be depended but also not too dependent to where they detach and he finds that in you

he loves hearing about your hobbies and your most recent work

he makes sure you're taking care of yourself and shows you all of the reasons that he loves you

he can be quite the romantic so prepare for baths, fancy dinners (or take out at home with a movie), picnics, etc...

(I hope you enjoyed this, anon!)

[aita-blorbos]

AITA for 'ruining a friend's birthday party'?

It was my (30m) friend's (25m) birthday party last week, and it was the perfect time for me to take a step forward in my plan to clear my family's false treason charge, which I've been working been working on for the past 13 years.

It was a small party, just a few friends, both sets of parents (it's a long story but basically two babies were born, got mixed up during a storm, and then one of them died so it was decided that they'd share him - we'll called them father + mother and dad + mum), and a musician that I'd suggested inviting. We were having a nice meal, there was a bit of a fight between his dad and one of the guests which is normal for this sort of event, and we listened to some music.

Then my friend's half-sister that he didn't know about arrived and he found out which of his parents were his birth parents and also that his mother's husband, who he's been calling father his whole life, didn't marry her until after she was pregnant with him. And then the musician stood up and revealed that her father was an assassin that his (not-)father had paid to have my friend killed because he wasn't his son (but the assassin obviously got the wrong child).

Anyway there was a huge argument because my friend's (not-)father had been using his dad to kill a load of people for him, and his dad and mum just found out that he was the one who had their baby killed. His (not-)father called for his personal army and there were only a small number of us against him, although we did have three of the best-ranked martial artists in the world.

I did organise both his half-sister and the musician to come specifically to reveal the information they did, but I'm pretty sure I'm NTA, because his (not-)father was one of the key forces behind the conspiracy that killed my parents, aunt, cousin, and entire army, and also left me with an incurable disease. My friend is really angry with me for destroying everything he knew about his life, though, and I just found out my friend's sister died in childbirth because of all the stress and I feel bad about that part...

[toomuchracket]

per the last ask (I’m a different anon) maybe birthday party verse! Matty and reader take a trip to celebrate a publication of hers and they rent a car (maybe a vintage convertible like in that one music vid) and matty is looking all classic driving reader down pch on their way to dinner and so it’s kind of a mix of sunshine baby/golden/style and then after dinner they decide to take a dip in the ocean 😌

gonna change the location of this because i had an idea about it anyway but it's a similar vibe!! so i think that the holiday starts in paris - you've been asked to do a little talk and a signing of your most recent book at the shakespeare and company bookshop, which is a huge fucking deal and something you're so so excited about, and naturally matty's glowing with pride and goes to paris with you. and you have a few days there before your event, just reminiscing on the last time you were there with your friends, and visiting museums and doing a bit of shopping. matty's in extra-proud boyfriend mode and attempting to buy you everything your eyes linger on for more than a second "as a well-done! a little treat!"; at the event itself (which he's already given you flowers for), he's watching you from the edges of the crowd, totally in awe of you (someone snaps a pic of him smiling at you like you hung the moon and tweets it, someone else tweets to say that they spoke to him and he literally just gushed about you for five minutes straight lol), and he almost cries after he cheekily queues for you to sign his copy of the book, because you address it to "the love of my life" and kiss the page to leave a lipstick mark on it for him lol.

anyway, i think at dinner afterwards, you probably say something like "god, i really don't want to go home in two days" and matty just beams and goes "well, good, because we're not", and then he reveals that he's booked a cottage somewhere in bordeaux for the two of you to stay in for the next week - you're immediately so so excited, and then you're like slightly panicked because "i didn't bring enough clothes!", and matty laughs like "well, now you'll need to let me take you shopping, sweetheart, yeah?" and you roll your eyes but you do let him buy you armfuls of new sundresses the next day lol. and the day after shopping, you and matty have a two-hour long train journey to bordeaux - which is spent listening to an album together and eating sweets lol - where there's a car waiting for you outside; a classic red vintage convertible (like the one from that clip of matty in l.a.), which matty is SO smug about. you tease him about it a little, like "you're sure you can drive on the opposite side of the road?" and "this is so new wave cinema of you. you've got postmodernism brainrot, baby", but that's just to distract yourself from jumping his bones because jesus christ he looks so hot driving with his sunglasses on and his hair all curly and messy (you take like 455883 pics of him like this. new lockscreen material for certain). i think you probably get lost a couple of times on the way to the cottage - you're responsible for navigating with the map and it's in french, for fuck's sake lol - but neither of you mind, because it's just so perfect driving through the french countryside with the wind in your hair and the sun on your faces. and the week is like the total antithesis to your busy time in paris; you just laze about in the sunshine, smoking and fucking (lol) and eating good food (but you both do end up getting inspired and writing some stuff for your respective next projects lol), before getting a little bit dressed up in the early evenings to tour some of the MANY vineyards nearby, having dinner and getting pleasantly tipsy on red wine. the very last night, you go to the vineyard where That Wine, the one you guys bonded over and love sharing, is made. and maybe, just maybe, a certain question is popped... idk! who's to say? regardless, it's perfect <3

[tittyinfinity]

Fuck clubs. The hole-in-the-wall karaoke bars are where you want to be. They have things to do other than drink and many will have different events during the week. You'll run into every type of person of every age. A few weeks ago I sat and had a conversation with a trans man who had just recently started transitioning in his 60s next to a person I hadn't seen since high school. There's no pressure to dress up all fancy, either. You have something to do other than sit, drink, and talk – it's fun listening to people perform, no matter their talent level, because we're all having fun. And then you can get on stage and put on the shittiest performance of your life and people will pat you on the back and congratulate you as you walk off. Sometimes a large man will rip a huge line of cocaine and then sing 2000s pop music and you'll feel emotions you'll never felt before. Sometimes you meet older women who give you the best life advice you've ever heard while rolling the fattest joint for y'all to smoke together. Sometimes someone will just bring their (non-service) pet and everyone is just like hell yeah that's cool. Most of the people there are regulars, and once everyone gets to really know you, you can walk into the bar confidently knowing that no one will try to make you uncomfortable or push your boundaries, and if someone tried, there's already 10 people in line waiting to beat their ass over it.

Clubs are a sensory nightmare for a lot of us – usually packed as hell, bright lights flashing everywhere, so many people talking on top of the loud ass music that you can't hear anything, etc. They're more expensive to be at, most of the people there are college-age, and there's a higher pressure to look a certain way before you go out. A bigger crowd means more danger, too – especially when it comes to watching your drink. The regulars at smaller bars watch out for each other a lot – busy bartenders serving hundreds of people at a club can't monitor that as easily.

I say this as a person who has a hard time socializing. Just getting myself out there and around people really helped me to feel happier about the world and myself, knowing that there are so many more people like me than I thought. Conversations with people who are much older than me have made me more excited for the future than scared. There have even been plenty of times I've gotten into conversations with conservative leaning people and ended up with them agreeing with me after hearing my opinion out. Because people are at the bar because they WANT to connect with people. They don't want to start an angry argument and look like an asshole, and they'd get kicked out if they did, anyway. (Granted, I am also a small white female-paasing person, so I'm a bit safer having these conversations than other people would be.)

You don't have to be invited. Just show up. Find which place suits you. People don't care or think you're weird if you just show up and sit alone. I promise you. Drinking isn't required. Hell, in states where it's legal, you can just sit and smoke weed out on the porch and chill if that's what you're into.

Being lonely can suck. And I know bars and clubs aren't for everyone. But I figured I'd share my experience, because finding a way to put myself out there has done wonders for my adult self.

[tenebraevesper]

Five Nights at Freddy's: Nothing Remains, Night 15: The Clock Ticks

''Every candle fades to dark, every fire loses spark. Watch them dance the night away, til the heart beat stops. The lights are a glow but dimming slowly, with life all alone forever lonely. Watch the night fall away and plan to stay. Listen to the crowd of giggles churning, see to the one who smiles unnerving. Yes, be scared and afraid to run away!''

 – Music Box by Dheusta (Five Nights at Freddy's 2)

xXxXxXx

Sam was on her phone, checking the news. She and Springtrap were sitting in their booth at Freddy's, with Sam wanting to see whether the police had any luck with Hazel's case, but so far, no one has found her. At this point, she and Springtrap were sure that the girl was gone for good. Sam sighed as she switched to her e-mails, finding Kylie's latest voicemail.

''Honestly, I'm surprised that Connor hadn't targeted Freddy's yet,'' she said.

''He'll probably do that at some point,'' Springtrap said in a concerned tone. ''Anyways, what does Anthelm say?''

Sam smiled slightly, checking Kylie's voicemail.

''Hello? Hello? First of all, I would like to thank you for your efforts. It seems that you were right about the issue with the animatronics' programming, or rather, the fact that the animatronics were programmed to act as some kind of security in the case of something suspicious happening, and the previous technicians had probably done something that made them aggressive. When I think about it, this also might be the reason why I had never gotten a report about the issue. It is possible that they made some kind of mistake and didn't want to take responsibility for it. It is quite disappointing to see that they wouldn't want to own up to their mistakes.''

Sam and Springtrap exchanged brief glances, feeling that this was also the case for the entirety of Fazbear Entertainment.

''Anyways, since you are our technician, you're obviously responsible for keeping the animatronics in a pristine condition and making sure that they won't malfunction. I'll work on your schedule for the next week and I'll send it to you tomorrow, but I can assure you that you had passed your trial period and shown that you are indeed reliable. Congratulations!''

Sam grinned, with a sense of pride spreading through her chest. She actually didn't expect Kylie to praise her nor show that she trusts her now, but was really glad about it.

''If needed, we can talk about the details during office hours or you can just send me an e-mail with your questions. Also, as for your question about the new additions, I believe that I can tell you about it, since your work is quite relevant to it. Essentially, Fazbear Entertainment might be branching out, meaning that we are probably going to get another location soon, with new animatronics. They put a huge emphasis on making sure that the animatronics at this location perform flawlessly and that this location remains incident-free. Considering how previous locations have failed due to poor management, wild rumors and general incompetence, I do hope that this one will succeed. Personally, I believe all of those things could've been prevented if people actually knew what they were doing. Well, I guess that all we can do now is to learn from our past mistakes. I wish you a good night.''

''So, Fazbear Entertainment has decided to try an expand their business,'' Springtrap muttered, frowning. ''This can only end in a disaster.''

''Whether this will end in a disaster depends on how Fazbear Entertainment is going to handle their future project,'' Sam said. ''However, since this is Fazbear Entertainment we are talking about, you're probably right.''

''At least this explains why they want to make this location successful, as they need to build up a better reputation, something that doesn't tie them with the past events,'' Springtrap said. ''Not to mention, while it is obviously accidental, they also opened the location during the time when their competitor is in trouble.''

''Honestly, I don't think that it matters which location is going to stay open as long as Connor is around,'' Sam said. ''However, we have no idea where he is and we cannot go to Ricky's Wonder Shack since the police is probably going to investigate the place, or at least keep a close eye on it. Not to mention, aside from the Machinations Factory, which I don't believe is where he currently resides, we have no idea what other location we could connect to Connor.''

''There's also the question about how he was able to kidnap and probably murder a child without leaving any evidence or going into Ricky's by himself,'' Springtrap muttered, glancing at the stage. His eyes flared up purple as he realized something. ''Sam, remember when we were lured into Ricky's by Connor? He had told us that he programmed Ricky and the other animatronics to follow his command.''

''So, you want to say that this might be how he had managed to kidnap that girl?'' Sam said. ''It makes sense, as no one would suspect the animatronics to lure children away as they are supposed to be around them due to being entertainers. Even a person dressed in a costume would be more suspicious than an animatronic.''

''Not to mention, there was also that hidden room behind the stage. Since none of the other employees seemed to be aware of it, considering how no one checked it when that boy went missing, the animatronics could easily hide the body there,'' Springtrap added darkly. ''It is obvious what had happened.''

Sam nodded. ''Honestly, I am not looking forward to dealing with this.''

''Me neither, but we are the only ones aware of what Connor had done,'' Springtrap said, frowning. ''Not to mention, since I was the one who had murdered him and caused him to attain an undead state, it should be expected from me to take him out for good.''

''Hey, you're not alone in this,'' Sam protested. ''We are going to take Connor down together.''

''As long as you don't get hurt,'' Springtrap added, with Sam giving him a curious look. ''I know that you won't stand on the sidelines, but your safety is important as well.''

''I am aware of that,'' Sam said. ''Say, Will, what do you think is going to happen after we deal with Connor?''

''Well, obviously we'll move on with our lives,'' Springtrap said. ''That, and we'll still have to deal with whatever Fazbear Entertainment decides to do with Freddy's.''

''That should be interesting,'' Sam said, smirking.

xXx

Well, obviously we'll move on with our lives, Springtrap frowned as he stared through the window at the night sky. Why did I tell her that? Sure, obviously, it is the truth, but what exactly is necessary to achieve that? An icy sensation spread through his chest. Sam deserves to be happy and not to worry about such stuff. However, as for me… I shouldn't hope for anything. A familiar feeling of fear caused him to shudder, with his eyes glowing in a faint purple. He closed his eyes, trying to shake it off. I am not the one to decide what is going to happen afterwards. While I might desire the best outcome possible, that doesn't mean that the best outcome will also match my wishes. The most I can do is to make sure that Sam will remain safe during this whole ordeal.

He sighed, the glow in his eyes fading.

Ironically, this is the happiest I have been for ages. However, I doubt that it will last. He was aware that it wasn't possible for him to stay here forever. If I'd have to leave Sam… He hated it. He hated this feeling of uncertainty. He wanted to know how this would end and what he could do about it. I'm not going away, I need to stay… But, is that really possible?

He had a habit of defying any common sense and even the laws of nature itself. A life like this wasn't possible, but he had managed to achieve it. Whatever he had set in his mind, he knew that, in the end, he would somehow reach his goal. However, for this, he wasn't sure what to do. He had no idea how to manage this situation. He frowned as his eyes started to glow purple again.

Sometimes, I don't need a plan. Sometimes, I just need to go along with whatever happens.

He knew well that he could make any kind of plan he wanted, but it never went the way he wanted. The most he could do is stay aware of the situation and make sure that at least something goes right.

Maybe, there is no reason for me to panic. He glanced back through the window, noticing the clouds hiding the moon. Or maybe, I'm just lying to myself.

xXx

It had been a surprisingly quiet night, with nothing happening. Springtrap was rather stunned that there were no visits from Michael, Sammy, Elizabeth, Henry or even that kid, wondering if that was a good or a bad sign. Instead, he got startled by someone marching past his door, having figured that it was Emma who went back upstairs. He walked into the hallway, noticing Emma looking into Sam's room.

''Com'n Sam, we're going to the mall today!'' Emma shouted. There was a loud groan, with Springtrap figuring that Sam was still asleep and certainly not in the mood to go to the mall.

''Why?'' Sam frowned, staring at her mother.

''Well, I'm not working today and I had figured that I'll be waiting until the start of the school year for you to buy new clothes. Therefore, we are going today,'' Emma told her. ''Now, get up!''

Sam fell over back into her bed, covering herself, with Emma leaving and passing Springtrap.

''So, I assume that this means that I'll be spending the whole day alone, right?'' he asked her.

''You are going to watch over the house, but trust me, we'll be back soon,'' Emma replied.

''According to Sam, being back soon actually means to return later that evening,'' Springtrap replied in a sarcastic tone. ''Or are you planning to drive around until midnight like last week?''

Emma rolled her eyes. ''Don't be ridiculous Afton. We'll be back much sooner than you think.''

''I wouldn't bet on it,'' Springtrap replied, smirking. Emma's eyes narrowed, with her still staring at Springtrap.

''Anyways, I'll be talking to you later, Afton,'' Emma added in a hushed tone. ''There's something important I need to discuss with you, but don't tell Sam anything.''

''Why?'' Springtrap was confused.

''You'll see,'' Emma replied, walking downstairs. Springtrap was still puzzled, having no idea what this was about. Usually, when Emma wanted to talk to him, she'd try to mock him. As he contemplated whether to go along with whatever Emma had in store for him, Sam exited her room, holding a black bag that she put over her shoulder.

''I knew that she'd eventually drag me into the mall,'' Sam muttered, being a little annoyed.

''Hopefully, you'll return until the time your shift begins,'' Springtrap said.

''Yeah,'' Sam muttered, then glanced at him. ''You'll manage to stay alone for the day, right?''

''Don't worry,'' Springtrap snorted. ''I'll be fine.''

''Sam!''

''Yeah, yeah, I'm coming!'' Sam yelled back, with her and Springtrap going downstairs. Emma was already waiting in the hallway, twirling the keychain with the car keys around her finger.

''Great,'' Emma said. ''The earlier we get there, the earlier we can leave.''

''We are going to be back before my shift starts, right?'' Sam asked. Emma snorted.

''I'll drop you off at Freddy's then,'' she told Sam in a dismissive tone. ''Afton can walk over there by himself.''

Springtrap just glared at Emma, but what else did he expect from her? It was obvious that she didn't care about him.

''Anyways, let's go,'' Emma said, turning briefly towards Springtrap. ''I'll be locking the door, Afton, so you'll be stuck here. Don't go anywhere.''

''Don't worry about me, it's not as if I'm a little child,'' Springtrap replied.

''Well, you do tend to act like one,'' Emma replied in a snarky tone.

''Ow, shut up...'' Springtrap glared at her, with Emma grinning. He really didn't want argue anymore, with Emma taking this as a sign of defeat. ''You're not exactly the most mature person either.''

''I'm still more mature than you are, Afton.''

''Can we finally leave?'' Sam interrupted the two. ''I don't want to spend the whole day at the mall.''

''Okay, okay, we are going,'' Emma said, with Sam going outside. She briefly turned to Springtrap. ''Don't burn the house down, Afton.''

Springtrap just groaned, with Emma finally closing and locking the door behind her. He sighed.

She really loves to mess with me.

xXx

As Sam had already predicted it, she was done with buying her clothes in a little over than an hour. The only reason why they were still at the mall was because Emma kept finding new outfifs she had figured that would fit Sam, even though the latter was done with her shopping trip. In the end, Emma went to a store to buy herself new sneakers, with Sam waiting outside, sitting on a bench. She had taken out her smartphone and opened a file titled Digimon Tamers, containing the episodes she had downloaded. After placing her earbuds in her ears, she played the episode titled 36. Gallantmon Vs. Beelzemon.

Interestingly, all of the videos were in German, with Sam being fluent in the language thanks to a mishap she had with her father. When she was younger, she was bored and asked her father to find her something to watch online, with her father managing to find a website that had various anime episodes and let them play for Sam. What he didn't realize was that all of the episodes were in German instead of English, but Sam didn't mind. Even though she didn't understand what the characters said at the time, she kept on watching them and eventually learned the language on her own without even noticing it.

Who says that you can't learn anything from watching anime? Sam grinned, as her favorite Digimon, Beelzemon, was confronted by Gallantmon, with the epic insert song Eine Vision playing in the background.

''Hey, verdammt, was willst du von mir?'' Beelzemon asked aggressively, staring at Gallantmon.

''Beelzemon, du hast deine Seele verkauft und bist dadurch zu einem Dämon geworden. Das werde ich dir nie verzeihen,'' Gallantmon replied, glaring at Beelzemon.

''Hör auf so große Töne zu spucken. Du kannst mir also nicht verzeihen, ach Gottchen, dass ist aber furchtbar.'' Beelzemon suddenly charged towards Gallantmon, brandishing his claws. ''Nach dem Kampf reden wir weiter, wenn du da noch reden kannst!''

It doesn't matter how many times I watch this, I always get excited for the battle. Sam hummed along with the song, completely captivated by the events in the episode. She had already figured that, when Emma was done, that she would just approach her and tell her that they would be leaving.

However, what she didn't know was that it wouldn't be Emma who was going to approach her. Stunned, she noticed someone else standing in front of her, someone familiar. She took her earbuds out, standing up and staring at the person. This person was a teenage girl with short wavy brown hair that was streaked with blonde highlights. She was also wearing a blue fitted blouse that matched her blue eyes and black tight pants, holding an expensive-looking black handbag in one hand and a bag with clothes in the other. Overall, her posture fitted someone who just returned back from an expensive makeover and would act aggressive towards anyone who dared to disturb her hair, make-up and clothing. The feeling of surprise and confusion Sam had quickly vanished, being replaced by a feeling of anger and betrayal.

''Huh, so you aren't dead after all,'' Theresa Clover said, with Sam at first wondering what her former best friend was talking about, only to remember the prank call Springtrap made. ''You know, you almost ruined my life. I hope that you are happy with that.''

''I have no idea what you are talking about,'' Sam said, deciding to play dumb. She didn't want to deal with Tessa now.

''You know exactly what I'm talking about!'' Tessa said angrily. ''Do you even know how worried we were? I have no idea whom you managed to convince to talk to us and threaten us, but we all believed that we would also get murdered. Honestly, you should apologize to us for putting us through that!''

''Oh, so you were worried about yourself, but you never thought about checking on me?'' Sam replied.

''Well, according to the caller, you were supposedly dead, so why should we worry about you?'' Tessa replied. ''Seriously, how can you be so self-absorbed? If you weren't so conceited, you would know that you aren't the center of the universe.''

''Seriously? That's rich, considering that you act like a self-absorbed brat yourself,'' Sam replied. Not only was she frustrated her the happy moment she had was ruined, but she also had to deal with Tessa's accusations. She may have made her cry last time, but Sam had figured that this time, she could stand up for herself. After all, if she had managed to deal with Connor, she could handle Tessa.

''You have no right to call me that, considering how immature you are,'' Tessa replied, holding her head high. ''Honestly, I try to help you and show that I'm going to forgive you for all the rude things you tell me, but you cry at every little sign of criticism. I was already wondering whether you want more cheese with that whine?''

Everything suddenly came back. Sam felt a lump in her throat, her mouth being dry. Her eyes sparkled as she tried to hold back her tears. No matter how much she tried, she would always break down when confronted by her former best friend as she gaslighted her, lying straight into her face. All the time she tried to accommodate to Tessa's desires and it was never enough, as she would always find something wrong and accuse Sam of sabotaging her experience.

Walk away, you don't need this. Sam just glared at Tessa, forcing herself to walk past the latter, only to find herself tripping. She managed to keep standing and turned back to Tessa, who leaned on one leg, acting as if she was standing like that the whole time.

''Watch out where you are going,'' she told Sam, who was shaking in anger. Tessa then smiled, adding in a much calmer tone. ''Anyways, considering the event this week, I thought that you might-''

''No,'' Sam cut her off. ''I'd rather be alone than have you, Violet or anyone else from the group around me. You had ruined everything.''

Tessa just sighed, shaking her head.

''Honestly, I should feel sorry for you, but you're the one at fault here,'' she replied. ''You're being so anti-social that it's no wonder no one wants to be friends with you.''

''Leave me alone!'' Sam snapped at her, feeling a tear flowing down her cheek. She quickly left, entering the store her mother was at while wiping away her tears. She hated the fact that Tessa had managed to upset her. She had managed to find Emma at the checkout, with Emma noticing how distraught Sam was looking. She quickly payed for the sneakers and approached her daughter.

''Sam, what's wrong?'' she asked.

''Could we please leave? I want to go home,'' Sam said.

''What happened?'' Emma asked as they walked outside, with Sam looking around cautiously. She sighed.

''I saw Tessa,'' she muttered. Emma's eyes widened, with her nodding as she realized what had probably happened.

''I see,'' Emma muttered. ''Say, would you mind waiting over there with our stuff?'' She pointed towards the hallway that led to the toilets. Sam looked around, noticing that Tessa had left. She nodded. ''Okay, I'll be back soon.''

Sam had wondered what her mother was up to, but then, Tessa's words came back haunting her.

''…it's no wonder no one wants to be friends with you.''

That's not true, Sam thought. I have a friend who cares more about me than Tessa ever did. Not to mention, I don't need her or anyone else from that group. It's better to be alone than have to be friends with toxic people.

She sighed, only to notice minutes later Emma returning with ice-cream for the two of them. She smiled, having figured that her mother's answer to her being upset would be something sweet.

''Thanks,'' Sam said as she took the strawberry and cherry ice-cream.

''We should go sit somewhere and you can tell me what had happened between you two,'' Emma told her.

''That's not necessary…'' Sam replied, but Emma shook her head.

''Com'n,'' Emma said, with Sam accepting. They had found an empty bench, with Sam eating her ice-cream, feeling chills as she thought about her interaction with Tessa. Rest assured, the ice-cream did help her feel better. ''So, what did you two talk about?''

''Well, she confronted me about that prank call…'' Sam started, with Emma giving her a confused look.

''What prank call?'' she asked.

''I kind of forgot that I haven't told you about it,'' Sam muttered. ''Tessa and the others had called me a while ago to harass me again, so Springtrap decided to prank them by pretending that he had murdered me and that he would come after them next. Rest assured, they haven't contacted me at all after that.''

Emma facepalmed. ''You can't be serious. Out of all of things he could say, Afton went straight for a murder threat.''

''In the end, it was just that – a threat. He wasn't going to hurt them, even though he was really angry,'' Sam replied, a little defensive.

''I believe that the only reason he decided not to act upon his threat is you,'' Emma pointed out. ''There's no doubt that, if you had expressed any desire to get revenge on Tessa and the others, Afton would gladly make them suffer.''

''I am aware of that,'' Sam said, then smiled sheepishly. ''Besides, I'm pretty sure that you'd react the same as Will. You care about me as much as he does and you wouldn't let anyone bully me.''

''Maybe, but that doesn't make me less suspicious of him,'' Emma replied, then tilted her head. ''Anyways, I wanted to ask you if you had any specific wishes for-''

''No, I have already told you that I don't really want anything. I mean, you can do what you want, and it's great that Dad is coming to visit me, but I'm not really in the mood to celebrate anything,'' Sam replied.

''Sam, I know that it has been really bad, but I promise that this year is going to be much better,'' Emma told her. ''Besides, you only turn seventeen once in a life.''

Sam snorted.

''You told me the same last year,'' she said. ''Honestly, I don't want a birthday party. Having a cake, as well as Dad visiting is enough for me.''

''Okay, okay, there won't be a party, but there will be a lunch,'' Emma replied. ''Is that okay?''

''Yeah,'' Sam said, nodding, with Emma hugging her.

''Leave it to me,'' she said. ''I'll make sure that this one will be your happiest day, sweetie.''

''Thanks, Mum,'' Sam replied. ''I know that anything is better than what happened last time when I invited Tessa and the others to celebrate my birthday back when we were still friends.'' She smiled a little. ''I guess that simply being happy is the best way of revenge against them.''

''Exactly, sweetheart,'' Emma said in a comforting tone.

She was glad to see improvement in Sam's mood. She remembered how Sam used to get depressed and would shut herself in her room, not wanting to deal with anyone and would keep her feelings to himself. Now, she had certainly grown more confident, working on her issues and was a lot happier than before. Emma hated to admit it, but she was sure that this was thanks to Afton's constant support, considering how this kind of improvement occurred once he entered Sam's life.

''Anyways, we should go now,'' Emma said. ''I don't really trust Afton with watching over the house by himself.''

Sam chuckled. ''You will never leave him alone, right?''

''No,'' Emma replied with a smile on her expression.

xXx

A few minutes later, they were back in the car, driving home. Sam was in a good mood, looking forward to talk to Springtrap. Speaking of which…

''I haven't told William that my birthday is this week,'' Sam muttered.

''Don't worry, I'll tell Afton about it,'' Emma replied, with Sam giving her a suspicious look. ''Well, I did tell you to leave everything to me and explaining him what's going on is part of it. Besides, I want it to be a surprise for you.''

''Okay, then, I won't ask any questions,'' Sam replied. ''I am curious what you are up to, though.''

Emma kept quiet, with a satisfied look on her expression. A moment later, her expression changed as if she had realized something.

''Hey, Sam, that factory you and Afton went to, that's outside the town, isn't it?'' Emma asked her.

''You mean the Machinations Factory?'' Sam asked. ''Why are you asking?''

''Well, I forgot to tell you, but when Cassie and I went on that trip last week after going shopping, we passed by a building that looked badly burnt and I believe that it was set to be demolished,'' Emma explained.

''What?! Really?'' Sam was stunned.

''Well, the fence had been surrounded by tarp and it seemed as if they are going to demolish the factory,'' Emma explained. ''Maybe they are going to build something else there, but I'm not completely sure about that…'' She noticed the look on Sam's expression and frowned. ''You and Afton are going to visit the factory tonight, right?''

''Well…'' Sam had a sheepish look on her expression, with Emma rolling her eyes after seeing it.

''Okay, just promise me that you won't get into any trouble… No, scratch that. I just want you to return home unharmed,'' she said.

''I promise,'' Sam replied, looking rather excited.

xXx

Springtrap felt somewhat puzzled. After Sam and Emma had returned home, they were both acting normal, with Sam telling him that they would be making a detour to the Machinations Factory before she went to work. Then, she hugged him, with Springtrap wondering what exactly had happened that she was acting like that.

Am I missing something?

Here was also aware of the fact that Emma wanted to talk to him about something, wondering what the conversation was going to be about. He wasn't really looking forward to it, but he figured that he could hear Emma out.

''So, what is this about?'' Springtrap asked Sam as they drove on the road.

''Mum forgot to tell us that she saw last week that the Machinations Factory is going to be demolished and that something else is going to be built there,'' she said.

''Seriously? You could've told me that earlier,'' Springtrap told her. ''Well, Emma should've told us that earlier.''

''Well, it's not as if there's much that can be done,'' Sam replied. ''In any case, we are just going to take a look at the place and leave, as I doubt that there is anything of interest. I'm sure that they had cleared the building out during the investigation.''

''I guess that you're right,'' Springtrap said. ''Remember when we went to the Machinations Factory for the first time?''

''Yeah,'' Sam nodded. ''We were trying to figure out what was up with those animatronics at Ricky's Wonder Shack.''

''Exactly, only that we ended up finding a bunch of endoskeletons that looked as if they were being tortured. It was only a prelude into what was actually waiting for us,'' Springtrap said. ''I can't believe that it's been only a few weeks since that. You'd think that it had been months since we first entered the place.''

''I agree,'' Sam told him. ''Not to mention, it's been a little over a month since you have arrived here, but we've been through a lot. Nevertheless, I have to say that I'm really glad that you are part of my life.''

''Me too,'' Springtrap smiled, but inside, he felt a sting of guilt. But, for how long is my stay here going to last? I don't want to leave Sam alone, at least not until I made sure that she would be fine on her own.

''Will, are you okay?'' Sam asked him. ''You're being so quiet.''

Springtrap was a little reluctant, but he then decided that there was no reason for him to keep his thoughts for himself.

''I was just thinking about how nothing really lasts forever, not even me staying with you,'' he said. ''However, if I have to leave eventually, then I will make sure that I have done everything I wanted to do, with the most important thing being to help you with your confidence issues.''

''Thanks,'' Sam replied, with a small smile on her expression. ''I'm glad that you care so much about me, unlike other people.''

''You mean...'' Springtrap trailed off, giving Sam a look of concern.

''I saw Tessa today and she confronted me about that prank call you made,'' Sam explained, frowning. ''Instead of asking me whether I was okay or what had happened, she demanded that I apologize to her for what she had to go through, and then called me self-absorbed because I didn't think about how they would feel about the whole thing.''

''In other words, they don't care about you,'' Springtrap muttered. ''Not to mention, if anything, the one who at fault for the prank call was me.''

''No, you're not,'' Sam told him. ''They were the ones who called me, deciding to harass me because they obviously had nothing better to do. If anything, they deserved to get freaked out. Not to mention, it's not as if you were going to actually hurt them, right?''

''No, obviously not,'' Springtrap said. ''That is, until they decide to hurt you.''

''You know, Mum was rather exasperated when I told her about the prank call. She doesn't really trust you, noting that, if I agreed with it, that you would go hurt them.''

''Well, Emma isn't that wrong about the topic, but I know better than that,'' Springtrap replied. ''Even though you hate your bullies for what they had done to you, you wouldn't want to let them get hurt. You're not that kind of person.''

''Yeah,'' Sam muttered, remembering how her way of dealing with her former friends was to simply ghost them. ''Anyways, there was something else I was wondering about…''

''What is it?'' Springtrap asked her curiously.

''You mentioned that you are aware that your stay here isn't permanent and I know that you would have to leave eventually,'' Sam said, taking a deep breath. ''However, I was wondering, if you left, but were given the chance to return, would you return or actually move on?''

''Well, I believe that the correct answer would be for me to move on. If anything, that would make everyone I know happy, as they wouldn't have to deal anymore with my antics. However, that is supposed to be correct answer, not the decision I would make,'' Springtrap said, grinning. ''I always come back, and if I had the chance to see you again, I'd take it.''

''I should've figured that you'd say that,'' Sam said, smiling. ''It's clear that there isn't anything that can stop you from achieving whatever you have in mind.''

Springtrap's eyes started to glow in a bright purple, with him feeling rather satisfied. It took the two a while, but they had eventually arrived at the Machinations Factory, with Sam parking at the usual spot and them exiting the car, staring at the building. Just as Emma told them, the fence was covered in tarp and there had been a few warning signs that the building shouldn't be entered as it might collapse and that it would be demolished.

''Are you sure that you don't want to go inside?'' Springtrap asked Sam, who shook her head.

''Unless Connor and the Drawkills are there, no,'' she said. ''However, I doubt that they would choose this building as their hiding spot.'' Her eyes narrowed. ''Nevertheless, it does feel weird. More than a week ago, we've been running through this building, trying to figure out what Connor was up to, and soon this place will be gone forever.''

''It's not as if we can do anything about it. According to the documents we read about this factory, it had been abandoned a while ago, so it was possible that there already were plans to demolish the building. The fire might've been the reason what made this decision final,'' Springtrap replied.

''I guess that you're right,'' Sam said. ''I do wonder whether they are going to build something here. Mum thinks that this might be the case.''

''Who knows,'' Springtrap said, shrugging. ''However, one question does remain, at least for our case. If the Machinations Factory is going to get demolished, where are Connor and the Drawkills then?''

''I have no idea,'' Sam said, giving Springtrap a determined look. ''Nevertheless, we are going to find them.''

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[ciaossu-imagines]

(day 1) fandom prompt #18 for khr please? ^^

Ah, thank you so much for sending in an ask for the event! This made me so, so happy!! Anyway, because KHR has a huge cast of characters and I only tend to write for a handful of them and because I got so few requests for this first day of the event, I really wanted to go above and beyond for this ask! So I challenged myself! Instead of going with just the first knee-jerk reactions and using the same characters over and over, I made myself a rule that I couldn’t repeat a character while answering this, which made it super fun and interesting to do! I hope you’ll enjoy!

Send me a Fandom and I’ll Tell What I Associate With Each Character:

Likes their music loud

I think a large part of why you see Irie with headphones is exactly this. He loves music and he tends to like to play it really loud and it really annoys his family and his neighbours, who complain to his mother, who then lectures Shoichi…I think it was his sister who bought him his first really good pair of headphones so that he could listen to his music without her having to hear it, because she thinks his taste in music is trash and vice versa.

Would poison someone if given the chance

So, I feel like I’m kind of cheating here, but I’m giving the really obvious answer. This is Bianchi’s shtick. Yes, it’s her main weapon of choice but she’s also been shown several times, especially in the Daily Life Arc, to do so just very casually and with no hesitancy.

Always happy

I feel like the overly obvious answer is Yamamoto here, but I actually don’t think he fits. So, my final answer on this one is a character a lot of people hated or wanted to forget about, Longchamp Naito! I feel like Longchamp, outside of the times he gets hit with the Desolation Bullet, is just very naïvely optimistic about everything and tries to be as positive as he can so that he can enjoy his life to it’s fullest, especially since I’ve always headcanoned him as someone who expects to die young, like most of his Family’s bosses do.

Afraid of spiders

Okay, so this is actually a really long-held, cute but meaningless headcanon I have for Iemitsu. I’ve always headcanoned him as really hating spiders or any kind of bug. They just gross him out and he’s low-key afraid of them. I think that, while Iemitsu tries to be the ‘man around the house’ whenever him and Nana are together, she’s the one having to kill all the bugs. He’ll be in the shower or puttering around and then there’s a spider right in front of his face and he starts yelling for Nana to come kill this itty-bitty bug.

Would jump out of a plane

While boxing will always be his true-blue love, I feel like Ryohei is interested in and later actively gets involved in extreme sports and he’d take up sky-diving as a hobby.

Calls people ‘Dude’

In a headcanon I have for a character nobody ever remembers exists, Bono. From Dino’s family? Anyone remember him? I don’t know why but I definitely headcanon him as saying dude a lot and just kind of sounding like an 80’s-90’s movie stoner.

Wants to just lay down and not move

For the most part, this is Rasiel. While he’s happy to get up and do murder the things he’s interested in, he’s really, really fucking lazy and he’d have no problem just spending the day in bed or sitting in his chair all day not doing anything at all. If things need to be done or if he’s in one of those moods and he needs something, he expects people to do everything for him and cater to his needs.

Has the perfect come backs

It’s Fran because he’s a perfect, sassy little bitch and I love him so much.

Can punch someone and the person they punched would thank them

I think there’s a lot of evidence in canon of just how revered Reborn is within the mafia world and even outside of it in one of his many alternate personas. He’s been shown to be this almost larger than life, greatly admired person for a lot of unnamed characters and I really think he could get away with this and the person would thank him for injuring them because, oh my god, the Reborn touched me and acknowledged me in some way, like this is a story I can tell my boys and they’ll think it’s so cool.

Listens to everything but common sense

Lambo does this because he is so young; he’s very naïve and very gullible. And, on top of that, he’s got this childish arrogance, no matter how old he gets, that he’s almost invincible and that he kind of knows everything and nothing bad could happen to him, leading him to disregard a lot of common-sense advice people try to give him.

Gives nicknames to others

While there’s a couple examples that do this somewhat canonically, I want to go a little off-board here and give a headcanon I have for one of the lesser known characters! I really feel like this is something that Ganauche does. He’s learned through the years not to use them at public family events, though he sometimes slips, but he has nicknames he uses for his boss and all of Timoteo’s Guardians and he tends to give nicknames to people he meets pretty quickly. He remembers the nicknames he gives people way easier than he remembers their actual names, which is why he does it.

Likes to talk to code

I really don’t get what this means…but Byakuran likes to talk and, in something I don’t think a lot of people think about, considering the hints of his school past with Irie, he’s actually quite the brilliant coder. I actually think that writing and reading code comes easily to him and that, if he wanted or had the time to, he’d be a tech genius on par with characters like Shoichi and Spanner.

Doesn’t open up to others very easily

Hibari. Not only does he not have much need for companionship and a misanthropic viewpoint at times, but he is such a very private person that even those who he does allow in his presence know very little about him. I don’t think even Kusakabe, who is arguably the closest to him, knew Kyoya’s home address until three years after meeting him because Hibari is so crazily private.

Is painfully obvious on who they like

Haru lives so very openly. She doesn’t hide who she is, what she’s interested in, her hopes and dreams…is it no wonder that she doesn’t try to hide it when she has a crush on someone? She just doesn’t get the point of hiding away any of that kind of stuff or why it would be considered embarrassing and I envy her confidence.

Would get a tattoo on a whim

I don’t know if this is cheating as he has at least one tattoo canonically but it’s Skull. I have such a strong headcanon that Skull has multiple tattoos and constantly wants to add to them, so strong that I don’t think even canon stating otherwise would make me accept it. And some of his tattoos are well-thought out and he’s met with the artists and put the design together and spent hours putting the thought into it. But others are just spur of the moment or predesigned tattoos that he gets just to scratch that itch of needing a new one or because he thought it looked cool.

Has a strong eyebrow game

FUCKING GENKISHI. Oh my god, it was the first thing that popped into my head reading the question because those are a choice.

Would jump off a building

I don’t know why but I kind of feel like Wonomichi would be strangely skilled in parkour and, just a strange headcanon, but I believe he’s pretty close to being as long-lived and robust as Kawahira is…almost immortal. So, I feel like this fits him best in my personal headcanons.

Likes to travel

I actually think that Nana had always wanted to travel, had wanted to see the world and it was something that Iemitsu promised her that the two of them would do. But life happened and they started a family and settled into Namimori and she puts aside a lot of her desire to go explore the world until after Tsuna is out of the house and I do feel like, when Iemitsu is able to turn CEDEF over to its successor or even just take an extended break, him and Nana do get to finally live that promise he made her.

Likes roses

Pantera really likes roses and though he’s largely oblivious to everything, Longchamp actually does make sure she always has fresh roses in her room because he’s gotta take care of his family!

Talks in song lyrics

Nosaru does this sometimes. A lot of the time, when he does it, it’s because he thinks it makes him look cool while other times it’s just force of habit.

Is tol

I know this is a cheat but he is technically a character! Gola Mosca…I think a lot of the time, people really don’t appreciate just how absolutely humungous and imposing and powerful those machines are (except for Mini-Mosca, of course). So the fact that Hibari pretty much single-handedly is just really a badass moment.

Is smol

So, all the Arcobaleno are small in their cursed forms but going a step further to a former Arcobaleno…I feel like, even in his grown-up form, Bermuda was a very short man, absolutely no more than 5’5 and probably closer, in my own headcanons, to being around 5’2.

Would murder someone if given the opportunity

Bel actually canonically does this. It’s mentioned that, whenever he’s in a new area, he goes out of his way to straight up murder the local killers in the area. It’s not out of any sense of justice or anything; Bel’s just looking for a good fight and some fun slicing and dicing of people who the police and townspeople won’t be too upset to find dead.

Had a sad childhood

Okay, I could go with any of the Kokuyo Gang. I could go with Xanxus or Gokudera...but I feel like these points have been discussed quite a bit more in fandom than the one I want to answer with. Because can we all just talk about Tsuna’s childhood for a second? Like, he’s bullied throughout his entire school career, doesn’t really have any friends to speak of, his father straight up abandons his family, and while Nana does try hard, she ends up being innocently insensitive and actively calls him no-good at times and destroys his self-confidence even more and doesn’t really help him with the bullying issues he faces or with dealing with Iemitsu’s leaving or any of it. And then a baby just shows up one day and starts telling him he’s going to put him through hellish training to become a Mafia Boss, even if Tsuna refuses. Yes, Tsuna grows and his life improves throughout the manga but can we please just all agree that the boy has been through some serious shit?

Loves their parents

Now here’s my Yamamoto answer!!! I really, really, REALLY love the obvious bond, trust, and love there is in Tsuyoshi and Takeshi’s relationship with each other.

Hates fish

I think Basil doesn’t really like fish if they still have the head on. He likes the taste of fish but absolutely can’t eat it in that case because it’s looking at him and now he feels horrifically guilty about every fish related food he has ever had in his whole entire life.

Questions everything

I think Ken was a really curious child that learned to shut up during his childhood with the Estraneo’s…but that, once the Kokuyo Gang settles into each other and once Ken realizes that he’s safe to show that curiosity again, that he asks so many questions. Some of them are really, really dumb or mindless or nonsensical but no matter how many he asks, Chikusa never gets too annoyed with him and Mukuro always seems to have some retort, even if he gets annoyed a bit easier.

Would keep up with celebrity gossip

I don’t know why but I can’t get rid of this headcanon that it would be Julie. He’s up on all the gossip about his favourite celebrities, along with all the gossip going on in town. He always seems to have some dirt or dish on everyone, whether he personally knows them or not.

Would make it rain in the club

It’s Aoba because he is the worst person for managing money. He’s always fucking broke because he does stuff like this. He can’t seem to hold onto his cash because it’s almost an impulse for him – if he has money, the money absolutely must be spent.

Likes hugs

Everyone please, please give Timoteo hugs. All the hugs. He doesn’t care if he doesn’t know you well, he’ll still hug you. I just really do headcanon him as being physically affectionate to those around him, especially as he ages and he becomes that cuddly grandpa-esque type of figure where he’s always going to be up for a hug and will probably give you a mint he keeps in his pockets.

Kisses their partner good night

Okay, but when he has a lover and they’re living together, this is definitely a Spanner thing. It’s very much a thing he does so much that it becomes just a part of the routine for him and his partner at night and he won’t be able to sleep well at all without that good-night kiss.

Likes to give piggybacks

I think Lancia really likes children and he gets along with them better than he does most adults. He doesn’t mind them crawling all over him and will happily piggyback them…he’s not above piggybacking a grown adult either, if the situation calls for it. He’s really strong and most people won’t seem to weigh much at all to him.

Likes to sing in the vehicle

Lussuria absolutely jams out to whatever’s on the radio, though he tends to carry around a lot of CDs to listen to in the car as well, all of his favourites. Xanxus refuses to ride in the same vehicle as him for this very reason and all the Varia members threaten to kill him, but he just gets louder every time they do.

Would join the circus

I actually think a big childhood dream of Shitt P.’s was running away and joining the circus to become an acrobat or a tight-rope walker. I feel like she would probably do that too, when she’s a little older and ready to get some distance from the family.

Could be a stand-up comedian

I actually think, despite his imposing looks, that Coyote can tell one hell of a joke. He’s more about situational comedy, telling people funny stories of all the crazy shit he’s seen in his life or all the insane situations he’s gotten himself into.

Has bad luck

Poor Levi. He faces bad luck in universe and in fandom because everyone, including Lady Luck, seems to hate him.

Likes pretzels

I think I-Pin likes the big, soft, fresh-baked pretzels you can get from stalls and such, with extra salt. It’s not something she gets to eat a lot but it’s a huge treat and she likes mixing it up with the dipping sauces they give you for the pretzels, though she doesn’t try the different flavoured pretzels.

Loves the rain

I think I have mentioned this before, but Squalo really loves the rain. It energizes him, provides trickier ground for training, and also soothes and relaxes him depending on the type of rain it is (like a thunderstorm, light mist, downpour, etc.)

Can knock out someone’s tooth in one punch

If Xanxus seriously resorts to throwing hands against you instead of using his weapons or just throwing whatever’s close at hand, you’re walking away with a broken jaw at the very least.

Will kiss someone to steal their wallet

It’s mostly just an AU I have for a universe where the girls get to actually be bad-ass and part of the Mafia world, but that’s actually something Kyoko does in that AU! of mine because she learns to take advantage of that cute, innocent feminine charm of hers to manipulate others.

[justsomerandomfanfic]

Hey! Before I jumped into any requests for a personal match up, I wanted to let you know how amazing your writing is. I love the variety in it and how you stay consistent all the time. A real awesome blog to come across !!

Anyways. Some things about me for a match up—preferably within The Hobbit universe, as well as LOTR, or Sherlock! Take your time with this too. No pressure

• I go by he/they pronouns, am 5'9, and am a trans guy. Autistic as well

• Pretty plain with brown eyes and brown hair

• Very ambiverted! Extreamly awkward and stiff with new social situations, but very loud around people I'm comfy with

• Special interest includes Doctor Who and Total Drama. A big nerd, so to speak, with a huge love for cartoons. Comedy as well. I love stand-up routines and slap stick humor. Anything involving a joke, really. Part of the reason I'm always looking to lighten the room with one. It's a big quality of mine

• Music is a way of life. I never stop listening to it no matter what. When I'm doodling, writing (especially writing), reading, sitting in a car, etc. I'm always listening to something or other

That's about it. Hope it was enough, and remember to pace yourself in whatever you're doing right now. Have a great day :D

Thank you so much for your kind words! They truly made my day! <3 I am so happy you enjoy my fics and whatnot! And thank you for requesting a matchup, I hope you enjoy this as well! :)

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The Hobbit;

Fili Durin:

👑 You met Fili when you joined the Company, bring another magic user, you were brought along with Gandalf and instantly there was a connection between you and the eldest Durin Prince; actually you were good friends with both Fili and Kili, and though you and Kili would joke around and could talk for hours, you were head over heels for Fili

👑 Fili and Kili were huge on making sure you were alright after a fight with orcs or goblins, but Fili would be the one to help you when you got hurt, scratches, bruises, etc; and you, though you were shy in the beginning, you never faltered when cleaning any of Fili's wounds

👑 You even saved Fili from dying after he got stabbed, but you were unable to save Kili; Fili, you, and most of the Company who survived mourned Kili, and you helped Fili in any way you could

👑 Fili later asked you to stay with him at the Lonely Mountain, and of course you agreed to stay, Fili would need all the help he could get after abruptly becoming King under the Mountain

👑 And you stayed with him, making sure he was taking breaks and taking care of himself, as the years went by, you got got closer; in the end, you had yourself a braid in your hair

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Lord Of The Rings;

Merry Brandybuck:

🥬 You met Merry when he and Pippin rushed in to join the Fellowship, and you thought he was quite adorable; and it wasn't long until you got used to the group and almost endless walking, and became friends with Merry and Pippin

🥬 You were closer to Merry though, finding that you had more in common with him; From loving to make people laugh, enjoying music and song, and making sure others were alright; you both were a perfect pair

🥬 With the help from Boromir, you helped teach Pippin and Merry how to swing a sword, and it was a lot of fun; that was one of the events that brought you and Merry closer together

🥬 When the battle of the five armies began, you stayed by Merry's side, the both of you making sure the other was alright; but, an orc had somehow managed to strike you, and fearing you'd die, you confessed your love to Merry, but really, you were fine and just had a large bruise on your side, you woke up the next day

🥬 Merry was there by your bedside, asking you a flurry of questions on whether you needed anything or if you were in any pain, (he even confessed that he felt the same); it was sweet and you couldn't wait to get better and life your life with Merry, peacefully and happily

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Sherlock:

John Watson:

🔍 You met John Watson when you came to Sherlock for help, you sibling had gone missing and you needed a true genius to help you find them; of course, Sherlock won't run away from a good mystery, and John happily followed along

🔍 During the search for your lost sib, you got closer to the Dr., learning a bit more about each other as the days and nights passed by slowly; even though it was your sibling that was missing, you tried to make John and Sherlock laugh, though Sherlock found it odd, John found it sweet

🔍 You did find your sibling a couple of days later, they had just left to start a new life with the love of their life, and upon hearing this made you realize that you were in love with John; this then led to you asking John out in the middle of a rain storm

🔍 Totally worth it though, that night John brought you into the flat, got you new clothes and a towel to dry off, and then the two of you sat and binged Doctor Who; though it was a bit awkward, you both scooted closer and closer to one another and the rest is history

🔍 John is super protective of you, even though you can totally take care of yourself, John will always be there for you, even if it's just to go out and buy milk and eggs; you are so glad and thankful to have John in your life, he is your sun, moon, and stars

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