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lonelym00n · 2 years ago

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The Red Means I Love You

Amber Freeman x Reader

Word Count: 2.8k

Summary: Ghostface is running around and you don't know who to trust. Amber reassures you that things will be okay.

Warnings: Typical canon violence with descriptions of blood. Please read with caution! Follows the events of Scream V. Also, Angst!

A/N: guysss... I did a thing... I'll just let you read and find out.

Title + fic inspired by Madds Buckley's song, The Red Means I Love You

If someone had told you a few days ago that you’d have to watch your close friend take a bullet to the head, you’d have slapped them across the face and added them to Mindy’s ever-growing list of potential future ghostface suspects.

In retrospect, you suppose you were naive for thinking that you’d make it through Woodsboro High without falling victim to someone deciding to take up the infamous killer’s mantle. You should’ve suspected that it would happen eventually, especially considering that three of your best friends were related to survivors from the years prior. That fact alone painted a bright red target on your back and it was only a matter of time until an eight-inch hunting knife sunk into you because of it.

Did some higher deity sew the stars together to seal the fate of you and your friends? Were you destined to die at the hands of the ghost that haunted the little town you’d lived in all your life? Some part of you thinks that yes, this was meant to happen, because a tiny voice in your head always figured the friend group you’d become a part of was doomed from the day it began to form.

Everyone else in Woodsboro had it easy, their parents were present and the killings that plagued the town only existed for them in the form of the notorious Stab franchise. The same couldn’t be said for your friends.

Put a handful of Woodsboro High’s most traumatized students into one group and what do you get? The perfect cast for the next series of killings. Mindy tells you as much when you and the rest of your friends are clustered together in her living room, trying to identify who among you was responsible for brutally attacking the others left and right.

As if being friends with people who are related to the survivors wasn’t bad enough, you learn from Tara’s older sister that she is connected to Billy Loomis, the original ghostface himself. More than being connected, Sam’s his daughter. You have half a mind to notify your parents to start picking out your tombstone now.

You barely listen as accusations fly around the room. How could it be possible that you were in the same room as the killer right now, when you’ve known everyone here your whole life? You were having a hard time processing the fact that one of the kids you’d played in the sandbox with in elementary school had grown up to become someone so sinister.

Distantly, you hear Mindy conclude that Sam must be the killer, that it made the most sense because of who her father was. She storms out of the room and after a beat, you stand up on shaky legs and murmur a goodbye to the remaining occupants of the Meeks-Martin living room. Your head was reeling and you needed to get away or you’d break down and lose your last semblance of sanity.

If there is a God that exists, they must hate you, because you break down anyways. Just outside the house, you’re hunched over, a hand clutched desperately at your rapidly rising chest. Despite your best efforts, you’re unable to chase away the dread and terror that have nestled in and made a home in your torso.

Too wrapped up in trying to calm your irregular breathing, you don’t hear the familiar clunk of boots swiftly making their way towards you.

Though your vision is blurred, you’ve spent enough time around Amber to recognize her presence almost instantly. She’s bent over you concernedly, and you think she’s speaking to you but you can’t hear her over the accelerated pounding of your heart that has arisen from the lack of proper oxygen intake.

Her body firmly encompasses your own and your senses are overtaken with everything Amber. If you were able to breathe, you would’ve sighed at the feeling of security that blanketed over you.

Amber’s hands grasp yours and she presses your joined hands onto her chest, where her heart steadily thumps beneath. At the feeling of it, you will your own heart to match its rhythm. It takes a while for it to slow down but once it does, you faintly become aware of her sweet voice reminding you to breathe slowly, in and out, in and out.

She looks relieved when you finally descend back to reality. “There you go, baby. You’re okay. I’m here.”

You throw your arms around her and sob into the embrace, struggling to ignore the burning in your chest. She rubs your back and shushes you quietly.

“Amber, I can’t do this. I’m scared.”

She presses a chaste kiss to your forehead and pulls you in closer, resting her chin on the top of your head. “We’re gonna be okay.”

You mumble into her chest, “How can you be so sure?”

Practically smothered in her embrace, you remain completely unaware of the ominous look that has blossomed in the dark brown eyes that you love so much.

“You trust me, don’t you?”

You nod, albeit a bit hesitantly.

“Good. I’m going to protect you, I won’t let anything happen to us.”

It isn’t lost on you that just as there is with everyone else, there’s a slim possibility that Amber could be the killer. But out of everyone, you know her the best. Ever since she had asked you out, all shy and nervous and very un-Amber Freeman like, the two of you had been inseparable. She weaseled her way into your everyday thoughts and in turn, you became the center of warmth that thawed her previously cold heart. No one could deny that you and Amber balanced each other out perfectly. For the first time in your life, you found someone you could trust enough to fall deeply and irrevocably in love with. If you could trust Amber with such an intimate and fundamental piece of your soul, you could trust that she wouldn’t be silently plotting your death, right?

Wrong.

Just like Liv’s skull cavity, your heart shatters at the abrupt finality of Amber’s bullet.

Chaos erupts at the spray of Liv’s blood and the crash of her still-warm body hitting the ground. Sam and Richie scatter as Tara knocks Amber’s next shot off course.

The only thing you can think to do is run, so you do. You clamber up the stairs and dive into the hall closet. You clamp a hand over your mouth to muffle the pitiful sounds desperately trying to slip past your lips.

You feel utterly broken, like the piece of your soul that you’d given to Amber was cruelly snatched out of your body and crushed in her murderous grasp. You want nothing more than to scream and wail until you yell yourself hoarse, but you can’t give up your hiding spot. As much as you’re sure that the pain of betrayal outweighs any cut from the blood-stained knife, you don’t want to find out if there’s any truth to the comparison.

You hear two sets of feet making their way up the stairs, one stomping heavily and the other flailing uselessly. You aren’t one-hundred percent sure, but you think the pained whimpers you’re hearing belong to Tara. Which means Amber was likely the one accompanying her.

At the thought of your girlfriend, you recoil further into the closet. You can feel your whole body shaking in fear.

After a few more long minutes, you can hear the familiar creak of Amber’s boots on the hardwood floor. She’s calling out your name and you press your hand harder against your mouth to completely silence the sound of your breathing.

Her search becomes more frantic and the clunking of her boots begins to pick up speed. You reach around blindly in search of anything you can use to fend her off.

Just as you tighten your grip around what you think might be an umbrella, the closet door flies open. You swing with all your might, but Amber moves quicker, grabbing the umbrella and disarming you.

She quirks an eyebrow and chuckles at your failed attempt to hit her. She motions for you to stand.

“Come on, down to the kitchen we go.”

You make no move to get up, paralyzed at the sight of her donning the ghostface robes.

She groans, “I can’t have you ruining the plan. Let’s go.”

Her commanding tone does nothing to move you. You’re rooted to the spot in fear, wondering what fate is waiting for you down in the kitchen.

Amber growls and you flinch backwards as she steps into the closet, towering over your seated form.

“You’re being such a pain in the ass.”

Her hands wrap tightly around your waist as hoists you up and tosses you over her shoulder. You struggle futility, but there’s no chance you can escape the strong arm wound snugly around your midsection.

Amber carries you easily down the stairs and you wriggle around faster, knowing from your frequent visits to the house that you’re almost across the threshold that leads into the kitchen.

You’re placed onto the ground and firmly shoved to the other side of the island. Before you can even think to move, the steel barrel of a gun is pressed into your forehead. It’s Richie on the other end of it, and only then do you realize that Sam is laid out on the ground, a hand pressed into her side, where blood is trickling out despite her efforts to stop it. She looks up at you with sorrow and terror and you’re sure that your expression reflects hers like a mirror.

Amber takes the knife that Richie offers to her and makes her way to a different corner of the kitchen. She jumps gleefully, and if things weren’t so fucked up you might’ve found the sight endearing.

Though the gun blocks out most of your vision, you see two other women in the kitchen.

Gale Weathers and Sidney Prescott. Shit, even they managed to get trapped in this nightmare.

Richie, seemingly pissed that you aren’t giving him your full attention, grips your jaw with more than enough force to leave a bruise. Your resulting moan of pain is insignificant to him.

“Leave her alone!” Sidney yells out and Amber’s knife presses threateningly into her throat, swiftly silencing her.

Richie laughs menacingly, “Sid, when are you gonna finally realize you aren’t in control here?”

He turns towards you and frowns angrily.

“You know if it were up to me, you’d have been dead at the start of this thing.”

A glob of his spit lands on your cheek and the gun is pushed further into your forehead, the force practically moving you backwards.

You’re scared, the most afraid you’ve ever been in your life. Your hands are trembling and you stutter, completely unable to come up with the necessary words to plead helplessly for your life.

“Pathetic,” Richie growls out. He looks in Amber’s direction, “I don’t know what you saw in her honey.”

“She usually has a lot more fire in her.”

You meet her gaze for a second. Amber’s eyes are nearly black, pupils blown wide with what must be psychotic pleasure.

You open your mouth to finally say something, but the sudden smack of the gun across your face shuts you up. You cry out and lift your hands to your face instinctually. Your head is pulsing at the unexpected pain.

While Amber’s distracted with Richie’s assault on you, Sidney makes a grab for a knife sitting on the countertop.

Her actions don’t go unnoticed. Amber reacts with the speed of a demon and plunges her knife into Sidney’s gut. Gale yells out as Sidney crumples to the ground.

With both Sidney and Gale momentarily incapacitated, Richie knocks you backwards, sending you carelessly stumbling back and straight into Amber’s arms. He turns towards Sam, while Amber pins you against the counter.

“Get rid of her Amber, we need to start staging the bodies. Fast baby, we don’t have much time.”

She hums, not bothering to verbally acknowledge him. You shiver as your eyes lock together, hers still full of straight mania.

Her arm lifts up and she moves slowly, tracing the blade against the smooth skin of your face. You try not to gag at the coppery smell of blood that is being carelessly smeared across your face.

She smiles softly at you, creating a confusing juxtaposition with the wild expression that fills her eyes.

Amber leans in to whisper almost lovingly in your ear, “I always knew you’d look so pretty covered in blood, baby.”

You can’t stop the tears from leaking out of your eyes. You’re so distraught, it’s nearly impossible to think straight with how overwhelmed you are. How could this Amber be the same Amber that had admitted to being nervous the first time she told you she loved you?

“Amber, please.” You begged brokenly, hoping the girl you loved so dearly was still somewhere inside the maniac that stands in front of you.

Her gaze softens just a hair and you nearly cheer at the glimpse of your Amber.

“I’m sorry. You know I’d keep you around if I could.”

The relief exits your body. Your heart drops deep into your chest at the words.

“You said you’d protect me.” You feel desperate, there had to be something you could say to snap Amber out of this state.

She pouts and brushes a strand of your hair behind your ear. “I did. Richie wanted you to be the opening kill, but I stopped that from happening.”

The special smile that she always saved just for you spread across her face, “I even convinced him to leave you to me tonight. I’ll be the last person you see, won’t that be nice?”

Your jaw trembles with the newfound knowledge. Amber spared you, but only to prolong your life so you’d die by her hand. Your resolve finally breaks, and you are fully encased in dread.

In a strange mirroring of the day’s earlier events, you begin weeping loudly. Amber’s arms wrap around you in an attempt to comfort you.

She deposits a kiss onto the top of your head.

“I know you don’t understand it, but I’m doing this because I love you.”

Her arms tighten around you and you’re suddenly blindsided by excruciating pain. Amber’s knife is slowly pushed deeper and deeper into your body, your insides twist around at the intrusion.

As you yell out in pain, she shushes and gently praises you, repeatedly whispering how much she loves you.

She rips the knife out of your gut, just to harshly plunge it back in once, twice, and a third time. You feel sick at the squelching that sounds out each time the knife enters your stomach.

Blood dribbles out of your mouth as you groan in pain.

Hazily, you notice that she’s covered in your blood. Your vision is darkening and you feel yourself begin to dwindle in and out of consciousness.

Amber takes note of this and leans closer, her lips nearly touching yours.

“You did so good for me, love. I’ll make sure they cast someone beautiful to play you in the movie.”

With a final whispered confession of love, Amber places a gentle series of kisses to your bloodied lips. She stabs you once more, and lowers your body carefully to the ground as she pulls the knife out one last time.

You lay there, unable to move even if you wanted to. You stare up at the ceiling, it spins around and around and around.

Your ears are ringing. If you could think clearly, you reckon you’d wonder what you did wrong to end up in this situation. You don’t think there’s any possibility for things to have ended differently. Fate was cruel and unforgiving, but at this point you have no choice but to lie in the bed that it has made for you.

The pain is gone, replaced with the silent weight of nothingness. You feel yourself drifting away, and you welcome the feeling. Maybe your next life would be kinder to you.

Unfortunately for you, your peace never comes.

Instead, you find yourself opening your eyes disorientedly. You let out a sharp hiss at the blinding white lights that glare back at you.

Once you’ve adjusted to the light, you finally make out that there are a couple figures crowding around you.

“Wha-”

It hurts to talk, as a matter of fact, everything hurts.

“Alright, alright you’re okay. My name’s Dr. Ford. You’re gonna be in a lot of pain for a while, so let’s take it easy.”

You stare back at the man in disbelief.

Somehow, despite all the odds, you survived.

A/N: ta da!! I'm actually planning a part 2 to this that follows our dear reader through the events of scream vi, so stay tuned! Heads up, it won't actively be about an Amber x R relationship cuz... well you know :'(

Fellow Amber stans plz forgive me for not feeding y'all more regularly.

#amber freeman x reader #amber freeman x you #amber freeman x y/n #scream fanfic #amber freeman imagine #lonelym00n fic

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yanderes-galore · 2 years ago

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I’m reading your Xenomorph works, and I got curious as to how you would think a Xenomorph, Queen or otherwise, would react to a darling who’s on the firing team from the 2nd movie? Like, they go with their team, find them, and after attacking and escaping, is 100% on board with nuking the area. They accompany Ripley to go free Newt, and maybe sacrifice themselves so they can escape?

Sure! To refresh my memory I watched the Aliens kill count by Dead Meat. I'll link it here if you're interested. Aliens is one of the best movies in the franchise to me. This focuses on a new Xenomorph OC, Tip, and her mother who just likes seeing her happy. I do hope you enjoy Tip.

Fun Fact: Alien: Prototype (A book I am reading) described what Xenomorph eggs smelled like. The more you know~

This is an AU of the movie Aliens. It does not exactly follow the plot except for the start.

Sacrifice

Yandere! Xenomorph(s?) Scenario

Pairing: Animal/Pet-like

Possible Trigger Warnings: Gender-Neutral Darling, OOC Xenomorphs (obviously, my bad-), Obsession, Stalking, Violence, Injury, Stockholm syndrome, Alien/Human, Kidnapping, Aliens, Slobber, Scenting, Marking, Intelligent Xenomorph.

"We're looking for a kid? In all of this mess?"

You had already seen many of your fellow colonial marines die. You all were originally checking to see why a colony suddenly went silent. Now you've met something straight out of your nightmares....

They were creatures known as Xenomorphs. Creatures that were insect-like and attacked in groups. They killed your friends... they eradicated this whole colony.

They were fast with sharp claws. They had a second mouth they loved to shove deep into your skull. They even had acid for blood.

Throughout the entire Hadley's Hope mission you had some close calls. You didn't dare dwell on the times you were up close and personal with those things. A full glimpse of their slobbering mouth, sleek shell, and hissing vocals.

You're surprised you lived this long.

Now, you and Ripley were looking for a young girl trapped in the remains of this colony. You wanted all of this over with. Yet Ripley and Hicks wanted to push ahead to find the source and end it all.

Your chances of survival only decreased as time went on....

"We can't just leave her here." Ripley says, turning towards your worried figure. "I saw that Xeno drag her through the water tunnel. The tracker says she's still alive."

Holding your tongue, you stay beside your fellow marines. You might as well help the best you can. You're in too far to just back out.

While you three stroll through the ruins of Hadley's Hope, you're unaware of prying eyes. Xenomorph Warriors hide in the vents and walls, dark skin unable to be seen on the dark walls. Their lips curl back with drool at your smell.

Something about you made them hunt you. The closer you got to their queen nesting away, the more curious they got. They had told their queen about you....

The queen wanted to take you into their numbers, originally for a host.

The young female human was great bait. You were under watch by the queen's drones. According to one of her drones... you were worth keeping an eye on.

A drone had caught you earlier... caging you against a wall. Out of fear, you had tried to talk it off you. The drone didn't entirely understand you and you couldn't shoot it due to being unarmed. Although... your touch was scared yet soft. Your voice was filled with meek fear but made the drone coo. You didn't want to be here. You barely got any kills anyways, you're better with tech.

Your vulnerability made the Xenomorph mark you for later, sparing you after scenting you with a bite.

What happened to you next... was up to the queen to decide.

You had no idea that the bite wasn't a failed attack from a Xenomorph...

It was a message for later.

---

"God damn it, Ripley! Take Newt, Hicks, and leave!"

Your grip on the pulse rifle was shaking. A group of Warriors that have been hunting you stalk closer to your group. Ripley had been hesitant when you said you'd buy time.

"No! We can make it!"

"No... we can't!"

You scream when a Warrior screeches, a quick whip of the tail smacking you onto your back. You shoot the rifle, missing only for Ripley to nail it in the tail... the tip flying off. Another screech echoes through the nest while acid spills onto the floor and on your skin.

"(Y/N)-!"

"LEAVE. NOW. WE'VE LOST ENOUGH!"

As more Warriors made their presence known, Ripley shoots off rounds while fleeing to the evac point. You cry in pain at the acid burns on your legs and stomach. If it didn't eat your skin and bones, it would certainly cause scars.

The Xenomorph Ripley wounded backed off while the two others covered you. You struggle, the gun torn from your grasp and injuring your fingers before you can fend off your attackers. Chitters and screeches fill the air before you're dragged back... deeper into the nest.

You shake your head and struggle. The Warriors notice, chitter to each other, then place you down. You try to flee but they stop you easily.

A webbing like substance is applied to your burns. Then while that thickens, more nesting material is placed on your mouth. It's sticky and foreign... an alien gag to keep you quiet.

Then they continue to drag you to hell, demons obedient to their master.

You can only hope Ripley got what she wanted.

---

When you awaken, webbing is heavy on your body. Your mouth is still covered... which at least means you weren't used as a host. However... you couldn't move.

Despite the gag you could still smell where you were. You were in the Xenomorph nest in a more humid area. The smell was reptillian... and like strong chemicals. Your weary eyes look around to see...

Eggs.

You panic softly at the amount. What's worse? The creature you were next to.

A creature that resembled a Xenomorph monarch or mother of sorts.

Upon hearing your beating heart, the walls move. Warriors come into view to sit in front of their newly caught prey. You can see one of them was the one who Ripley shot the tip of the tail off of-

You hoped they did not keep grudges.

When the queen sensed her children, she turns to meet your frightened eyes. Her lips curl up to slobber, hissing softly. Not... aggression, just... you couldn't even read it.

The Warrior with the tail blown off leans closer, you decided to call it 'Tip' just to tell it apart from the others. You laugh to yourself... you're naming them now? Was the smell getting to you?

Tip hisses before chittering, then looking to her mother. This human's friend had hurt her... but her mother said you wouldn't hurt them. She decided to give you a chance... restrained.

Tip looks over to her sister, gauging how the other Xenomorph reacted to you. You had been marked by a fellow drone, but why?

Mother said you were no host, not anymore atleast...

You were quite a vulnerable human, though.

Not understanding the Xenomorphs staring, you look away. Why weren't you dead? You didn't even feel like you had a creature inside you.

Tip hears her mother call her, the scarred Xenomorph turns to the queen obediently. She wanted her to move you.... Tip hesitantly looks between you and her mother. You were unarmed....

You then feel Tip dig into the webbing and pull you off of the wall. Doing as her mother told her, she holds you tightly and shows you to the queen. You freeze when the queen inspects your wrapped figure before chittering to Tip.

Tip understood it as you being put under her care... you understood it as being dragged off again.

You didn't know what they wanted from you or how intelligent these creatures really were...

You wondered just when you'd die here.

---

You lost count of how long you were here and Xenomorphs had no track of time. All you know is the Xenomorph you've "affectionately" named Tip had served as your personal caretaker for the time you've been trapped in the nest. It was nearly impossible to leave with the amount of Xenomorphs here, too.

Tip, while at first being scared and irritated of your kind for hurting her, had grown attached to this human of hers. Her mother instructed her to keep you fed. Tip soon began to adore you as her mother did.

You were a good catch.

You haven't seen human contact in a long time now. The only contact you had was Tip webbing you enough to curl around you. The bluish scarred Xenomorph cooes you to sleep whenever she feels you need it, claws wrapped around you tightly. The only time you slept was when you passed out.

You felt you were going insane when you thought of the creatures touch as comforting. The alien acted like an affectionate beast, replicating human emotion by watching you. She hugged you when you felt hopeless, she gave you space when afraid, she even reacted positively to your accidental pets.

Tip was a beast you feared, yet could not live without. This Xenomorph had been your only sense of comfort since your kidnapping. That may just be the stockholm syndrome.

While Tip was the Xenomorph around you the most, she was not the only Xenomorph that liked you. The queen herself appeared to enjoy the much smaller human that roams her hive.

You made Tip, a name that she heard you give her daughter, extremely happy. The queen often got reports from Tip about you. You had taught the Xenomorph how to be oddly human with you.

Even as a nub, you saw Tip's tail flick around whenever she saw you.

Your sacrifice for Ripley's safety wasn't your life... it was your freedom. You had been reduced to an alien's playtoy. The worst part?

You didn't entirely mind it.

Escape was impossible without fire or a gun. Your only companion had been Tip, an alien intelligent enough to cater to you. Part of you felt she was different...

Or perhaps you're just crazy.

#yandere alien #yandere xenomorphs #yandere xenomorph

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aclowntiny · 2 years ago

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Foolproof- Seungkwan x Female!Best Friend!Reader

Shoutout to my irl first love for inspiring this…except for any getting together parts 🥲

Word Count: 3738 | Best Friends to Lovers, College AU, some Angst | Warnings: some language, my painfully obvious love for Boo Seungkwan I mean look at him he’s so cute PLEEEAAAASSSSSEEEE

It had been four years. Some would assume there was an anniversary of sorts, but if you were being honest, you didn’t even know what day it was. It didn’t really matter, just that it was early in the year four years ago that you officially met Boo Seungkwan.

You two had become fast friends, the young man introducing himself with great ease and charm, inspiring you to follow suit, and from there it took off- finding common ground was easy for you both. Seungkwan was impossible to dislike, a great singer with lots of music recommendations, the kpop ones being your favorites. He got you into more girl groups than you could count, but you started trying to infect him with your music taste, too.

There was a small student party, just an opening of a new building on campus, and you both went. That night ended up creating one of your favorite memories, the one where Seungkwan taught you how to correctly do the macarena, which you always messed up on, and it looked so funny you couldn’t help laughing as you joined him.

You started to find yourself actually feeling excited to go to class just at the mere prospect of him being there. In that section alone you would always have someone to talk to and share exasperated looks about the professor with. In a rare move, you initiated a study get-together just to get closer to him, and somehow it actually worked. The two of you were the longest ones to stay, and you ended up talking about books and movies and majors and slipping on banana peels far longer than you pored over your drafts.

You went to his performance in the music building, clapping and congratulating how amazing he did. He wasn’t expecting you to bring him a small bundle of flowers, but the way he lit up when you gave it to him was worth it.

Getting him hooked on your favorite game store was his roommates' bane, but your joy, the two of you picking out cute card games and ridiculous board games alike. It sold collectibles from your favorite franchise, which Seungkwan always threw into every birthday and Christmas gift...except for the one that referenced a comedy song you'd shown him, which you two now collectively referred to as your theme song.

Every trip you planned, despite going on very few, included each other. You guys were going to go to an amusement park, to Japan, to the beach, New York, his hometown on a Jeju trip, you name it. You and Seungkwan hadn’t gone on a one-on-one trip yet in four years, which might have been good for your heart in some ways, honestly.

Since Seungkwan lived on campus, you brought your laptop to the dorms and sat together in one of the common rooms so you could show him one of your favorite movies. You met his roommate, Jeonghan, and plenty of others. The three of you recruited Seokmin, Soonyoung, and Hansol, some classmates of theirs, for a dorm game night that became a weekly meeting. On the biggest nights there were fourteen of you there in that room, some fellow dorm-dwellers just wandering into the group, but Seungkwan stuck by you every time until the nerves of bring surrounded by strangers and established friends faded, your chest loosening up again along with your behavior. Soon, you had a large, eclectic, tight-knit group ranging from a handful of music and dance majors that already had at least perfunctory knowledge of each other to Seungkwan's advertising major roommate, a guy studying journalism, a quiet game design major, a fine arts student, and two business majors. One guy would be finishing up a painting for midterms while another had to calculate his fictional project’s cost risks, but you were all the same when Jeonghan cheated, one voice amidst a chorus of mirthful protests.

You got close to the other guys, but not like you were to Seungkwan. Both of you knew each other’s deepest secrets, all your struggles, and you even admitted you thought one of the guys in your group was cute before you realized your personalities didn’t match up like that.

Heck, Seungkwan had seen you literally at your worst, laying eyes on you in your crustiest state when he brought you ice cream after your wisdom teeth extraction. Tired, on meds, no nice clothes or makeup, probably still swollen, but for once you didn’t care. You were confident he’d see you the same no matter what. He was one of your best friends, after all. You didn't have to be fake. You felt the most yourself with him.

Not a phrase you'd have ever expected to use, but Seungkwan became your tangerine dealer. Every two weeks he'd pay a visit to home and come back with a huge box of them just for you. It got to the point where you paid him to bring some back for your family, too, your parents practically begging you to make sure you secured the citrus.

So many days that you strolled down campus lanes you longed to just reach over and take his hand in yours, having some movie moment beneath blowing autumn leaves where it just magically came together and boom, instant mutual love. But you knew firsthand life wasn’t like the movies. Heck, knowing how affectionate Seungkwan could be, he’d probably think you were just doing goofy buddy-buddy hand holding, not hey, you’re the cutest and funniest and most trustworthy person I know, please date me hand holding.

You’d gotten too many mixed signs to ensure a move like that would be foolproof.

Seungkwan asked you to dance at every event you went to that offered it. He also talked about asking a girl again that had requested him, leaving you shaken for the entire remainder of the 'college prom' despite the fact that she left before he could. You faked a smile when Seokmin invited you to dance, but it never came back the same until you and Seungkwan were in his car driving to the convenience store and chatting about your latest projects, no mention of the girl in the envy green dress.

You told him you'd never worn a suit jacket like his one night and he immediately stripped it off, handing it off to you to try.

He described his type once, saying this or that look on a girl was totally his style, and let's just say it was quite far from yours. It was almost laughable if it hadn't made you want to cry. That conversation was part of why you went through such a giving-up phase, trying to get the attention of one of the twelve other guys you hung out with to, somewhat depressingly, no avail.

But then another time he mentioned an old crush from high school, a girl you happened to have class with, and she basically had your style dialed up a notch.

You did try dating once, determined to get over Seungkwan once and for all, but when you showed up to a formal event maximally gussied and Seungkwan was the one who told you you looked nice, not your boyfriend who barely said hi to you, something in your chest just snapped. The other guy wasn't a great fit, either, and you ended up breaking it off when he picked one too many fights over your damn personality of all things. He told you to get serious once and that was the last straw because he'd had months to see your humor.

The next time your ex passed you by, shooting you two a glance across the crowded resident dining hall, Seungkwan pulled the same gag he'd hated just to show him.

One of the guys, Seungcheol, once asked about the two of you and you freaked out, denying anything and saying you guys were super duper close Just Best Friends. Later, you wondered if Seungcheol reported that to Seungkwan. But if he did, then why? How would that come up?

Why did Seungkwan seek you out for trips and hangouts and calls like that? Why were you so much less on edge with each other than you were in the one relationship each you guys tried? Why did he never do a single thing to pursue more in four freaking years? Then again, you did tell him you thought Chan was cute before you realized you couldn't keep up with his lifestyle. Too 'work hard, play hard'. You were used to someone who just wanted attention, something you were happy to give when they were as dynamic, hilarious, and deep down so caring as Seungkwan. But that was beside the point.

God, you wish you hadn't hammered in the point of your friendship so hard with Seungcheol. Had that been the moment that ruined everything? Had not confessing on that one phone call where Seungkwan went off track talking about his upcoming Lotte World trip before you could get around to it been the moment that ruined everything? Had feeling so comfortable, showing even the very inner, more damaged layers of your shell been what ruined it all? Or had there simply been nothing to ruin?

Every time you thought you were done, whether you thought you could be happy with someone or he could and that meant case closed or even that you could put everything you felt in a box and take his smile just as a testament to your friendship, something would happen to make you question what was really going on inside his head or make your heart beat a mile a minute. Even something as simple as going on a thirty-minute drive, eyes scanning Seungkwan's side profile as he talked, feeling a great urge to just kiss him right then and there.

Moving on would get harder, you assumed, when others started to learn. It hadn't exactly been intentional, at least not on your part, but one day you had met Minghao, the arts major from your chaotic game group, for lunch and he'd brought up Seungkwan, one of the biggest connections you two had. Ok, that was fine, just a normal conversation, until that is he dropped a bomb in the form of a very choice phrase.

"If you did that, he would be so happy he'd kiss you," Minghao had joked, eyes rolling a bit as his naturally infectious smile widened.

Your very natural, instinctual, practically biological at this point, reaction to any jokes about you and Seungkwan that anyone made was a deeply transparent glare your eyes melted into before your brain even computed it. Indeed, you felt it before you considered it, but by the time you willed your face to return to normal Minghao was staring at you with raised eyebrows.

"Oh."

"What?"

"You, uh, have feelings for him, don't you?"

"Maybe I was grossed out by your joke," you feigned, pointing accusingly at Minghao with your chopsticks.

Those darn eyes of him were like swords stabbing straight into your soul. "Were you?"

"No," you broke down, melting into a stream of sweet, sad, funny, and everything in between words of your messy failed love and how bad you wanted closure, but not if it came at the cost of losing or disconcerting one of the closest people in your life.

Soon you were sobbing, Minghao sliding out of his bench seat and into a spot at your side, where he pulled you close. You felt tears soak into the chilled fabric of his scarf, but he didn't seem to mind, silently rubbing circles into your back for a few moments before he gently spoke.

"Seungkwan talks about you all the time, you know. I think even if he couldn't return those feelings, it would take a lot worse for him to stop being your friend. He doesn't cut people off easily, you know that."

"I do," you agreed, "he hates it when people do that."

"Then why do you think he'd do it to you, the person he so clearly wants at everything you can be?"

"I-" You inhaled shakily. "I don't know. I've been rejected a lot. I even asked one of the guys out and he turned it into a group hangout."

"Is that why we went bowling instead of-"

"Yes," you muttered into his scarf.

"I really think you need to talk to Seungkwan."

"About everything?" Peeling your face back out of the scarf, you felt a chill breeze lap at the tears drying on your cheeks. "Why?"

"If nothing else because he's standing like twenty feet away giving me a really weird look I've only seen him give Chan, and that has only been since Bowling Night."

"Oh, God, does he think-"

"I don't know, but here," Minghao replied, pulling a handkerchief out of his pocket. Leave it to him to have a beautifully embroidered ruby handkerchief in his pocket instead of a pack of Kleenex crushed beneath everything else in his backpack like every other college student.

"Thanks. Wish me luck."

"I don't believe in luck."

"Gee," you drew another shaky breath, rising unsteadily to your feet, "thanks."

"I believe in fate," Minghao smiled.

Art majors. You felt your eyes squinting in a half-glare before willing your defensive brain to be kind. Dabbing at your eyes, you attempted a wobbly smile, nodding and giving him one last thanks before wandering miserably over to Seungkwan. You couldn't help but crack a smile and chuckle at the way he cocked his head on you, the sound of mirth cracking into a sob because you hadn't fully exited cry-mode.

"Whoa, what's wrong? Or was that good crying? Did Minghao just confess? I gotta say, you and Minghao. Quite the surprise, I kind of would have seen you going for Seokmin or Soonyoung since they're funny and go better with-"

At all that, the floodgates opened again and you just strode off, sobbing. He was practically throwing you at all the other guys. You got it. Maybe that was the closure you needed, though if it was, why did it have to sting like ice piercing your lungs?

You always knew it would, though, if it came to it.

"(y/n), wait! Whoa!" Jogging to catch up with you, Seungkwan physically stopped you from walking, grabbing you by the shoulders and making you face him before he pulled you into a hug. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. What did Minghao say to you?"

"Nothing."

Seungkwan's face hardened in a way you'd never seen before, not even when the guys teased him in the ways he hated the most. "Did he hurt you? I love Minghao, but I swear if he said anything that ruined your day I'll punch his lights out."

"No," you shook your head, "no, please. We were just talking about something he thought I should do is all."

"Ok, so he didn't reject you and you're not dating? Good. Great first step."

Shoving the arts student in question's handkerchief back in your pocket, you raised an eyebrow. "Good?"

"Well, er, I mean, that is... you... you can date Minghao. Like, if you want to. I was surprised, but it's not a bad thing, like he's a good guy and all, just really quiet for someone who screams her head off during improv games and takes approximately point five seconds to initiate whipped cream fights."

Another shaky laugh, this time not quite fading into sobs. "Yeah, no. I don't want to date Minghao."

"Good. Great."

There they were again, those little things that got your hopes up. How well Seungkwan knew you, how deeply he was aware on whatever level that you two went together like peanut butter and jelly, how he could always make you laugh, how he seemed freaking glad you weren't getting yourself into a relationship. But if he wanted one, why didn't he say anything?

"Why do you keep saying that?" You burst out.

"What?"

"Good, great, all that," you turn slightly away from him.

He reaches over and straightens the collar of your jacket, yet another of the little caring motions you'd fallen in love with. A small way he touched you when he didn't have to. When his hands fell away, though, his jaw set, eyes fluttering closed as if in pain, like your words were a slap.

"I- I'm sorry, (y/n)."

"You don't have to be sorry," you sigh, "I just...wanted to know what that meant, I guess."

He blinked. "I know I'm one of your best friends and that's all you see me as- heck, I'm probably like a brother to you- but I admit I have a hard time with the idea of you going out with someone who isn't me. My mom told me I needed to realize I was in love with you when I apparently 'constantly talked about only you forever'," he began, making air quotes as he imitated Mrs. Boo, "but ever since I did I can't help but see the guys as threats. Especially Chan, because, well you know. I know what they say, though: you have to let them go. So whoever it is, as long as they're good, I just want to see you smile forever. Even if that's not Minghao or any of the guys. I care about you so much, (y/n), and when you said you wanted to be friends forever it touched my heart because I want the same. I really, really do. Maybe I didn't want to say that all for so long because it would have made it real, you know?" He asked with an awkward chuckle.

Holy shit. This time, your brain overrode your face, preventing a smile in favor of a shout. "I KNEW IT!" You exclaimed. "I knew saying that to Seungcheol was a bad idea! I didn't trust him with my feelings for you because he'd spill, but then why would my dumb ass trust him with a lie? Oh my God, I'm going to kill him. I thought I wasn't your type, so I just... it just seemed easier to hide them. Oh, my God!"

Seungcheol was a scapegoat for all the nights you'd spent cursing yourself, calling yourself stupid for not moving on when you'd gotten this or that sign, for believing this or that sign to the contrary, for hanging onto every last shred of hope that that extra-long hug might have meant something.

"Your feelings?" Seungkwan questioned, hands still on your shoulders as his head returned to its studying tilt. "I thought we were doing mine."

It sounded like a cry for attention, but you knew Seungkwan too well for that. Your face fell, and panicking he cupped your chin and pulled you up, only to see you shaking your head and half-sardonically, half-deliriously, laughing. What the heck were you guys doing? None of this felt real. He'd only processed one thing, and that was getting his confession out there. "I think our feelings might be the same," you reiterated.

"What do you..." Head un-tilted. Eyes wide. Grin increasing. "You were lying?"

"That's the first time I've seen you so happy about filthy deceit before."

"Hey, you told me you weren't going to use that phrase anymore," he pouted. Yep, even in the middle of all that, he was sensitive to the memes he'd made in the group. That was Boo Seungkwan for you, presentations class ace and funniest non-comedian you'd ever met.

"Sorry, it was too funny, Jeonghan loved when you said it then and he still does. Just like me to you," you added, trying to get him back on topic. You were not about to have another Lotte World Phone Call Debacle.

"You love me?" The hand that was under your chin slid to your cheek.

You nodded. "I can't believe it wasn't obvious by, well, everything. When I look at you I can feel the change in my eyes. They have to look different when they fall on yours versus anyone else. They feel twice their size and like they must have that anime shine in them."

"That's...one of the sweetest things I've ever heard."

"Well," you give your first full, genuine smile since bursting into tears on Minghao, "it's true. You make me feel like my fullest self. That's why I always seek you out. I'm scared to sing in front of people, but with you I'll belt out whatever we play. You know things about me my own parents don't even know, and that's because you've given me nothing but reason to trust and value you like you have me."

"Wow," Seungkwan sighed, sniffing, "I...I can't believe I got so lucky, I just..."

The moment he trailed off, you took a hold of his cheek, too. "Hey, whoa now, don't you start crying too, I'll do it again."

"And we don't want that."

You'd cried countless times over your feelings toward Seungkwan for almost exactly four years, though there was no anniversary. You hadn't known how important that day in class would become to you, despite how many times you'd thanked it now. Typed out paragraph upon paragraph about how no one else makes you feel quite as yourself, quite as at home, as the man from Jeju who loved hosting game nights at every opportunity. The man who would never look at a girl like you. You'd tearfully imagined how he'd reject you, how he'd accept you, if your confession would burst out during your first fight like in a movie, if you could ever have that moment in the autumn light you'd always imagined.

Well, it wasn't autumn, in fact it was a cold January day you'd more than shivered through on the lanes between each building, those falling leaves long died away and crumbled into the dirt. The trees looked like sticks, your cute outfits hid under your coats, and sometimes your nose ran. Surely it was right now after all your eyes had done. But somehow, as you looked at Seungkwan, all of that was more beautiful than every red and gold that could have drifted on the wind.

"No, we don't, do we?"

Seungkwan leaned a little bit closer. "I know we're both, like, totally crying, but I think it's safe to say we both know what we do want?"

Tears on tears cancelled out. Mingled, even, like debts paid.

#seventeen #seventeen imagines #seventeen reactions #seventeen x reader #seventeen scenarios #seungkwan #seungkwan x reader #seungkwan x female reader #female reader #best friends to lovers #college au #angst

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strangethings-everywhere · 2 years ago

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Before You Go // Ethan Landry // Ch.2

Masterlist Word Count: 1277 Warnings: swearing, depictions of violence and harm, trauma Author's note: I've written so much of this fic already and it's been two days, I am on a ROLL

After moving to New York with your friends after the Woodsboro killings, you try to leave all of it behind you and start over. You become friends with Ethan Landry, but after Ghostface returns, you start to become suspicious of everyone, especially him.

Turns out you weren’t the only one who had an encounter with Ghostface in the forty-eight hours after the frat party. You had gone to the sleepover at the Carpenter’s apartment and decided to skip class the next day, electing to stay in your room watching Golden Girls.

Tara and Sam had barely made it out of a bodega alive after seeing Ghostface on the street. Not only that, your film teacher had been gutted in an alley by one of your classmates.

Mindy and Anika had dragged you out to the quad for a mandatory meeting, but you could barely concentrate on what they were saying. Your body felt numb and your hands hadn’t stopped shaking since your conversation with Ghostface. Memories of your last encounter with the faceless killer kept flooding your mind despite your best attempts to forget.

The three of you were the last ones to arrive. Sam and Tara looked exhausted, Quinn and Chad were bickering about something, and Ethan was scrolling on his phone. You sat next to Ethan, who gave you a small smile.

“Listen up nerds, as terrifying as it is, I’m glad I get a chance to redeem myself for not calling the killers last time.” Mindy stood in front of the group with a determined look on her face. You let out a sigh; it was time to hear the rules once again. “The way I see it, they’re making a sequel to the requel.”

“What’s a requel?” Anika asked. Mindy shook her head.

“You’re beautiful, save the questions for the end.”

“Hold on.” You raised a hand. “Are they trying to copy the movies now?”

“Yes, that makes sense. We are in college now.” Mindy nodded. “Y/N, you know what I’m talking about.”

You stood. “Well, let’s think about this. This isn’t just a sequel anymore.”

“Wait why?” Tara asked.

“This is a mother effing franchise.” You began to pace back and forth. “Bigger budget, bigger cast, bigger EVERYTHING. I mean Tara and Sam just got chased through the streets of NYC and he shot up a fucking bodega. This is more violent, more bloody. They need to make a statement.”

“Yes, exactly!” Mindy clapped. “We’ve got new characters to round out the suspect list or the body count,” she pointed at Ethan, Quinn, and Anika, “and now legacy characters are expendable, brought in just to be killed off in some cheap bid for nostalgia. It’s not looking good for Kirby or Gale. Even…”

Everyone turned and looked at Tara and Sam. “Guys,” You took a deep breath. “Even Tara and Sam aren’t safe anymore. Anyone could go.”

“Wait,” Ethan glanced up at you. “Am I in the friend group?”

“Yeah.” Mindy nodded.

“Am I a target?”

“Mhmm.”

“Am I… am I gonna die a virgin?”

You snorted and Chad gave him a weird look. “This also means that you newbies are automatically on the suspect list.”

“Why am I a suspect? Just because I’m randomly Chad’s roommate?” Ethan looked offended.

“No offense, but the roommate lotteries can be juked.” You shrugged and took a seat next to him. “We’ve just got to cover all our bases.”

As Mindy continued tearing into the others, you tried to steady your hands and breathing. Despite your extensive knowledge of horror films, knowing the rules for surviving a slasher movie never boosted your confidence. You all knew the rules last time and it didn’t make a difference.

“Y/N?” Your head snapped up at Ethan’s voice. Mindy had finished her spiel and the others were getting up to go their various ways. “Are you alright?”

“Yeah, this just fucking sucks.” You let out a shaky sigh. “I really hoped it was over.”

Ethan slowly took your hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze. “I’m sure it’ll be okay. You beat him once before, you can do it again.”

“I just hate that he keeps coming back. I’m just so scared.” You could feel a sob building up in your throat. “I barely made it the last time and I don’t want to be looking over my shoulder for the rest of my life.”

“Can I, uh, can I ask what happened to you, last time?”

It was the night of Amber’s party and you were having a great time. Unfortunately, you were also standing in the living room when Amber pulled out a gun and shot Liv in the head. After that, everything went to shit.

You ran as fast as you could up the stairs and dove into one of the bedrooms, locking the door behind you. You could hear someone on the stairs and you desperately began searching for something to protect yourself.

“Y/N, where are youuuuuuu?” Ghostface called, his scratchy voice filling your body with terror. “I’m coming to kill you first!”

“Shit.” You took one of the chairs and shoved it under the doorknob, then slid under the bed with a pair of scissors from the nearby desk. Time seemed to slow down as you listened for Ghostface, your heart beating faster and faster.

Something hit the door and you slapped a hand over your mouth, trying desperately to muffle your cry. Ghostface kicked the door again and again until the chair fell and hit the ground with a bang.

“I know you’re in here.” You watched as his boots stepped into the room. You began to shake, tears streaming down your cheeks. “C’mon Y/N, come out and play.”

Suddenly, a hand closed around your ankles and yanked you out from under the bed. It was Richie, a sadistic grin painted on his face as he lunged at you with a knife. You let out a scream and plunged the scissors into his shoulder as hard as you could.

“OW, FUCKING BITCH!” Richie bellowed and stabbed the knife into your hip.

Pain washed over your body as Richie continued to stab you over and over. You screamed as loud as you could and tried to kick him off, but he was stronger than you. Finally, you slammed your knee in between his legs, managing to distract him long enough to escape. You pulled yourself to your feet and ran.

“HELP!” You wailed, nearly falling down the stairs. Blood soaked your clothes and skin, pain radiating through you with every step. You could see Sidney in the foyer and she ran to you. “It’s Richie and Amber, he tried to kill me.”

“I know sweetie, it’ll be okay.” Sidney wrapped her arm around you and pulled you to the front porch. “Stay outside, I’ll take care of them.”

When the ambulance arrived, you were lying in a pool of your own blood, barely conscious. You had been stabbed twelve times in the legs, hips, and abdomen. It was a miracle that you and Chad had made it out alive. If they had been any later, you would’ve bled out and died.

By the time you finished your story, your cheeks were wet with tears. It had been a while since you’d told anyone what had happened to you. A twinge of pain radiated from your left side, where most of your scars were. Every once in a while, the wounds would ache.

“Y/N, I’m so sorry that happened.” Ethan wrapped his arm around your shoulders and you gladly leaned into his embrace. “I won’t let that happen to you again.”

“Thanks, Ethan,” you sniffled, “you’re a good friend.”

He smiled. “Of course. Friends don’t let friends get attacked by Ghostface.”

Despite everything, you believed him. Nothing would happen to you while Ethan was around and for once, you felt a little safer.

#ethan landry #jack champion #scream 6 #scream franchise #ethan landry x reader #ethan landry imagine

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talesofsonicasura · 1 year ago

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Glitch in the Relics Shenanigans

Hey there everybody. I'm back with FE Reader shenanigans and this time we're dwelling into the world of Knack. Gonna be quite a doozy as our heroes have more than just technology to contend with. Simple or unconventional weapons tend to be used a lot in this particular franchise. Let's get started.

Between the three iterations, Fatal Error Reader here remains mostly chill in temperament. They are still snippy and a bit snide about the situation. It leads to counter snark whenever someone says or does something stupid. Mostly and harshly at Viktor.

The entire team didn't fully trust FE Reader at first. Understandable when the human now virus had hack and emerge from Viktor's security drone. I can imagine they have a very advanced firewall to handle viruses. Something Doctor is aware of since he does have history with Viktor.

There were definitely questions when Reader says they used to be human. Ones that wouldn't have much answers since the living virus is still confused about the situation. Viktor doesn't care about it though.

The billionaire already saw FE Reader as an unwanted pest even moreso when it comes apparent that their abilities expand further than crashing programs. Doctor, Ryder, and Lucas are willing to give the virus a chance. Knack is a mesh of friendly curiosity.

FE Reader's strange abilities doesn't really faze him since he's just as abnormal. Also it is quite obvious that they have no idea about their potential powers either. Like the general freakout upon realizing virus' stomach turn out to basically be a pocket dimension when they had accidentally lost the communicator inside.

He does his best to make sure FE Reader doesn't feel alone throughout the entire journey. Even when they both accidentally find out the virus could hitch a ride inside his chest orb. It did feel weird as Knack heard FE Reader inside his head and they can partially merge with his body to assist him. (Think of the CO-OP Knack fusion from Knack 2.)

Everyone obvious freaked out when FE Reader practically became a hooded cape like shroud over Knack's upper body. His face seen inside their jaws akin to him wearing a helm, the viral upper arms entangle around the golem's own that they were now larger while the lower limbs remains normal and their body overlap his in a plasma state without obscuring the relics. It felt even more awkward speaking due to their voices being mixed together.

Doctor: Incredible... Are you two alright?

FE Knack::I- We're fine other than feeling so tingly. Like just had six straight shots of the most intense expresso/black coffee combo strong.

Ryder: That actually sounds worse than what the Doctor makes for his longer projects.

Doctor: Hey! My preference to get enough caffeine to complete my inventions isn't that bad.

Lucas: Not when it's stronger than three energy drinks. -_-

Despite the oddities between each other their kinship is very strong. Reader often storing any relics they find in their pocket space so Knack can defend himself better or communicate vocally if he's small. It isn't uncommon to see the virus napping inside the golem's chest orb, evidence being soft red data 'flakes' ebbing off it. Knack and Reader are protective of each other, moreso the latter who will share their ire if the former is mistreated.

FE Reader: Call him a pet one more time then you'll quickly find a gag sewn inside your throat and a muzzle glued to that sad excuse for a face, Viktor.

Lucas: That's much more extreme than what I had in mind. Any tips?

FE Reader is gonna be quite an influence on Lucas. They are happily willing to hear him out whether it be his ideas or opinions. Even moreso that he's part of the group decisions tends to be sidelined for his age.

Doctor documents any info that revolves around Reader's powers and mannerisms. He is given permission as the former human wants to understand their new body without accidentally hurting anyone. Although they'll pull Vargas back if he goes a bit overboard.

Ryder is there for the ride and hopefully keep things civil in the group. When it comes to FE Reader, he helps in wherever he can. Simple advice and of course warnings on what machinery is fragile to errors.

FE Reader ends up going into the Goblin Village thus separated from Lucas and Knack. Or living virus tries to keep three unarmed people alive throughout a heavily fortified fortress. Not a fun experience especially when said virus loses their temper.

When canon Fatal Error looses his temper, he takes on Critical form. More powerful, more monstrous, and even more eager to tear apart who garners his rage. Same goes for FE Reader albeit with a chaotic buckwild attitude instead.

You can sum it as a walking hurricane of viral code. They'll need to constantly feed on energy or data in order to sustain Critical mode should their rage wane enough. FE Reader will be exhausted afterwards.

They seem to have a peculiar reaction to Giant Relics or exposure to large quantities of relic energy. One such instance would be immediately going Critical just by touching the giant relic in Viktor's Mansion.

Whatever connection they may have to these particular artifacts are still unknown. It will put Fatal Error Reader and those they care about in the crossfire for those with bad intentions. Whether they be humans, goblins or something else.

It'll take more than crashing a few systems to tackle this particular threat. That won't stop this living virus from trying. It's delete or be deleted.

That's it for now! Untill next time folks, I'll see on the next expedition. Ciao!

#sonicasura #tales of sonicasura #knack #knack ps4 #ps4 knack #knack series #knack 2 #knack 1 #knack x reader #knack imagines #reader insert #fatal error!reader #fatal error reader #fatal error exe #fatal error #sonic exe #sonic.exe

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vavuska · 6 months ago

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I think that taking real cases of people that claim demons forced them to kill their family and friends, and turning those cases in horror movies with impressive special effects and “real” scenes of demonic possession, is immoral and dangerous for all the people involved: not only for victims but also for the murderers, people with mental health problems, that have been fooled by frauders who didn't let them having a good defence in the court and been helped by mental health professionists.

In many of this movie the loose “based on real events” hook is used to validate the fearful notions of a real Satanist threat against the societal order and the public's safety – a notion reconnecting with the “Satanic panic” of the 1970s and 1980s, when false allegations of horrific acts by outside groups—including cannibalism, child murder, torture, and incestuous orgies— placed minorities in the role of the “Other”, as well created a scapegoat for complex problems in times of social disruption.

More over, taking cases of murders and domestic abuses where the perpetrators are priests and family members who claim to been practicing an exorcism, and making them “real” in horror movies with special effects and creative licenses, is dangerous and only contributes to inadvertently root certain superstitions in the minds of the most naïve viewers and contributes to perpetuate harmful stereotypes for people suffering from certain mental illnesses (such as epilepsy, schizophrenia or Tourette's syndrome). Furthermore, it is disrespectful to the victims, who have had to suffer for the abuses of ignorant relatives instead of receiving a real help.

Movies I was talking about:

1. Amytiville Horror franchise

Ronald DeFeo Jr. was found guilty of killing his parents, two brothers and two sisters in their home in Amityville, New York, on Nov. 13, 1974.

DeFeo has offered so many accounts over the years, but the one that has sustained the test of time is that he and he alone murdered his whole family: at one point he confessed, suggesting he heard voices telling him to kill everyone. According to DeFeo’s lawyer, the closest he ever came to explaining why he did it was when he said he felt his family was conspiring against him. Another theory was that he was after his father’s $200,000 insurance policy.

The jury that convicted him didn’t buy the insanity defense offered by his lawyer, William Weber, and found him guilty on all six counts of murder.

About a year after the murders, George and Kathy Lutz bought the house and moved in with their three children. They fled in panic 28 days later, leaving everything behind, claiming they were driven out by demons.

The house became the subject of numerous investigations by paranormal researchers, journalists, and skeptics, including the infamous Ed and Lorraine Warren, a self-proclaimed couple of experts in exorcism and hunting.

Everyone loves good ghost stories, and as tales of the supernatural evolved, readers couldn’t get enough of it.

The story caught the attention of Jay Anson who wrote the best-selling book, “The Amityville Horror,” which has subsequently been adapted into the 1979 and 2005 movies of the same name, while also serving as inspiration for the cinematic franchise that followed. The Warrens' version of events is partially adapted and portrayed in the opening sequence of The Conjuring 2 (2016).

“There was no insanity,” DeFeo wrote in one letter. “Only people talking to Weber about books, movies, about me being possessed.”

He scoffed at claims of supernatural activity in the house, saying once, “There was no demon. You know who the demon is. I am the demon.”

2. The Exorcism of Emily Rose

“The Exorcism of Emily Rose” is based on the real-life story of Anneliese Michel, a German girl who was believed to be possessed by the Devil and underwent multiple exorcisms to try to get rid of the demon. She, like the fictional Emily Rose, eventually died in 1976 — and her family and the priests who performed her exorcisms were put on trial for negligent homicide.

Anneliese Michel was born in 1952 in Bavaria. Raised by a devoutly Roman Catholic family, was diagnosed with epilepsy at the age of 16 and put on various medications to help control the convulsions. However, the medications didn't seem to curb her increasingly erratic behavior, and her family began to look for help outside of the traditional medical field. Anneliese was also treated for depression, tried to commit suicide and self-injuries.

As her symptoms worsened, she developed an extreme aversion to anything symbolic of Christianity, that is quite normal growing up in a family of bigots. She also reported seeing demonic faces, hearing demons talking to her and began compulsively doing hundreds of squats and genuflections a day — 400 to 600 by most accounts — until she eventually ruptured the ligaments in her knees. She also reportedly screamed incessantly and began to eat bugs, behaviors that were not abated by the use of doctor-prescribed medications (which could be a sign of a wrong medication were prescribed to her).

Those are symptoms that were directly aligned with schizophrenia: seeing visions, hallucinations, dissociation, social isolation, catatonia, rampant insomnia and suddenly violent outbursts. Also, hyperreligiosity can be fairly common in psychosis.

Not to mention that she started having “demonic” symptoms literally the year “The Exorcist” came out. Released the day after Christmas in 1973, “The Exorcist” became a pop culture phenomenon, the likes of which the horror genre has rarely seen before or since. Anneliese was known as a social, modern girl and was a university student. She had a boyfriend and frequently hanged out with friends. Being that “The Exorcist” was the most internationally successful film of all time in 1973, she more than likely went to the cinema and saw it with her friends. I think that with her devotion to her religion, fear of demons and mental illness, a movie like that probably had a profound effect on her.

However, the family enlisted the help of a priest named Ernst Alst. Along with Pastor Arnold Renz, Alst set about exorcising Annaliese Michel from her demons.

Anneliese Michel would eventually endure 67 separate exorcisms in her final days and passed away after enduring almost a year of multiple weekly exorcisms. Towards the end of her life, she refused to eat — which only sped up her worsening physical condition. When she died, she weighed less than 70 pounds, and her cause of death was reported as malnutrition and dehydration that resulted from almost a year of semi-starvation during the rites.

In the recorded video of her, Annalise Michel doesn't speak any language she didn't know, there was never more than one voice coming out of her mouth, and nothing supernatural has been proven surrounding the case aside from the testimony of the priests and her parents, who were all put on trial for negligent homicide, and in 1978 they were ultimately found guilty of negligent manslaughter and sentenced to six-month prison sentences, which were suspended, and three years' probation.

Even if it's a fact that the rising fear of Satan in the ‘70s and ‘80s was incouraged by movies like“The Exorcist”, this is also a huge a snapshot of a culture in the midst of ideological upheaval, as we saw in above in Anneliese's case. There was the increased secularization that came from younger generations demanding more than their parents’ hegemonic status quo, but there was also a simultaneous revival of evangelism and modern Christian fundamentalism, which was in part a reaction to that same rapid change and, unfortunately, people were hurted emotionally and physically by this new religious feeling.

3. The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It

This is the third movie in the fictional Conjuring Universe, with franchise stars Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga as Ed and Lorraine Warren. The characters are based on the late controversial paranormal investigators who were self-proclaimed experts in hauntings and demonic activity.

The movie's prologue focused on Trial of Arne Cheyenne Johnson, the first and only legale case in which demonic possession was used as a defense in a U.S. murder trial. In that case, however, the judge ruled that it was not an acceptable defense, and that he would not permit any evidence related to possession (as every normal and mentally stable person would do) .

The story begins with an exorcism performed on David Glatzel, the youngest brother-in-law of Arne Johnson, the 19 years old murderer. (At the time of the killing, Arne had not yet married David’s sister, Debbie, but was very close with the family.)

In 1980, when David was 11, for some reason his family started to believe he was possessed by the devil, which he first encountered in Arne and Debbie’s new house.

The brothers’ mother, Judy, called Ed and Lorraine Warren, paranormal investigators who were made famous by the Amityville Horror incident (murder, trials and fake possessions are a lucky thing for the con couple). Together, the family and the Warrens performed an exorcism on a terrified and emotionally confused 11 years old child. I would talk about abuse on minors performed for religious reason or superstitions.

However, David was really traumatized and suffering during the exorcism and this had a huge impact on Arne, who intervened, yelling things like “Leave this little kid alone. Take me on. I’m here. Take me on.”

The Warrens and most of the Glatzel family believe that the entity that was supposedly possessing David then migrated into Arne. Five months later, they say, it resurfaced, took over Arne’s body, and killed Alan Bono, his landlord, during a fight: according to this version, Bono was trying to bed Debbie, Arne's fiancé. Arne was drunk, confused and told the police he didn't remember anything about the killing.

The trial, which took place in 1981 in Brookfield, Conn., became known as the “Devil Made Me Do It” case and drew national attention, because our boy, the defendant Arne Johnson, attempted to deny responsibility for the killing of his landlord, Alan Bono, based on claims of possession.

Eventually, Johnson shifted gears and pleaded self-defense, aiming for a manslaughter charge instead of murder in the first degree. The jury would eventually rule in his favor, charging him with manslaughter in the first degree. He was sentenced to 10 to 20 years in a maximum security prison.

In 1985, Arne Johnson and Debbie Glatzel got married in prison. Arne was released a year later, after having served five years, for good behavior. The pair stayed together until Debbie’s death in 2021.

Why all this people made this story up? The Warren did it for money, the Glatzel and the Johnson to protect Arne from a long time in prison. Arne Johnson is still faithful to this version nowdays, while David Glatzel and his brothers seems more keen to admit they have been scammed by money-hungry conpeople. They said that the possession story was a hoax concocted by Ed and Lorraine Warren to exploit the family and his brother's mental illness, and that the franchise produced by the Warner presented some family members as the villains because they did not believe in the supernatural claims. The Glatzel family asserted that the Warrens told them the story would make the family millionaires and would help get Johnson out of jail. Unfortunately, the large part of the money earned from this story ended up in the Warrens' pockets.

Although—unusually for the publicity-hungry opportunists—the real Ed and Lorraine Warren were never involved in a satanic day care case, The Conjuring third movie connects Arne Johnson's case to the satanic panic, somewhat validating the notion of a societal threat of underground Satanist activity. (X)

Even if Satanic cults have been a sub-plot in The Conjuring Universe since Annabelle, the Disciples of Ram is not based on any real-life group and the inspiration for the cult stems from the “Satanic Panic” era of the 1970s and 1980s, where misinformed people became terrified by Satanism. Violent criminal cases such as the Manson Family murders, organized by cult leader Charles Manson, and the serial killer Son of Sam spurred on the public's fear. While thousands of unsubstantiated claims of Satanic rituals occurred over those two decades, the Disciples of Ram were written as a fictional demon-worshipping.

Within two years of The Devil Made Me Do It’s setting, the real world saw a rising tide of “Satanic Panic”, that would lead to dozens of school officials, employees, and parents being accused of participating in Satanic rituals which included blood orgies and human sacrifices—with many serving years or decades in prison. It was the beginning of a new kind of paranoia in American life, and it was inspired, at least in part, by the spooky imagery of movies like“The Exorcist” . (X)

As the title teases, The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It, leans hard into the “Satanic Panic” of the 1980s, but with zero recognization that it was a moral panic that was overwhelmingly made up of hype and lies. Instead, they build a Satanist straw-woman, who looks like she could be Lorraine’s evil twin. Played by Eugenie Bondurant, this Satanist witch is a thin, painfully pale white woman with angular features, a prim bun, and a modestly cut but dourly black dress. This bland Big Bad must be hunted down before she leads more nice white Christian men to vicious acts they would never commit on their own. To a very specific audience, this might be deeply scary. Not to me though.

Maybe it’s because I’m a “lapsed” Catholic and I’ve seen the “good men of faith” that I grew up around outed as abusers again and again. Maybe it’s because I turned up for a ghost story and eye-rolled the moment in which the fictional Ed Warren started stumping for more Christian influence in government. Maybe for all of the above, I have no patience for the bad faith argument made by screenwriter David Leslie Johnson-McGoldrick and director Michael Chaves.

Knowing that the “Satanic Panic” of the ’80s was a hysteria sparked by false allegations and outrageous memoirs, which were later debunked. (X), the movie ends with a statement that many cases like this were reported before the satanic abuse hysteria faded.

*According to psychiatrists, “The Exorcist” was supposedly based on the case of a young female patient who was admitted to Georgetown University in 1974 in order to investigate a bizarre ailment, which, in retrospect, was a possible case of Tourette Syndrome.

#vavuskapakage #horror movies #Amytiville horror #the conjuring #the exorcist #the exorcism of emily rose #The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It #the devil made me do it #satanic panic #ed and lorraine warren #ed warren #lorraine warren

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ecargmura · 1 year ago

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Paradox Live The Animation Episode 1 Review - Anime Rapping Show

To be honest, I was never a big fan of hip-hop and I’m still not. However, Paradox Live seems different. Also, the reason why I got know this franchise is that I remembered listening to BAE’s song in the past and was surprised with the sudden usage of Korean. However, what got me hooked into ParaLive was the song “Jumping In To My World” which I’ll link below.

youtube

Other than that, I’m not too familiar with ParaLive in general, so this anime might be a good opportunity to see if I’ll get into it or not. Right now, I’m a bit interested. I love the character designs and the choice of voice actors!

So, from what I’ve seen, Paradox Live is about underground rappers who are invited to partake in a tournament in the mysterious Club Paradox, said to have disappeared ten years ago and then reappeared recently with the location and building being the same. Four groups are invited and the anime shows their lives in and out of rapping. Also, what makes this rap show unique is that they use the power of Phantometals. Not sure if they have them right now, but with the way they are described, it sounds like crack but metal.

The main group is called BAE, consisting of Allen Sugasano, Hajun Yeon and Anne Faulkner. They’re all roommates and go to school together. Allen seems to be the leader of the three as he’s the one making music and keeping the team together; he seems to be a music making geek in a way as he’s the one most excited to meet Buraikun. Hajun is the perfect prince—he’s rich, caring towards his friends, a model and tall. I think what makes Hajun super unique is that he’s Korean. Korean characters are rarely featured in anime, so for them to go out of their way to make him Korean and not a bad stereotypical caricature makes me happy. I love that he uses his rich boy privileges to do crazy things like riding in a limo and entering Club Paradox from helicopter. From the research I did on ParaLive before the anime premiere, I am aware that Anne is non-binary, but I’m still gonna call them a queen. I love their design out of the main three. I love that they’re not used as a joke either. I’m surprised Japan is becoming progressive with how they write Hajun and Anne.

There are other rap groups: The Cat’s Whiskers, cozmez, and AKYR. There are so many characters, so for now, I’ll just say my first impression of them. Regarding The Cat’s Whiskers, I was surprised to see a character like Saimon. Usually, I really like ikemen characters, so to see such a refined and elegant gentleman like Saimon made me feel something. Right now, he and Hajun are my favorites but that might change in the future. Other TCW rappers are Yohei, Ryu and Shiki. Right now, I think Ryu stands out the most after Saimon from the sheer fact that he’s a weirdo and voiced by Natsuki Hanae. For AKYR, they’re a big group. I know that the pink haired boy is Reo and he’s voiced by Shougo Yano, who voices Mafuyu from Given. I’m interested to learn more about this group. cozmez is a twin duo group consisting of older brother Kanata and younger brother Nayuta. They both live in the slums and want to compete so that they can live a better life and for Nayuta to get treatment; the younger brother seems to be ill? Anyways, I think their character designs are the best because they’re so unique! This is how you should design twins! Give them two different hair styles instead of having the same hairstyle but in different directions.

What I like best about this show is that everyone is connected and knows each other’s identities in real life, so it’s not a hush-hush secret life kind of show. BAE are students who attend Saimon’s classes and know that they rap. Shiki seems to know Nayuta. This gives the story opportunities to give each character some spotlight since they’re all interconnected! I just hope that the anime will give me characterization and not just singing/rapping for the next 11-12 episodes.

The voice acting is splendid! They use a plethora of talented voice actors and utaites to make this show work! BAE’s voice actors are Gakuto Kajiwara (Allen), Ayumu Murase (Hajun) and 96Neko (Anne). The fact that they even got utaites for this project really makes it stand out! I can’t wait to hear more from the other characters. Once again, the stand out performance is from Ryu (Natsuki Hanae)’s five second screen time like I mentioned earlier.

The music’s great so far and I can’t wait to hear more! Will they ever perform Jumping In To My World? I want to hear that! The CG’s actually really good! It’s not too stiff and it does feel like the characters are moving flawlessly.

Overall, I’m excited for more! I’m also worried about what Allen’s doing at the end because that does not look pretty at all. I hope he’s alright. What are your thoughts on this anime’s premiere?

#paradox live the animation #paradox live #allen sugasano #hajun yeon #anne faulkner #akan yatsura #cozmez #the cat's whiskers #review #anime #anime review #ecargmura #arum journal #Youtube

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bainofjustice · 1 year ago

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Okay got to watch the dev dairy for lore, and I gotta say this more than anything has gotten me the most excited for pd3.

Firstly I am very interested in what the tl looks like as they mention gaining the pardons but it is also pretty clear from the pd2 dlc tapes the new bad guy is avenging Murkywater so my own theory is that the two versions of the white house heist are canonly combined, getting the pardons and confronting The Dentist/Healer.

Okay next is that I am extremely intrigued by Shade, an old comtact of Bain according to the devs, who swopped in just in the nick of time. I am admittedly not sure I trust her, so far all of Bain's old contacts have been allies to the gang, it could be time for a twist, though admittedly I'm not sure I want that. Either way I hope that like Duke, Bain's other well known old contact she knows about Katru stuff, it'd be hard to have the voice in the ear not in the know. Either way I am excited to learn more about her motives and goals.

Now as for Pearl I am really curious as to who brought her in and why she has mutual enemies with the rest of the gang after all why get involved with fighting a group who was able to take the assets of some of the best criminals in the world and has a shit ton of assianions on their side?

Also oof that Dallas is more somber now, I mean yeah life has been shit for him, lost Bain, lost his retirement and his brother is missing at best and at worst is dead.

Speaking of that I am curious about them implying the assassinaions might have killed members of the gang, my best guess is that crossover characters are the most likely to have met this fate or die during the story of the game since they can't show up much in the flesh anyways so at least they could add to the stakes. I am very willing to believe that the youtubers were taken out before the start of the game by the enemy group.

Also I found it both really funny and sad that apparently the worst time in Wolf's life was retirement but it does add up, he hasn't gotten any treatment for his extreme traumas and mental issues so like it's not like he could go to a civi life, besides as far as we know his family is m.i.a and the Payday gang was the only thing remotely close to a support system he had so like, no wonder he is happy that someone is now after he and the gangs lives and took everyone's money, it means he has his friends back alongside the only form of life he is currently adjusted to.

There is one thing that is on my mind tho... There are rn three main characters that are woman, both extra heisters and the voice in the ear, I believe this is to catch up with the core four being male, but... We need one more so either

A weapons dealer or something along these lines will be a woman

One of the first villains will be a woman

Or... hear me out, this is how Jordan Griffin could still be a main character in the payday franchise-

#payday 3 #payday pearl #payday 3 pearl #wolf payday 2 #wolf payday #pearl payday #payday #lore #meta #talk tag #payday shade #payday 3 shade #shade payday #shade payday 3 #jordan griffin

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graygiantess · 10 months ago

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Thank you for In Hell Together After All, it absolutely crushed me (in a good, painful way). ❤️ It made me wonder what is your history with IWTV/The Vampire Chronicles: how did you become a fan, what caught your attention and what made you want to "stay"?

And also, you probably write a lot of your headcanons into your stories, but do you have any specific headcanons of any of the characters/relationships in the series?

Hey Nonny!

Sorry for the late reply. Covid broke my brain and I can only focus on reading/writing for very short stretches of time.

(I love getting these asks, though, so please no one feel deterred by this, lol!)

I'm so glad you enjoyed In Hell Together After All! And thank you for your ask. 😊

Putting my answer under the break again so as not to clog up people's dash with my novel-length ramblings.

Luce and TVC

I first got into TVC when I was 14, which is almost 21 years ago. My 13yo foster sister and I were completely obsessed with Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

I was aware that there was a vampire movie with Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt and wanted to see it. I have a much older half-sister and the three of us ended up having a movie night at her house. We watched Interview With the Vampire and The Blair Witch Project.

We were all very 👁👁 throughout the entire movie. Then I bought a boxset of the first four books, foster sister and inhaled the first three books, watched the QotD movie and got very pissed off by how terrible it was. 😂

We were like, "Guess we'll always have the books 🤷‍♀️". I ordered TVA, because QotD had left me completely Armand-obsessed, and started reading Tale of the Body Thief.

I don't remember quite what it was, but Lestat says something at the start of TotBT that my 14yo self just thought was so stupidly retconny that I went, "Yeah, fuck that". I think it was something about how he only ate bad guys and that that was somehow in service of Jesus? Whatever it was, I wasn’t having it, so I put it down and never picked it back up. 😂

Then in my late teens/early twenties I followed Anne Rice on Facebook for a while, but I got kinda creeped out when she started addressing everyone with 'dearest People of the Page'. I distinctly remember thinking, "Lady, I'm here for gay vampire reasons, not to be in a cult". 😅 So I unfollowed her and spent about a decade not thinking about TVC very much at all.

AND THEN in early summer of 2022 the YouTube algorithm informed me that AMC was making an IWTV show. I reread IWTV and in October thought, "Let’s give this a go."

I had my reservations because I still remembered my teenage rage at the QotD movie, and I wasn't sure how I felt about them changing the time period and casting 'some old guy' as Daniel (sorry Eric! 🙈).

BUT THEN Jacob came on all, "Dear Mr. Molloy, did you know you can orgasm just from hearing a man's voice? Wanna finish what we started half a century ago?" and my head just about exploded!

This is the second interview?! They’re revisiting it 49 years later?! OMGGG, that's the most genius storytelling move in the history of storytelling! 😱

I watched ep2 right after and then desperately needed to yell about the show with other sickos. So I joined Twitter and started reading fic again (which I'd only really done when I was 17 and obsessed with that wizard school franchise), started writing fic, joined fic-themed group chats/Discords and made a Tumblr so I could (lovingly) yell at other fic writers.

And now I've published over 150k words in fic and there's IWTV fan art all over my house. 😂

So it was really the show that made me come back to stay. It's just thee best TV show of all time to me.

And as much as this fandom can be a shit show, it's really helped me stay sane while grappling with my long covid, which has left me very incapacitated in many other areas of my life.

Luce's headcanons

Asking me for my headcanons has the same effect as asking me for my favorite movies or songs in that it immediately makes me forget any headcanons I ever had. 😂

You're right that I write a lot of them into my fics, which are mainly me exploring my headcanons and asking myself what if...? I have a couple others, though I'm not sure these are really headcanons or more actual theories, though, so I apologize if this wasn't what you were looking for.

- I've mentioned this one before, but Louis and Lestat had a grand old time during their honeymoon phase between Louis getting turned and Louis almost eating Grace's baby. I think people tend to make too big a deal out of Louis being an unreliable narrator but it's a little too convenient how quickly he skips over those 6-7 years. I think he doesn’t like to think about how much fun he had with Lestat just having all the sex, getting super rich and eating whoever the fuck he wanted.

- Daniel isn’t going to give a single fuck about the ethics of killing people in order to survive once he finally becomes a vampire. We already know he’s selfish and a hypocrite. I can just see him fully ready to view all humans as savory inferiors once he’s no longer one of them.

- If show!Daniel ever met Marius, he would punch him in the face. 🤭

- Santiago is going to be SO jealous of Louis's relationship with Armand. I don't care if Santiago and Armand end up having zero homoerotic tension between them on screen, they're fucking to me.

- I'm also a Claudeline truther. Show!Claudia doesn’t need a parental figure the way book!Claudia does but she very much yearns for romantic love, and she did say Charlie was the last boy she'd ever love, and went after the woman when Lestat asked her if she wanted the Mr. or the Mrs. in ep7.

Kudos to anyone who made it all the way to the end of this answer! Your prize is getting to choose if I share:

A) A silly anecdote about that movie night I had with my sisters.

B) A shocking fact that might get me cancelled as an Armandaniel fic writer. 👀

(Though tbh, if you pick B, I'll probably still give you A for free.)

#asks #headcanons

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mitchbeck · 3 months ago

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BLOOMINGTON BISON NAME TEAM CAPTAINS

By: Andy Zilch, Bloomington Bison Bloomington, Ill. - Bloomington Bison General Manager and Head Coach Phillip Barski announced today that Eddie Matshushima has been named captain, and Jonny Evans has been named assistant captain. Matsushima, 30, played the previous three seasons with the Tulsa Oilers, leading the team in goals in the last two seasons. Last season, he skated in two games for the San Diego Gulls, making his AHL debut on March 6 vs. Coachella Valley. “Eddie exemplifies what we expect from this organization and aligns with our values and culture that we are building. We are proud to name him the first captain in franchise history,” General Manager and Head Coach Phillip Barski said. “He has the utmost respect for the game, cohesive attitude towards his teammates, and demands the best from him and others around him. He will not only be a strong leader for our team but be an outstanding member to the community of Bloomington.” The Verona, Wisconsin native has earned 68 goals, 72 assists (140 points), and 133 penalty minutes in 190 career ECHL games with the Oilers, Orlando Solar Bears, Maine Mariners, and Worcester Railers. In 2022-23, he set career highs in points with 47 and games played with 65 while representing the Oilers in the ECHL All-Star Classic. “I am honored to be named the inaugural captain of the Bison,” said Matsushima. “I want to thank Coach Barski and the Hallett family for their belief in me. We have a wonderful group of players, and I look forward to working hard together to achieve our goal of success.” The 5-11, 185-pound forward appeared in 67 career SPHL games with the Pensacola Ice Flyers, collecting 24 goals and 39 assists (63 points) and 53 penalty minutes. In 2020-21, Matsushima helped the Ice Flyers clinch the organization’s fourth President’s Cup Championship. He also earned SPHL Second All-Star Team honors. Evans, 27, played the previous three seasons with the Stingrays, amassing 34 goals and 54 assists (88 points) in 105 career ECHL games. His 45 points last season ranked fourth on the team. “Since the first conversation I had with Jonny, I found maturity, responsibility and a deep care for what he brings to the rink on a day-to-day basis,” Barski continued. “His voice and ability to lead by example will provide a great culture to our locker room and younger players. I couldn’t be more thrilled to not only have him apart of this franchise but as a leader for our club.” The Delta, British Columbia native played four seasons at the University of Connecticut, totaling 37 goals and 42 assists (79 points) in 106 collegiate games. “I’m grateful to be named to the leadership group of the Bison,” Evans commented. “I understand it is a privilege to wear a letter and the responsibilities it comes with. I am prepared to help our group work as one to become the best athletes and members of the community.” Single game seats are on sale now as the Bison welcome the Toledo Walleye for Opening Weekend on Saturday, October 19, at 7 p.m. and Sunday, October 20, at 3 p.m. For more ticket information, visit bloomingtonbisonhockey.com, ticketmaster.com, or call (309) 965-HERD to purchase Opening Weekend tickets. Sign up for the newsletter on the Bison webpage to receive all the latest Bison news. BLOOMINGTON BISON HOWLINGS Read the full article

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secretstalks · 5 months ago

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Anand Kumar, founder of Super 30, predicts that 90% of coaching centers will close within the next 10 years

NEW DELHI: Anand Kumar, the renowned founder of Super 30, voiced his concerns about the current situation of coaching institutes days after three UPSC candidates drowned when rainwater collected on the road and filled the library at Rau’s IAS teaching center in central Delhi’s Old Rajender Nagar. It was brought up by Kumar that students are now considered ‘customers’ of the coaching centers.

Students continue to travel to Delhi for coaching even in the face of the abundance of online content, which prompted Kumar to discuss the future of educational institutions and the necessity of a change toward online learning.

“They can read it; my prediction might be off. However, based on my experience, I believe that 90 percent of these coaching institutes will vanish within the next 10 to 15 years,” Kumar stated.

Currently, the field of online education has barely seen 1% of tests conducted. I have not yet created a curriculum for my online classes with high-quality content. Students can take online classes from the comfort of their homes if a committed group of teachers provides such material, and the benefits of doing so will outweigh those of taking offline lectures, the teacher stated.

Kumar made a plea to the government to form a team and offer complimentary coaching to UPSC candidates. He pointed out that a lot of work goes into creating high-quality educational resources, such as the NCERT books, and proposed a similar project for online tutoring.

“I would want to request the government establish a team and provide free coaching to UPSC candidates. A decent book like NCERT has been written after years of work. It’s the book that I’m praising, not the government. I’m complimenting the book’s writing team. I enjoy reading the books for classes 11 and 12. Thus, Kumar said, the education department ought to devise a comparable plan and introduce a sizable webpage devoted to online tutoring.

In response to the Old Rajender Nagar tragedy, which claimed the lives of three UPSC candidates, Kumar offered his sympathies and denounced the business model adopted by many coaching facilities, pleading with them to put the health and safety of their students above their bottom line.

Kumar recommended that to guarantee appropriate seating arrangements and improved educational outcomes, coaching centers should only accept a certain number of students.

He emphasized that although he has received numerous offers from investors to expand his coaching institute, he has decided against commercialization to preserve the quality and integrity of the education provided.

Despite receiving many offers from investors to sell franchises of my coaching institute for expansion, my conscience prevented me from doing so. I urge coaching institutions to remember that education should not be treated as a business but should focus on continuing the teaching process with the best interests of the students at heart,” Kumar added.

Kumar also brought up the commercialization of contemporary education by pointing out that many coaching institutions now refer to parents as “clients.”

Earlier on Monday, Jagdeep Dhankar, the chairman of the Rajya Sabha, stated that tutoring had turned into “virtually commerce.”

“I believe that the country’s youthful demographic dividend needs to be supported. In addition, I believe that coaching has practically turned into a business; the front one or two pages of any newspaper we open are devoted to advertisements.

“In a country where opportunities are expanding, this issue is becoming a problem. I find it suitable to hold a brief discussion under Rule 176 or call attention under Rule 180. To arrange this, I will meet with the party leaders in my chamber before the zero hour begins,” said the Rajya Sabha Chairman.

Three UPSC candidates lost their lives on Saturday, July 27, when water burst through a tutoring center’s basement in Old Rajinder Nagar, West Delhi.

#news #success

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eqilibriumarcadegameyr1 · 1 year ago

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Arcade Game Genres:

Classic "High Score" Arcade Games:

1.Pac Man: This game consists of simple movement: Left, Right, Up and Down. You play a yellow circle being chased by ghosts while trying to get a high score. You can consume power ups such as fruit and big circles that allow you to temporary kill the ghosts. Pacman's unique selling point (USP) was on TV. There was the creation of an animated Pac Man series in 1982 by Hanna-Barbera. The reason it works well as an arcade game is because it includes a high scoring system. It does this not just from the genuine collectibles, but from the ghosts when you are able to attack them temporarily creating a risk and reward.

2.Space Invaders: Space Invaders is a fixed shooter in which the player moves a laser cannon horizontally across the bottom of the screen and fires at aliens overhead. The aliens begin as five rows of eleven that move left and right as a group, shifting downward each time they reach a screen edge. The goal is to eliminate all of the aliens by shooting them. While the player has three lives, the game ends immediately if the invaders reach the bottom of the screen. The USP for this game had to be Books. Various books have been published about Space Invaders, including Space Invaders: An addict's guide to battle tactics, big scores and the best machines (1982) by Martin Amis. The reason this game works as an arcade is it's control system. The game uses the usual movement keys as well as the new shooting button. This was introduced as one of the first game's to use shooting.

3.Galaga (1981): Galaga is a fixed shooter. The player mans a lone starfighter at the bottom of the screen, which must prevent the Galaga forces from destroying all of mankind. Similar to Galaxian, aliens will dive towards the player while shooting down projectiles; colliding with either projectiles or aliens will result in a life being lost. Atop the enemy formation are four large aliens known as the "Boss Galaga", which take two shots to destroy. Galaga's unique USP has to be through cameos in films such as the Avengers and Pixels. This game also works well as an arcade game because of the visuals and audio being sharp and able to retain the arcade version's look and sound.

Shooters/Rail Shooters:

1.Time Crisis (1995): Time Crisis is a 3D first person rail shooter. The player aims and fires at on-screen enemies with a light gun. In addition, Time Crisis allows players to duck behind cover to avoid enemy fire and reload his or her weapon. The game consists of three stages, each with three areas and a boss fight. Its USP was through mobile games. The franchise released two mobile games in 2009 and 2010. The reason this game works well is because of a control. A foot pedal which performs multiple functions: when the pedal is released, players sacrifice their ability to attack by taking cover to reload and avoid damage. Players lose a life if they are hit by a direct bullet or obstacle whilst not taking cover, with the game ending if they lose all their lives.

2.Crisis Zone: In Crisis Zone (a spin off of the Time Crisis series), the player controls the elite anti-terrorist Special Tactics Force (S.T.F.) leader, Claude McGarren. The game uses the same pedal system to reload and hide; however, the player uses a machine gun with a sight laser and a capacity of 40 rounds. Players take cover behind a portable ballistic shield that is strapped to the character's left arm. The "crisis flash" is replaced with a warning target icon to remind players to hide from a threatening shot, though it is possible to interrupt the enemy from shooting. The USP for this game is probably the Ps2 remake released in 2004. The PS2 version comes with more detailed polygons and textures, higher difficulty, re-recorded voice acting and an additional three-level mission taking place six months after the Crisis Zone Arcade mode. What makes this game work well is Unique Gameplay Style. Crisis Zone retained the signature peek-a-boo-style shooting action from the Time Crisis series. Players could take cover behind objects and pop out to engage enemies, creating an intense and dynamic gameplay experience.

3.The House of the Dead 2: The House of the Dead 2 is a rail shooter light gun game. It includes an auto-reload feature that allows players to point their guns off-screen to reload their weapons without pulling the trigger. Players must shoot their way through hordes of zombies and other monsters while attempting to rescue civilians being attacked. Health is represented by torches at the bottom of the screen and are lost when the play is hit by an enemy or shoots a civilian. Bonus health can be awarded by rescuing civilians and finding first aid kits hidden in crates and barrels. This game's unique selling point was in 2000. Sega's English website held a sweepstakes for copies of The House of the Dead 2 and a Sega Dreamcast. This arcade machine also used guns as the main control system for the game which was rare and this was a hit for arcade games.

Racing Games:

1.Ridge Racer 3D: Ridge Racer 3D is an arcade racing game revolving around cars racing around high speed tracks while drifting. This game's unique selling point was it's release on the Nintendo 3DS in 2011. It was also a good arcade game because of the different multiplayer modes. Versus is a multi-player mode which allows the ability to play against other players via a wireless connection in Standard Race, One-Make Race and Team Battle by either hosting or joining a race using Nintendo 3DS local play. Other minor gameplay types include: Records (allowing the player to view their records achieved in Single Player and check local rankings based on records acquired from friends or via StreetPass), AV player (allowing to watch replays of past races while listening to music of choice), Options, and Garage (allowing to view and modify cars the player has acquired).

2.Wreckfest: The game includes a variety of gameplay features, namely banger racing and demolition derby. The racing gameplay follows the same fundamental rules as most modern racing games, such as Need for Speed or Gran Turismo. The player controls a car in a race or demolition derby, the goal being to win the race or be the sole survivor of the derby respectively. Before participating in an event, the player is allowed to choose a vehicle, select from a variety of assist levels (whether to use a manual or automatic transmission, ABS, AI difficulty, etc.). Players are also able to buy vehicles, customise vehicles, and perform upgrades. The game features three modes: career, multiplayer and custom events. The game uses lots or multiplayer modes such as custom lobbies and different online tournaments with different maps and vehicles.

3.Star Wars Racer: Star Wars Episode I: Racer features a variety of tracks spanning several different planets. It includes all of the racers in the film, plus exclusive competitors. The player character's podracer is equipped with a boost function that the player can activate. While activated, the podracer's temperature will rise, and if the player boosts for too long, the engines will explode, destroying the podracer and costing the player several seconds to respawn and continue racing. The podracer will also be destroyed if one or both engines sustain severe damage from colliding into too many walls or obstacles, requiring the player to steer carefully to avoid falling behind. The player can also actively repair the podracer while competing, but doing so slows the podracer until repairs are either complete or stopped. I would say that this game's USP would be the Star Wars franchise and this would give the game hype. This purely works well as an arcade game because of it's race game and nostalgic style.

Fighting Games:

1.Street Fighter: Street Fighter, designed by Takashi Nishiyama and Hiroshi Matsumoto, debuted in arcades in 1987.[3][4] The player controls martial artist Ryu to compete in a worldwide martial arts tournament spanning five countries and 10 opponents. A second player can control Ryu's friendly American rival, Ken Masters. the USP for this game is a comic book series. Malibu Comics launched a Street Fighter comic series in 1993, but was cancelled after only three issues due to Capcom's disapproval. The player can perform three punch and kick attacks, each varying in speed and strength, and three special attacks: the Hadōken, Shōryūken, and Tatsumaki Senpūkyaku, performed by executing special joystick and button combinations.

2.Mortal Kombat: The original three games and their updates, Mortal Kombat (1992), Mortal Kombat II (1993), Mortal Kombat 3 (1995), Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 (1995), and Mortal Kombat Trilogy (1996), are 2D fighting games. The arcade cabinet versions of the first two used a joystick and five buttons: high punch, low punch, high kick, low kick, and block; Mortal Kombat 3 and its updates added a sixth "run" button. Characters in the early Mortal Kombat games play virtually identically to one another, with the only major differences being their special moves. There are lots of USP's for this game such as action-adventure games, a comic book series, a card game, films, an animated TV series, and a live-action tour. In this game there is a scoring system despite it being last one standing. You can get score by using different combo attacks and trying to maintain it and increase it.

3.Tekken 3: Tekken 3 maintains the same core fighting system and concept as its predecessors. Three-dimensional movement is insignificant in previous Tekken games (aside from some characters having unique sidesteps and dodging manoeuvres), but Tekken 3 adds emphasis on the third axis by allowing characters to sidestep in or out of the background. Fighters now jump more reasonable heights than in the previous games, making them less overwhelming and putting more use to sidestep dodges, as jumping can no longer dodge every ground attack. Reversals, introduced for some characters in Tekken 2, were now available to all characters. New improvements include quicker recoveries from knockdowns, more escapes from tackles and stuns, more moves with juggling enabled, and newly created combo throws. The game's hidden USP was the music. The music for Tekken 3 was written by Nobuyoshi Sano and Keiichi Okabe for the arcade version, with the PlayStation version featuring additional themes by the same composers, along with Hiroyuki Kawada, Minamo Takahashi, Yuu Miyake, Yoshie Arakawa, and Hideki Tobeta. Another thing that made this arcade game work was the new 3D angle implied to a fighter game. this helped revolutionise the future of fighter arcade games.

Brawlers:

1.Undercover cops (1992): Undercover Cops is an arcade-style beat 'em up video game developed and published by Irem, originally for the arcades in 1992. Besides the usual human thugs, players fight strange mole creatures and mutants with jet packs and blades for hands. Players can never use enemy weapons, but the stages contain objects that can be picked up and used instead such as burning oil drums, steel girders, long concrete columns that shatter on impact, boxes of hand grenades and fish. The characters eat mice, frogs, birds and snails to restore their health. Due to its small success in Japan, Undercover Cops also got its own manga by Waita Uziga, which was published in the Gamest Comics series by Shinseisha in 1993. The game was later followed by a Game Boy spin-off titled Undercover Cops: Hakaishin Garumaa. It works well as an arcade game because of it's UI system. This health was advanced because it included the player health, ammo, enemy health and score.

2.Alien Storm (1990): Alien Storm is a beat 'em up shooter released as an arcade video game by Sega in 1990. The game resembles Golden Axe, with a similar artistic style, three playable characters (a man, a woman, and a novelty character) and pick-up or power-up special attacks. The player (one player only on the Master System version, up to two players on the Mega Drive version, three on the arcade version) selects from the three different characters to embark upon a quest to save the Earth from an alien invasion. It's USP was through the SEGA Genesis and it's release on that console. It works well as an arcade game because character designs. These designs are all unique and each come with a separate weapon with a different ability.

3.Zero Team (1993): Zero Team is an Beat 'em Up Arcade Game created by Seibu Kaihatsu (original creators of the immensely popular Raiden series) in 1993. It was published in North America by FabTek later in the same year. The game is notorious for its encryption method on its arcade revisions (a problem that also plagued many of the original Raiden games), making emulation difficult at best. The plot is...about some terrorist organization that has kidnapped a woman, prompting a military special force to go on to rescue her. And...that's it. The player(s) must battle hordes of enemies that explode upon defeat, going across six stages and concluding upon a battle in a hidden island.

The playable characters are:

Ace: The leader of the team, his Diving Kick do the most damage.

Speed: As his name says, the fastest character.

Spin: The sole female member, who has the longest reach for combos.

Big-O: The Big Guy and the strongest fighter.

It's USP is the character design. They colour coded the protagonists so it is easy to identify each character and their abilities.

It works well as an arcade game because of its multiplayer attribute. you can play up to two players.

Interactive:

1.Pinball Machines: Pinball games are a family of games in which a ball is propelled into a specially designed table where it bounces off various obstacles, scoring points either en route or when it comes to rest. Historically the board was studded with nails called 'pins' and had hollows or pockets which scored points if the ball came to rest in them. Today, pinball is most commonly an arcade game in which the ball is fired into a specially designed cabinet known as a pinball machine, hitting various lights, bumpers, ramps, and other targets depending on its design. The game's object is generally to score as many points as possible by hitting these targets and making various shots with flippers before the ball is lost. The USP is Perhaps the most famous media about pinball the rock opera album Tommy (1969) by The Who, which centres on the title character, a "deaf, dumb, and blind kid", who becomes a "Pinball Wizard" and who later uses pinball as a symbol and tool for his messianic mission. It works well as an arcade games because of it's high scoring objective. This game centres scoring points as it's main objective

2.Claw Machines: A claw machine is a type of arcade game. Modern claw machines are upright cabinets with glass boxes that are lit from the inside and have a joystick-controlled claw at the top, which is coin-operated and positioned over a pile of prizes, dropped into the pile, and picked up to unload the prize or lack thereof into a chute. They typically contain stuffed toys or other cheap prizes, and sometimes contain more expensive items like electronic devices and fashion accessories. The USP is Online claw machines. These are claw machines controlled remotely online, with prizes that get shipped to users' homes upon being won. Since the 2010s, mobile apps, such as Clawee in Israel and Sega Catcher Online in Japan, and websites, such as Netch in Japan and the Santa Claw in the United States, have allowed users to remotely use claw machines stored in warehouses in their respective countries. It works well as an arcade game because of it's use of risk and reward. It scatters prizes around the machine and the player can either get a prize closer to the exit or they can imply risk and reward and try to capture a reward further away.

3.Air Hockey: Air hockey is a Pong-like tabletop sport where two opposing players try to score goals against each other on a low-friction table using two hand-held discs ("mallets") and a lightweight plastic puck. A typical air hockey table consists of a large smooth playing surface designed to minimize friction, a surrounding rail to prevent the puck and strikers (paddles) from leaving the table, and slots in the rail at either end of the table that serve as goals. The USP of this game was the fact that it was an actual sport used for many years. It works well as an arcade game purely because of it's use of contest and use in contests.

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prestonplourdprojects · 2 years ago

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Review of Sonic Frontiers - Vandalize my heart

It’s great to redefine our existences and change how we operate, but there are times when doing so leads to consequences, such as alienating a portion of our supporters and creating a product that is rough around the edges. There are a number of videogame franchises that have tried making changes to their formulas and faced harsh drawbacks in the process, and one franchise that comes to mind in that department is none other than Sonic the Hedgehog.

Being the cash cow to Sega that the Mario franchise is to Nintendo, Sonic got started in 1991 as a combatant in the platform-gaming boom, and has since tried a variety of different game styles aside from 2D platforming, such as the top-down Sonic 3D Blast, racers like Sonic R, and of course, the laundry list of 3D action-adventure games.

As everyone and their first cousin twice-removed know, Sonic’s attempt to emulate the 3D platforming that franchises like Mario are lauded for doesn’t have the best of track records in terms of reception. Games like Sonic Adventure were seen as big steps forward for the franchise, while games like Sonic the Hedgehog (2006) were notoriously and rightfully panned. Now, after having a mix of 2D and 3D platforming since 2008’s Sonic Unleashed, Sonic Team has shot for the stars and tasked the franchise with emulating The Legend of Zelda. Put our favorite blue hedgehog in an open-world gameplay structure, and you’ve got Sonic Frontiers.

The story starts with Sonic, Tails, and Amy riding the Tornado towards the Starfall Islands, where the Chaos Emeralds have been drawn to. The stress-free plane ride takes a dark turn as a wormhole appears and sucks our three heroes into it, with Sonic being separated from his friends. After he escapes Cyber Space, Sonic is told by a mysterious voice in the sky to search for the Chaos Emeralds and destroy a group of colossal robots called the “Titans.” Despite being puzzled due to the lack of context, Sonic embarks on a quest to find the powerful gems, solve the mystery of the Starfall Islands, and save his friends.

As previously mentioned, Sonic Frontiers is the franchise’s first foray into open-world adventuring, dubbed “Open-Zone” in this case. Sonic performs his usual high-speed acrobatics across islands that contain ancient ruins, desert sand, flowery fields, forests, and volcanoes to name a few things. As you collect rings, grind rails, and bounce off springs, there are plenty of robots to smash and missions to complete. Missions include things like puzzle-solving sidequests, tasks given by Sonic’s friends, and Cyber Space levels that emulate environments from previous Sonic games. Along with earning Chaos Emeralds in certain missions, you will have to collect Vault Keys to gain access to a certain number of said Emeralds, as well as gears to unlock additional Cyber Space levels. There are also times when you’ll have to collect certain tokens to be able to speak with Sonic’s friends and move on to the next task. When you collect all seven Chaos Emeralds, Sonic will be ready to face one of the Titans in an intense boss battle before moving on to the next island.

Sonic has a barrage of new moves this time around and has cranked the focus on combat up to 11. Along with his usual Homing Attack, Stomp, and Drop Dash, Sonic can deliver shockwaves with high-speed kicks, and zig-zag through the air while charging into his enemies among other moves. The combat may seem repetitive to those who have an aversion to button-mashing beat-’em-up games, but the system feels very tight and fluid. While running, Sonic can use a new ability called the Cyloop to send foes into the air, uncover springs and dash panels that are hidden, and recover rings when he takes damage among other actions. Other moves like the Light Dash and Quick Step also return.

The story for the game has a very emotional and enthralling tone to it, thanks to the writing talent of Ian Flynn, who is known for writing the Sonic comic books. Along with the comics, this storyline reminds me of not only the more mature games in the franchise, but also the Sonic the Hedgehog Saturday morning cartoon. The voice-acting is a big factor of the admirable job the story does at getting my attention, especially because of the fact that Sonic himself is a lot more mature than in previous installments, sounding more like a normal person than a stereotypical surf-rock dude.

Despite cases of noticeable pop-in (At least on my computer), the graphics engine delivers the goods both technically and aesthetically, with little to no slowdown in the framerate. Sonic games have a track record of having very good-looking graphics, and Frontiers joins that club.

Another thing this franchise has been lauded for for many years is the music, and Frontiers’s soundtrack is absolutely stellar and full of diversity. You’ll hear everything from orchestral to lo-fi, and even some metalcore with none other than Kellin Quinn on lead vocals. I’m not the most avid of metalcore fans, but I really appreciate this choice of music during the Titan battles. Whether or not the franchise will continue going in this musical direction in the games to come remains to be seen, but I don’t have any gripes with it.

The Sonic franchise has had its fair share of hits and misses in its 31-year existence, but things are looking up for the blue hedgehog. Even if you’re one of the people that cringe upon seeing Sonic in a 3D environment, it’s imperative that you give this game a chance. The crown jewel in Sega’s roster of franchises may have done plenty of things you hate remembering, but that doesn’t change the fact that Sonic Frontiers is an emotional rollercoaster that you won’t want to forget.

#SonicTheHedgehog #SonicFrontiers #GameReviews #GameReview #GameReviewing

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shuadotcom · 2 years ago

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Familiar Hauntings | KNJ

⤷ Summary: You and Namjoon have worked hard to become expert paranormal investigators. You’ve successfully investigated and exorcised a number of demons and ghosts all over the world and your followers believe in you enough to keep you confident and going. That’s why when you get a call about a family with a teenage daughter experiencing traumatizing hauntings, you and your team don’t think twice about going to help.

It isn’t until you get there do you realize that you may be in over your heads when you come face to face with a familiar evil. It’s going to take more effort than you thought you’d need to get rid of this sinister force before it destroys an innocent family, and even you.

⤷ Pairing: Demonologist!Namjoon x Clairvoyant F!reader

⤷ Film/Franchise: The Conjuring

⤷ Genre/AU: Thriller, horror-ish, angst, established relationship au, supernatural au

⤷ Rating: PG15

⤷ Warnings: Demons and ghosts, violence, possessions, profanity, mention of blood, mentions of death (nothing too graphic though!)

⤷ Words: 10k

⤷ Note: Written for the Bangtan Cinema: Horror Night collab!! Thank you a million times to @the-boy-meets-evil for betaing this in only a few hours! You’re literally the best ❤️ And thank you to @rkivian for this bomb ass banner!! I asked for something spooky with Joon in glasses and Kiri delivered!! 😍

Horror is my favorite movie genre, but I quickly found out how hard it is to write 🥴 It’s a whole different set of skills that I don’t think I have down very well, but it was fun to try - especially to pay homage to my favorite horror series!

I’m trying really hard to finish up my remaining collab fics for the year because I have more writing plans for 2023 so please bear with me y’all!! 🖤

“Ugh, that flight was so much more cramped than I remember,” Namjoon complains, rubbing his sore neck.

“Do we have enough time to grab something to eat before the hotel?” Mingyu questions.

“We have just enough time for a drive-through stop before dropping our stuff at the hotel and heading to the assignment.” Your assistant Jeongyeon reads off of her phone. “The Jacksons live fifteen minutes away so the ride won’t be too long.”

“Hey, everyone, we just landed here in the U.S. Say hi to everyone!” Jungkook, bringing up the rear of your group, catches up to walk in front of the four of you, panning the camera around. You wave, giving the camera a tired smile.

“Jeongyeon, can you tell us about the family we’ll be helping today?” When you’re all in your taxi, Jungkook turns the camera towards the woman as she’s triple checking the address for the hotel.

“The Jacksons, a family of five from New York,” she begins, barely missing a beat. “Their teenage daughter Siobhan has been experiencing what they believe to be a haunting for the past three months. She’s claiming to hear and see things that none of the family saw until a month ago. They experienced the usual: things moving when no one touched them, doors slamming, even voices in the house that aren’t any of the family members.” Jeongyeon pauses swiping the page on her tablet before continuing.

“The last month has been the most troubling. She’s been waking up with bruises and small cuts all over her body. She’s also been sleeping for days straight and the family can’t wake her up. It’s at random sometimes when she’s napping or sleeping. It’s to the point where she tries to stay up as long as she can which she can barely do anymore.”

“Do you think this thing is trying to take her body or something?” Mingyu asks you and Namjoon.

Namjoon shrugs. “It’s likely. Just hearing the story on the surface, it’s definitely something trying to possess her or take her soul. The question really is just what it is and what exactly it wants.”

“They have two other kids too - a nineteen-year-old son and a seven-year-old daughter, so they’re even more nervous that this entity will attach to them too.” When Jeongyeon reminds you of that, your nerves spike. You’ve had to help other families with multiple kids and a demon can try and possess multiple people at once. It makes this situation go from a normal emergency to an even more dire one.

Jungkook continues to prattle on to your audience about New York while you take the time to yourself to mentally prepare not only for your job but also to be mindful of the camera and your virtual audience as well.

At times, you can’t believe the way that so many people on the internet tune into your videos to watch you and Namjoon use your gifts to save people’s lives. You didn’t start online, showing people that you have the power to communicate with demons and ghosts and Namjoon didn’t become an exorcist and demonologist to be famous.

The gift of clairvoyance came to you as young as five. Sightings of ghosts started to be as normal as seeing alive people. It took a while for you to realize that everyone around you wasn’t like you - your family and friends couldn’t speak to the old woman that lived in your living room in your childhood home. No one else could hear the little girl crying in the back of your school bus in third grade; no one except you.

For years your parents were concerned for you and your sanity and you couldn’t say you blame them. Your mom stuck by you though and even today, while she doesn’t know how you even acquired this gift, she supports you. Your father, on the other hand, died a nonbeliever when you entered middle school and even though you still wish he was here today to see what you’ve done with this “disturbing part of you” as he called it, you’re surrounded by nothing but support now.

It did take years admittedly, for you to find anyone who supported you as much as Namjoon though. When you moved to Korea for college, he caught your eye immediately. Something about him was different than anyone you’ve ever met and he felt the same. It didn’t take long for you to share this part of yourself that was private. Even though you’d lost countless friends and partners because of it, Namjoon didn’t even bat an eye when you told him there was a spirit in the stairwell of his dorm building.

“I knew there was something!” He had practically yelled, nearly getting you kicked out of the library. He didn’t have the same gift as you but he could always feel the presence of things no one can see. It’s what made him obsessed with the supernatural and the afterlife, wanting to know more about the things he sensed.

It was when you were close to graduation and you’d been inseparable since your first year that he broached the idea of becoming paranormal investigators and learning how to do exorcisms. You’d never thought about it, but it made sense. Both of you felt as though you can be doing more with what you know about demons and ghosts and so you agreed.

Things fell into place after that. You learned how to do exorcisms from a friend of your mother’s in the church. Neither you nor Namjoon are religious people, so you took what you learned from there and spent another year tweaking it to fit more into what you both believe in. You still remember being laughed at by a former friend who also believed in the supernatural for wanting to do exorcisms with crystals and spells instead of the bible, but it’s what felt right to you.

You felt even more secure in that decision when you and Namjoon performed your first exorcism. A friend from your office job at the time was complaining about her cousin’s son who was acting so differently.

“Different how?” You’d asked and she explained that he’d often sleep a lot all day, have extreme mood swings, and would even talk and engage with empty rooms. He was being written off as puberty and maybe schizophrenia, but something in you disagreed.

To your surprise, the mother agreed to let you and Namjoon visit her son and see how he was doing. She was so desperate on the phone when you got her number from your co-worker. She babbled about how she felt insane at even contemplating something like possession but every doctor she’d taken him to said all of his tests were fine and there was nothing they could do.

That’s how you and Namjoon discovered a low-level demon was possessing the boy. It took you two days to gather the necessary spells and crystals to banish the demon, but with shaking hands and nervousness you still can’t quite describe, you banished the demon within the child. The sheer relief in the little boy’s eyes is still one that you can never get out of your head. He cried, his mother cried, and you cried because holy shit you just exorcised a demon out of a kid.

Namjoon retold your experiences on his blog and on a demonology Reddit forum he frequented and miraculously, someone in Busan found his post and truly believed him, messaging him, begging for his help.

That was your second exorcism. Then there was a couple in Gangnam. Then a family in Daegu. Then came the emails from Japan, and Europe and then in just three years, you and Namjoon were getting inquiries from all over the world. His blog had turned into both that and your website where people could reach out and ask for you to help their spouses, their parents, their children, and anyone that they care about that was being haunted somehow.

The two of you were busier than you could keep up with and you knew you needed more help and more equipment to be able to detect entities more effectively. That alone took another six months of research and interviews to gather a team of people you trusted and could help.

Jeongyeon was first. She was formerly an assistant to other celebrities and idols but left due to the high-maintenance attitudes. She says she loves working for you and Namjoon more than anyone else because you were just normal people who just so happened to have a following and liked helping people. You know that you’re not supposed to be overtly friendly with people who work with you, but Jeongyeon is admittedly your best friend and keeps you in line when you get too emotional or forgetful.

Jungkook and Mingyu were next. They were best friends and were fascinated by demons and what you and Namjoon do, in addition to being fans. When they saw Namjoon’s post about looking for a team to put together, they wasted no time in messaging him to meet. You only needed one additional person to help work the camera and the equipment you could finally afford to buy, but the of them were a package deal and were passionate about one day doing what you do, so you brought them on.

The five of you have been a team for the last year and you and Namjoon quickly found that you now couldn’t be nearly as successful and efficient without them.

With your bags safely in your hotel and the group fed and sufficiently briefed on the family, you pull up to the house. The suburban neighborhood is quiet and the house in front of you is a brick two-story home. The front yard is normal, with a tree in the front and the lawn decently manicured. There’s a small garden and two cars parked in the driveway.

From the outside, the house is completely normal and no one driving by would ever suspect there’s a dark, evil cloud hanging heavily over it that you can feel as soon as you start up the walkway.

Namjoon rings the doorbell and takes your hand, already feeling how uneasy you are.

The door opens only seconds later, a couple looking expectantly at your group. “Mr. and Mrs. Jackson?” The woman nods hesitantly and you give them a smile that you hope is reassuring.

“Thank you so much for coming, please come in,” the husband says, the couple stepping aside and ushering you all into the house. The atmosphere of the home is so cold and frail compared to how warmly decorated it is with knick-knacks and family photos everywhere. Your eyes take in one particular photo showing the family of five standing in front of Cinderella’s castle at Disney, their smiles wide and jubilant.

A stark contrast to the solemn looks you were greeted with.

“Where are your children?” You ask, turning back to the parents.

“Oh, Siobhan’s upstairs. Our son and other daughter are at my mom’s while we, uh… do this.” Mrs. Jackson wrings her hands as she speaks, glancing back at her husband.

“That’s good. These things tend to work best when there are fewer people involved.” The couple shares a look at Namjoon’s words before ushering all of you into the living room. This space is also decorated with mementos and feels just as rigid.

“So, uh, how exactly will this work?” Mr. Jackson asks, glancing at you and the rest of your team.

“Well, Namjoon, Jeongyeon, and I will talk to Siobhan and get to know a little more about what’s going on. We have the information you gave us of course, but talking to her may give us a better idea as to what we’re dealing with. Jungkook and Mingyu will use some of our equipment around the house and see if they can pick up anything that may be roaming around.” You point to the two men that wave as they unpack some of their gear.

Mrs. Jackson gives everyone a watery smile before zooming in on you. “Rich and I have done a lot of research on you guys. You’ve helped a lot of people over the years and you seem to always know how to get rid of whatever is…haunting people.”

“That’s right. We do our best.”

“We were still skeptical, but we want to trust you. No one else has been able to help. We went to every church in the county and damn near the state before emailing you. They all either didn’t believe us or couldn’t do anything at all. We just want our daughter to be safe.” Her voice cracks at the end of her words and her husband pulls her into a hug.

“Mr. and Mrs. Jackson -”

“Please, call us Rich and Mona.”

Namjoon nods. “Rich and Mona, I promise you we’re going to do everything we can. We’ve had a few occasions where we’ve been up against some forces that we needed to call in reinforcements for, but we would never leave a client without help. You can count on us.”

You and the team then spread out to jump into your work. Mona leads you up to Siobhan’s room and stays in the hall as you knock.

“Come in,” The voice is quiet but you still hear it.

Siobhan Jackson is seventeen years old but looks much younger in person. She’s hunched over at her desk chair, a large sweatshirt draped on her with her laptop illuminating her tired expression as she stares blankly at it. Her curls are in a bun, tendrils of hair hanging around her face.

She looks up and meets your expression, brown eyes full of exhaustion and something else sad that you can’t quite place, but you know it’s a form of sadness. The room is stifling, something in the air filling your lungs as soon as you inhale. You don’t know what it is, but you know it’s there and you know it’s not good.

“Hi, Siobhan. I’m Y/n. This is my husband Namjoon.”

“Hi.” Her voice is soft and her tone is low.

“I suppose you know why we’re here.” She nods. “Would you mind if we asked you some questions? We’ve heard from your parents, but I’d like to hear from you.”

She nods and waves you the three of you on. You and Namjoon sit on the long ottoman at the end of her bed while Jeongyeon takes her vanity chair, tablet at the ready. Siobhan’s laptop is open to YouTube, but it’s just sitting on the homepage.

“Um, well, when we moved here, I knew something was weird in the house, especially my room. Everyone said it was just because I was homesick but I knew I was right. He popped up when I turned seventeen and was nice to me at first. It sounds weird, I know, but he was someone I could talk to since I don’t have too many friends at school.

I thought he just was lonely too and wanted someone to be friends or whatever with, but then my eighteenth birthday happened and he got mean. He’d tell me how my family doesn’t love me and how no one at school likes me and how there was nothing left for me here and why should I stick around.” Her voice cracks at these words, making you frown. The memories of a similar experience with a demon when you were her age crop up, but you will it away. You need to concentrate on Siobhan.

“Did he make any offers or propositions to you?”

“Yeah, he um, he wants me to go with him. I don’t know where, but like, he wants me to be his bride.” She says it with disgust, which is relieving. You’ve run into more people than you’d like that considered being possessed willingly or who were disillusioned into believing that their entity cared for them. Siobhan doesn’t seem to be a victim in that sense so there’s still time to save her.

“Okay. And do you know anything else about him?”

She looks visibly flustered, her tan skin turning the lightest shade of red. “Oh, yeah, um, at first he was just a voice, but then he showed up in front of me. He doesn’t look like a demon or anything. He looks a lot like my favorite singer.”

Frowning you glance at Jeongyeon who has been jotting down her words on her tablet.

“And who’s that?”

“Um, Park Jimin.” Siobhan gestures around the room and you finally notice the sheer amount of posters of the K-Pop singer on her walls.

“That’s nothing to be ashamed about. Demons are sneaky and will use anything they can to make us let our guard down. Just remember it’s all a trick and he just wants to hurt you.”

“I know. I just want him to go away.” Her shoulders sag as she picks at a stray string on her sweater sleeve.

“Of course you do,” Namjoon chimes in. “And he will. Is there anything else we need to know? Anything helps so that we can do a little more research and try to find his name.”

Siobhan looks to the ceiling, thinking of anything else to add. “Um, he’s mostly in my room. Like, he can go all over the house obviously since he keeps terrorizing everyone, but he spends most of his time in here.”

“Makes sense. You’re what he wants so he’s going to stick by you. We’ll have to draw him out and also do the banishment spell in here then.”

You and Namjoon share a look and get up, ready to go see what the rest of the team found.

“Um, Mrs. Kim?” Siobhan’s timid voice squeaks up before you’re out of the room.

“Yes?”

“Do I have anything to do? Like I don’t know how this works.”

“You don’t need to do anything. We’ll be casting a banishment spell once we draw the demon out then we’ll cleanse the room and house when he’s gone to clear a lot of the dark aura that he’s cast. It isn’t that crazy. Most of the entities we banish go with a minimal fight. All you have to do is stay back and let us take care of it.” You hope your voice offers her some ease and it seems to work as she gives you the first smile you’ve seen since you entered her room.

The rest of the day is spent researching and setting up equipment. Jungkook and Mingyu have EMF meters, digital thermometers, and infrared cameras around the house and they also have a few motion-activated cameras near Siobhan’s room and scattered around elsewhere.

You and Namjoon have been flipping through your archives to get a sense of who this demon is. He’s some sort of love or lust demon, wanting to make Siobhan his bride. This narrows it down, but not nearly enough to be able to pinpoint him yet. There are far more entities that desire a human soul as a partner out there than people may realize.

The majority of demons that want a human soul or vessel will play any mind games they have the power to use to manipulate their target. It’s all textbook 101 demon behavior so far, so you have to wait to catch a glimpse of something on one of the cameras around and maybe make out the demon’s form to help figure out who it is.

“So are we doing the usual thing here when we find out who this demon is?” Mingyu plops into the kitchen chair next to you, peering over your shoulder at your laptop screen.

“Likely, yes. What the family has described sounds like a normal love-hungry entity. We have to try and draw him out in Siobhan’s room, then immediately we’ll need to start a banishment spell. Depending on who it is we can decide which crystals we may need for the ritual and then go from there.”

“Do you think we’ll need anything extra?”

“Unless this demon surprises us, I don’t think so.”

You ignore the nagging feeling in your gut that something about this job feels off and chalk it up to casual nerves, opting to proceed as usual.

Hours tick by with no movement in the house. You’ve done the most research you can and are just waiting for some signs in the house. This is the most normal part of what you do - sitting around and playing the waiting game.

When it’s nearly midnight and you’ve been in the house almost all night, you decide to call it quits and go back to the hotel until tomorrow. Sometimes the entities know when someone like you are in the house and attempt to hide their presence as long as they can, but they always make an appearance eventually.

The next morning, when you’re back in the house, you find out your hunch was correct. The various cameras you left around the house were able to pick up something walking around last night while the family slept.

“The images are hard to decipher. This is definitely not a person, but we can’t tell who or what.” Jungkook explains as he points to the shots on his screen.

The image from the motion detector camera shows a blur that’s dark, misty grey, and is tall - very tall - but you can’t make out much more. The infrared findings picked up massive cold spots moving around the house, specifically around Siobhan’s room. You stare at it, a vision clouding your mind at that moment.

It’s Siobhan, even if this is a particularly murky vision. She’s flailing around uncontrollably on the ground, looking as though she’s fighting for air. Her screams echo in your ears, loud and desperate.

“Y/n?!” Namjoon’s voice rips you from your vision as you blink, trying to clear the blur.

“What?”

“You were gasping as if you couldn’t breathe and you started yelling” He’s concerned, his eyebrows scrunching up on his forehead.

You hadn’t even realized that what was happening to Siobhan in your vision was happening to you at the same time. After retelling what you saw, you feel a heavy feeling in the pit of your stomach.

“Do you think it was a warning?” Namjoon questions.

“Maybe. Clearly whatever’s in the house knows we’re here and has something to say about it.”

You mull Namjoon’s words over and realize how right he is. This entity knows more about you than you know about it at this point. It was showing you what it can do and there’s nothing you can do about it. It can take Siobhan over or harm her at any moment. Entities have infiltrated your psyche before to broadcast their twisted desires to you, but this time feels especially sinister, with unmeasurable unease washing over you.

“We don’t know his name yet but we have to try to draw him out at least. We can get him out and try to banish him with a general spell.”

Namjoon shares a skeptical look with everyone else in the room at your words. “But if we don’t know his name will it even work? You know that we need the name of the entity to for sure banish it.”

“I know, but we can’t afford to wait on when he wants to fully make himself known. He knows we’re here and isn’t happy about it so we need to at least be around him and I can probably find out myself.”

Reluctantly, everyone agrees as you start to move and prepare for the banishment. You all move fluidly, used to working together like this to prepare everything. You rifle through your bag, sifting through your crystals until you find a handful that should work.

Jungkook, Mingyu, and Jeongyeon work to set up tripods for your normal filming cameras - two in the corner pointing towards the middle of the room where Siobhan sits. Jeongyeon then makes a thick line of salt in the doorway to the bedroom and around the sills of the two locked windows.

“As soon as we draw him out, you’ll head straight for the door and shut it behind you to be safe, okay? Don’t come in here unless we tell you to.” Siobhan nods at your instructions. Given that this demon has his sights set on her, you’re having her stick around for now as you see if you can get him to so himself. I’m going to go into a meditation state so I can enter what’s called the in-between to try and see if he’s here and we just can’t see him in our world. Hopefully, he’s more likely to be spotted with you here.”

“Everyone ready?” You pose the question to the room and get collective answers of agreement.

With you in front of Siobhan, you take a deep breath and fish your aquamarine crystal out of your bag. The small blue stone has always aided in clearing your mind and letting you focus on everything in a room with you, which includes any being, whether of this world or another.

Namjoon begins reciting a summoning spell from behind you, calling the demon out into the open while you center yourself. Quickly, you fall into a standing meditation, your body feeling lighter. When you slowly open your eyes, the room around you becomes hazy as if covered in a light film. You can hear Namjoon, his voice is muffled behind you as you take in your surroundings.

At first, everything around you looks as it does normally. It’s not until your eyes land on a hand mirror on Siobhan’s desk that you see something out of the ordinary. Upon approaching it, you watch as it glows red - the telltale sign that it’s haunted.

You move to grab it, but as soon as your hand makes contact with the handle, it burns and you pull your hand back with a hiss. While holding your breath, you approach it, peering down to peek into the reflection.

All at once the sensation of ice water being poured over you hits and you reel backward. You hadn’t even noticed this familiar mirror in the room. You remember feeling the stifling feeling when you first entered the bedroom yesterday, but not once could you have guessed that this would be the source of the negativity.

“Hey, Y/n. Long time no see.” The deep, gritty voice speaks from the mirror and it immediately has you stumbling and knocking you back from the in-between.

Your eyes pop open and you see Namjoon in front of you, looking worried.

“Siobhan, downstairs!” She scrambles up out of her chair at your words without a second thought and rushes past you. Jeongyeon holds the door open for her, then shuts it tight.

“Joon, we need to -”

The loud sound of someone clearing their throat on the other side of Siobhan’s room stops you. Everyone turns to look and sees him sitting on her desk with his legs perfectly crossed.

He looks just like the posters lining Siobhan’s wall. Same touseled dark hair, round cheeks, and soft smile but it’s not him. This demon can take the form of whatever he pleases; usually the appearance of whatever his latest victim pleases. You know this to be true because you remember this very same voice coming from the body of your teenage crush, sitting in your room when you were the same age as her. How could you have been so stupid not to put the pieces together? Sure what she’s been experiencing is typical of near possessions but you just knew the air in this house was especially foreboding and oh-so-familiar. You’d even missed the hand mirror sitting on her vanity.

“What are you doing here?” Your words are sharp and you hope they sound as vicious as they did in your head.

The demon throws his head back to laugh, and it only serves to frustrate you more. “What do you think, Y/n? I’m still looking for a bride. Would you believe after all these years, I haven’t been able to find anyone like you? But, Siobhan, well she’s different. She reminds me so much of you.” He grins at you, clearly wanting to provoke you.

Namjoon shifts behind you, his hand grabbing your arm to bring you closer.

“Y/n, do you know this demon?” You nod. You wish you didn’t. You’ve spent more than a decade pushing him out of your mind and yet here he is, as smug as he was when he haunted you in your bedroom all those years ago.

“Namjoon, get the banishing spell ready.” You hear him rustling behind you, flipping through the pages of his spellbook. “Jungkook, Mingyu, get your crystals ready - we’re going to need your help.”

“You can do whatever it is you want. You can’t get rid of me.” The demon laughs from across the room.

“I did once.”

He stands to his feet and stretches, seemingly uncaring about your words.

“Little girl, that was simply a fluke. I won’t let you cast me away again.” His red eyes bore into yours but you refuse to back down. You grip the black tourmaline crystal that always hangs around your neck, your other hand already reaching into your shoulder bag to swap out the crystals in hand.

With his spell book in hand, Namjoon sidles up next to you. Jungkook and Mingyu stand on either side of the two of you, staring back at the demon.

“This won’t take long.” You fish a flew fluorite crystals out of your bag. “Jungkook, grab your smoky quartz. Mingyu, you get your shungite. We need to get him out and keep him out.”

“What’s his name?” Namjoon asks once he’s ready.

You glare at the demon’s smug face and watch as he puts his hands in his pockets. You want to believe you can do this but his confidence is a bit jarring.

“Asmodeus.” At the sound of his name, the demon’s grin only widens, all of his sharp teeth on display now. Your husband lets out a small gasp from next to you but quickly recovers as he begins to recite the spell.

Jungkook and Mingyu join him, reciting the words after him under their breaths. Gripping your crystals, you hold them up toward the demon, repeating his name over and over again. The furniture in the room begins to wobble and an unknown wind picks up.

“Give it a rest already!” Asmodeus calls out, stumbling backward. His wings unfurl and he crouches in response, planting his feet on the carpet.

Namjoon only gets louder as do Jungkook and Mingyu. With most other demons, you and Namjoon can banish them yourselves, but you know this one. You can barely recall how you had the strength to banish him from your life at seventeen, but you’ve always accepted that you had been lucky when you did it alone after researching him, but something tells you this won’t be so easy.

“Asmodeus!” You yell sternly, rubbing the bumpy, purple-ish crystals around in your hand. The combination of the crystals along with knowing the demon’s name and the banishing spell should be enough. It should, but you can see Asmodeus is only getting seemingly more and more agitated.

He’s frowning now, eyes darting between all of you as none of you relent. The wind in the room picks up as you watch one of Siobhan’s lamps go flying across the room, whizzing in front of you.

“It’s not going to fucking work! I will be taking that girl with me!” The demon growls, eyes blazing as he flaps his wings and hovers in the air. You take a step back but continue.

Everything else happens faster than you can account for. Asmodeus crosses his arms around his body making an x-shape before uncrossing them, sending everything around the room airborne. Papers, books, and stuffed animals whirl around the room and you duck to avoid them. Jungkook grunts from your side as a shoe hits him in the leg, but he only falters for a second. When you all duck to avoid Siobhan’s nightstand smashing into the wall, Asmodeus dashes through the air across the room.

He soars over your head and you can only watch in panic as he goes careening into Jeongyeon.

“Jeongyeon!” You sprint forward, intending to grab her arm, but you’re not quick enough. You can only watch in horror as the demon crashes through the door, sending Jeongyeon flying with it as both the tattered wood and her tumble through the air and backward toward the top of the stairs. She lands back first on the door and it slides down, tumbling to the first floor.

The four of you scramble out of the room and down the stairs to her side.

“Jeongyeon?! Jeongyeon can you hear me?!” You lean down to listen to her breathe. “She’s still breathing. Someone call an ambulance!”

Mingyu quickly grabs his phone, dialing 911 next to you. Namjoon is across from you and surveys the room, the demon is nowhere to be found. The Jacksons are huddled in the entryway to the living room while Jungkook talks with them, assumedly doing damage control. An occasional cut or scrape or even getting shoved by an entity is one thing, but tumbling down a flight of stairs is another.

“Y/n the doctor says she’ll be fine. She’s just bruised and her arm is sprained. She said she was lucky the door broke her fall. It could’ve been really bad if she’d gone down with nothing behind her.”

“Fuck, Joon I know, I just feel terrible. I should’ve known that we’d need help. He was so smug and confident - why didn’t I know that he was stronger?!”

You’re pacing outside of Jeongyeon’s hospital room. She suffered a concussion on top of the sprain, but she’ll bounce back. You glance in through the door that’s been left ajar as she talks to the doctor inside. The guilt is still strong though. Mingyu and Jungkook stayed at the house with the Jacksons. Asmodeus will only be more agitated at this point and could attempt to possess Siohan at any time. You and Namjoon will need to get back soon, but you needed to be sure Jeongyeon is alright.

Namjoon comes over and grabs your shoulders, stopping you mid-stride. “Y/n, hey, it’s okay. You couldn’t have possibly known for sure. I remember you telling me about being haunted when you were a teenager, but you couldn’t have known for sure it was him. Besides, it’s been over a decade.”

Letting out a tired whimper, you fall into his arms, burying your head in his chest. “What do we do? Do we need more help?”

“Already taken care of. Remember Yoongi?”

“Min Yoongi? The guy that you met in that demon subreddit?”

“Yeah. He’s here in the city for a friend’s wedding, but I texted him on the way and he agreed to meet us at the Jacksons’ tomorrow morning. He’s going to help us banish Asmodeus. I think with someone as knowledgeable as him we can do it. We also need to do a little more research ourselves before we get back in there and do this.”

Sighing, you lift your head to look up at him. “We have to get rid of him. I know what he’s like - I know what Siobhan is going through. We have to help her, Joon.”

Your husband gives you his infamous sweet, dimpled smile.

“Everything’ll be okay, Y/n. We’ll help her and I’m going to keep you safe, I promise.” Namjoon leans down to gently kiss you, reassurance and warmth spread through you at the softness of his lips. These moments with Namjoon almost make you feel like a normal couple living a normal life. Almost.

The doctor comes out of Jeongyeon’s room then and you pull away reluctantly.

“She’s still okay, right?” You ask as soon as she joins you in the hallway.

“She is. Her concussion isn’t too much of a concern, she just needs to take it easy. You can go in and see her if you want.” You return the doctor’s friendly smile and rush in, pulling Namjoon behind you.

“Jeongyeon!” She’s sitting up in bed, looking out the window. She looks tired, and you can see the bruising on her arm that’s not in a sling, but overall she still smiles at you. “How are you feeling?”

“I’m alright. Sore, but that’s the worst of it.”

“Well, tomorrow we’ll make sure you’re comfortable at the hotel with everything you need before heading out.”

She shakes her head, immediately shutting that down. “No way. I’m coming with you.”

“But your arm is-”

“It’s just a sprain.”

“You shouldn’t move it much.”

“I won’t! Plus, I’m ambidextrous so I can do everything else as normal.”

Frowning, you place your hand over hers. “This could get dangerous. I don’t want you to get hurt again.”

She flips her hand over to hold yours. “I knew what I was getting into when I took this job. Danger comes with the territory. I promise I’ll be fine and I can keep going.”

The two of you have a short staredown, your nervous expression meeting her reassuring one. Reluctantly, you agree with the rule that she works the camera and does not help with any of the equipment.

She agrees and it’s not long until she’s discharged and you’re able to go back to the hotel and regroup. You already know Namjoon wants to question you more about Asmodeus, but he’s kind enough to leave it be for now. You need the rest of the day to prepare for the next banishment attempt. With you being so familiar with this demon, it’s succeeded in rattling you in a way you’re not quite used to.

Min Yoongi is only two years older than Namjoon, but he’s still had much more experience. He was lucky enough to start studying demonology earlier in his life and was able to learn exorcisms much more quickly due to an uncle that happened to do the same line of work. He and Namjoon met online a handful of years ago and have met in person a few times. Usually, they just hang out for fun but this is the first time Yoongi will be helping you with a job.

“So you've banished him before?” Yoongi questions, sitting across from you at the kitchen table. He’s met you all at the Jacksons’ home in the morning. He’d done more research on Asmodeus as did Namjoon so they’d have more knowledge, but you’d had yet to give your full personal testimonial until now.

“Yeah. Long story short, we moved into a new house when I was fifteen. It’s actually in a town not too far from here. I knew something was weird about my room the day we moved in. I remember hearing voices and feeling a presence and it all traced back to that old mirror that was under a floorboard in my room. It wasn’t until my seventeenth birthday that Asmodeus revealed himself. He was in the form of my crush at the time and -”

“Who was it?”

Jungkook interrupts your story with the question.

“Who was what?”

“Who was your crush at the time?” Jeongyeon flicks him on the shoulder and he groans. “What?!”

“This is what you want to ask?”

“Just to help visualize it!”

“It was Omarion,” you roll your eyes at him as he and Mingyu snicker from next to him. “Anyway, he was nice to me just like Siobhan, then I turned eighteen and he told me wanted me to be his bride. I refused and so he started tormenting me. Destroying our house, scaring the shit out of us. He even killed our family dog and uh - he possessed me briefly.” You gulp at the memory. “The pain of having yourself violated in the form of possession is one I can’t describe. It’s cold, it hurts, and it feels so utterly lonely. Like you’re watching everything through your own eyes but you’re trapped in an empty room that feels so claustrophobic.”

“How old is he?” Mingyu questions.

“Thousands of years old,” Namjoon answers for you, noticing how retelling this story is making you uncomfortable. “According to what I’ve found on him, he’s been doing this for centuries even. He’s a demon of greed and lust and he preys on women hoping to take them from their bodies and take them with him for eternity. Think of it like he’s a screwed-up Hades and Persephone-like situation. He seems to get banished here and there and that mirror is definitely how he gets access to our world, but that’s as far as he gets banished to and it seems to only be temporary. The mirror itself just gets passed from thrift store to thrift store, getting picked up by unsuspecting people. Siobhan found it at a Goodwill a few years ago which is when this all started for her.”

“But we want to banish him for good this time,” You say matter-of-factly. “That’s where you come in, Yoongi. We need help with the spell since we need to do a different one to get rid of him for good. We want to send him away, but make sure he can’t pop up again. He’s one of the stronger forces we’ve dealt with and we need the manpower. We also need to narrow down the right crystals - stronger ones. Once he’s gone, we’ll take the mirror back to Korea with us and store it away so he can’t even come back if he wanted to.”

Yoongi takes off the backpack he’s wearing at your words and opens it, revealing a bunch of shimmering crystals.

“I brought some that I thought could come in handy. I was researching him yesterday and think these could do the trick.” You sort through the bag, recognizing the various crystals and nodding.

“Thank you! I think we could use most of these. He’s strong but he’s certainly not unbeatable.”

“When are you doing this?” Siobhan asks from the corner of the room. She and her parents have been here the whole time listening to you all go back and forth.

“Tonight. It’s best not to wait too long since we just had this run-in. We need to stay on top of him now that he’s shown himself. We’ll get him.”

It takes the rest of the day for everyone to prepare for the second banishment. Mingyu and Jungkook go over the spell over and over again for practice while you all prepare the basement. Asmodeus was able to leave Siobhan’s bedroom before, but if you trap him in the basement he can’t leave so easily.

You all work together to remove as much furniture from the room as you can so you don’t have any flying objects hurling at you again. With it being a bigger space, you need a few more cameras and Jeongyeon spreads the salt along the basement stairs and at the bottom to try and ensure he won’t be able to go anywhere. The basement is finished with an attached bathroom where Siobhan and Jeongyeon will take cover once Asmodeus shows himself again. The mirror sits in the middle of the room on the floor.

Wasting no time, you all get into position again, calling him out to him to show himself. He does it rather quickly but in the form of destruction.

“You can’t beat me!” Asmodeus bellow as all around the room, the ceiling and walls thump as if he’s zipping around the room punching every surface he comes in contact with. He’s going to show himself soon since he’s trapped.

“Asmodeus! Show yourself!” You scream at him, watching the ball of grey smoke bounce around the room before beelining for the mirror. Before it hits the mirror, the demon veers to the left at the last minute, knocking into Siobhan and sending her backward.

“Siobhan!” The girl flails around on the floor, gasping and scratching at the air.

“He’s possessing her! Someone put a salt circle around her now!” Yoongi directs, pointing at Siobhan’s figure. Jeongyeon acts first having been the last one with the salt and hurries to make a circle around the girl before she finally settles down, lying flat on her back for a brief moment. In the next blink, she shoots upright, head whipping around in your direction and hissing.

“Oh, fuck,” you catch Jungkook mumble from next to you.

“Recite the spell, now!” Yoongi calls, thumbing through his notebook.

Namjoon, Yoongi, Jungkook, and Mingyu surround Asmodeus, chanting in unison, crystals held out in front of them as they go.

Your feet are planted in front of the demon, watching as the gusts of wind enveloping you all turn grey and pick up faster. It doesn’t disturb the salt circle since it’s acting as an invisible wall, but you can see the demon getting increasingly agitated.

“Asmodeus! Leave this place and never return!” You bellow with as much bass as you can muster. You’re not nervous as before, only angry. Angry that you have to face this entity once more, but you will get rid of him for good.

The house shakes underneath your feet and Asmodeus roars at you, serpent tongue on full display, but you refuse to back down. He seems to sense your unwavering confidence as his eyes dart around the group. Siobhan’s shoulders slump before she starts to choke and gasp. Her eyes begin to bulge and her lips start to pale. He’s choking her from the inside out.

“No!” He’s going to kill her as he goes out - you can tell it just from the way her body is struggling for air. “Let her go!” Screeching at him, you step closer, holding out the palm-sized black jasper. Asmodeus hisses, Siobhan’s fist tightening, wheezing more.

He’s supposed to be getting weaker, not able to still have the strength to do this. Wracking your brain you try and think of something. All of the men in the room are still chanting at the demon, which is at least weakening him enough that he can’t break through the barrier, but you need to distract him. Take his attention off of hurting Siobhan long enough to allow the chance to finally send him away.

“Stop it and take me instead!” The words tumble out before you can think and it immediately catches the demon’s attention.

Blown-out pupils meet yours, studying you. “Just like that? You’re finally ready to be mine?” He asks through Siobhan’s choked tone.

You bite your tongue and nod, hoping you can convince him. Demons may be tricky, but in your line of work you’ve learned, they can be extremely gullible most of the time especially when you dangle something they want the most in front of them. Out of the corner of your eye, Namjoon stares, trying to get your attention. He’s steadfast in his words but you didn’t discuss this as a backup plan.

“Say it. Tell me you want to be my bride.”

Gripping your crystals so tight in your hand that it hurts, you mumble out the words he wants to hear. You need to let him start to possess you. That will be when the rest of his powers are the weakest and his guard will be down so he’ll finally banish away.

“Get rid of this salt circle then. And tell these idiots to stop babbling at me.”

“Do as he says!”

“But, Y/n-”

“Please, Mingyu just listen to him.” You stare at him, your eyes flickering to each one of them, Namjoon last. The only thing you can hope for is that he knows what your plan is. As soon as Asmodeus begins possessing you they need to start chanting again.

Your husband gives you a curt nod and tries to inconspicuously meet the gaze of the three other men to communicate with them as well.

On shaky legs you approach Asmodeus, the demon smirking sickly at you, waiting patiently to be released. You gingerly reach a foot out and swipe away a portion of the salt. As soon as it's gone, Siobhan’s hand comes out to grab your arm, dark eyes boring into yours.

Suddenly, her body starts to spasm, the hand gripping you tightening its hold. Her eyes roll to the back of her head as her back arches almost painfully. She lets out a scream, making you wince at the frequency, and then as quickly as it happened, it’s over. Siobhan falls to the ground in front of you, knocked out cold.

“Siobhan!” Moving to kneel, you intend to check her pulse, but you’re stopped by another grasp of your arm. When you’ve spun around, you’re finally faced with Asmodeous’ true form once again.

He’s seemingly eight feet tall, covered in what you can only describe as jet-black scales, his bat-like wings looking far bigger than they had in his fake form. Large, pointed ears pivot in your direction along with blazing red eyes and menacing teeth. The demon’s face can only be described as resembling a storybook goblin, complete with a long nose and wrinkly features. His black, spiraled horns look sharp enough to cut you as do his long, spindly fingers and pointy claws. Seeing him in front of you brings you back to the night in your room when you banished him all alone. You had nearly been in tears and ready to piss yourself, but this time, you feel a confidence you lacked then.

“Hello, my dear.” His claws trace down your arm and you have to hold your breath. “Don’t look so upset. You’re going to love it with me. Much more than with him.” Asmodeus sneers over your shoulder at Namjoon and you don’t have to see your husband’s face to know it is sure to be filled with fury.

His hands are as cold as ice and he brings both hands up to cup your face. You keep your hands at your side, fists clenched. The demon gives you one more grin as he begins. Pins and needles shoot through you in an instant, making you scream. Your eyelids flutter, but you fight to keep them open. Asmodeus’ crimson eyes almost hurt to look at as they glow as your limbs start to feel heavy.

Namjoon’s voice booms nearby, starting to recite the banishment spell. The others follow suit, their voices sounding much louder than before. The demon in front of you pulls away from you momentarily, yelling loud enough that your ears begin ringing. He closes his eyes for a split second, but it’s enough time that you can break out of the trance he attempted to put you under. Swiftly, you reach up, wrapping your arms around the demon to keep him in place. You press the black jasper into his back, making him screech again and tumble backward with you still wrapped around him.

Namjoon is at your side in a flash, followed closely by Jungkook and they work to hold him down as they speak. Mingyu and Yoongi follow, holding down the rest of him.

The demon flails underneath you all but isn’t getting away which means he’s much weaker than before. The grey, smokey wind that he emits fills the room again, whipping faster and faster. Asmodeus growls and the house shakes again. In the corner of the room, it sounds like the walls are cracking, but none of you relent.

“Asmodeus!” You yell, right in his face. “Leave this place! Forever!” You shove the black jasper into his stomach and he shrieks again. You watch as the demon underneath you begins turning into the same grey smoke that circles your head. Hist legs are first followed by the arm currently in Jungkook’s grasp.

“You lying bitch!” The demon spits at you, rage that you’ve never seen written across his ugly face. He’s only an arm, a head, and a torso at this point, and right before he starts to lose his last remaining limb, he uses the remainder of his strength to bring his hands up, claws spread out, ready to inflict damage.

You notice too late, and can only watch as he swings his hand at you.

Before he makes contact with you, Namjoon is in front of you, shielding your body from the attack and you can only watch in horror as the demon’s razer-like claws slash across Namjoon’s chest. Blood splatters out, spraying the demon right before he vanishes completely, a final shriek ringing in the air as he turns to complete smoke, which then wafts up into the air and evaporates.

The room is silent for only a second, giving you long enough to register what just happened.

“Namjoon!” The scream that leaves your lips sounds almost foreign as you scramble to your husband’s side. You roll him over, watching the blood seep from the deep slashes in his skin. He doesn’t move and his eyes don’t open but you can see his injured chest rise and fall, albeit slowly. Yanking off your sweatshirt, you press it to his wounds, attempting to stop the bleeding.

Around you, everyone is rushing. You think you hear Jungkook’s voice talking into his phone, telling whoever is on the other line the address for the Jackson’s house. Yoongi and Mingyu get to work cleansing the room and Jeongyeon gingerly wraps up the mirror, securing it in a small locked box. Tears blur your vision as you whimper his name, begging him to wake up.

Everything is white noise to you - Namjoon is your only focus. Making sure he’s okay, checking his pulse. The ambulance arrives after what feels like hours and moves you away to take him. You follow close behind, waving in Jeongyeon’s direction when she says they’ll be right behind you and the ambulance. You don’t take any notice of the way you’re shivering in your tank top as the October air fills the back of the ambulance. You’ll brave the cold to be by Namjoon’s side.

Being in another hospital room in the same week is a record for you. Namjoon is still asleep and has been since he was attacked. The steady beep of the lifeline machine has lulled you to sleep the past two nights you spent curled up in the uncomfortable recliner by his side. Everyone has been by since he’s been admitted. Jeongyeon insisted on staying with you but you sent her back to the hotel to rest.

It’s early when you check the bedside clock, getting up from your curled position to stretch. Namjoon is still asleep when you look at him, his breathing even and quiet.

You quickly duck into the bathroom in the room to brush your teeth and wash your face. Namjoon should be waking up any time now and even after all these years, you want to look good for him.

“Hi, Y/n.” Siobhan’s voice startles you when you leave the bathroom. She, along with her parents and their other two children are all standing in the doorway of the room.

“Oh hi, how are you doing?”

“Much better. Last night was the most restful sleep we’ve had in months.”

“I’m happy to hear that.”

Siobhan surprises you by rushing over and pulling you into a hug. Her siblings follow suit and hug you as well. They’re all thanking you and all you can do is say you’re welcome. Her parents hug you next, giving you more thank yous and telling you how grateful they are.

They stay with you for a few minutes to talk about Namjoon and how he’s doing. He’s still asleep as you gaze at him, taking in his beautiful features, feeling the lurch in your heart when you think of the way he smiles at you and how he says your name.

As if noticing the shift in your mood upon talking about your husband, Mona announces it’s time to leave and they all say their goodbyes. You walk them to the door and before they leave, Siobhan turns to you once more and grabs your hand.

“Seriously, thank you again.” She says it quieter and you can hear the sincerity in her words. You squeeze her hand in return and watch as the family leaves.

After they’re gone, it’s quiet again and you feel yourself starting to feel a new sadness wash over you - the sorrow of missing and worrying for Namjoon, but that’s cut short upon arrival when you turn around.

Namjoon is struggling to sit up in bed, wincing to himself.

“Joon!” You rush over to the bed, holding a pillow behind him as he leans up, settling back.

“Hey.” Tears well as you grab his hand, bringing it up to your lips.

“You’re awake.”

“I’m awake,” he rasps. His voice sounds hoarse, so you hurry to grab the water pitcher next to the bed and pour him a cup. After you hold it to help him drink, you set the cup down and go back to holding his hand. “Was someone just here? When I was starting to come to I thought I heard other voices.”

“The Jacksons just left. They stopped by to thank us and see how you were doing. How are you feeling?”

“Exhausted. I’m ready to go home and sleep in my own bed.”

“Not so fast. You’ve been asleep for two days straight and your whole torso is wrapped in bandages. He didn’t do any fatal damage, but you lost a lot of blood.” A sniffle slips out and Namjoon notices.

“Hey, hey I’m okay though. The demon’s gone and I’m alive and you’re safe.” Even in a hospital bed with an injury of his caliber, he’s still your strong, level-headed, loving husband. As carefully as you can, you lean over the bed to kiss him. “Wait, wait, I have crusty unconscious breath!” He tries to turn his head away with minimal effort.

“Don’t care.” You murmur as your lips meet in a long, closed-mouth kiss. His lips are just as pillowy and comforting as always.

When you pull away, the two of you share a sigh.

“I’ll go let the doctors know you’re up. They’ll want to check on you and I’m sure they’ll know when we can go home.” Reluctantly, you let his hand go and head to the door.

“Hey, Y/n,” you stop when Namjoon calls your name.

“Yeah?”

“I think when we get home it’s about time we go on vacation. I think I need some time in the sun, on a beach somewhere. Far away from anything demon related.”

With a smile, you nod. “Sounds like a plan.” Your husband blows you a tired kiss on your way out and it makes your heart soar as usual.

You hum to yourself as you leave the room, heart, full of ease and love. You all haven’t taken a vacation in probably a year, so it’s something that is desperately needed.

While waiting for a nurse to return to the nurses' station, your phone beeps with an email notification.

EXORCIST INQUIRY!!

The words are in all caps and even read loudly to your eyes. With a sigh, you open the email and skim it. Your team is needed as soon as possible in California to help a woman’s son who, as she described, is behaving “just like Regan from The Exorcist!!”

You mull over the next steps before typing out a response to the woman, informing her that you had an emergency in New York, but will attempt to get to them soon. You let her know that you’ll know for sure by end of the day and will give her more information.

Jeongyeon also receives your emails and you already know she’s going to text you soon about how you should be resting with Namjoon, but you’re prepared for her nagging. Namjoon will be disappointed that a seaside vacation will need to take a backseat for now.

As long as demons and ghosts still break through to our world, the work of a paranormal investigator is truly never done.

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